SpaceX’s Dragon cargo capsule has successfully berthed with the International Space Station (ISS) after leaving from Cape Canaveral, on March 1. It was the first Falcon 9 launch after an anomaly occurred during launch in October 2012. Friday’s launch and planned rendezvous has not been without incident however; the unmanned Dragon successfully delivered 555 kilograms of food supplies and scientific experiments [...]
Post Tagged with: “SpaceX”
Dragon Glitch Delays ISS Delivery
Promptly at 10:10 a.m. local time, a Falcon 9 rocket carrying SpaceX’s Dragon cargo vessel made a picture perfect launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida. There was no sign of the anomaly that had disabled one of the Falcon’s nine engines on the previous mission and separation proceeded nominally. After Dragon separated, however, a new problem cropped up. The first sign [...]
Faster than Expected: Baumgartner’s Jump Exceeded Expectations
The three month’s analysis of data regarding the historic jump of Austrian adventurer Felix Baumgartner has brought interesting results. During his supersonic fall from the edge of space, Baumgartner was hurtling even faster than previously calculated. The final data were made public as a part of a comprehensive report issued on February 5, 2013. What are the revised figures then? [...]
News Shorts: New Problem for Sea Launch, Bigelow Reveals Pricing for Space Station, Satellite To Be Stored During Merger
No Rest For Sea Launch After the failing of the Zenit 3SL rocket, which resulted in a Boeing-built satellite plunging into the Pacific Ocean, Boeing has filed suit against its Sea Launch partner. Boeing has postulated that its partners had failed to pay more than $356 million owed after the joint venture went into bankruptcy in 2009. The lawsuit, filed [...]
NASA Approves Next Falcon 9 Mission Following October Anomaly
NASA feels certain of SpaceX’s capacity to safely deliver another supply cargo to the International Space Station (ISS) on March 1 from Cape Canaveral, although the joint investigation into Falcon 9’s rocket engine malfunction is still open. Mike Suffredini, NASA’s ISS program manager, reported that the rocket engines are now “good to go” during a press conference on ISS status [...]
The Merlin Engine, Presented by SpaceX’s Tom Mueller
Have you ever had a hankering to understand exactly what’s going on in the midst of all those fireworks at a launch of SpaceX’s Falcon 9? Tom Mueller, SpaceX’s Vice President of Propulsion Development, obliges with this narrated schematic of the engine Mueller designed in his garage before being discovered by Elon Musk. Mueller became a founding employee of SpaceX and his Merlin rocket [...]
SpaceX to Launch Private Astronauts in 2015
On January 9, SpaceX announced its readiness to launch U.S. astronauts, employed by SpaceX itself, into orbit by 2015. “We want to know when commercial companies are ready to fly their crew at their own risk,” said Ed Mango, manager of NASA’s commercial-crew program. The idea is for NASA’s commercial partners to demonstrate the safety and operability of the new craft [...]
Bigelow Contract Could Bring Inflatable Module to ISS by 2016
Bigelow Aerospace and NASA have signed a $17.8 million contract that could bring an inflatable module to be attached on the International Space Station. NASA spokesman Trent Perrotto told Space News that the deal was signed in late December 2012, but he did not reveal the terms of the agreement, saying only that it centers on the Bigelow Expanded Aerospace [...]
Orbital Sciences to Test New Rocket and Spacecraft Mockup in February
Orbital Sciences Corporation is set to test their new two stage Antares rocket in February this year, along with a mass simulator for their Cygnus cargo freighter. If all goes well with the demonstration, the company will be following the test with an ISS-Cygnus berthing mission in April. Both missions will be launched from Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) in Virginia. [...]
SpaceX Grasshopper Leaps with 2 Meter Cowboy
On December 17, SpaceX conducted a test flight of its reusable vertical takeoff, vertical landing rocket Grasshopper. The 12 story pin-straight test was enlivened by the addition of a 6 ft (2 m) cowboy. The cowboy – a model, naturally – was provided for scale, according to a tweet from SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, although one imagines the Texans at [...]
