Archive for July, 2014

SpaceX Video Confirms Soft Landing on Orbomm Flight

SpaceX Video Confirms Soft Landing on Orbomm Flight

  SpaceX released the following video of the first stage return on the July 14 Orbcomm mission. Early front runner for best short film of the year. SpaceX Description Published on Jul 22, 2014 Video of the Falcon 9 first stage reentry and landing following successful delivery of six ORBCOMM satellites to orbit. This test […]

Posted in: SpaceX
Sierra Nevada Completes Another Milestone for Dream Chaser

Sierra Nevada Completes Another Milestone for Dream Chaser

  Image Credit: SNC Sierra Nevada Press Release: Sparks, Nev., July 22, 2014 – Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) announces it has successfully passed Milestone 9, the Risk Reduction and Technology Readiness Level (TRL) Advancement Testing milestone, for several critical Dream Chaser® systems under NASA’s Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) agreement. Milestone 9 culminated in a […]

NASA Commercial Crew Partners Advancing

NASA Commercial Crew Partners Advancing

NASA Press Release RELEASE 14-194 NASA Partners Punctuate Summer with Spacecraft Development Advances Spacecraft and rocket development is on pace this summer for NASA’s aerospace industry partners for the agency’s Commercial Crew Program as they progress through systems testing, review boards and quarterly sessions under their Space Act Agreements with the agency. NASA engineers and […]

45 Years Later

45 Years Later

Editorial: Forty five years after the Apollo 11 Moon landing, NASA is looking back, and NASA is looking ahead, but should it be looking itself in the mirror? NASA is celebrating the 45th anniversary of the July 20, 1969 “Giant Leap” with a series of events over the week, as well it should. At the […]

Posted in: NASA
A New Iron Age: On Mars

A New Iron Age: On Mars

Image Credit : NASA Sometimes Mars just seems to be begging us to come stay a while. Composites are all the rage on Earth, and perhaps rightfully so. But one planet further out and making use of what is immediately available and our perspective may change somewhat. Take a look at the NASA news story […]

Posted in: Mars
Cygnus Vessel SS Janice E Voss Berthed to ISS

Cygnus Vessel SS Janice E Voss Berthed to ISS

Image Credit: NASA TV Following an uneventful approach to ISS after its launch from Wallops on Sunday, the Orbital Sciences Cygnus cargo vessel SS Janice E. Voss is for now, a component of the Station itself. The vessel was grappled at 5:36 am CDT by Expedition 40 Commander Steve Swanson who was operating out of […]

SpaceX, OSC and a Window Into the Future

SpaceX, OSC and a Window Into the Future

Image Credit: SpaceX The timing of course, was ultimately a matter of co-incidence driven by weather and mechanical issues, but the back to back launches of the OSC Antares with a Cygnus re-supply ship, and the SpaceX Falcon 9 carrying the first Orbcomm OG-2 mission happen to highlight the stunning progress which has been wrought […]

SpaceX Orbcomm Mission Lifts Off to a Long Awaited Success, First Stage Breaks Up On Landing

SpaceX Orbcomm Mission Lifts Off to a Long Awaited Success, First Stage Breaks Up On Landing

Lifting off into a bright blue sky punctuated by intermittent clouds, the SpaceX Falcon 9 / Orbcomm OG-2 mission launched at 11:15 am EDT today from Cape Canaveral’s SLC-40.  After initially pushing the planned launch time back from to 9:21 to 11:44 am in order to investigate a possible ground equipment issue,  it finally came […]

Posted in: SpaceX
Update: SpaceX Counting Down to Orbcomm OG-2 Launch

Update: SpaceX Counting Down to Orbcomm OG-2 Launch

Update from SpaceX: The ORBCOMM OG2 launch is currently targeted for liftoff on Monday, July 14, 2014 at 11:44am ET. A live launch webcast will begin here at approximately 11:25am EDT. Out of an abundance of caution, the team took some extra time this morning to look at a potential ground systems issue; we have […]

Posted in: SpaceX
Antares Lifts Off on Orbital-2 Flight to ISS

Antares Lifts Off on Orbital-2 Flight to ISS

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified the ship as named after Janet Voss. After two days of delays due to inclement weather during attempts to roll out to the pad, an Orbital Sciences Antares booster lifted off at 12:52 pm EDT today, carrying a Cygnus cargo ship named in honor of NASA astronaut […]

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