Tuesday, May 22, 2012
5/22/12 news--space x
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
JSC TODAY HEADLINES
1. Correction: Human Reliability and Shuttle PRA at HSI ERG Meeting TODAY
2. Pre-Retirement for Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS)
3. Stress Relief Strategies to Ease Allergy Symptoms
4. Water-Bots Summer Camp
5. Beginners Ballroom Dance -- Summer 2012 Special Offer
6. System Safety Seminar ViTS: July 13, Noon to 3 p.m. - Building 17, Room 2026
7. Fall Protection Authorized User: July 25 - Building 226N, Room 174
________________________________________ QUOTE OF THE DAY
“ People only see what they are prepared to see. ”
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson
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1. Correction: Human Reliability and Shuttle PRA at HSI ERG Meeting TODAY
Please bring your lunch and join the Human Systems Integration (HSI) Employee Resource Group (ERG) as we hear Roger Boyer discuss "How Human Reliability Analysis (HRA) was used in the Shuttle PRA." HRA is a key technique used in HSI.
The meeting will be held today, May 22, in Building 1, Room 220, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Webex and telecom are also available. Please contact Deb Neubek for the information.
Deb Neubek x39416 http://collaboration.jsc.nasa.gov/iierg/HSI/SitePages/Home.aspx
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2. Pre-Retirement for Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS)
Are you prepared to retire?
This Pre-Retirement for FERS Seminar is designed to help you effectively manage today's realities as you begin to explore retirement possibilities.
Retirement is often looked upon as a financially based decision. Although the financial aspects are important, many other concerns need to be addressed. This seminar is designed to help effectively deal with today's realities as you begin to explore retirement possibilities.
Topics covered include lifestyle planning, health maintenance, financial planning, legal affairs planning and more.
Who should attend: Federal employees interested in learning more about the FERS with five to 10 years or fewer until retirement eligibility.
Course length: 16 hours
Pre-Retirement for Federal Employee Retirement System
Date: June 25 to 26
Time: 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. CST
Location: Teague Auditorium
Register via SATERN: https://satern.nasa.gov/plateau/user/deeplink.do?linkId=REGISTRATION&schedule...
Nicole Kem x37894
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3. Stress Relief Strategies to Ease Allergy Symptoms
Aaaaachoooo! Do you have itchy eyes or skin? If you suffer with allergy symptoms, you know all about the stress of having a chronic condition. Did you know that stress and anxiety have been shown to make allergic reactions worse? Join Gay Yarbrough, LCSW of the JSC Employee Assistance Program, for "Stress Relief Strategies to Ease Allergy Symptoms" today, May 22, at 4 p.m. in Building 32, Conference Room 142.
Gay Yarbrough x36130
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4. Water-Bots Summer Camp
The Aerospace Academy - San Jacinto College (SJC) offers a week of fun activities, including: hands-on instruction in robotics, speakers from various fields that use robots and a tour of JSC and the Sonny Carter Training Facility Neutral Buoyancy Lab. At the end of camp, the participants will compete in an underwater robotics competition.
Dates: July 16 to 20 and July 23 to 27
Age groups: Students 12 to 13 and 14 to 18
Cost: $250
Time: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. (before and after hours available)
Location: SJC Central Campus
For additional information or registration, contact Bridget Kramer at 281-244-6803 or bridget.a.kramer@nasa.gov or Angie Hughes at 281-483-7252 or: angela.m.hughes@nasa.gov
Bridget Kramer x46803
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5. Beginners Ballroom Dance -- Summer 2012 Special Offer
Our amazing discount has been extended until tomorrow, May 23. Don't miss out!
This six-week class introduces you to the various types of ballroom dance. Students will learn the secrets of a good lead and following, as well as the ability to identify the beat of the music. This class is easy, and we have fun as we learn. JSC friends and family are welcome.
Discounted registration:
- $65 per couple (ends May 23)
Regular registration:
- $75 per couple (May 24 to 28)
Two class sessions available:
- Tuesdays, 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. -- Starting May 29
- Thursdays, 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. -- Starting May 31
All classes are taught in the Gilruth Center's dance studio.
To register or for additional information, please contact the Gilruth Center's information desk: 281-483-0304
Steve Schade x30304 http://starport.jsc.nasa.gov/Fitness/RecreationClasses/RecreationProgram...
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6. System Safety Seminar ViTS: July 13, Noon to 3 p.m. - Building 17, Room 2026
This seminar provides an overview of system safety origins, definitions, principles and practices. It includes a discussion of NASA requirements for both the engineering and management aspects of system safety and answers the questions: Why do we do system safety? What is system safety? How do we do system safety? What does it mean to me?
Engineering aspects will include a brief discussion of three typically used analytical techniques: Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA); Fault Tree Analysis (FTA); and Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA). This course will not prepare attendees to manage or perform system safety, only to introduce them to the concepts. Students who have taken NASAS Safety Training Center courses System Safety Fundamentals or System Safety Special Subjects should not take this course. Contractors, note: Update your SATERN profile with a current e-mail, phone, supervisor and NASA organization code your contract supports before registering. SATERN registration required. https://satern.nasa.gov/plateau/user/deeplink.do?linkId=SCHEDULED_OFFERING_DE...
Polly Caison x41279
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7. Fall Protection Authorized User: July 25 - Building 226N, Room 174
SMA-SAFE-NSTC-0311-AU - This class is geared to training the Authorized User persons, who are the end-users of the fall-protection equipment, and teaches the proper methods for utilizing fall-protection equipment at heights. Upon completion of this course, the student should: Understand all stages of the fall protection hierarchy; Know the four parts of a fall-arrest system; Understand the fall-protection training requirements; Be able to demonstrate the proper donning of the harness and proper usage of the equipment; Be able to identify when and where the equipment is needed; Be able to inspect fall-protection equipment; Know how to properly care for and maintain fall-protection equipment; And be familiar with the effects of harness tension and pressures of the harness on the body. There will be a final exam associated with this course.
Use this direct link to register in SATERN. https://satern.nasa.gov/plateau/user/deeplink.do?linkId=SCHEDULED_OFFERING_DE...
Shirley Robinson x41284
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JSC Today is compiled periodically as a service to JSC employees on an as-submitted basis. Any JSC organization or employee may submit articles. To see an archive of previous JSC Today announcements, go to http://www6.jsc.nasa.gov/pao/news/jsctoday/archives
Human Spaceflight News
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Space Exploration Technologies’ Falcon 9/Dragon spacecraft launched to ISS at 3:44:38 am EDT
HEADLINES AND LEADS
SpaceX rocket launched on commercial flight to station
William Harwood - CBS News
Three days after a last-second launch abort, an unmanned cargo ship designed and built as a private venture blasted off early Tuesday and streaked into orbit, kicking off a complex test flight to pave the way for commercial resupply missions to the International Space Station. With a replacement valve installed in the engine that derailed a launch try Saturday, all nine of the booster's first stage powerplants roared to life on time at 3:44:38 a.m. EDT (GMT-4), throttling up to full thrust with a rush of fiery exhaust. An instant later, after lightning-fast computer checks to verify the performance of the SpaceX-designed Merlin engines, the rocket was released from its firing stand and quickly climbed away from launch complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
Private supply ship rockets toward space station
Marcia Dunn - Associated Press
A first-of-its-kind commercial supply ship rocketed toward the International Space Station following a successful liftoff early Tuesday, opening a new era of dollar-driven spaceflight. The SpaceX company made history as its Falcon 9 rocket rose from its seaside launch pad and pierced the pre-dawn sky, aiming for a rendezvous in a few days with the space station. The rocket carried into orbit a capsule named Dragon that is packed with 1,000 pounds of space station provisions. It is the first time a private company has launched a vessel to the space station. Before, that was something only major governments had done.
SpaceX rocket lifts off for space station trial run
Irene Klotz - Reuters
An unmanned rocket owned by privately held Space Exploration Technologies blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Tuesday for a mission designed to be the first commercial flight to the International Space Station. The 178-foot (54-meter) tall Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 3:44 a.m. from a refurbished launch pad just south of where NASA launched its now-retired space shuttles. Less than 10 minutes later, the rocket delivered its cargo - a Dragon capsule with 1,200 pounds (544 kg) of supplies for the station crew - into orbit.
Private Spacecraft Lifts Off Toward Space Station
Andy Pasztor - Wall Street Journal
The first private spacecraft aiming to dock with the international space station blasted off from Florida early Tuesday with split-second precision, but the biggest tests for the mission are still days ahead. The predawn skies around Cape Canaveral filled with the bright glow and deep rumble of Space Exploration Technologies Corp.'s Falcon 9 rocket lifting off the pad, carrying an unmanned Dragon spacecraft on a highly anticipated test flight scheduled to last about two weeks. Within three minutes, the Falcon 9 reached a velocity of 10 times the speed of sound, with the first stage dropping off and the second stage continuing to speed toward orbit.
Private Cargo Rocket Heads to Space Station
Kenneth Chang - New York Times
A private cargo rocket headed to the International Space Station blasted off early Tuesday morning. Built by Space Exploration Technologies Corp. of Hawthorne, Calif. — commonly known as SpaceX — this rocket is carrying only about 1,000 pounds of cargo, and nothing of great value. The importance is instead technical and symbolic. If the cargo capsule makes it all the way to the space station, it would be the first commercial, rather than government-operated, spacecraft to dock at the space station, and it would mark an important step in NASA’s efforts to turn over basic transportation to low-Earth orbit to the private sector.
SpaceX launches historic mission to space station
W.J. Hennigan - Los Angeles Times
SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket roared to life before dawn at Cape Canaveral, Fla., today and blasted into space on a column of fire that lit the night sky for miles around. The nine-engine rocket lifted off at 3:44 a.m. EDT carrying a cone-shaped space capsule that's set to berth with the International Space Station later this week. SpaceX, formally known as Space Exploration Technologies Corp., is the first private company to embark on such a mission. Up until now, sending a spacecraft to the space station has been a feat that has only been accomplished by four of the world's wealthiest and most technologically advanced governments: the United States, Russia, Japan and the European Union.
SpaceX rocket blasts Dragon into space in historic launch
Scott Powers - Orlando Sentinel
The SpaceX Dragon capsule is on its way to a rendezvous with the International Space Station and possibly heralding a new era of space transportation. At 3:44 a.m. Tuesday, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket blasted off at last from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. And just under 10 minutes later SpaceX officials gathered at NASA Mission Control in Houston erupted into applause as the company's Dragon capsule separated from the rocket and went into orbit, headed for its historic planned rendezvous with the International Space Station. On Thursday the Dragon should reach the station, orbiting the Earth at 17,000 mph. If a series of test maneuvers are successful, on Friday it would dock with the station and deliver a half ton of supplies.
SpaceX Dragon Lifts Off for ISS
Mark Carreau - Aviation Week
The SpaceX Falcon9/Dragon spacecraft lifted off early Tuesday, initiating the first U. S. commercial re-supply mission to the International Space Station. The Falcon 9 rose from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., at 3:44 a.m., EST, thundering away on a northly arc through a darkened sky. The Dragon separated from the two-stage launcher on schedule, and a successful solar array deployment followed at 11 minutes, 19 seconds into flight. The ISS orbited 250 miles over the North Atlantic Ocean east of Newfoundland as the Falcon 9 departed.
Dragon circling Earth after flawless predawn blastoff
Stephen Clark - SpaceflightNow.com
SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket radiantly rose into a serene predawn sky over Florida on Tuesday, successfully launching a privately-owned capsule named Dragon into orbit on a seminal test flight to the International Space Station. The Dragon spacecraft is on a technological shakedown mission, and if all goes according to plan, it will become the first commercial vehicle to reach the space station, a 450-ton orbiting complex staffed by six crew members from the United States, Russia and the Netherlands. Founded in 2002 by Elon Musk, an Internet mogul who helped start PayPal, SpaceX has spent $1.2 billion designing and building rockets and spacecraft intended to cut the costs and boost the reliability of space travel.
SpaceX Falcon 9 Delivers Dragon to Orbit
Space News
Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) on May 22 successfully launched an unmanned Dragon capsule on a demonstration mission to the international space station (ISS). The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying Dragon lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., at 3:44 a.m. EDT. Eleven minutes later, Dragon was in orbit, solar arrays deployed. "Falcon flew perfectly!! Dragon in orbit, comm locked and solar arrays active!! Feels like a giant weight just came off my back," SpaceX founder and chief executive Elon Musk said via Twitter.
SpaceX blasts off to space station in historic first
Jean-Louis Santini - Agence France Presse
Opening a new era in private space flight, the US company SpaceX on Tuesday became the first commercial outfit to launch its own craft toward the International Space Station. "Three, two, one and launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, as NASA turns to the private sector to resupply the International Space Station," said NASA commentator George Diller, as the spacecraft blasted off at 3:44 am (0744 GMT). The test flight of the Dragon space capsule, which launched atop SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, aims to show that commercial industry can restore US access to the ISS after NASA retired its space shuttle fleet last year.
Launch success for SpaceX mission
Jonathan Amos - BBC News
California's SpaceX has launched on a mission to re-supply the space station - the first cargo delivery to the orbiting outpost by a private company. The firm's Falcon rocket, topped by an unmanned Dragon freight capsule, lifted clear of its Florida pad at 03:44 EDT (07:44 GMT; 08:44 BST). The initial climb to an altitude some 340km above the Earth lasted a little under 10 minutes. Within moments of being ejected, Dragon opened its solar panels.
SpaceX Launches Private Capsule on Historic Trip to Space Station
Clara Moskowitz - Space.com
A private space capsule called Dragon soared into the predawn sky Tuesday, riding a pillar of flame like its beastly namesake on a history-making trip to the International Space Station. The unmanned capsule, built by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX), is the first non-governmental spacecraft to launch to the space station, ushering in a new era of partnership between the public and private spaceflight programs.
Electronic components travel well on Space missions
Nicolas Mokhoff - EE Times
NASA’s Langley Research Center is evaluating high-speed InGaAs photodiodes sent in a rugged flight-worthy suitcase to the International Space Station (ISS) in one Space Shuttle flight in 2009 and returned to Earth in another Space Shuttle fight in 2011 and is finding them surprisingly robust. The components, manufactured by Discovery Semiconductors, were part of the Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) 7 mission launched on the Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-129) on November 16, 2009, and returned on the Space Shuttle Endeavor (STS-134) on June 1, 2011. NASA’s Langley Research Center launched them as part of their LIDAR transceiver components and recently released them to Discovery Semiconductors for further study.
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COMPLETE STORIES
SpaceX rocket launched on commercial flight to station
William Harwood - CBS News
Three days after a last-second launch abort, an unmanned cargo ship designed and built as a private venture blasted off early Tuesday and streaked into orbit, kicking off a complex test flight to pave the way for commercial resupply missions to the International Space Station.
With a replacement valve installed in the engine that derailed a launch try Saturday, all nine of the booster's first stage powerplants roared to life on time at 3:44:38 a.m. EDT (GMT-4), throttling up to full thrust with a rush of fiery exhaust.
An instant later, after lightning-fast computer checks to verify the performance of the SpaceX-designed Merlin engines, the rocket was released from its firing stand and quickly climbed away from launch complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
To reach the International Space Station, the Falcon 9 and the solar-powered Dragon cargo ship had to take off at roughly the moment Earth's rotation carried the launch pad into the plane of the space station's orbit. Any hiccups in the countdown would have triggered another frustrating three-day launch delay for a flight already running months behind schedule.
But as it turned out, the company did not need an extended window. There were no technical problems of any significance the second time around, the weather cooperated and a few minutes after the space station passed over the launch site, the 157-foot-tall rocket took off on a northeasterly trajectory and set off after its quarry.
"Every bit of adrenalin in my body released at that point," said SpaceX founder Elon Musk. "It's obviously an extremely intense moment. The main thing I was wondering was would we have a valve-related issue on launch, would the first stage perform nominally? But it worked perfectly. I was really glad to see that."
The first stage engines burned for three minutes, shutting down in sequence as their propellants were exhausted. The first stage then fell away and the single Merlin engine powering the rocket's second stage ignited to continue the push to orbit.
Live video from cameras mounted on the Falcon nine showed the launch site falling away from the rapidly accelerating rocket and later, the nozzle of the second stage engine, glowing red with the heat of combustion.
The second stage engine shut down as planned nine minutes and 14 seconds after liftoff. About 35 seconds later, the Dragon capsule separated from the second stage, visible in a forward-pointing camera as it floated away into space.
A few moments after that, protective covers were jettisoned and the capsule's two solar panels unfolded to begin generating power and recharging the craft's batteries. About three hours after launch, flight controllers successfully opened a cover exposing the Dragon's navigation sensors to space.
It was a picture-perfect start to a long-awaited mission hailed as the dawn of a new era of commercial spaceflight.
"For us it's like winning the Super Bowl," Musk told reporters after the launching. "It heralds the dawn of a new era of space exploration, one where there is a significant commercial space element.
Comparing commercial, for-profit space operations with the dawn of the internet, Musk said "I think we're at a similar inflection point for space. I hope and I believe this mission will be historic in marking that turning point towards a rapid advancement in space transportation technology."
Bill Gerstenmaier, director of space operations at NASA headquarters in Washington, congratulated SpaceX "for just an absolutely amazing countdown, launch and orbit insertion today."
"I've had the pleasure of working down here at the Cape with a lot of fantastic teams that have put together a lot of quality rockets and launched a lot of amazing things. I tell you, the SpaceX team, there is none better than this team that has really done a phenomenal job today."
Said John Holdren, White House assistant to the president for science and technology "Every launch into space is a thrilling event, but this one is especially exciting because it represents the potential of a new era in American spaceflight.
"Partnering with U.S. companies such as SpaceX to provide cargo and eventually crew service to the International Space Station is a cornerstone of the president's plan for maintaining America's leadership in space," he said in a statement."
This was the third flight of a Falcon 9 rocket and only the second for the company's Dragon cargo capsule. But it is the company's first mission designed to carry the Dragon all the way to the space station.
SpaceX holds a $1.6 billion NASA contract to launch at least 12 unmanned cargo missions to the lab complex, but only after test flights confirm the safety and reliability of the rocket and cargo capsule.
"This is also absolutely critical to space station," Gerstenmaier said "This cargo resupply is absolutely needed for station to meet its research potential and to move forward. So I'm very proud of what the team has done and I'm very glad they had a wonderful start to this mission. But again, the caution for all of us is there's still a lot to go."
The test flights are being carried out under a contract valued at up to $396 million. In a separate business arrangement, SpaceX launched a payload attached to the Falcon 9's second stage that was provided by Celestis, a Houston-based company that offers "memorial spaceflights" for cremated remains.
Ashes from more than 300 souls were believed to be aboard the second stage, including Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper and "Star Trek" actor James Doohan.
Three Falcon 9/Dragon test flights originally were planned, but after a successful test flight in December 2010, SpaceX successfully lobbied NASA to combine the second and third tests into a single mission.
As a result, the Dragon spacecraft launched Tuesday will spend much of the day Thursday carrying out maneuvers near the station to test the craft's flight control computers and navigation systems, and to check out the critical communications link between the station crew and the spacecraft.
If all of that goes well -- work originally planned for the second of the three initial planned test flights -- SpaceX flight controllers will attempt the final phases of the rendezvous on Friday to complete the objectives of the third test flight, guiding the craft to a point within about 30 feet of the space station.
At that point, with the capsule's thrusters disabled, flight engineer Donald Pettit, operating the station's robot arm, will lock onto the cargo ship just after 8 a.m. and guide it to a berthing at the Earth-facing port of the forward Harmony module.
The station crew plans to open hatches leading into the Dragon capsule on Saturday to begin unloading about 1,100 pounds of equipment and supplies. If all goes well, the spacecraft will be unloaded and detached from the station on May 31 for a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California.
Private supply ship rockets toward space station
Marcia Dunn - Associated Press
A first-of-its-kind commercial supply ship rocketed toward the International Space Station following a successful liftoff early Tuesday, opening a new era of dollar-driven spaceflight.
The SpaceX company made history as its Falcon 9 rocket rose from its seaside launch pad and pierced the pre-dawn sky, aiming for a rendezvous in a few days with the space station. The rocket carried into orbit a capsule named Dragon that is packed with 1,000 pounds of space station provisions.
It is the first time a private company has launched a vessel to the space station. Before, that was something only major governments had done.
"Falcon flew perfectly!!" SpaceX's billionaire founder, Elon Musk, said via Twitter. "Dragon in orbit ... Feels like a giant weight just came off my back."
Musk later told reporters: "I feel very lucky ... For us, it's like winning the Super Bowl."
This time, the Falcon's nine engines kept firing all the way through liftoff. On Saturday, flight computers aborted the launch with a half-second remaining in the countdown; a bad engine valve was replaced.
The White House quickly offered congratulations.
"Every launch into space is a thrilling event, but this one is especially exciting," said John Holdren, President Barack Obama's chief science adviser. "This expanded role for the private sector will free up more of NASA's resources to do what NASA does best - tackle the most demanding technological challenges in space, including those of human space flight beyond low Earth orbit."
Flight controllers applauded when the Dragon reached orbit nine minutes into the flight, then embraced one another once the solar panels on the spacecraft popped open. Many of the SpaceX controllers wore untucked T-shirts and jeans or even shorts, a stark contrast to NASA's old suit-and-tie shuttle crowd.
The hopes of SpaceX employees were riding on that rocket, Musk noted, and everyone felt "tremendous elation."
So did NASA.
The space agency is banking on the switch from government to commercial cargo providers in the U.S., now that the shuttles no longer are flying. Astronauts could begin taking commercial rides to the space station in three to five years, if all goes well.
"The significance of this day cannot be overstated," said a beaming NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. "It's a great day for America. It's actually a great day for the world because there are people who thought that we had gone away, and today says, `No, we're not going away at all.'"
The real test comes Thursday when the Dragon reaches the vicinity of the space station. It will undergo practice maneuvers from more than a mile out. If all goes well, the docking will occur Friday. Musk will preside over the operation from the company's Mission Control in Hawthorne, Calif., where he monitored the liftoff.
The space station was zooming over the North Atlantic, just east of Newfoundland, when the Falcon took flight.
NASA is looking to the private sector to take over orbital trips in this post-shuttle period and several U.S. companies are vying for the opportunity. The goal is to get American astronauts launching again from U.S. soil - creating jobs at home and halting the outsourcing, as Bolden put it.
Until their retirement last summer to museums, NASA's shuttles provided the bulk of space station equipment and even the occasional crew member. American astronauts are riding Russian rockets to orbit until SpaceX or one of its competitors takes over the job. Russia also is making periodic cargo hauls, along with Europe and Japan.
Musk, a co-creator of PayPal, founded SpaceX a decade ago. He's poured millions of his own money into the company, and NASA has contributed $381 million as seed money. In all, the company has spent more than $1 billion on the effort.
Hundreds of SpaceX and NASA guests poured into the launching area in the early morning hours Tuesday, eager to see firsthand the start of this new commercial era. The company had a single second to get its rocket flying, and that's all it needed.
Everyone, it seemed, was rooting for a successful flight - even Musk's rivals.
"The shuttle may be retired, but the American dream of space exploration is alive and well," said Mark Sirangelo, chairman of Sierra Nevada Corp.'s space systems, which is developing a mini-shuttle to carry space station crews in another few years.
The six space station astronauts were especially enthusiastic. The crew beamed down a picture on the eve of the launch, showing the two who will use a robot arm to snare the Dragon.
In December 2010, SpaceX became the first private company to launch a spacecraft into orbit and retrieve it. That test flight of a Dragon capsule paved the way for this mission, which also is meant to culminate with a splashdown of the capsule in the Pacific.
This newest capsule is supposed to remain at the space station for a week before bringing back experiments and equipment. None of the other types of current cargo ships can return safely; they burn up on the way down.
SpaceX and NASA officials stress this is a demonstration flight and that even if something goes wrong, much can be learned. Two more Dragon supply missions are planned this year, regardless of what happens during this week's rendezvous.
While acknowledging the difficult course ahead in the next few days, Musk and NASA officials savored Tuesday's triumph.
"I would really count today as a success, no matter what happens the rest of the mission," Musk said.
Musk, 40, is the chief executive officer and chief designer for SpaceX. He also runs Tesla Motors, his electric car company.
Hitching a ride into space, aboard the discarded second stage of the rocket, were the ashes of more than 300 people, including Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper and "Star Trek" actor James Doohan, who played Scotty. It's a redo flight for a paying customer, Houston-based Celestis Inc. The Falcon 1 that carried the first batch of their ashes failed in 2008.
SpaceX rocket lifts off for space station trial run
Irene Klotz - Reuters
An unmanned rocket owned by privately held Space Exploration Technologies blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Tuesday for a mission designed to be the first commercial flight to the International Space Station.
The 178-foot (54-meter) tall Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 3:44 a.m. from a refurbished launch pad just south of where NASA launched its now-retired space shuttles.
Less than 10 minutes later, the rocket delivered its cargo - a Dragon capsule with 1,200 pounds (544 kg) of supplies for the station crew - into orbit.
"Feels like a giant weight just came off my back," company founder and chief executive Elon Musk posted on Twitter after Dragon deployed its solar panels, the first of several key milestones that must be met before the spacecraft is cleared to dock at the station.
"Every launch into space is a thrilling event, but this one is especially exciting because it represents the potential of a new era in American spaceflight," John Holdren, President Barack Obama's chief science adviser, said in a statement.
NASA is counting on companies like Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, to take over the task of flying cargo - and eventually astronauts - to the $100 billion space station, which orbits about 240 miles above Earth.
Currently, NASA is dependent on Russia to fly crew to the station, at a cost of more than $60 million per person. Russia, Europe and Japan also fly cargo to the station.
If its test flight is successful, SpaceX would become the first private company to reach the space station, a microgravity research complex for biological, materials, fluid physics and other science experiments and technology demonstrations.
SpaceX and a second company, Orbital Sciences Corp, already hold contracts worth a combined $3.5 billion to fly cargo to the station.
SpaceX also is among four firms vying to build space taxis to fly astronauts, tourists and non-NASA researchers.
Separately, NASA contributed nearly $400 million to SpaceX's $1.2 billion commercial space program, which includes development and up to three test flights of Falcon 9 rockets and Dragon capsules.
An analysis by the U.S. Government Accountability Office shows that a similar program under traditional NASA procurement would have cost four to 10 times as much, said NASA's Alan Lindenmoyer, who manages the agency's commercial spaceflight initiatives.
Tuesday's launch followed a last-second cutoff of Falcon's planned liftoff on Saturday. Engineers later traced the problem to climbing pressure in an engine chamber due to a faulty purge valve.
"It looks like we probably could have flown with the condition," SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell said. "Once we separated from the ground, things would have settled down a bit, but it was still the right thing to do."
Dragon will take about a day to reach the space station's orbit. It will then spend another day practicing maneuvers and testing its communications systems and navigation aids. If all goes as planned, NASA is expected to clear Dragon for berthing at the space station on Friday.
"Everything is looking really good," Musk told reporters after launch. "I would count today as a success no matter what happens the rest of the mission."
Private Spacecraft Lifts Off Toward Space Station
Andy Pasztor - Wall Street Journal
The first private spacecraft aiming to dock with the international space station blasted off from Florida early Tuesday with split-second precision, but the biggest tests for the mission are still days ahead.
The predawn skies around Cape Canaveral filled with the bright glow and deep rumble of Space Exploration Technologies Corp.'s Falcon 9 rocket lifting off the pad, carrying an unmanned Dragon spacecraft on a highly anticipated test flight scheduled to last about two weeks. Within three minutes, the Falcon 9 reached a velocity of 10 times the speed of sound, with the first stage dropping off and the second stage continuing to speed toward orbit.
The unmanned capsule reached orbit at around 17,000 miles per hour, roughly 10 minutes after launch. During the first four minutes, launch officials reported all engines and navigation systems were operating normally.
The launch came after a faulty engine valve on Saturday forced a last-second abort of the mission. SpaceX, as the company is known, worked over the weekend to replace the defective part and test the rocket's systems.
In order to place the Dragon capsule in the correct orbit to be able to link up with the speeding space station orbiting more than 200 miles above the earth, SpaceX launched precisely at a predetermined moment.
If sensors and computer-controlled propulsion systems aboard Dragon pass various in-orbit tests, the capsule is intended to link up with the space station in about 3½ days.
The launch capped a picture-perfect countdown, with commands to ignite the rocket's nine first-stage engines issued at 3:44 a.m. Florida time. At that point, the Falcon 9 was mechanically held down on the launch pad for nearly a second, until computers determined that all propulsion and other systems were operating normally.
Tuesday's mission was the second test launch of the bell-shaped unmanned capsule, which the National Aeronautics and Space Administration intends to use in the future to transport cargo to the space station.
Marking the historic moment, NASA's mission commentator George Diller ticked off the final seconds of the countdown, noting that the launch of the commercially built rocket reflects NASA's shift to "the private sector to resupply the international space station."
The rocket's cluster of nine engines apparently performed without a major hitch, putting out roughly one million pounds of thrust and placing the capsule into position to reach orbit. Roughly 10 minutes after launch, Elon Musk, the company's founder and chief executive, tweeted: "Falcon flew perfectly." Mr. Musk, who also is the closely held Southern California company's chief technical officer, said: "Dragon in orbit, (communications) locked and solar arrays active!! Feels like a giant weight just came off my back."
Establishing communications with Dragon and successfully deploying its solar panels, intended to provide electric power, were among the technical issues company engineers worried about most before liftoff.
Plans for the test flight include a flyby and docking with the station, but SpaceX officials and industry experts have stressed the difficult challenges of meeting all those goals. Even if the mission manages to accomplish only half its aims, "it's still one for the books," Jeff Greason, chief executive of space-transportation start-up XCOR Aerospace, told reporters last week.
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden told reporters the successful launch puts the U.S. "back on the brink of a new future" in space exploration. Saying that it validates the Obama administration's push to outsource some core NASA functions to private industry, Mr. Bolden reiterated that the agency intends to pursue more-ambitious manned exploration efforts such as reaching an asteroid, which "private industry cannot do or should not do."
After years of bickering with congressional critics about commercial-space initiatives, NASA officials reveled in the afterglow of the launch. Mr. Bolden, who has weathered his share of controversies leading the agency, told a press briefing that the launch represented a "great day for the world," because there were "people who thought (the U.S.) had gone away" as the leader in pushing the frontiers of space.
The agency has said private industry can develop unmanned cargo vehicles—followed by space taxis to take astronauts into orbit—faster and at less cost than traditional NASA programs.
Minutes after the capsule reached orbit and SpaceX officials said it seemed to be in good shape, the White House put out a statement congratulating the company and what it called "the potential of a new era in American spaceflight." John Holdren, President Barack Obama's chief science adviser, said the mission represents an "expanded role for the private sector" in servicing the space station. The long-term goal, he said, is to "free up more of NASA's resources to do what NASA does best— tackle the most demanding technological challenges in space, including those of human space flight beyond low-earth orbit."
Mr. Musk's team and the Dragon capsule made history in late 2010, when SpaceX became the first company to put an unmanned spacecraft into orbit and then recover it safely. This time, Dragon is carrying about 1,000 pounds of space station provisions. The mission's goal is to dock with the $100-billion orbiting laboratory; deliver food and other supplies; and bring back science experiments.
Private Cargo Rocket Heads to Space Station
Kenneth Chang - New York Times
A private cargo rocket headed to the International Space Station blasted off early Tuesday morning. Built by Space Exploration Technologies Corp. of Hawthorne, Calif. — commonly known as SpaceX — this rocket is carrying only about 1,000 pounds of cargo, and nothing of great value. The importance is instead technical and symbolic.
If the cargo capsule makes it all the way to the space station, it would be the first commercial, rather than government-operated, spacecraft to dock at the space station, and it would mark an important step in NASA’s efforts to turn over basic transportation to low-Earth orbit to the private sector.
With success of this flight, SpaceX would begin a $1.6 billion contract to fly 12 cargo missions to the space station. This SpaceX launching followed the same pattern of two earlier ones where a last-minute glitch halted the countdown on the first try and then the rocket went off without a hitch on the second try. In an aborted liftoff on Saturday morning, the nine engines of the 157-foot tall Falcon 9 rocket had already ignited before computers shut them down because of high pressure in the combustion chamber of the center engine.
By the end of the day, technicians had found a faulty valve and replaced it. On Sunday, Elon Musk, SpaceX’s chief executive, posted on Twitter that all would have been fine if the Saturday launch had gone forward. “Simulations show launch ok with bad valve,” he said. “Still, better to stop & fix. Recalling rockets after launch is not an option.”
SpaceX had to wait until Tuesday at 3:44 a.m. for the space station’s orbit to line up with the launching pad, enabling the capsule to be launched on a trajectory trailing the station. This time as the countdown clock hit zero, the engines remained ignited and the Falcon 9 arced upward into the night sky. Less than 10 minutes later, the cargo capsule, known as the Dragon, was in orbit.
The hard part of this mission is still to come. First, the Dragon will perform test maneuvers. Then it has to catch up to the International Space Station, which circles the Earth at 17,000 miles per hour. On Thursday, it is to fly about 1.5 miles underneath the space station to demonstrate its communication and navigation systems. If it passes all of those tests, it will circle around and begin a final approach toward the space station until it is about 10 yards away. A robotic arm on the space station, operated by one of the astronauts aboard, will grab onto the Dragon and swing it to a docking port.
SpaceX launches historic mission to space station
W.J. Hennigan - Los Angeles Times
SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket roared to life before dawn at Cape Canaveral, Fla., today and blasted into space on a column of fire that lit the night sky for miles around.
The nine-engine rocket lifted off at 3:44 a.m. EDT carrying a cone-shaped space capsule that's set to berth with the International Space Station later this week.
SpaceX, formally known as Space Exploration Technologies Corp., is the first private company to embark on such a mission. Up until now, sending a spacecraft to the space station has been a feat that has only been accomplished by four of the world's wealthiest and most technologically advanced governments: the United States, Russia, Japan and the European Union.
The launch marked a major milestone in efforts to shift spacecraft development -- long dominated by governments and large, entrenched aerospace firms -- to privately funded firms such as SpaceX that so far have been funding their ventures largely on their own.
About 10 minutes into the spaceflight, SpaceX confirmed that its gleaming, white Falcon 9 rocket had lifted the unmanned Dragon space capsule into orbit. The craft is now making its way to the space station for docking -- which is no guarantee because of the tremendous difficulties involved, but could happen as early as Friday.
SpaceX's much-anticipated mission is considered the first test of NASA's plan to outsource space missions to privately funded companies now that its fleet of space shuttles is retired.
The Hawthorne-based company intends to prove to NASA that the Falcon 9 and Dragon are ready to take on the task of hauling cargo -- and eventually astronauts -- for the space agency.
INTERACTIVE GRAPHIC: SpaceX's demonstration mission
Even though the current mission is classified as a test flight, the Dragon capsule is carrying about half a ton of food and other supplies for the crew aboard the station.
The company, with about 1,800 employees, already has a $1.6-billion contract to haul cargo in 12 flights to the space station for NASA. If the current mission is successful, SpaceX will begin fulfilling the contract later this year.
SpaceX was founded in 2002 by Los Angeles billionaire Elon Musk. The company makes the Dragon and Falcon 9 at a sprawling facility in Hawthorne that once was used to assemble fuselage sections for Boeing 747s.
SpaceX rocket blasts Dragon into space in historic launch
Scott Powers - Orlando Sentinel
The SpaceX Dragon capsule is on its way to a rendezvous with the International Space Station and possibly heralding a new era of space transportation.
At 3:44 a.m. Tuesday, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket blasted off at last from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. And just under 10 minutes later SpaceX officials gathered at NASA Mission Control in Houston erupted into applause as the company's Dragon capsule separated from the rocket and went into orbit, headed for its historic planned rendezvous with the International Space Station.
On Thursday the Dragon should reach the station, orbiting the Earth at 17,000 mph. If a series of test maneuvers are successful, on Friday it would dock with the station and deliver a half ton of supplies.
With this launch, SpaceX opens the era in which private companies could offer the rides NASA needs to ferry supplies and eventually astronauts to and from the space station. It also furthers the ambitions of other government agencies and private companies around the world that want to run their own operations in space.
At a post-launch press conference, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk compared the moment with the time in the 1990s when commercial interests took over development of the Internet, and dramatically accelerated the pace of development and made it accessible to mass markets.
"I hope and I believe this mission will be historic in marking that turning point towards a rapid advancement in space transportation technology," said Musk, a South African-born entrepreneur who became a billionaire through helping found the Internet service PayPal, then started a space business in 2002.
The SpaceX mission also a critical test of the Obama administration's decision to rely on commercial spacecraft to supply the space station. NASA now is booking almost all of its space station cargo shipments aboard private spacecraft operated by SpaceX and a competitor developing its own rockets, Orbital Sciences.
And in this election year, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden came to Kennedy Space Center to push the president's private-competition space programs and hold up SpaceX success as a jobs generator.
"Today marks the beginning of a new era in exploration, a future in space that will create good-paying jobs here on the Florida coast as well as throughout the United States of America," Bolden said after the launch.
"It's a great day for America. It's actually a great day for the world. There are people who felt that we had gone away. No. We had not gone away at all," he added.
NASA and SpaceX both insist this is nothing more than a test flight.
Yet it also is a cargo mission; the Dragon is carrying 1,014 pounds of food, clothing, batteries and a couple of science experiment kits to the station. If fully successful, it SpaceX will be the first private company to deliver goods to the space station.
If completely successful, SpaceX could immediately go from being a test company to being a commercial resupply contractor, said NASA Deputy Administrator Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for NASA's Human Exploration Operations.
The prize is the $1.5 billion, five-year contract NASA has with SpaceX to provide 12 cargo flights over the next several years.
SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said SpaceX has spent about $1.2 billion so far, including $390 million in grants from NASA, to get to this point.
Several other companies including Orbital, Boeing, Blue Origin and Sierra Nevada Corp. are planning to join them either to carry cargo or astronauts or both. Orbital plans its maiden launch of its Antares rocket and Cygnus space capsule later this year.
Until now, only NASA and the Japanese, European and Russian space agencies have docked with the space station. Since NASA retired its space shuttle fleet last summer, only the Russians are able to deliver astronauts. Gerstenmaier said NASA has no more contracts for the Russians to truck cargo to the space station, and is turning over everything possible to the commercial companies.
Within minutes of the launch, the Commercial Spaceflight Federation extended its congratulations to SpaceX in a written statement.
"This is a testament to the viability of the commercial spaceflight industry," said CSF Chairman Eric Anderson.
Added Mark Sirangelo, chairman of Sierra Nevada Corporation Space Systems, "The Shuttle may be retired, but the American dream of space exploration is alive and well."
The launch originally was set for last Saturday but was scrubbed literally during the last second due to a stuck engine valve, and rescheduled for Tuesday. NASA and SpaceX decided to hold to the original May 31 end-of-mission date. If all goes well, Dragon will splashdown in the Pacific Ocean that day, and SpaceX will retrieve it.
The prospect of SpaceX carrying astronauts is at least three years away.
Before then, SpaceX is planning two more cargo launches this year and up to 17 in the next three or four years, serving both NASA and other customers, including private satellite companies and agencies in Canada, Thailand and Argentina. Almost all of those launches are planned from Cape Canaveral, though some will leave Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
SpaceX Dragon Lifts Off for ISS
Mark Carreau - Aviation Week
The SpaceX Falcon9/Dragon spacecraft lifted off early Tuesday, initiating the first U. S. commercial re-supply mission to the International Space Station.
The Falcon 9 rose from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., at 3:44 a.m., EST, thundering away on a northly arc through a darkened sky.
The Dragon separated from the two-stage launcher on schedule, and a successful solar array deployment followed at 11 minutes, 19 seconds into flight. The ISS orbited 250 miles over the North Atlantic Ocean east of Newfoundland as the Falcon 9 departed.
A trouble free countdown and departure initiated a planned nine-day mission that promises to bring the unpiloted Dragon within 1.5 miles of the six person space station early Thursday for a critical series of navigation and communications checks If all goes well, the Dragon will retreat to a point about 125 miles above and behind the station, returning early Friday for more systems tests before moving within range of the orbiting laboratory’s Canadarm 2.
Station astronauts Don Pettit, of NASA, and Andre Kuipers, of the European Space Agency, will be posted at a control console in the statio’s Cupola observation deck ready to grapple the freighter and berth it to the U. S. segment Harmony module shortly after 11 a.m., EDT.
Dragon, flying under the banner of NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program, is scheduled to remain docked until May 31. The length of the stay, once intended to be twice as long, is constrained by an increasing solar beta angle, which exposing the orbital plane of the space station to more heat from the sun.
Efforts to begin the mission on Saturday were aborted a half second before lift off, when the Falcon 9 flight control system detected a slight overpressure in the No. 5 Merlin first stage engine. Engineers identified a faulty nitrogen check value in the first stage power plant. The faulty valve, which was allowing unwanted nitrogen to flow into a liquid oxygen fill line, was replaced.
An post shutdown analysis indicates the May 19 launch could have proceeded safely, according to SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell. But she added, “The computer software did what it was supposed to, which is good.”
The first stage is powered by nine SpaceX developed Merlin liquid oxygen/kerosene engines, the second stage by one of the power plants.
Dragon is carrying about 1,014 pounds of non critical cargo, including food, computer equipment and student experiments within a Nanoracks Module. If the linkup is successful, the capsule will depart the station with about 1,400 pounds of experiment samples, space suit gear and hardware slated for refurbishment.
Once undocked, Dragon will re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere, descending under parachute into the Pacific Ocean several hunder miles off the southern California coast.
SpaceX plans to recover the re-usable Dragon capsule.
Dragon circling Earth after flawless predawn blastoff
Stephen Clark - SpaceflightNow.com
SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket radiantly rose into a serene predawn sky over Florida on Tuesday, successfully launching a privately-owned capsule named Dragon into orbit on a seminal test flight to the International Space Station.
The Dragon spacecraft is on a technological shakedown mission, and if all goes according to plan, it will become the first commercial vehicle to reach the space station, a 450-ton orbiting complex staffed by six crew members from the United States, Russia and the Netherlands.
Founded in 2002 by Elon Musk, an Internet mogul who helped start PayPal, SpaceX has spent $1.2 billion designing and building rockets and spacecraft intended to cut the costs and boost the reliability of space travel.
NASA has paid $381 million to go toward developing the company's Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon cargo spacecraft. The public-private partnership allows SpaceX to work with public financing and private capital.
SpaceX also has a $75 million agreement with NASA to begin modifying the Dragon spacecraft to carry astronauts, a feat the company says is achievable, assuming continued NASA support, by 2014 or 2015.
But the craft's first job is to reliably deliver cargo to the space station. Since the retirement of the space shuttle, NASA has been dependent on Russian, European and Japanese vehicles for resupply duties. Russia's Soyuz capsule is the sole vehicle capable of crew transportation to and from the space station.
The mission launched Tuesday is the SpaceX's biggest test yet. NASA plans to use the Dragon spacecraft for 12 operational cargo delivery flights beginning as soon as this year, and a modified version of the Dragon is in the running to be the next U.S. spacecraft to fly humans into orbit.
But NASA officials need to see how the Dragon capsule performs in space before placing precious experiments or priceless human lives aboard. The nine-day flight launched Tuesday aims to help put those concerns to rest.
The Falcon 9 rocket flashed to life and ascended from the launch pad at 3:44:38 a.m. EDT (0744:38 GMT), the moment Earth's rotation moved the seaside facility into the space station's flight path.
Liftoff came three days after computers ordered a last-second abort after detecting high pressure in one of the Falcon 9 rocket's nine main engines. Engineers traced the problem to a faulty nitrogen valve and replaced the part, clearing the way for another try Tuesday.
Soaring into a cloudless, star-filled sky, the rocket remained in view of spectators for several minutes, appearing first as a ball or orange fire, then a brilliant moving star as it trekked northeast from Cape Canaveral, Fla.
The 15-story booster reached orbit and deployed the Dragon spacecraft less than 10 minutes after its thunderous departure from Cape Canaveral, following a seemingly perfect trip to space powered by 10 kerosene-fueled Merlin engines.
Moments after its release from the Falcon 9 rocket, the Dragon capsule shed aerodynamic shields over its solar panels before unfurling the arrays to generate electricity. It was the first time the SpaceX-designed solar wings flew in space.
"Feels like a giant weight just came off my back," Musk tweeted shortly after launch.
Describing how he felt at the moment of liftoff, Musk said: "Every bit of adrenaline in my body released at that point."
Tests of the Dragon's GPS navigation system, high-tech optical and thermal rendezvous sensors, and abort functions were planned later Tuesday. A bay door housing the rendezvous systems opened as planned and locked into place, exposing the Dragon's laser range-finder and grapple fixture.
"Although there's a lot ahead to complete this mission, we're certainly off to a good start," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden.
A series of orbit-raising burns of Dragon's thrusters was planned Tuesday and Wednesday. Shifts of controllers at SpaceX's Hawthorne, Calif., headquarters will watch over the spacecraft throughout the mission.
"We obviously have to go through a number of steps to berth with the space station, but everything is looking good," Musk told reporters after launch. "I would really count today as a success no matter what happens with the rest of the mission."
If all goes according to plan, the gumdrop-shaped capsule will close in on the space station Thursday, exercising its long-range navigation systems and testing a communications link with the complex. The space station crew will use a control panel to issue a demonstrated command to the Dragon spacecraft, verifying the communications path between the station and the capsule is stable.
Dragon's closest approach to the space station Thursday will be about 1.6 miles below the complex before a rocket burn sends the capsule away for a day while engineers on the ground analyze the spacecraft's performance.
A second rendezvous with the space station Friday will culminate with the Dragon closing within 10 meters, or about 32 feet, beneath the orbiting lab, close enough for NASA flight engineer Don Pettit to grapple the capsule with the station's robotic arm.
"Today was the first in a number of milestones in this mission," Bolden said. "What a spectacular start. It was a picture-perfect launch."
SpaceX Falcon 9 Delivers Dragon to Orbit
Space News
Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) on May 22 successfully launched an unmanned Dragon capsule on a demonstration mission to the international space station (ISS).
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying Dragon lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., at 3:44 a.m. EDT. Eleven minutes later, Dragon was in orbit, solar arrays deployed.
"Falcon flew perfectly!! Dragon in orbit, comm locked and solar arrays active!! Feels like a giant weight just came off my back," SpaceX founder and chief executive Elon Musk said via Twitter.
Docking with the ISS is scheduled to occur May 25 at 11:05 a.m., assuming Dragon passes a series of confidence-building tests planned for the capsule's first three days of on-orbit operations.
The pre-dawn liftoff followed a May 19 launch attempt that was aborted at the last second when the Falcon 9's flight computer detected high pressure in one of the rocket's nine main stage engines. SpaceX engineers traced the problem to a faulty check valve, which was subsequently replaced.
"Today was the first of a number of milestones in this mission. What a spectacular start," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden told reporters a little over an hour after the May 22 liftoff, which he described as "a picture-perfect launch." His remarks were carried live on NASA TV.
SpaceX, meanwhile, issued the following mission timeline:
· May 23: Dragon orbits Earth as it travels toward the ISS.
· May 24: Dragon’s sensors and flight systems are subject to a series of complicated tests to determine if the vehicle is ready to berth with the space station; these tests include maneuvers and systems checks that see the vehicle come within 2.4 kilometers of the station.
· May 25: NASA decides if Dragon is allowed to attempt to berth with the station. If so, Dragon approaches; it is captured by station’s robotic arm and attached to the station. This requires extreme precision as both Dragon and station orbit the earth every 90 minutes.
· May 26 - 31: Astronauts open Dragon’s hatch, unload supplies and fill Dragon with return cargo.
· May 31: Dragon is detached from the station and returns to Earth, landing in the Pacific, hundreds of kilometers west of Southern California.
If all goes according to plan, SpaceX will be poised to begin making regular cargo deliveries to the ISS under a $1.6 billion NASA contract awarded in 2008.
SpaceX has received more than $300 million from the U.S. space agency to date under a 2006 Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) agreement with NASA to develop the capability to fly cargo to the ISS. SpaceX's first COTS demo occured in December 2010 -- more than two years later than originally planned -- when a Dragon capsule completed two orbits before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.
Before dawn on May 22, President Barack Obama's top science adviser -- John P. Holdren, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy -- issued a statement congratulating SpaceX and NASA on the successful launch.
"Every launch into space is a thrilling event, but this one is especially exciting because it represents the potential of a new era in American spaceflight," Holdren said in the statement. "Partnering with U.S. companies such as SpaceX to provide cargo and eventually crew service to the International Space Station is a cornerstone of the President's plan for maintaining America's leadership in space. This expanded role for the private sector will free up more of NASA's resources to do what NASA does best -- tackle the most demanding technological challenges in space, including those of human space flight beyond low Earth orbit."
SpaceX blasts off to space station in historic first
Jean-Louis Santini - Agence France Presse
Opening a new era in private space flight, the US company SpaceX on Tuesday became the first commercial outfit to launch its own craft toward the International Space Station.
"Three, two, one and launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, as NASA turns to the private sector to resupply the International Space Station," said NASA commentator George Diller, as the spacecraft blasted off at 3:44 am (0744 GMT).
The test flight of the Dragon space capsule, which launched atop SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, aims to show that commercial industry can restore US access to the ISS after NASA retired its space shuttle fleet last year.
The mission is set to include a fly-by and berthing with the station in the next three days, before the capsule returns to Earth at the end of this month.
Shortly after liftoff, the cargo-carrying spacecraft entered orbit and video images showed mission control staff at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California jumping from their seats, hugging and clapping.
SpaceX chief executive officer and Internet entrepreneur Elon Musk said watching the rocket rise from the launch pad was an "extremely intense moment."
"Every bit of adrenaline in my body released at that point," he told reporters after the apparently flawless launch, which followed an attempt on Saturday that was scrubbed at the last second when computers detected high pressure in the central engine of the Falcon 9.
SpaceX engineers discovered the root cause was a faulty check valve and repaired it the same day.
No humans are traveling aboard the Dragon, but six astronauts are already at the $100-billion space lab to help the capsule latch on, to unload supplies and then restock the capsule with cargo to take back to Earth.
On May 24, the spacecraft's sensors and flight systems are to undergo a series of tests to see if it is ready to berth, including a complicated fly-under at a distance of about 1.5 miles (2.5 kilometers).
If NASA gives the green light, the Dragon will then approach the ISS on May 25 in an attempt to berth with the station.
The astronauts on board the ISS will maneuver the station's robotic arm to help capture the capsule and attach it to the orbiting research outpost.
The hatch of the Dragon is set to open on May 26 for unloading 521 kilograms (1,148 pounds) of cargo for the space lab and restocking it with a 660-kilogram (1,455-pound) load to return to Earth.
On May 31, the Dragon is to detach from the station and make a safe landing in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of southern California.
California-based SpaceX, owned by billionaire Musk, who also co-founded PayPal, is the first of several US competitors to try sending spacecraft to the ISS with the goal of restoring US access to space for human travelers by 2015.
"We are really at the dawn of a new era of space exploration, one where there is a much bigger role for commercial space companies," Musk said, likening the space effort to the rise of the Internet in the mid 1990s.
"The Internet was created as a government endeavor but then the introduction of commercial companies really accelerated the growth of the Internet and made it accessible to the mainstream," he added.
"I think we are actually at that stage and the success of this mission -- even what we have seen thus far -- I think bodes well for that new stage of space exploration."
The company successfully test-launched its Falcon 9 rocket in June 2010, then made history with its Dragon launch in December of that year, becoming the first commercial outfit to send a spacecraft into orbit and back.
Its reusable Dragon capsule has been built to carry both cargo and up to seven crew members.
NASA administrator Charles Bolden congratulated SpaceX for opening "a new era in exploration."
"We're handing off to the private sector our transportation to the International Space Station so that NASA can focus on what we do best -- exploring even deeper into our solar system, with missions to an asteroid and Mars on the horizon."
Until now, only the space agencies of Russia, Japan and Europe have been able to send supply ships to the ISS.
The three-decade US shuttle program, which ferried astronauts and cargo to the research outpost, ended for good in 2011, leaving Russia as the sole taxi to the ISS until private industry comes up with a replacement.
SpaceX and a handful of other companies are being helped in their endeavors with seed money from NASA to build cargo and crew capability.
Launch success for SpaceX mission
Jonathan Amos - BBC News
California's SpaceX has launched on a mission to re-supply the space station - the first cargo delivery to the orbiting outpost by a private company.
The firm's Falcon rocket, topped by an unmanned Dragon freight capsule, lifted clear of its Florida pad at 03:44 EDT (07:44 GMT; 08:44 BST).
The initial climb to an altitude some 340km above the Earth lasted a little under 10 minutes.
Within moments of being ejected, Dragon opened its solar panels.
It will take a couple of days to reach the station. The plan currently is for the vessel to demonstrate its guidance, control and communications systems on Thursday, at a distance of 2.5km from the International Space Station (ISS).
If those practice proximity manoeuvres go well, Dragon will be allowed to drive to within 10m of the station on Friday. Astronauts inside the platform will then grab the ship with a robotic arm and berth it to the 400km-high structure.
They will empty Dragon of its 500kg of food, water and equipment, before releasing it for a return to Earth at the end of the month.
The mission has major significance because it marks a big change in the way the US wants to conduct its space operations.
Nasa is attempting to offload routine human spaceflight operations in low-Earth orbit to commercial industry in a way similar to how some large organisations contract out their IT or payroll.
The carriage of freight will be the first service to be bought in from external suppliers; the transport of astronauts to and from the station will be the second, later this decade.
The US agency hopes these changes will save it money that can then be invested in exploration missions far beyond Earth, at destinations such as asteroids and Mars.
SpaceX has many new systems it has to demonstrate in the coming days, and has tried to lower expectations ahead of the mission.
Nasa has set the California company a series of development milestones. Only when those have been met fully will a $1.6bn ISS re-supply contract kick in.
The agency is also looking to engage a second cargo partner. Orbital Sciences Corporation of Virginia is slightly behind SpaceX in its development schedule, although it started work on its Antares rocket and Cygnus capsule system later. Orbital expects to fly a first mission to the vicinity of the ISS later this year or early in 2013.
SpaceX Launches Private Capsule on Historic Trip to Space Station
Clara Moskowitz - Space.com
A private space capsule called Dragon soared into the predawn sky Tuesday, riding a pillar of flame like its beastly namesake on a history-making trip to the International Space Station.
The unmanned capsule, built by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX), is the first non-governmental spacecraft to launch to the space station, ushering in a new era of partnership between the public and private spaceflight programs.
"I think this is an example of American entrepreneurship at its best," said Alan Lindenmoyer, manager of NASA's commercial crew and cargo program, in a briefing before the launch. About 100 VIP guests were on hand to witness the launch, NASA officials said.
The Hawthorne, Calif.-based SpaceX launched its Dragon capsule at 3:44 a.m. EDT (0744 GMT) today from a pad here at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. It blasted off atop SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, a 157-foot (48-meter) booster powered by nine Merlin rocket engines. The space station was flying 249 miles above the North Atlantic Ocean as the rocket lifted off, NASA officials said.
Private spaceship in orbit
The gumdrop-shaped capsule is 14.4 feet tall (4.4 meters) and 12 feet wide (3.7 m), and packed with 1,014 pounds (460 kilograms) of cargo for the space station, including 674 pounds (306 kg) of food and supplies for the crew, as well as student-designed science experiments and a laptop computer.
The Falcon 9 rocket's second stage is also reportedly carrying ashes from 308 people, including actor James Doohan, who played Scotty on the 1960s television series "Star Trek," and Mercury program astronaut Gordon Cooper. The ashes were flown under a deal with the "memorial spaceflight" company Celestis, according to ABC News and Reuters.
The SpaceX launch vehicle is named after the Millennium Falcon of "Star Wars," while the capsule got its moniker from the Peter, Paul and Mary song, "Puff, the Magic Dragon."
Today marked only the second-ever launch of a Dragon capsule, and the third flight for the Falcon 9 rocket. It was the second attempt to launch the space station-bound test flight after a launch try Saturday was thwarted by a faulty rocket engine valve. Repairs were made over the weekend, and the SpaceX team counted down smoothly to the liftoff this morning.
"One thing that they are very good at is being able to work through launch abort and treat those problems and be prepared to go again in a very short time," Mike Horkachuck, NASA project executive for SpaceX, said Monday.
Today's launch is the last planned test flight for SpaceX under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program intended to develop a private-sector replacement for the cargo-delivery services of the retired space shuttles. SpaceX has a $1.6 billion contract to fly at least 12 unmanned missions to the space station through 2015.
Musk founded SpaceX in 2002 with the goal of boosting commercial access to space and, ultimately, aiming for deep-space exploration, including missions to Mars. The success of today's launch was never certain or assured, Musk had repeatedly said.
Today, the mission's uncertainty eased up a bit, he said.
"Falcon flew perfectly!!" Musk wrote in a Twitter post from Falcon 9's mission control room in Hawthorne. "Dragon in orbit, comm locked and solar arrays active!! Feels like a giant weight just came off my back."
Orbital catch up
The spacecraft is due to spend its first day on orbit catching up with the 240-mile high (390 km) space station, where it will rendezvous Thursday (May 24) and perform a fly-by to within 1.5 miles (2.5 kilometers) to check its navigation systems.
On Friday (May 25), the capsule is slated to perform a series of maneuvers to approach the station, with crewmembers onboard the outpost issuing commands to Dragon. If the spacecraft passes a set of "go-no go" checks at Mission Control in Houston, NASA will approve the vehicle to approach the International Space Station. From inside, astronauts Don Pettit and Andre Kuipers will use the lab's robotic arm to grab Dragon and berth it to the station's Harmony node.
The hatches between the two spacecraft are due to be opened early Saturday (May 26), so the crew can enter Dragon and unpack its deliveries.
Dragon is due to spend about a week and a half attached to the outpost. On May 31, the capsule will be packed with completed science experiments and other equipment, unberthed, and sent back toward Earth. The vehicle is equipped with a heat shield to withstand the fires of re-entry, and is due to splash down and be recovered by ship in the Pacific Ocean.
Private spaceflight reality
Dragon is an unmanned version of a capsule ultimately intended to carry people as well.
Another company, Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va., also has a NASA contract to deliver cargo to the space station, and plans to launch its first test flight later this year.
The program is part of a larger effort by NASA to outsource low-Earth orbit transportation to the private sector, allowing the space agency to begin work on a new spacecraft and heavy-lift rocket to visit asteroids, the moon and Mars.
The plan has received criticism from some lawmakers and members of the public, who worry that commercial vehicles aren't as safe or reliable as NASA's in-house built spacecraft.
"It's really easy to criticize, and it's very difficult to solve a problem and actually do something," said SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell. "So I tend to focus on the business and getting our jobs done and not focus on those that want to criticize."
NASA officials and leaders of the commercial space sector say the time is right for space to transition from an exclusively government regime to an arena open to private companies.
"I kind of see that transition as being inevitable," said Phil McAlister, NASA's director of Commercial Spaceflight Development. "I believe it is going to happen at some point. If it's not today and this mission falls short of expectations, it is going to happen eventually."
Following today's successful launch, experts and industry officials offered their congratulations to SpaceX. Here are some of their responses:
John P. Holdren, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology
"Congratulations to the teams at SpaceX and NASA for this morning's successful launch of the Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Every launch into space is a thrilling event, but this one is especially exciting because it represents the potential of a new era in American spaceflight. Partnering with U.S. companies such as SpaceX to provide cargo and eventually crew service to the International Space Station is a cornerstone of the President's plan for maintaining America's leadership in space. This expanded role for the private sector will free up more of NASA's resources to do what NASA does best — tackle the most demanding technological challenges in space, including those of human space flight beyond low Earth orbit. I could not be more proud of our NASA and SpaceX scientists and engineers, and I look forward to following this and many more missions like it."
Virgin Galactic, suborbital space tourism company (via Twitter)
"Bravo! The video has looked great! RT @SpaceX: Liftoff!!!! #DragonLaunch spacex.com"
Michael Lopez-Alegria, president of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation
"The entire team at SpaceX and at NASA should be commended for their success on this third test flight of the Falcon 9 rocket. The preparations and precautions taken by SpaceX and NASA in months past have contributed to their exemplary performance today. After seeing the smooth launch SpaceX just executed, it is easy to forget that this is indeed rocket science."
Charles Bolden, NASA administrator
"I want to congratulate SpaceX for its successful launch and salute the NASA team that worked alongside them to make it happen. Today marks the beginning of a new era in exploration; a private company has launched a spacecraft to the International Space Station that will attempt to dock there for the first time. And while there is a lot of work ahead to successfully complete this mission, we are certainly off to [a] good start. Under President Obama's leadership, the nation is embarking upon an ambitious exploration program that will take us farther into space than we have ever traveled before, while helping create good-paying jobs right here in the United States of America."
Eric Anderson, pres. & CEO of Space Adventures & chair of Commercial Spaceflight Federation
"This is a testament to the viability of the commercial spaceflight industry. Congratulations to SpaceX for successfully completing the first steps of this demonstration flight. Elon and his team's success today is an important milestone in achieving a sustainable space program."
Mark Sirangelo, chairman of Sierra Nevada Corporation
"SpaceX's successful launch this morning is a great accomplishment, and is an important milestone for commercial spaceflight. The shuttle may be retired, but the American dream of space exploration is alive and well, and the commercial space industry is working hard to provide U.S. access to low-Earth orbit."
John Logsdon, professor emeritus at the George Washington University
"This demonstration flight for NASA's COTS program provides valuable experience for SpaceX, but also for NASA and the entire industry that will be carrying cargo and eventually crew to the International Space Station. Congratulations to SpaceX for extending their streak of successful Falcon 9 launches."
William Gerstenmaier, associate admin. for NASA's Human Exploration Ops Directorate
"This flight is an important milestone as NASA and SpaceX develop the next generation of U.S. spacecraft to carry the critically important experiments, payloads and supplies to our remarkable laboratory in space."
Electronic components travel well on Space missions
Nicolas Mokhoff - EE Times
NASA’s Langley Research Center is evaluating high-speed InGaAs photodiodes sent in a rugged flight-worthy suitcase to the International Space Station (ISS) in one Space Shuttle flight in 2009 and returned to Earth in another Space Shuttle fight in 2011 and is finding them surprisingly robust.
The components, manufactured by Discovery Semiconductors, were part of the Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) 7 mission launched on the Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-129) on November 16, 2009, and returned on the Space Shuttle Endeavor (STS-134) on June 1, 2011. NASA’s Langley Research Center launched them as part of their LIDAR transceiver components and recently released them to Discovery Semiconductors for further study.
LIDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) can measure the distance to, or other properties of a target by illuminating the target with light using pulses from a laser.
"MISSE 7 has given us a great opportunity to study these InGaAs photodiode and balanced photodiodes which went through the STS-129 launch, 18 months of stay on ISS, and then re-entry back to earth on STS-134," said Narasimha Prasad, Aerospace Technologist, at NASA Langley. "We have started post flight tests on these devices, and our preliminary analysis shows the InGaAs photodiodes have been surprisingly intact under the influence of UV, radiation, as well as thermal cycling in space."
“A suitcase shaped, rugged, flight-worthy box known as Passive Experiment Containers (PECs) is used to transport the selected materials to and from the ISS," said Prasad.
MISSE 7 package consisted of two sections, 7A and 7B. PEC 7A’s orientation is zenith/nadir (space facing/earth facing), while PEC 7B faces ram/wake (forward/backward) relative to the ISS orbit. NASA Langley sent a package with several LIDAR transceiver components on PEC 7B; Discovery Semiconductors' two photodiode modules were part of this package facing wake side, primarily used to study for UV and radiation exposure effects.
The MISSE 7 mission was managed by the NASA Glenn Research Center with Naval Research Laboratory, Boeing, and NASA Langley playing significant roles.
“I have worked on space missions before, but the devices launched rarely come back to earth, as most spacecrafts get destroyed in the atmospheric re-entry after their missions are over" said Abhay Joshi, President and CEO of Discovery Semiconductors.
The privately-owned company, which provides high-performance components for ultra-wide bandwidth applications in the telecom and aerospace industries, will be studying over the next few months the electro-optical characteristics of the returned InGaAs photodiodes, as well as other parts of the modules, and use the data for future space flights.
END
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