Russian cargo ship docks with ISS
Todd Halvorson - Florida Today
A robotic Russian supply ship docked at the International Space Station today with 2.5 tons of food, fuel and equipment. Launched Friday from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the Progress 47 cargo carrier arrived at the outpost at 10:39 a.m. as the two craft flew 249 miles above northern China south of the Mongolian border. The automated docking went smoothly. Cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Oleg Kononenko were inside the Russian segment of the station, ready to take remote control of the spacecraft if its autopilot failed. No such action was required.
Space station welcomes Russian cargo ship arrival
Justin Ray - SpaceflightNow.com
The International Space Station received a cargo freighter today when the Russian-made vessel loaded with three tons of supplies safely approached and docked on autopilot. The Progress M-15M spacecraft linked up to the station's Pirs module at 10:39 a.m. EDT (1439 GMT) while orbiting 249 miles above northern China. Hooks and latches were engaged a few minutes after docking to firmly secure the 24-foot-long craft to the station where it will remain parked through late July.
Russian Robotic Supply Ship Docks at Space Station
Tariq Malik - Space.com
An unmanned Russian supply ship arrived at the International Space Station Sunday carrying tons of fresh supplies in an Earth Day delivery for the orbiting lab's crew. The robotic Progress 47 cargo ship docked with the space station at 10:39 a.m. EDT (1439 GMT), ending a two-day flight that began with an eye-catching launch. The two spacecraft were sailing 249 miles (400 kilometers) over northern China, just south of the Mongolia border, when Progress 47 parked itself at the orbiting lab. "Congratulations on a successful automatic docking," flight controllers in Russia's Mission Control Center in Moscow radioed the station crew in Russian.
Russian cargo ship docks at International Space Station
Agence France Presse
The Russian cargo ship Progress M-15M successfully docked at the International Space Station on Sunday, the mission control centre said. "The docking was by automatic pilot," mission control said on its website, adding that the operation ended at 1439 GMT. Progress, carrying 2.35 tonnes of fuel, food and water, was launched by a Soyuz rocket on Friday from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Landing is a variable in NASA Commercial Crew choice
Frank Morring, Jr. - Aviation Week
NASA managers looking for at least two commercial vehicles to take crews to the International Space Station have a choice of techniques for returning astronauts to Earth, from parachute landings on land to a gliding touchdown on a runway. As they consider system-level proposals for the third phase of the Commercial Crew Program, known as Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap), space agency evaluators are pondering the eventual use of propulsive vertical landing proposed by Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) and perhaps the secretive Blue Origin LLC. Also on the table are the Boeing and Sierra Nevada entries presented at the National Space Symposium here this week, and an as-yet-undisclosed entry by ATK/Astrium based on the proposed Liberty Rocket.
NASA successfully tests Orion parachutes in air over Arizona
Lee Roop - Huntsville Times
Arizona -- NASA had a successful drop test today of the Orion crew vehicle's entry, descent and landing parachutes above the Arizona desert. The test was preparation for the vehicle's orbital flight test in 2014. A C-130 plane dropped a test vehicle with a simulated Orion parachute compartment 25,000 feet above the U.S. Army's Yuma Proving Grounds. Orion's drogue chutes were deployed at 20,000 feet, followed by the pilot parachutes, which then deployed the main landing parachutes.
NASA Deputy Administrator Faces the Tough Questions
Amy Shira Teitel - Discovery News
Last week at the 28th National Space Symposium in Boulder, Colorado, NASA deputy administrator Lori Garver answered questions about NASA's current diminished capability stemming from budget cuts and the recent end of the Shuttle Program. In every instance, Garver's answers were closer to sound bites than informative glances at the agency's future plans. During a panel discussion with representatives from international space agencies and interviews, Garver stayed on message: NASA is advancing the cause of science and making progress in exploring the universe around us.
Shatner messages International Space Station crew
YouTube.com
William Shatner, known to millions around the world as Capt. James T. Kirk from the original Star Trek series, sent this message to ESA's André Kuipers and the members of the Expedition 30 crew. In October 2011, shortly before the launch of André, Oleg Kononenko and Don Pettit on Soyuz TMA-03M, Mr. Shatner recorded an album of space-related songs called 'Seeking Major Tom'. By pure coincidence, this album features covers of many of the crew's favorites. When Mr Shatner found out that his songs were being played on the International Space Station, he recorded this greeting and sent his best wishes. (NO FURTHER TEXT)
A bubble inside a bubble inside a bubble: Astronaut films fascinating anti-gravity experiments from space station
London Daily Mail
Blowing bubbles might typically be the mindless pastime of young children but for one astronaut it has become a scientific experiment. Don Pettit, of NASA, has been passing time on the International Space Station by injecting bubbles into bubbles. This video shows the fruits of his labours, while he talks through his mini experiment, telling the camera: ‘I’m just playing right now… I wanna make one big bubble.’
Enterprise Strapped atop 747 and Delights Dulles Airport Flyers
Ken Kremer - Universe Today
Space Shuttle Enterprise has been strapped atop the 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) that will soon fly NASA’s path finding orbiter from Dulles Airport to her new and final home in the Big Apple – and to the delight of Dulles Airport flyers and visitors she’s all primed at a spot offering a fantastic public glimpse of the historic last flight ever of NASA’s 1st space shuttle vehicle. Have you ever dreamed of seeing the magnificent sight of a NASA space shuttle on top of a 747 Jumbo Jet up close with your own eyes? Well, right now anyone can get that superb glance of the mated duo quite simply from one of the upper level parking decks at Dulles Airport. And you don’t need a press pass, plane ticket, intrusive TSA pat down or a secret service security clearance.
Seattle Museum Of Flight welcomes first portion of NASA’s shuttle trainer
Steve Hall - Aviation Online Magazine
The Museum of Flight in Seattle unveiled the first sections of the NASA Space Shuttle Trainer, three Engine Bells marking the first of several shipments of the trainer, which will be housed at the Museum’s Charles Simonyi Space Gallery. Museum of Flight President and CEO Doug King hosted a brief news conference to announce the arrival and to unpack one of the three Engine Bells, which are approximately nine feet in diameter and roughly 800 pounds each.
Apollo astronauts celebrate 40th anniversary of Apollo 16 at KSC
Julian Leek - AmericaSpace.org
With all the fanfare of the shuttle Discovery fly out to Washington this week another great milestone in space was being celebrated over at NASA’s Visitor Center. A small group of paying guests participated in a brief talk / question & answer session with former Apollo astronauts to mark the 40 anniversary of the flight of Apollo 16. The thirty minute event was attended by Luna Module Pilots (LMP) from Apollo missions 13, 14 & 16. Astronauts Charlie Duke (Apollo 16), Edgar Mitchell (Apollo 14) and Fred Haise (Apollo 13) gave highlights from their missions before answering questions. Fred Haise gave a jokingly dissertation about the importance to stay away from your back up crew.
Apollo 16: The Flight of ‘Billy Rubin’ and ‘Typhoid Mary’
Ben Evans - AmericaSpace.org
Four decades ago, this week, NASA almost didn’t land on the Moon. By the spring of 1972, four pairs of Apollo astronauts had left their bootprints in the ancient lunar dust and brought rock and soil specimens back to Earth, which hinted of a long and complex geological history. The inaugural steps of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were less than three years old, but with four successful lunar landings in the bag, NASA scientists and trajectory planners had grown increasingly confident over where to the send the final two crews on Apollo 16 and 17. Flat mare were visited on the first two landing missions, then the hilly Fra Mauro region and the spectacular highland site of Hadley-Apennine were explored. With Apollo 16, NASA intended to directly sample the lunar highlands and some scientists had their eyes keenly focused on a single crater: Tycho, an enormous, yawning basin, 80 km wide, easily visible from Earth in the Moon’s southern hemisphere.
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