Antares Engines Roar On The Launch Pad For The First Time
NASA commercial partner Orbital Sciences of Dulles, Va., successfully conducted an engine test of its Antares rocket Friday at the nation's newest launch pad. The firing was one of the last major tests before the rocket's maiden launch.
The invention of the CubeSat standard by the California Polytechnic State University ushered in a revolution in the utilization and exploration of space by both governmental and civilian users. With a total volume as small as a 1,000 cubic centimeters, cubesats have enabled relatively economical space access for industrial, academic and private organizations that previously couldn’t afford the high costs associated with developing and launching larger satellites. They have also enabled innovative low-cost missions to be conducted by NASA and space agencies around the world.
Now, students and the public are invited to participate in an innovative experimental demonstration of solar sail technology sponsored by the non-profit Aerospace Research & Engineering Systems Institute, Inc. The LunarSail project will be a first of its kind mission to send a cubesat outfitted with a solar sail beyond low Earth orbit.
Thundering into cloudless blue skies, a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket successfully completed its first mission to deploy a Global Positioning System satellite for the Unuted States Air Force. Roaring off the launch pad exactly on time at 5:38 p.m. EDT, Atlas completed its mission three and a half hours later when it deployed GPS IIF-4 into an orbit 11,000 miles above the Earth. This was both the first GPS mission for the Atlas (all previous GPS satellites were launched on Delta II and Delta IV rockets) and the first of two launches scheduled in seven days from Cape Canaveral A.F.S.
“The ULA team is honored to place another next-generation GPS satellite on orbit for our US Air Force customer,” said Jim Sponnick, ULA vice president, Mission Operations. “Today’s successful delivery of the GPS IIF-4 mission represents the 70th launch success in the 77 months since ULA was formed – an accomplishment made possible by seamless integration of the customer and industry team; reliable production and launch operation processes; and a one-launch-at-a-time focus on mission success for these critical space assets.”
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The Soyuz TMA-07M spacecraft is seen as it lands with Expedition 35 Commander Chris Hadfield of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), NASA Flight Engineer Tom Marshburn and Soyuz Commander Roman Romanenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, on May 14, 2013. Hadfield, Marshburn and Romanenko returned from five months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 34 and 35 crews. Photo Credit: NASA/Carla Cioffi
Three members of the International Space Station Expedition 35 crew undocked from the orbiting laboratory and returned safely to Earth Monday, May 13, wrapping up a mission lasting almost five months. The departure marks the beginning of Expedition 36.
Expedition 35 Flight Engineers Chris Cassidy and Tom Marshburn completed a spacewalk at 2:14 p.m. EDT Saturday to inspect and replace a pump controller box on the International Space Station’s far port truss (P6) leaking ammonia coolant. The pair began the 5-hour, 30-minute spacewalk at 8:44 a.m.
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WASHINGTON, DC – NASA’s newest scientific rover is set for testing May 3 through June 8 in the highest part of Greenland. The robot known as GROVER, which stands for both Greenland Rover and Goddard Remotely Operated Vehicle for Exploration and Research, will roam the frigid landscape collecting measurements to help scientists better understand changes in the massive ice sheet. This autonomous, solar-powered robot carries a ground-penetrating radar to study how snow accumulates, adding layer upon layer to the ice sheet over time.
A test version of NASA’s Orion spacecraft safely landed during a simulation of two types of parachute failures May 1. In the test, conducted in Yuma, Ariz., the mock capsule was traveling about 250 mph when the parachutes were deployed. That is the highest speed the craft has experienced as part of the test series designed to certify Orion’s parachute system for carrying humans.
NASA is inviting members of the public to submit their names and a personal message online for a DVD to be carried aboard a spacecraft that will study the Martian upper atmosphere.
Scheduled for launch in November, the DVD will be in NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft. The DVD is part of the mission’s Going to Mars Campaign coordinated at the University of Colorado at Boulder’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (CU/LASP).
State lawmakers have shown strong support for Florida’s aerospace industry in the 2013 Legislative Session by renewing Space Florida’s $10 million operating and business development budget (including the second year of $4 million in recurring funds). This demonstrates that the ongoing, proactive development of the dynamic aerospace industry in our state is a top priority.
Two prominent aerospace industry organizations are recognizing the contributions of NASA, especially the achievements of the team that landed NASA’s Curiosity rover on Mars in August, with coveted awards. The National Aeronautic Association (NAA) will present its Robert J. Collier Trophy to the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Team of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., at an event in Arlington, Va., Thursday night. At an event in Washington on Wednesday, the team received the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Foundation Award.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona
The team operating NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover on Mars has selected a second target rock for drilling and sampling. The rover will set course to the drilling location in coming days. This second drilling target, called “Cumberland,” lies about nine feet (2.75 meters) west of the rock where Curiosity’s drill first touched Martian stone in February. Curiosity took the first rock sample ever collected on Mars from that rock, called “John Klein.” The rover found evidence of an ancient environment favorable for microbial life. Both rocks are flat, with pale veins and a bumpy surface. They are embedded in a layer of rock on the floor of a shallow depression called “Yellowknife Bay.”
(Photo Description: This map shows the location of “Cumberland,” the second rock-drilling target for NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity, in relation to the rover’s first drilling target, “John Klein,” within the southwestern lobe of a shallow depression called “Yellowknife Bay.” Cumberland, like John Klein, is a patch of flat-lying bedrock with pale veins and bumpy surface texture. The bumpiness is due to erosion-resistant nodules within the rock, which have been identified as concretions resulting from the action of mineral-laden water.
North is to the top of the map. The scale bar is 50 meters (164 feet). Cumberland lies about nine feet (2.75 meters) west of John Klein. The base map is part of an image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The mapped area is within Gale Crater and north of the mountain called Mount Sharp in the middle of the crater. After completion of investigations near the edge of Yellowknife Bay, the rover’s main science destination will be on the lower reaches of Mount Sharp. For broader-context views of the area, see PIA16832, PIA16064 and PIA16058.)
May 24, 2013 at 10:10 am Matthew Travis shared NASA Commercial Crew Program's status update.
What do you think needs to go into a flight itinerary for missions to low-Earth orbit? Find out at 4 p.m. EDT what SpaceX is doing to meet such a milestone.
May 24, 2013 at 7:08 am Students And The Public Invited To Participate In Solar Sail Mission http://t.co/ocRklOBfCj #Aerospace
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Students And The Public Invited To Participate In Solar Sail Mission. Students and the public are invited to participate in an innovative experimental demonstration of solar sail technology. The LunarSail project will be a first of its kind mission to send a cubesat outfitted with a solar sail beyon…
May 24, 2013 at 4:46 am Matthew Travis shared Miguel Gonçalves's photo.
May 24, 2013 at 3:04 am LunarSail public announcement:
CAPE CANAVERAL – Students and the public are invited to participate in an innovative experimental demonstration of solar sail technology sponsored by the non-profit Aerospace Research & Engineering Systems Institute, Inc. The LunarSail project will be a first of its kind mission to send a cubesat beyond low Earth orbit.
The mission of the LunarSail project is to prove the ability of a cubesat-class spacecraft under solar sail propulsion to leave Earth orbit, navigate a lunar orbit rendezvous trajectory and execute orbital insertion around the Moon. It is intended to demonstrate practical application of solar sail technology for propulsion, trajectory control and rendezvous with another body in space.
LunarSail will take advantage of the cubesat platform to conduct the first ever mission to use a solar sail to send a spacecraft into orbit around the Moon. With dimensions as small as a 10 centimeter cube, cubesats have enabled relatively economical space access for industrial, academic and private organizations that previously couldn’t afford the high costs associated with developing and launching larger satellites.
LunarSail is a non-traditional space exploration mission. It is a “citizen space mission” and relies on the contributions and participation of the public. A substantial amount of the development budget is being fulfilled via crowdfunding and donations from private citizens and supporters of commercial space exploration. The Institute has established financing campaigns via the crowdfunding websites Indiegogo, RocketHub and Kickstarter in addition to direct donations via the project website. Additionally, people may donate labor, software programming and ideas, thereby becoming participants and co-owners of the mission - stakeholders in its success.
As part of the plan to conduct a citizen space mission, social media outreach is being integrated into every aspect of the mission from development and assembly through launch and once the spacecraft is in orbit around the Moon. In addition to radio, cameras and telemetry, social media will be another means of communicating to and from the spacecraft. It will be extremely inspiring for people to send their creative works to space and watch as they are delivered to a global audience. The public, especially children, artists, musicians and other creative types are invited to submit messages, graphics, music and short video clips that will be stored onboard the spacecraft in a reserved area of computer memory storage. Once in lunar orbit, LunarSail will broadcast contributors’ artwork and content for reception on Earth.
LunarSail is an “open-source” project. Except for restricted or third-party proprietary material, hardware designs and source code will be publicly available on the project website. LunarSail’s primary computer is planned to be based on the Raspberry Pi single-board computer running a version of the Linux operating system. Linux is open source and the software we develop to run on top of it will also comply with open source licensing. Feedback and input will be sought and welcomed from the wider community and everyone with skills that may contribute to the success of the mission are invited to participate.
LunarSail will make history. It will be the first successful solar sail mission conducted by the private sector and the first solar sail to orbit another celestial body. More importantly, LunarSail is a mission of inspiration and exploration. It will inspire young students to pursue careers in science and engineering. For the wider public audience, the mission will demonstrate the importance of a vibrant commercial space industry and space exploration.
For more information about LunarSail, visit the project website at http://www.lunarsail.com.
ABOUT ARES INSTITUTE, INC.
Founded in 2002, the Aerospace Research & Engineering Systems Institute, Inc. is a 501 (c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit organization dedicated to promoting space exploration and STEM education through hands-on educational projects and public outreach. The Institute manages innovative programs such as LunarSail in order to give young students and the public the opportunity to work on real-world space-related projects, ARES Institute also engages in extensive public outreach including the online publication Zero-G News (zerognews.com) and a forthcoming trade magazine, Aerospace Florida. Contributions to ARES Institute are tax-deductible to the full extent permissible by law. For more information, visit http://www.aresinstitute.org.
LunarSail will be the first solar sail to enter Lunar orbit. The first crowdsourced mission to cislunar space. An exciting project involving students, artists and the public in a mission to explore space and advanced technology development.
May 24, 2013 at 2:29 am http://www.lunarsail.com/lunarsail-fact-sheet/
LunarSail will be the first solar sail to enter Lunar orbit. The first crowdsourced mission to cislunar space. An exciting project involving students, artists and the public in a mission to explore space and advanced technology development.
Tonight's scheduled Delta IV rocket launch has been scrubbed for 24 hours due to a technical problem. Launch has been reset for 8:27 pm Friday night.
May 23, 2013 at 6:39 am Yeah.... apparently, it did...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-22635671
Space engineers in Ecuador are trying to establish if the country's only satellite has been destroyed in a crash with space debris.
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