A NASA video explains how the ISS crew will berth SpaceX’s Dragon freighter.
AUTHOR
Doug Messier
ORBITEC PR — Orbital Technologies Corporation, “ORBITEC,” has been awarded two new NASA contracts for engineering support and flight hardware production related to life science activities on the International Space Station. The programs awarded were for ORBITEC to support the development and flight of the “VEGGIE” system and the Advanced Plant Habitat at the NASA’s Kennedy Space Center for the space station.
WASHINGTON (DARPA PR) — Current satellites are not designed to be serviced in space. When a communication satellite in geosynchronous orbit (GEO) fails 36,000 kilometers above the earth, typically, it is moved into a “graveyard” orbit where it remains indefinitely. Many of the satellites which are obsolete or have failed still have usable antennas, solar arrays and other components which are expected to last much longer than the life of the satellite, but currently there is no way to re-use them.
WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — The next-generation engine that will help carry humans deeper into space than ever is back, bigger and better. The J-2X engine is currently on the A-2 Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi for an extensive round of tests to build on last year’s successful test firings. The engine will provide upper-stage power for NASA’s evolved Space Launch System (SLS), a new heavy-lift rocket capable of missions to deep space.
“We’re making steady and tangible progress on our new heavy-lift rocket that will launch astronauts on journeys to destinations farther in our solar system,” said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, who recently visited Stennis and saw the J-2X in its test stand. “As we continue test firings of the J-2X engine and a myriad of other work to open the next great chapter of exploration, we’re demonstrating our commitment right now to America’s continued leadership in space.”
Congratulations to STAR Systems of Phoenix, which has hit its $20,000 fund-raising target on Kickstarter to fund work on its Hermes space plane.
A description of the spacecraft and the development effort from the company’s website is shown below:
The Hermes spacecraft, named after the ancient Greek god of boundaries and the people cross them, is a suborbital space shuttle for everyone, built on the premise that anyone should be able to take a trip into space without spending their life savings. It’s inspired by people like yourself who want to go into space but don’t want to spend a fortune to get there. “There aren’t too many people who get to be astronauts,” explains Morris Jarvis, the founder of STAR Systems and the Hermes spacecraft. “I think anybody who wants to fly into space should have that opportunity.”
Dream Chaser cockpit simulator. (Credit: Sierra Nevada Corporation)
Richmond, B.C. (MDA PR) – MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (TSX: MDA), a provider of essential information solutions, announced today that it has signed a contract with Sierra Nevada Corporation to provide an engineering concept for a communications solution for the ongoing phase of NASA’s Commercial Crew Development program. This program aims at developing a reusable spacecraft to transport crew and critical cargo to the International Space Station and then return to Earth.
Sarah Brightman. (Credit: Eckhard Pecher)
Virgin United PR — Virgin Galactic, the world’s first spaceline, and the Virgin Group’s not-for-profit Virgin Unite have come together to announce the Galactic Unite STEM Scholarship Program.
Virgin Galactic Future Astronauts Jann Bytheway and Global recording artist/UNESCO Artist for Peace Ambassador Sarah Brightman have, by generous donations, created the Galactic Unite STEM Scholarship Program, which will be managed through a partnership with UNCF (United Negro College Fund), one of the nation’s largest private providers of minority scholarships.
The Bytheway and Brightman STEM Scholarship Program will help young females in the US pursue STEM education throughout their four-year college career, providing a much needed boost to the current participation of females in this area. The first scholarships will be awarded this fall. The application deadline is May 31, 2012.
MOSCOW (Roscosmos PR) — On April 28 in Moscow, there was signed the Agreement on Cooperation between the Accounting Chamber of the Russian Federation and the Federal Space Agency, which was signed by Chairman of Russian Accounts Chamber Sergei Stepashin and head of the Russian Space Agency V.A. Popovkin.
Stepashin said that “the Federal Space Agency is undergoing considerable transformation, preparing new organizational changes. Today it is necessary to restore order. This is due to the initiative and the Federal Space Agency to sign our agreement. “
SACRAMENTO, Calif., Apr 26, 2012 (Aerojet PR) — Aerojet, a GenCorp company, announced today that it successfully completed development testing of its MR-104H 100 lbf-class monopropellant hydrazine thruster.
Working with Boeing Exploration Launch Systems and NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Aerojet successfully completed environmental and hot-fire performance testing of the MR-104H in Redmond, Wash. The MR-104 product line matured under NASA’s Constellation program and is applicable for future space vehicles.
The Freedom Star, a former space shuttle solid rocket booster recovery ship, is now a floating high tech camera and radar platform that will be stationed in the North Atlantic to track and capture images of the first commercial spacecraft carrying cargo to the International Space Station. Credit: NASA
By Kathy Barnstorff
NASA Langley Research Center
The SCIFLI (Scientifically Calibrated In Flight Imagery) team, based at NASA’s Langley Research Center In Hampton, Va., is preparing to capture high definition video and thermal imagery of the SpaceX launch as the Falcon 9 rocket and its Dragon capsule climb through the atmosphere on their way to the International Space Station. Launch of this historic first commercial spacecraft carrying cargo to ISS is scheduled no earlier than May 7.
The team will have sophisticated optical systems stationed on the ground near Daytona Beach and for the first time ever on board a ship, the Freedom Star. The Freedom Star and its sister ship, Liberty Star, which were built to recover space shuttle solid rocket boosters, will also track the spacecraft during the mission using NASA diagnostic radar systems. Both ships will be off the coast of the northeastern United States. They are home ported at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station adjacent to Kennedy Space Center in Florida.