Archive for January, 2014

Atlas Boosts NASA’s TDRS-L to Orbit

Atlas Boosts NASA’s TDRS-L to Orbit

On Thursday evening, a United Launch Alliance Atlas V  401 booster launched NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, TDRS-L on its way to geostationary transfer orbit. After testing, the spacecraft will move to its permanent station at 49 degrees West where it will join the rest of the TDRS fleet in providing space to ground […]

Sierra Nevada Announces 2016 Flight for Dream Chaser

Sierra Nevada Announces 2016 Flight for Dream Chaser

At a news conference at the Kennedy Space Center today, Sierra Nevada Corporation announced that it has contracted with United Launch Alliance for an automated test flight of its Dream Chaser space plane to take place aboard at Atlas V 402 in November of 2016.  According to SNC CEO Mark Sirangelo, the flight is not […]

SpaceX Tests Dragon Parachutes for Commercial Crew

SpaceX Tests Dragon Parachutes for Commercial Crew

  NASA Press Release: January 17, 2014 RELEASE 14-018 NASA Commercial Crew Partner SpaceX Tests Dragon Parachute System Engineers and safety specialists from NASA and Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) gathered in Morro Bay, Calif., in late December to demonstrate how the company’s Dragon spacecraft’s parachute system would function in the event of an emergency on […]

Commercial Crew Still Under Fire

Commercial Crew Still Under Fire

NASA’s Commercial Crew program continues to suffer the slings and arrows in this week’s passage of an Omnibus spending bill. After being badly underfunded for the third year in a row,  in early 2013 NASA Administrator Charles Bolden warned Congress that a failure to authorize the $821 million being requested as part of the FY2013 […]

Seeing Double: The Vision for Space Exploration Ten Years Later

Seeing Double: The Vision for Space Exploration Ten Years Later

Recent years have seen a number of meaningful space anniversaries, and to some they can are increasingly somber moments of reflection on what we once could do, on what happened a long time ago. Today however, is something else. Today marks the ten year anniversary of something the we didn’t do at all, implement the […]

Posted in: Mars, Moon, NASA
Cygnus Begins Station Stay

Cygnus Begins Station Stay

In case you missed it, here is yesterday’s press release from Orbital Sciences announcing the early morning capture and berthing of the second Cygnus cargo vessel to ISS. ORBITAL’S CYGNUS SPACECRAFT SUCCESSFULLY BERTHS WITH INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION — Rendezvous and Berthing Operations of Company’s First Operational Cargo Logistics Mission Proceeded Smoothly — — Cargo Unloading […]

Cygnus on its Way to ISS

Cygnus on its Way to ISS

Orbital Sciences Corporation’s Antares rocket lifted off precisely on time, at 1:07 p.m. EST today,  carrying the company’s Cygnus cargo vessel. Following a flawless liftoff, Cygnus was released from the second stage, deploying its solar panels a few moments later. With today’s launch, OSC has now completed three successful flights of the two stage, liquid […]

Antares Poised for Second Launch to Station

Antares Poised for Second Launch to Station

After a series of delays  beginning with a coolant pump failure which prompted a Christmas Eve spacewalk,  a blast of Arctic air which chilled much of the nation, and finally high radiation levels in space, Orbital Sciences is ready to conduct its second flight to the International Space Station, and the first of eight scheduled […]

Falcon 9 Delivers Thaicom 6 in Flawless Second Mission to GTO

Falcon 9 Delivers Thaicom 6 in Flawless Second Mission to GTO

After the various trials of the ultimately successful SES-8 mission on December 3rd,  SpaceX’s New Year’s resolutions almost certainly included a trouble free flight for its second GTO launch in 34 days, and the first of a busy 2014.  And that is exactly what they got.  This evening’s liftoff took place on time at the […]

Posted in: SpaceX
Falcon 9 on Track to Launch Thaicom 6 Today

Falcon 9 on Track to Launch Thaicom 6 Today

SpaceX is on track for the liftoff of Thaicom-6 this evening, in a launch window which opens at 5:06 p.m. EST from Cape Canaveral’s SLC-40. If all goes as planned, the Falcon 9 V1.1, in its second mission from Cape Canaveral, and its third overall, will launch the 3,016 kg satellite to an orbital slot […]

Posted in: SpaceX
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