Tag: CRS

Atlas V Sends Cygnus Cargo Ship on Its Way to International Space Station

Atlas V Sends Cygnus Cargo Ship on Its Way to International Space Station

In case you missed it, here is the official NASA press release from last night’s launch of the Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo vessel to the International Space Station: March 23, 2016 RELEASE 16-036 NASA Sends Fire, Meteor Experiments to International Space Station on Commercial Cargo Spacecraft The station’s Expeditions 47 and 48 crews will employ […]

Posted in: Uncategorized
ISS: Farmers in the Sky

ISS: Farmers in the Sky

Since the beginning of the space age, the idea of colonizing other planets has often brought to mind visions of steely eyed rocket men (and women) boarding sleek reusable vehicles to head off into the unknown. And in the era before the internet and social media, these images were often presented on the covers of […]

Orbital Orders Another Atlas for CRS, NASA Delays CRS-2 Awards (again)

Orbital Orders Another Atlas for CRS, NASA Delays CRS-2 Awards (again)

The twin failures of both the Orbital Sciences Antares and SpaceX Falcon launch vehicles have made for a challenging 10 months for NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) program, a period further complicated by the loss of a Russian Progress cargo ship between the two U.S. accidents. At the same time, the program’s core philosophy of […]

SpaceX, Orbital ATK Likely to Receive New Awards With CRS Contract Extension

SpaceX, Orbital ATK Likely to Receive New Awards With CRS Contract Extension

SpaceX is set to launch its 7th Commercial Resupply mission to the International Space Station on June 28th, but based on a notice posted by NASA last Friday, it may be adding at least for more missions to the count through an extension which would see the original contract run through 2018. Fellow supplier Orbital-ATK, […]

SpaceX CRS-5 Flight to ISS Set for December 16

SpaceX CRS-5 Flight to ISS Set for December 16

The next SpaceX launch to the International Space Station has been shifted from a provisional No Earlier Than (NET) date of December 9th one week until December 16th, with backup dates on the 19th and 20th. Liftoff is scheduled at 2:31 pm EST. NASA is still in the process of shuffling its payload assignments in […]

Antares Accident Update: SpaceX Falcon 9, ULA Atlas V to the Rescue?

Antares Accident Update: SpaceX Falcon 9, ULA Atlas V to the Rescue?

Will Cygnus be on the Manifest?  Image Credit SpaceX One week after the loss of an Antares launch vehicle carrying a Cygnus cargo vessel bound for the International Space Station, Orbital Sciences Corporation held a conference call with investors to discuss what it has learned about the accident thus far, and its plans for going […]

SpaceX Dragon Returns, OSC Cygnus Set to Launch

SpaceX Dragon Returns, OSC Cygnus Set to Launch

CRS-4 Dragon Returns / Image Credit : SpaceX Completing its five week mission, the SpaceX CRS-4 Dragon capsule departed from the International Space Space Station at 8:57 AM CDT Saturday morning. A little under six hours later, it was floating in the Pacific Ocean several hundred miles west of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula. Following the Dragon’s […]

“Wastebook 2014” Takes Aim at the International Space Station

“Wastebook 2014” Takes Aim at the International Space Station

Earlier this week, retiring Senator Tom Coburn, (R) Oklahoma released the 2014 edition (pdf) of the “Wastebook” of public spending. As always the publication includes a cherry picked list of the various ways in which government “wastes” taxpayer dollars, much of which is difficult defend no matter what your political point of view. As usual, NASA […]

Posted in: NASA
NASA’s ISS Commercial Resupply Contract Holds Transformative Potential

NASA’s ISS Commercial Resupply Contract Holds Transformative Potential

  On September 26, NASA released its Commercial Resupply Services 2 Request for Proposal in solicitation for continued cargo delivery to and from the International Space Station from 2017 through 2020, with possible extensions to 2024. Seeking to build on the unqualified success of the COTS and CRS-1 programs which have give rise to the LEO […]

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 […]

π