Illustration of Cygnus in orbit. (Credit: Orbital Sciences Corporation)

Cygnus Mission Update
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Via Orbital Sciences Corporation

The Cygnus spacecraft remains healthy in-orbit, with all major on-board systems performing as expected. Over the past several days, the Cygnus engineering team developed, validated and uploaded the one-line software “patch” that resolved the GPS data roll-over discrepancy that was identified during the initial approach to the ISS last Saturday.

Orbital and NASA are currently discussing the best rendezvous opportunity, with the current trajectory plan supporting Sunday morning, September 29 as the next opportunity to rendezvous with and approach the ISS. This schedule is still subject to final review and approval by the NASA and Orbital teams.

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Bob Geldof with SXC Founder Harry van Hulten. (Credit: SXC)

Amsterdam, 26 September 2013 (SXC PR) — Today Bob Geldof completed his first SXC training mission at the space flight simulator Desdemona in The Netherlands. He was very impressed by the realistic flight simulation of the XCOR Lynx spacecraft and is now even more excited about his actual flight to space with SXC.

Geldof added that the simulator is a fantastic device, the power of its thrust is amazing and the experience of it all actually makes you want to stay up longer.

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Moffett Federal Airfield lease area.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIF. SEPTEMBER 24, 2013 (SVSC PR) — A historic piece of real estate, NASA Ames Moffett Field’s 1,000+ acre airfield, 3 iconic hangars, including the famous hangar one and a professional golf course are up for a development bid this October. Two previous NASA scientists, Dr. Sean Casey and Dr. Peri Pappadopoulos, Co-Founders of Silicon Valley Space Center, plan to win it!

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The Russian Rockot launch vehicle, whose name means “roar”, will continue to do so for at least another seven years: The German-Russian company offering commercial launch services using converted Russian SS-18 missiles said it has enough usable missile hardware to continue operations through the end of the decade and is maintaining prices at between 30 million and 32 million euros ($39 million-$44.6 million) per launch. Bremen, Germany-based Eurockot Launch Services […]

Boeing and Bigelow Aerospace CST-100 Drop Test, Delamar Dry Lake Bed, NV CST-100 is part of the Boeing Commercial Crew Transportation System (CCTS), which will transport people and cargo to the International Space Station (ISS), the Bigelow Aerospace Complex and other low Earth orbit destinations

WASHINGTON, DC (NASA PR) — NASA has selected 10 university-led proposals for study of innovative, early stage space technologies that address high priority technical needs America’s space program must master to enable future missions.

The one-year grants from NASA’s Space Technology Research Grants Program are worth about $250,000 each, with an additional year of research possible. Selected proposals address technology challenges that may improve astrophysics scientific instruments, oxygen recovery for space life support systems, cryogenic propellant storage for long-duration space exploration, our identification, characterization and protection from near-Earth asteroids.

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Expedition 37 takes off for the International Space Station. (Credit: NASA)

Expedition 37
NASA Mission Update

A new trio of Expedition 37 residents is on its way to the International Space Station. Soyuz Commander Oleg Kotov and Flight Engineers Mike Hopkins and Sergey Ryazanskiy launched aboard a Soyuz TMA-10M spacecraft at 4:58 p.m. EDT Wednesday.

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Credit: Ken Brown

Fall arrived in Mojave on Sunday with the sort of mild temperatures and cold breezes that make sleeping with the windows open comfortable  and almost — but not quite — make up for the months of broiling weather that preceded them. The new season’s first three days were awesome.

On Wednesday morning, the rest of the season barreled into town as the breezes turned into gusting winds that blew sand across roads and turned nearby Koehn Lake into something right out of a French Foreign Legion movie, complete with a massive cloud of dust rising hundreds of feet above its parched surface.

For Sir Richard Branson and 300 of his future astronauts, that was not a such a good development.

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A majority of Virgin Galactic’s future Astronauts gather with Sir Richard Branson (center) for a group photo at Virgin Galactic FAITH hangar in Mojave, CA September 25, 2013. AT side is the WhiteKnight2 mated with SpaceShip2. (Credit: Virgin Galactic)

Editor’s Note: Yup, they were here in Mojave today. Nope, I didn’t attend but instead monitored developments from the Voyager restaurant. Working on my own story right now, but in the meantime, here’s Virgin Galactic’s take on this morning’s festivities, which apparently went just fine.

MOJAVE, Calif. (VG PR) – Today, Virgin Galactic, the world’s first commercial spaceline owned by Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group and Abu Dhabi’s aabar Investments PJS, hosted its annual private customer event at Mojave Air and Space Port. Deemed, “Your Flight DNA,” the occasion brought together the largest number of future astronauts to date, with approximately 400 customers and a total of 640 individuals in attendance.

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So, future Virgin astronauts…The question you’ve all be asking, answered. The Ballad of Taxiway B* Tonight you sit in the hotel bar after flights to LAX from near and far the big question is bound to be what tomorrow will we see? You’ll wake up sleepy bright and early greeting the dawn like a morning glory up the freeways you’ll be bussed to a desert town that’s full of dust […]