Ball Aerospace’s STPSat-3 satellite. (Credit: Ball Aerospace)

BOULDER, Colo (Ball Aerospace PR) — Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. announced on Jan. 10, 2014, that operational control of the Space Test Program Satellite-3 (STPSat-3) has been handed over to the U.S. Air Force as the spacecraft begins its technology demonstration mission.

The Ball-built STPSat-3 launched from Wallops Flight Center in Virginia on November 19, 2013 aboard a Minotaur I, along with 28 CubeSats as part of the Operationally Responsive Space-3 (ORS-3) mission. The spacecraft was fully checked out and operational within 71 hours of launch, nearly three hours ahead of schedule.

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An update from Urthecast: We’re very pleased to announce that UrtheCast’s two cameras have been cleared for installation aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The ISS cabling issue that delayed the initial installation was quickly resolved, allowing for a second spacewalk to be scheduled by the end of January. “We are extremely grateful for the extraordinary work by Energia and the cosmonauts onboard the ISS, especially during the holidays,” explained UrtheCast’s Chief Executive […]

At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Orion ground test vehicle has been lifted high in the air by crane in the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building. (Credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis)

Four of the lead contractors working on the Space Launch System and Orion — Aerojet Rocketdyne, ATK, Boeing and Lockheed Martin — issued the following press release last week highlighting progress during 2013. I’ve added photos illustrating some of the major milestones.

Washington, D.C., Jan. 7, 2014 – The NASA Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion teams accomplished unprecedented progress in 2013 with the design, development and testing of the next-generation vehicles destined to explore deep space.

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This self-portrait of NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity combines dozens of exposures taken by the rover’s Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on Feb. 3, 2013, plus three exposures taken on May 10, 2013. (Credit: NASA)

NASA Takes a Look Back at 2013

Mars

Mars is the centerpiece of NASA’s planetary exploration. The Curiosity rover continues to explore the planet, and in its first year already has accomplished its primary goal of determining that Mars could indeed have supported life in the past, possibly much later than originally thought. Curiosity’s Radiation Assessment Detector instrument is helping scientists assess round-trip radiation doses for a human mission to Mars.

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Pre-sunrise checks on WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo on the runway at the Mojave Air and Spaceport. (Credit: Virgin Galactic)

Here’s a photo essay of the SpaceShipTwo’s third powered flight, which took place on Friday. The suborbital spacecraft fired its engine for 20 seconds, reaching a speed of Mach 1.4 and an altitude of 71,000 feet.

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Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata performs a VO2max protocol for the Sprint investigation while using the Cycle Ergometer with Vibration Isolation System (CEVIS). (Credit: NASA)

ISS Science Highlights:
Weeks of Dec. 16 and 23, 2013

by John Love, Lead Increment Scientist
Expedition 37/38

The International Space Station SERVIR Environmental Research and Visualization System (ISERV) continued taking Earth images during the holiday week. In January 2013, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Chris Hadfield helped install ISERV in the Earth-facing window of the space station’s Destiny module. From the station’s vantage point, nearly 95 percent of the planet’s populated area is visible during the station’s orbit, so the window provides the perfect perch for taking photos of Earth from space. Researchers on the ground use the high-resolution camera to acquire image data of specific areas of the globe. These images help decision-makers address environmental issues, humanitarian crises and disasters. The ISERV system, based on a modified commercial telescope and driven by custom software, obtains near real-time images and transmits the data within hours to scientists and decision-makers on Earth.

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JAXA’s Epsilon rocket on its first test flight. (Credit: JAXA)

Flush from its inaugural launch in September, JAXA’s new Epsilon launch vehicle has received prizes  from two different organizations.

The Epsilon launch vehicle recently received the Nikkei Award for Excellence at the 2013 Nikkei Superior Products and Services Awards (the 32nd event).   The rocket was also honored with the Gold Award in the JFY 2013 Good Design competition.

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Dulles, VA 12 January 2014 (ORB PR) – Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE: ORB), one of the world’s leading space technology companies, today announced that its Cygnus™ cargo logistics spacecraft successfully completed its rendezvous and approach maneuvers with the International Space Station (ISS) and was grappled and berthed with the station by the Expedition 38 astronaut crew earlier this morning.

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With three successful flights of the Falcon 9 v.1.1 that include two successful geosynchronous satellite launches, SpaceX is nearing launch vehicle certification that will allow it to compete with ULA for national security launch contracts.   While Hawthorne, Calif.-based SpaceX has not received formal certification to launch operational national security satellites aboard its Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket, Gen. William Shelton, commander of Air Force Space Command, told SpaceNews Jan. 7 […]

ORB-1 ISS Commercial Resupply Services Mission Orbital Sciences & NASA Mission Update January 11, 2014 All Cygnus systems are performing as expected with no issues. The spacecraft has conducted five orbit-raising maneuvers and is on track for rendezvous with the International Space Station tomorrow morning, with a target time for capture by the space station’s robotic arm at 6:02 am EST (11:02 GMT). NASA TV coverage of rendezvous with the […]