CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (NASA PR) — The second SpaceX mission to the International Space Station under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services contract is scheduled to launch Friday, March 1, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. NASA Television coverage begins at 8:30 a.m. EST.

The company’s Falcon 9 rocket carrying its Dragon cargo capsule will lift off at 10:10 a.m. If needed, a backup launch opportunity is available on March 2 with launch time at 9:47 a.m. and NASA TV coverage beginning at 8 a.m.

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Cheryl Nickerson, a microbiologist at Arizona State University’s Biodesign Institute, is using the ISS platform to pursue new research into the effects of microgravity on disease-causing organisms.
(Credit: The Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University)

By Richard Harth
The Biodesign Institute

Performing sensitive biological experiments is always a delicate affair. Few researchers, however, contend with the challenges faced by Cheryl Nickerson, whose working laboratory aboard the International Space Station (ISS) is located hundreds of miles above the Earth, traveling at some 17,000 miles per hour.

Nickerson, a microbiologist at Arizona State University’s Biodesign Institute, is using the ISS platform to pursue new research into the effects of microgravity on disease-causing organisms.

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WALLOPS ISLAND, Va. (NASA PR) — NASA commercial partner Orbital Sciences of Dulles, Va., successfully conducted an engine test of its Antares rocket Friday, February 22, at the nation’s newest launch pad.

The company fired dual AJ26 rocket engines for approximately 30 seconds while the first stage of Orbital’s Antares rocket was held down on the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) Pad-0A at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Va. The test demonstrated the readiness of the rocket’s first stage and launch pad fueling systems to support upcoming test flights.
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Cubesat

WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — NASA’s Space Technology Program is calling for proposals to develop miniaturized electrospray propulsion technologies that could revolutionize small satellite propulsion systems.

Electrospray thrusters use electricity to energize material and then disperse a resulting liquid or aerosol through an emitter to create thrust. The development of low-mass, lightweight micro thruster technologies has the potential to radically change propulsion capabilities of small satellites by allowing variable thrust propulsion, stabilization and precision pinpointing. Such micro thrusters also might be of use for very fine pointing aboard future large space-based observatories.

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This artist concept is what The Boeing Company’s CST-100 spacecraft processing is expected to look like in Space Florida’s Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida with work stations on a clean floor. (Credit: Boeing)

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. (NASA PR) — The Boeing Company’s plans for its CST-100 spacecraft continue to firm up as the aerospace company works with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program (CCP) to establish what will be needed to communicate with the spacecraft and recover it when it returns from a mission.

The capsule-shaped spacecraft is on track to launch to low-Earth orbit atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Florida’s Space Coast around the middle of the decade. It is designed to hold enough crew members to allow the spaceship to operate as a taxi and lifeboat on missions to the International Space Station.

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WASHINGTON (NASA) — As part of the Obama Administration’s recognition of the critical role that space technology and innovation will play in enabling both future space missions and bettering life here on Earth, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden has announced the creation of the Space Technology Mission Directorate. The directorate will be a catalyst for the creation of technologies and innovation needed to maintain NASA leadership in space while also benefiting America’s economy.

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Orion abort motor (Credit: ATK)

Arlington, Va., February 21, 2013 – ATK (NYSE: ATK) successfully delivered a launch abort motor to Kennedy Space Center, Fla., for Exploration Flight Test (EFT-1) of NASA’s Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, scheduled to fly next year.

The test flight abort motor is configured with inert propellant, since the EFT-1 mission will have no crew on board, but otherwise replicates the launch abort system that will ensure astronaut safety on future crewed Orion exploration missions using the new Space Launch System (SLS). .

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John Lewis

HOUSTON, TX, February 20 (DSI PR) — Deep Space Industries announced that astronomer and asteroid expert Dr. John Lewis will assume the role of Chief Scientist for the firm, whose goal is the exploration, harvesting and processing of space resources, such as asteroids. Author of such seminal works in the field as the books “Rain of Iron and Ice” and “Mining the Sky,” Dr. Lewis is considered to be one of the the world’s pre-eminent asteroid experts.

“We are thrilled that John decided to join us in our quest to harvest space resources,” said Deep Space Chairman Rick Tumlinson. “He has been a hero and mentor of mine and the whole team. Having such a vote of confidence from the guy who literally wrote the books on the subject means a lot to us, our investors and potential customers, let alone the wisdom and knowledge he brings to the table.”

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In January 2018, a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket will roar off a launch pad carrying the most ambitious human space mission since Apollo 11 nearly 50 years earlier. Two crew members in a heavily modified Dragon spacecraft would break Earth orbit on a 501-day round-trip fly-by of Mars.

This privately-led mission will be unveiled next Wednesday at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., by the Inspiration Mars Foundation, a non-profit group chaired by former NASA engineer and space tourist Dennis Tito.

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WALLOPS ISLAND, Va. (NASA PR) – NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility will provide launch range support for an Orbital Sciences Corp. Antares rocket engine test scheduled for Feb. 22 at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s Pad-0A.

The window for the engine test, or hot fire, is 6- 9 p.m. EST.

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