WALLOPS ISLAND, Va. (NASA PR) — Northrop Grumman’s next NASA resupply services mission to the International Space Station is targeted for launch at 5:39 p.m. EST Sunday, Feb. 9. Live coverage of the launch and briefings will begin at 5 p.m. on NASA Television and the agency’s website.

The company’s 13th commercial resupply services mission using its Cygnus cargo spacecraft is scheduled to launch on its Antares rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

SS John Glenn near the International Space Station. (Credit: NASA)

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL. (May 16, 2018) – The 9^th Commercial Resupply Services (awarded by NASA) mission to the International Space Station (ISS) by Orbital ATK is targeted for launch no earlier than 5:04 a.m. EDT on May 20^th. Orbital ATK’s Cygnus capsule will host multiple payloads sponsored by the ISS National Laboratory (managed by the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space). These payloads represent a diverse combination of science (life and materials sciences, chemistry evaluations), technology, small satellites, and the replenishment of hardware facilities to support future research. Additionally, multiple investigations will launch to station focused on inspiring the next generation of scientists and engineers.

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Antares rolls out for the first time. (Credit: NASA)

WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — Orbital Sciences Corporation continues to make progress in readying the Antares launch vehicle, Cygnus spacecraft and ground infrastructure for two planned flights in the next several months: an Antares test launch followed by a Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) demonstration mission to the International Space Station.
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Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum in Independence Day. (Credit: Twentieth Century Fox Corporation)

There’s a terrific scene in the film, “Independence Day,” that has great relevance to 2012.

Computer genius David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum) and Marine Capt. Steven Hiller (Will Smith) have just convinced President Thomas Whitmore (Bill Pullman) that they can fly a captured alien spacecraft up to the mothership and implant a computer virus that will take down the aliens’ defensive network, allowing humanity to launch one last, desperate counterattack. The President and his entourage depart, leaving the two men alone to plan their mission.

“You really think you can fly that thing?” Levinson asks.

“You really think you can do all that bullshit you just said?” Hiller replies.

Levinson doesn’t answer.

It’s a nice scene. Hiller’s “right back at ya response” is exactly what you’d expect from a cocky fighter jock. The fact that neither man answers the other one’s question shows they really don’t know if they can pull it off. And yet their lives, and the fate of the human race, depend on them doing precisely that.

So, do I think the Mayan predicted apocalypse set for December will involve an alien invasion? Maybe, but probably not. The scene is, however, very relevant for NewSpace this year. The time for talk is over; time to prove they can do all that bullshit they’ve been talking for so very many years.

And you know what? They might just pull it off.

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