Robert Brand’s Space News
|
When SpaceX’s Dragon capsule launches in spring 2012, a very special payload will be on board: 15 student experiments from the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program. The big deal is that those experiments from “SSEP Mission 1 to ISS” will be part of space history. Dragon will become the first commercial vehicle to dock to the International Space Station, and these student experiments have the distinction of being the only payload on board.
The launch of SpaceX’s Dragon not only marks the Article source: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/Space_Station_Here_We_Come_999.html
PRESS RELEASE
Date Released:
Friday, May 18, 2012
Source: Kennedy Space Center
More than 50 teams of undergraduate and graduate students from eight countries will come to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida May 21-26 to take part in the third annual Lunabotics Mining Competition.
Practice sessions will take place May 21-22, followed by the official competition the rest of the week. Media are invited to cover the opening day ceremony and competition Article source: http://www.moontoday.net/news/viewpr.rss.html?pid=37093
› Download Vodcast (457MB)
NASA EDGE: Mission X 2012
Transcript
Featuring
Mission X 2012 in London
- Nubia Carvajal
- Yamil Garcia
- Jeremy Curtis
- Shamim Hartevelt
- Paolo Nespoli
- Shin Yamada
- Jane Connor
- Montell Douglas
[Music]
ANNOUNCER: London, one of the world’s most historic and beautiful cities and the location of Mission X 2012. Mind the gap and join NASA EDGE as they webcast live from the Cumberland School in East London, as kids from around the world train like an astronaut.
[Music]
CHRIS: We Article source: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/podcasting/nasaedge/NE00051912_33_MissionX_2012.html
NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 19 May 2012
STATUS REPORT
Date Released:
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Source: NASA HQ
ISS On-Orbit Status 05/19/12
All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below. Saturday – Crew off duty. Today the AMS-02 (Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer 02) celebrates its First Anniversary of continuous operation on ISS – Congratulations!
After wakeup, CDR Kononenko performed the routine inspection of the SM PSS Caution Warning panel as part of Article source: http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.rss.spacewire.html?pid=40882
PRESS Release
Date Released:
Friday, May 18, 2012
Source: NOAA Office of Satellite Operations
SATOPS Morning Report: Friday, May 18, 2012
Customers or users who want to call to ask about problems or report outages can use the following contacts:
- For questions about data quality (noisy data, dropouts, schedules), GOES or POES products, or status of spacecraft can call the SAB Shift Supervisor at 301-763-8444
- To report an outage or document Article source: http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.rss.spacewire.html?pid=37104
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla — Nerves are frayed here on Florida’s space coast as commercial company SpaceX prepares to launch its Dragon capsule on the first-ever flight of a private vehicle to the International Space Station.
The milestone mission is being viewed as a test not only of Dragon but of private spaceflight in general. It will be the first commercial spaceship test flight for NASA’s new plan to outsource transportation Article source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47481042/ns/technology_and_science-space/
ScienceDaily (May 18, 2012) NASA technologists will get a chance next summer to relive the good old days when Agency engineers would affix space-age gizmos to rockets just to see if the contraptions worked.
In what will be the first of four high-altitude balloon flights to begin in the summer of 2013, technologists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., and Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Va., are preparing to test new deceleration devices that could Article source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120518104505.htm
ScienceDaily (May 18, 2012) A NASA flight test designed to demonstrate the feasibility of inflatable spacecraft technology is coming down to the wire.
The Inflatable Reentry Vehicle Experiment (IRVE-3) is the third in a series of suborbital flight tests of this new technology. It is scheduled to launch from the Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia’s Eastern Shore this summer.
Technicians will vacuum pack the uninflated 10-foot (3.05 meters) diameter cone of high-tech inner tubes into a 22-inch (56 centimeters) diameter Article source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120518103545.htm
ScienceDaily (May 18, 2012) The Dragon spacecraft built by SpaceX will head to the International Space Station with about 1,200 pounds of cargo during its demonstration mission, including commemorative patches and pins, 162 meals and a collection of student experiments.
Since the company’s rocket and spacecraft are conducting a test flight, the manifest attests to important goods for the station’s crew of astronauts and cosmonauts, but not mission-critical items.
A successful flight, due to liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Article source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120518103854.htm
Tip your editors
tips@spaceref.com
Editor-in-Chief:
Keith Cowing
Email | Twitter
Chief Architect:
Marc Boucher
Email | Twitter
Senior Editor:
Randy Attwood
Email | Twitter
Article source: http://spaceref.biz/2012/05/nasa-spacex-falcon-9-dragon-pre-launch-briefing.html
The Dragon spacecraft built by SpaceX will head to the International Space Station with about 1,200 pounds of cargo during its demonstration mission, including commemorative patches and pins, 162 meals and a collection of student experiments.
Since the company’s rocket and spacecraft are conducting a test flight, the manifest attests to important goods for the station’s crew of astronauts and cosmonauts, but not mission-critical items.
A successful flight, due to liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Article source: http://spaceref.biz/2012/05/whats-inside-dragon.html
STATUS REPORT
Date Released:
Friday, May 18, 2012
Source: Jet Propulsion Laboratory
NASA Mars Odyssey THEMIS Images: May 14-18, 2012
- Arsinoes Chaos (14 May 2012) http://themis.asu.edu/node/5892
- Pavonis Mons (15 May 2012) http://themis.asu.edu/node/5893
o Arcuate Fratures (16 May 2012) http://themis.asu.edu/node/5894
- Daedalia Planum (17 May 2012) http://themis.asu.edu/node/5895
- Channels (18 May 2012) http://themis.asu.edu/node/5896
All of the THEMIS images are archived here: http://themis.asu.edu/latest.html
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA’s Office of Space Science, Washington, Article source: http://www.marstoday.com/news/viewsr.rss.html?pid=40877
Observations from NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) have led to the best assessment yet of our solar system’s population of potentially hazardous asteroids. The results reveal new information about their total numbers, origins and the possible dangers they may pose.
Potentially hazardous asteroids, or PHAs, are a subset of the larger group of near-Earth asteroids. The PHAs have the closest orbits to Earth’s, coming within five million miles (about eight million kilometers), and they are big enough to survive passing Article source: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/NASA_Survey_Counts_Potentially_Hazardous_Asteroids_999.html
International Launch Services (ILS), a world leader in providing mission and launch services to the commercial satellite industry, successfully carried the Nimiq 6 satellite into the planned orbit today on an ILS Proton for Telesat, a leading global fixed satellite services operator headquartered in Ottawa, Canada.
The ILS Proton Breeze M launched from Pad 24 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 1:12 a.m. today local time (19:12 GMT, 3:12 p.m. EDT, on May 17).
After a 9 hour 14 minute 5-burn mission, the Article source: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/ILS_Proton_Launches_Telesats_Nimiq_6_Satellite_999.html
Space shuttle Discovery was powered up hundreds of times during prelaunch processing over the course of 26 years of spaceflight. But Dec. 16, 2011 was different. That morning, technicians inside NASA Kennedy Space Center’s orbiter processing facility powered the ship up – and then down – for the final time. Less than a week later, on Dec. 22, Atlantis followed.
“After working so many years – since 1988 – on these vehicles, it’s a little hard to say, ‘I’m taking my Article source: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/Endeavour_Powered_Down_20_Years_after_First_Launch_999.html
Arianespace provided another on-time Ariane 5 launch tonight by orbiting a pair of telecommunications spacecraft at the service of Asian region operators, on a mission that included multiple numerical milestones for the company and its customers.
Lifting off from the Spaceport in French Guiana, Arianespace’s heavy-lift workhorse delivered the JCSAT-13 and VINASAT-2 relay platforms into geostationary transfer orbits on the 48th consecutive success for Ariane 5.
The two passengers lofted on the latest mission were the 100th and 101st commercial geostationary communications Article source: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/The_numbers_add_up_in_Arianespace_latest_commercial_launch_success_with_Ariane_5_999.html
The launch of a Falcon 9 rocket has been delayed. The next launch attempt could occur on Tuesday May, 22. Photo Credit: Julian Leek / Blue Sawtooth Studios
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla – The countdown clock ticked down to zero and even ticked up for a few seconds – but it was not to be. A computer that monitors the health of the nine Merlin engines on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket detected high pressure Article source: http://www.americaspace.org/?p=19709
Over the years, many have questioned the need for Apollo 10 and why it could not be retasked to perform a lunar landing. In reality, the mission was critical in clearing up many unknowns before a landing could go ahead. Photo Credit: NASA
In the annals of space history, few dates are more important than July 1969, when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin took humanity’s first steps on the Moon. However, their Article source: http://www.americaspace.org/?p=19419
The California-based company SpaceX on Saturday scrubbed the launch of its Dragon capsule toward the International Space Station at the last second due to a rocket engine problem.
The abort came a half-second before liftoff due to high pressure in the center engine of the Falcon 9 rocket, forcing a shutdown of the launch attempt. The next try is expected May 22 at 3:44 am (0744 GMT).
“This is not failure. We aborted with purpose. It would be a failure if we Article source: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/SpaceX_aborts_launch_to_ISS_999.html
Shaking off jitters, SpaceX counted down Friday to liftoff of its Dragon capsule to the International Space Station in what may be a historic mission for private spaceflight.
The blastoff of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, carrying the unmanned Dragon and over half a ton of cargo toward the orbiting lab, is scheduled for 4:55 am (0855 GMT) Saturday from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in south Florida.
Air Force weather officials said the forecast was 70 percent favorable for the first-of-its Article source: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/SpaceX_readies_ambitious_ISS_launch_999.html
PRESS Release
Date Released:
Friday, May 18, 2012
Source: Aerospace Industries Association
Statement by AIA President CEO Marion C. Blakey
Arlington, Va. — The Aerospace Industries Association welcomes House action on satellite export reform in the fiscal year 2013 National Defense Authorization Act. The language would return authority to the president for determining export controls for satellites and related technologies and is an important step towards strengthening our national security and opening Article source: http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.rss.spacewire.html?pid=37099
Hubble Spies Edge-on Beauty NGC 891
STATUS REPORT
Date Released:
Friday, May 18, 2012
Source: Goddard Space Flight Center
Visible in the constellation of Andromeda, NGC 891 is located approximately 30 million light-years away from Earth. The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope turned its powerful wide field Advanced Camera for Surveys towards this spiral galaxy and took this close-up of its northern half. The galaxy’s central bulge is just out of the image on the bottom left.
The galaxy, spanning some 100,000 Article source: http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.rss.spacewire.html?pid=40875
A team from NASA’s Langley Research Center will have its eyes, cameras and telescopes trained on the skies for the launch of the first commercial spaceflight carrying cargo to the International Space Station.
The SCIFLI (Scientifically Calibrated In Flight Imagery) team, based at NASA Langley, is preparing to capture visual and thermal snapshots of the SpaceX launch as the Falcon 9 rocket and its Dragon capsule climb through the atmosphere on their way to the ISS. The launch is scheduled for Article source: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/NASA_Langley_SCIFLI_Team_To_Take_Images_Of_SpaceX_C2_Launch_999.html
ScienceDaily (May 18, 2012) Researchers at MIT, NASA and elsewhere have detected a possible planet, some 1,500 light years away, that appears to be evaporating under the blistering heat of its parent star. The scientists infer that a long tail of debris — much like the tail of a comet — is following the planet, and that this tail may tell the story of the planet’s disintegration. According to the team’s calculations, the tiny exoplanet, not much larger Article source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120518192328.htm
Europe’s photovoltaic market continued to boom in 2011, with installed capacity doubling across the 27 EU member countries, new research indicates.
EurObserv’ER, an EU-backed renewable energy research group said in a report issued Tuesday that cumulative photovoltaic capacity in the European Union at the end of 2011 was 51.3 gigawatts-peak — up from 29.8 gigawatts-peak the previous year.
European users hooked up 56 percent more solar capacity in 2011 than they did in 2010, with 21.5 gigawatts-peak coming online during a year Article source: http://www.solardaily.com/reports/EU_solar_boom_sees_doubling_of_capacity_999.html
The Tracking and Data Relay Satellite 4 (TDRS-4) recently completed almost 23 years of operations support and successfully completed end-of-mission de-orbit and decommissioning activities. TDRS-4′s operational life span was well beyond its original 10-year design.
Launched on March 13, 1989, from onboard Space Shuttle Discovery, TDRS-4 operated in geosynchronous (GEO) altitude at more than 22,000 miles above the Atlantic Article source: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/features/tdrs4-retired.html
ISS On-Orbit Status 05/16/12
All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below.
· Sleep Cycle Shift: Due to tonight’s midnight arrival (12:38am EDT) of Soyuz 30 at the station, the ISS crew has a short workday (11h) and a long one tomorrow (14h 30m):
o Wake – 2:00am (this morning)
o Article source: http://www.nasa.gov/directorates/heo/reports/iss_reports/2012/05162012.html
PRESS Release
Date Released:
Friday, May 18, 2012
Source: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
AIAA, IAF Event Will Bring Together World Space Leaders to Discuss Future of Exploration
What:
- Global Space Exploration Conference (GLEX)
When:
- Tuesday, May 22 – Thursday, May 24, 2012
Where:
- L’Enfant Plaza Hotel, 480 L’Enfant Plaza Southwest, Washington, D.C.
Who:
- Charles Bolden, administrator, NASA
- Jean-Jacques Dordain, director general, European Space Agency
- Steve MacLean, president, Canadian Article source: http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.rss.spacewire.html?pid=37098
PRESS Release
Date Released:
Friday, May 18, 2012
Source: Satellite Industry Association
Washington, D.C., May 18, 2012 – The Satellite Industry Association (SIA) applauds the passage of H.R. 4310, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 (“NDAA”), which includes a provision that would reform the U.S. framework for satellite export controls. The provision was offered as an amendment to the NDAA on May 17, and was endorsed by a strong Article source: http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.rss.spacewire.html?pid=37094
Tip your editors
tips@spaceref.com
Editor-in-Chief:
Keith Cowing
Email | Twitter
Chief Architect:
Marc Boucher
Email | Twitter
Senior Editor:
Randy Attwood
Email | Twitter
Article source: http://spaceref.biz/2012/05/commerical-crew-telecon-with-nasa.html
PRESS Release
Date Released:
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Source: Texas AM University
Climate change on Earth is always a big topic. Climate change on Mars could be even bigger.
NASA’s top scientists – including a Texas AM University researcher – hope to find out how Mars’ climate has evolved over billions of years, and answers could come soon in the mission involving Curiosity , a Volkswagen-sized rover that is headed toward the Red Article source: http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.rss.spacewire.html?pid=37085
Image: Daphnis and Pan Perturb Saturn’s Rings
STATUS REPORT
Date Released:
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Source: Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Saturn’s moons Daphnis and Pan demonstrate their effects on the planet’s rings in this view from the Cassini spacecraft.
Daphnis (5 miles, or 8 kilometers across), on the left of the image, orbits in the Keeler Gap of the A ring. The moon’s gravitational pull perturbs the orbits of the particles of the A ring forming the gap’s edge and sculpts the Article source: http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.rss.spacewire.html?pid=40860
STATUS REPORT
Date Released:
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Source: NASA Lunar Science Institute
NASA NLSI Lecture: The Moon as a Touchstone for Solar System Science
Date/ Time of Talk: Tuesday, May 29, 2012 9:00AM PDT, 16:00 UTC
Presenter: James W. Head, Department of Geological Sciences, Brown University
Title: “The Moon as a Touchstone for Solar System Science”
Abstract: Ever since our own Home Planet Earth and our satellite, the Moon, began to be perceived in Article source: http://www.moontoday.net/news/viewsr.rss.html?pid=40865
|
USING THIS AUTOMATED SITE: Each story on the HOME page has a shortened URL. Click to access the story.
Search Twitter hashtag: #rbsn for Robert Brand's Space News Tweets
|
