It is a very rare occasion to see the first flight of a new launch vehicle, but if all goes well Orbital Sciences Corporation’s Antares Launch Vehicle will blast off from the Mid Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility at 5:00 PM (Eastern) on Wednesday, April 17th. The launch window extends to 8:00 PM each day through the […]
Keith Cowing reported on March 28th, that the Inspiration Mars Foundation is being heavily pressured by elements at JSC and MSFC to base its plans for a 2018 circumnavigation of Mars on a single launch of the agency’s yet to be flown Space Launch System. Although Cowing did not reveal the source of his information, given NASAWatch’s role in bringing other […]
One of the challenges standing between SpaceX and the debut of the Falcon 9 V1.1 is completing testing of the enormous payload fairing which will protect commercial spacecraft on rides to orbit aboard the new booster. The 5.2 meter diameter fairing with a 13.9 meter usable length which will be among the largest in the world, is built by SpaceX and is […]
For what is now the fourth time, a Space Exploration Technologies Dragon spacecraft has successfully returned from Earth orbit to a well executed landing in the Pacific ocean. Following its release from the International Space Station, which took place in the early morning hours, the SpaceX CRS-2 Dragon performed three inital burns, followed by a sustained 10 minute de-oribit burn […]
As dusk settled on Florida’s Cape Canaveral Thursday evening, SpaceX made a couple of late package deliveries to the Dragon spacecraft scheduled to blast off for the International Space Station this morning. Among the items, fresh fruit for the astronauts aboard ISS, grown in an orchard owned by the parents of a SpaceX employee. With […]
SpaceX successfully completed a 2 second “hotfire” test of its Falcon 9 booster at Cape Canaveral yesterday, setting the stage for Friday’s launch to the International Space Station. This mission, known as CRS-2 is the second under the $1.6 billion Commercial Resupply Services Contract which calls for a minimum of 12 flights to the orbiting outpost. Following […]
In the wake of President Barack Obama’s re-election, analysts in the space community seem to have reached the unsurprising consensus that the result will be a maintenance of the status quo regarding NASA and the nation’s space policy. With the U.S. House and Senate remaining divided between Republicans and Democrats respectively, the threat of sequestration still looms, but it seems almost […]
NASA Press Release: Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) has completed its first three performance milestones for NASA’s Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) initiative, which is intended to lead to the availability of commercial human spaceflight services for government and commercial customers. During the company’s first milestone, a technical baseline review, NASA and SpaceX reviewed the Dragon […]
The SpaceX CRS-1 Dragon capsule is stowed safely aboard the American Marine Corp vessel American Islander and is headed to a port near Los Angeles. After arrival and unloading of time sensitive cargo, the Dragon will be shipped to the SpaceX facility at McGregor, Texas where the remainder of the 1,673 lbs of cargo will be unloaded and turned over to […]
The SpaceX Dragon capsule safely returned to earth, or more accurately, to sea today, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja at 12:22 PM PT. The return marks the end of NASA Commercial Resupply Flight number 1, and a conclusion to the first official commercial supply run to space in history. Future cargo trips, whether to private stations, […]
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