Archive for the ‘International Space Station’ Category
Saturday, April 30th, 2011
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Blue Origin Spacecraft
Image Credit:
NASA / Blue Origin
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Third in our series on the second round of funding in the Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program is the secretive Blue Origin company. The award of $22 million has been announced by NASA.
Funding from this round will help with development through the requirements review stage including work on the thermal protection system and an analysis of the aerodynamics of its cone shaped body.
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The spacecraft is designed to carry seven astronauts to low Earth orbit.
It will carry astronauts and cargo to and from the International Space Station and serve as an ISS emergency escape vehicle for up to 210 days. The vehicle is designed for launch on an Atlas V rocket.
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Tags: Atlas V, Blue Origin, CCDev, Commercial Crew Development, NASA
Posted in Commercial Spaceflight, Dave Fischer, International Space Station, Space | No Comments »
Friday, April 29th, 2011
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Endeavour at T-Minus 6 Hours
Image Credit: NASA TV
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The launch of Endeavour was scrubbed today due to a failed heater in the APU (Auxiliary Power Unit) of the Shuttle. It looks like there are multiple failures on APU1. The Load Control Assembly appears to be the problem, although a short is possible. The next launch opportunity following repairs will be no earlier than Monday, and most likely Wednesday.
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Tags: APU, Auxiliary Power Unit, Endeavour, International Space Station, ISS, LCU, Load Control Assembly, NASA, Space Shuttle, STS-134
Posted in Dave Fischer, International Space Station, NASA, Space, Space Shuttle | No Comments »
Monday, April 25th, 2011
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NASA HL-20
Image Credit: NASA
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The second round of funding in the Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program has been announced by NASA.
Sierra Nevada Corporation received $80 million in the second round to go with the $20 million it received in 2010. Sierra Nevada acquired the Dream Chaser project in December 2008, and won funding in round one of the CCDev program. This was the largest award in round one.
The project derives from the HL-20 program undertaken in 1990 by NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.
The Dream Chaser is designed to carry up to seven people to the International Space Station and back.
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The vehicle is designed to launch vertically on an Atlas V rocket and land horizontally on conventional runways.
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Tags: Atlas 5, CCDev, Commercial Crew Development, Dream Chaser, HL-20, International Space Station, ISS, Langley Research Center, NASA, Sierra Nevada Corporation
Posted in Commercial Spaceflight, Dave Fischer, International Space Station, NASA, Space | 1 Comment »
Friday, April 22nd, 2011
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Boeing CST-100
Image Credit: Boeing
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NASA announced the second round of funding in the Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program.
Boeing was the big winner in CCDev-2, getting $92.3 million, on top of the $18 million it won last year.
The initial $18 million allowed Boeing to complete several risk reduction demonstrations and a System Definition Review (SDR) in October, 2010. The CST-100’s system characteristics and configuration were base-lined. Boeing designed, built and tested a pressurized structure of the crew module. It also developed an avionics systems integration facility to support rapid prototyping and full-scale development.
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Boeing notes that the CST-100 spacecraft relies on proven materials and subsystem technologies that are safe and affordable.
Plans include ferrying astronauts and supplies to the International Space Station (ISS), as well as crew and passengers to the Space Station being proposed by Bigelow Aerospace. The CST-100 is designed to carry up to seven passengers and is designed to be launched by a number of different expendable launch vehicles. These include United Launch Alliance’s Delta 4 and Atlas 5, Space Exploration Technologies’ Falcon 9, and the European Ariane 5.
NASA’s new 14-month CCDev-2 Space Act Agreement will enable Boeing to further mature its system to a Preliminary Design Review (PDR), a critical step that ensures the system design meets all requirements.
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Tags: Ariane 5, Arianespace, Atlas 5, Boeing, CCDev, Commercial Crew Development, CST-100, Delta 4, Falcon 9, Space Exploration Technology, SpaceX, United Launch Alliance
Posted in Commercial Spaceflight, Dave Fischer, International Space Station, Space, Space Transportation | No Comments »
Monday, February 21st, 2011
Image Credit: NASA
With the extension of the lifetime of the International Space Station to 2020, and perhaps beyond, the maintenance and resupply of the station becomes critical. This is the third in a series examining the international effort to maintain a robust human mission on the ISS.
The Russian resupply vessel Progress M-09M (P41) docked with the Pirs module of the International Space Station (ISS) on 30 January 2011. It is the second of three resupply spacecraft that will arrive in close succession early in 2011.
Previously, the Japanese HTV2 cargo vessel “Kounotori” docked with the Harmony module on the International Space Station on 27 January 2011. Progress M-07M (P39) undocked from the Zvezda module on the ISS on Sunday 20th February at 1:12 PM GMT, to make way for the European Space Agency’s “Johaness Kepler” ATV-2 resupply mission, which launched on 16 February 2011, and is expected to dock on 24 February.
During the undocking, Russian thrusters were in control of the station’s attitude control. US Control Moment Gyroscopes (CMGs) resumed control of the ISS later on Sunday. Following the undocking, 39P was commanded to conduct it’s de-orbit burn for a destructive re-entry over the Pacific Ocean at 4:12 PM GMT on Sunday.
On 25 February, STS-133 Discovery is expected to launch and dock two days later with the ISS. Kounotori will be moved to the top of the Harmony module (facing away from Earth) and Discovery will dock at the port facing Earth.
Cross Section of the Progress M Spacecraft
Image Credit: RKK Energia
Progress M-09M will supply 2,666 kilograms (5,880 lb) of cargo to the space station, including:
- 1,444 kilograms (3,180 lb) of dry cargo
- 752 kilograms (1,660 lb) of propellant
- 50 kilograms (110 lb) of oxygen
- 420 kilograms (930 lb) of water
Tags: ATV2, Discovery, ESA, European Space Agency, Harmony, HTV2, International Space Station, ISS, Johannes Kepler, Kounotori, NASA, Pirs, Progress M-07M, Progress M-09M, Roscosmos, Russian Space Agency, Space Shuttle, STS-133, Zvezda
Posted in Dave Fischer, International Space Station, NASA, Russian Space Agency | 1 Comment »
Saturday, January 29th, 2011
The external exposed cargo includes a Flex Hose Rotary Coupler and Cargo Transport Container. These spare parts will be transferred to External Logistics Carrier 4 after it is installed during the Discovery STS-133 mission.
The pressurized cargo space is carrying 2,928 kilograms of supplies and equipment:
- 630 kilograms of crew provisions
- 1,626 kilograms of research equipment and supplies
- 609 kilograms) of station hardware
- 49 kilograms of computers and supplies
- 14 kilograms of spacewalking equipment and supplies
Among the new research equipment will be the Japanese Kobairo gradient heating furnace for generating high-quality crystals from melting materials, an Amine Swingbed technology demonstration that will look at ways to revitalize the air on space vehicles, and the International Space Station Agricultural Camera, which will take frequent images, in visible and infrared light, of vegetated areas on the Earth.
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Canadarm2 Captures HTV2
Image Credit: NASA
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Removing cargo through the hatch on HTV2
Image Credit: JAXA
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Tags: Amine Swingbed Technology Demonstration, ATV, Canadarm2, ESA, Europeans Space Agency, HTV-2, International Space Station, International Space Station Agricultural Camera, ISS, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, JAXA, Johannes Kepler, Kobairo Gradient Heating Furnace, Kounotori, NASA, Space Station Remote Manipulation System, SSRMS, STS-133
Posted in Dave Fischer, ESA, European Space Agency, Event, ISDC, International Space Station, JAXA, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Mark Hopkins, NASA, Science | 1 Comment »
