Fwd: SpaceX launches supplies to ISS

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Begin forwarded message:

From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: April 19, 2014 11:05:14 AM CDT
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: SpaceX launches supplies to ISS

Space X doesn't say much about their problems. Dragon on orbit failed to pressurize both RCS systems only one fuel system, therefore, no-go for ISS approach. This happened on a previous mission with the OX side, they cycled valves many times and finally got the redundant pressurized and this worked this time also. Sounds like they have a valve problem they still have not fixed. I saw George Gafka at the Gilruth Exercise room last evening and he told me about the RCS valve problem. See yellow highlights below.

Gary

 

NASA

April 18, 2014

 

RELEASE 14-091

 

NASA Cargo Launches to Space Station aboard SpaceX Resupply Mission

 

Nearly 2.5 tons of NASA science investigations and cargo are on the way to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft. The spacecraft launched atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 3:25 p.m. EDT Friday, April 18.

 

The mission is the company's third cargo delivery flight to the station through a $1.6 billion NASA Commercial Resupply Services contract. Dragon's cargo will support more than 150 experiments to be conducted by the crews of ISS Expeditions 39 and 40.

 

"SpaceX is delivering important research experiments and cargo to the space station," said William Gerstenmaier, NASA associate administrator for human exploration and operations. "The diversity and number of new experiments is phenomenal. The investigations aboard Dragon will help us improve our understanding of how humans adapt to living in space for long periods of time and help us develop technologies that will enable deep space exploration."

 

The scientific payloads on Dragon include investigations into efficient plant growth in space, human immune system function in microgravity, Earth observation, and a demonstration of laser optics communication. Also being delivered is a set of high-tech legs for Robonaut 2, which will provide the humanoid robot torso already aboard the orbiting laboratory the mobility it needs to help with regular and repetitive tasks inside the space station.

 

Dragon also will deliver a second set of investigations sponsored by the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), which manages the portion of the space station that is designated a U.S. National Laboratory. The investigations include research into plant biology and protein crystal growth, a field of study experts believe may lead to beneficial advancements in drug development through protein mapping.

 

On its way to the ISS, SpaceX's Falcon rocket jettisoned five small research satellites known as CubeSats that will perform a variety of technology demonstrations. The small satellites are part of NASA's Educational Launch of Nanosatellite, or ElaNa, mission, and involved more than 120 students in their design, development and construction. One of the satellites, PhoneSat 2.5, is the third in a series of CubeSat missions designed to use commercially available smartphone technology as part of a low-cost development effort to provide basic spacecraft capabilities. Another of the small satellites, SporeSat, is designed to help scientists study the mechanisms by which plant cells sense gravity — valuable research in the larger effort to grow plants in space.

 

Dragon will be grappled at 7:14 a.m. on Sunday, April 20, by Expedition 39 Commander Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, using the space station's robotic arm to take hold of the spacecraft. NASA's Rick Mastracchio will support Wakata in a backup position. Dragon is scheduled to depart the space station May 18 for a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, west of Baja California, bringing from the space station nearly 3,500 pounds of science, hardware, crew supplies and spacewalk tools.

 

The ISS is a convergence of science, technology and human innovation that demonstrates new technologies and makes research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. The space station has been continuously occupied since November 2000. In that time, it has been visited by more than 200 people and a variety of international and commercial spacecraft. The space station remains the springboard to NASA's next great leap in exploration, including future missions to an asteroid and Mars.

 

For more information about SpaceX's third cargo resupply mission and the International Space Station, visit:

 

http://www.nasa.gov/station

 

-end-

 

Rachel Kraft

Headquarters, Washington

202-358-1100

rachel.h.kraft@nasa.gov

 

Dan Huot

Johnson Space Center, Houston

281-483-5111

daniel.g.huot@nasa.gov

 

 

 

Florida Today

 

SpaceX cargo ship blasts off to ISS

James Dean

 

Stormy weather this morning gradually improved and turned out to be no concern at launch time.

 

SpaceX's 208-foot Falcon 9 roared from its pad with 1.3 million pounds of thrust, disappearing into overcast skies about 80 seconds after liftoff.

 

Ten minutes later the Dragon separated from the rocket's upper stage, deployed power-generating solar arrays and began to chase down the station.

 

The Dragon is expected to arrive with nearly 5,000 pounds of cargo early Sunday, when two of six ISS crew members will grapple the spacecraft with a robotic arm and pull it to a docking port.

 

The successful launch came on the mission's second attempt, after a rocket valve scrubbed a try on Monday.

 

The mission is SpaceX's third of at least 12 under a $1.6 billion NASA contract to resupply the station.

 

SpaceX today also attempted to land its first stage booster softly in the Atlantic Ocean and recover it with a ship. The company reported that engines fired to complete the first of two reentry and landing burns, but it was not yet known if the booster returned intact.

 

The experiment is part of SpaceX's effort to develop a resuable booster that can return to land and be flown again.

 

With today's launch and the Dragon's Sunday berthing, ISS crew members will now plan to perform a spacewalk next Wednesday to repair a failed computer relay system.

 

Copyright © 2014, Florida Today

 

 

 

SpaceX Falcon 9 boost Dragon/CRS-3 into orbit (UPDATED)

04/18/2014 06:20 PM 

 

Editor's note...

    Posted at 03:50 PM ET, 04/18/14: SpaceX cargo ship takes off on station resupply mission

    Updated at 06:15 PM ET, 04/18/14: Musk update; rocket performance good; Dragon on way to station; good data from initial phases of stage re-entry (inserting four grafs after 6th graf; replacing grafs 25-29 to add initial rocket stage re-entry results)

 

By WILLIAM HARWOOD

CBS News

 

An upgraded SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket boosted a Dragon cargo capsule into orbit Friday, the first step in a two-day rendezvous with the International Space Station, the company's third commercial resupply mission under a $1.6 billion contract with NASA.

 

Running four days late because of a helium leak that grounded the rocket Monday, the Falcon 9 version 1.1 rocket roared to life at 3:25 p.m. EDT (GMT-4), roughly the moment Earth's rotation carried launch complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station into the plane of the lab's orbit.

 

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Dragon cargo capsule loaded with more than 5,000 pounds of equipment and supplies blasts off from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Friday, kicking off a two-day flight to the International Space Station. (Credit: NASA TV)

 

The launching was in doubt earlier in the day as a frontal system brought low clouds and rain to Florida's Space Coast, but conditions improved as the day wore on and as the countdown ticked into its final minutes, mission managers cleared the Falcon 9 for takeoff.

 

Live television from cameras mounted on the 20-story-tall rocket provided views of the cloud-shrouded Florida peninsula falling away below as the booster followed a northeasterly trajectory toward the station's orbit.

 

Gulping liquid oxygen and kerosene rocket fuel, the Falcon's nine first-stage engines appeared to operate normally, shutting down as planned about two minutes and 41 seconds after liftoff. The first stage then fell away and the second stage's single Merlin 1D engine continued the push to orbit, its nozzle glowing cherry red in downlinked video.

 

The Dragon spacecraft was released from the second stage about 10 minutes and 35 seconds after liftoff, providing another spectacular view as a forward-facing camera on the second stage captured the spacecraft's departure against the limb of the Earth. A few moments later, the Dragon's solar arrays deployed as planned in another major milestone.

 

Elon Musk, SpaceX CEO and chief designer, said a quick look at ascent telemetry showed the Falcon 9 performed well and that other than a brief snag with a propellant isolation valve, the Dragon spacecraft was in good shape and on the way to the space station.

 

"Everything looks great as far as the ascent phase of the mission," Musk told reporters. "The rocket flight was perfect as far as we can tell. ... We had some slight initial challenges with Dragon with respect to enabling some of the thruster quads, but those have been resolved. So it looks like everything's good on the Dragon front."

 

Bill Gerstenmaier, director of space operations at NASA Headquarters, congratulated Musk and the SpaceX team for "a tremendous launch today."

 

"They did a lot of great work last night getting the rocket ready to go fly," he said. "With the weather conditions, it was kind of sporty for them. ... They just did a tremendous job."

 

If all goes well, the solar-powered Dragon will execute a series of carefully planned rocket firings to chase down the International Space Station, pulling up to within about 30 feet of the lab complex just after 7 a.m. Sunday.

 

At that point, Expedition 39 commander Koichi Wakata and Rick Mastracchio, operating the station's robot arm and berthing system, plan to lock onto a grapple fixture and pull the spacecraft in for attachment to the Earth-facing port of the forward Harmony module.

 

The unpiloted Dragon spacecraft is loaded with nearly 5,000 pounds of equipment and supplies, including a new spacesuit, spare parts for suits already aboard the station, food and clothing, an experimental laser communications system and high-definition video cameras.

 

The equipment also includes the Vegetable Production System, or VEGGIE, hardware for growing salad-type crops in weightlessness and a set of legs for the station's humanoid robot.

 

In addition, the second stage of the Falcon 9 was expected to release five small satellites for a variety of research objectives, including one loaded with more than 100 tiny "picosats" measuring just 1.3 inches across. The satellites, made up of a single circuit board, are equipped with miniaturized solar panels, radio circuitry and sensors to measure the space environment.

 

An on-board camera shows the Falcon 9's second stage engine glowing against the backdrop of Earth's limb. (Credit: NASA TV)

 

But getting the Dragon capsule to the space station is the primary goal of the mission and if all goes well, the astronauts will open the hatch and begin unloading science equipment from the pressurized section of the spacecraft Monday.

 

The Dragon spacecraft also features an unpressurized "trunk" section that can be accessed by the station's robot arm. The trunk is being utilized for the first time to carry up components that will be mounted on the station's exterior.

 

One trunk-mounted payload is NASA's Optical Payload for Lasercomm Science, or OPALS, which will be mounted on the station's solar power truss. The OPALS hardware will test high-speed laser data transmission to and from a California ground station in a demonstration that could pave the way to improved communications with future spacecraft.

 

Another trunk-mounted payload includes four high-definition cameras that will be mounted on the station's exterior as part of the High Definition Earth Viewing, or HDEV, project. The cameras will be used to downlink live, streaming video of Earth while engineers monitor the effects of the space environment on the camera hardware.

 

SpaceX originally hoped to launch the Falcon 9 last Monday, after a decision by NASA management to proceed with the flight amid planning for a contingency spacewalk to replace a faulty computer control box in the station's solar power truss.

 

But SpaceX managers had to call off the launch try Monday because of a helium leak in a system used to separate the first and second stages of the Falcon 9 during ascent. The suspect hardware was replaced in a relatively straight-forward repair, clearing the way for another launch attempt.

 

Assuming a successful berthing by the Dragon capsule Sunday, the astronauts will make final preparations for a spacewalk Wednesday to replace the failed computer unit in the central S0 section of the lab's solar power truss.

 

The computer, known as a multiplexer-demultiplexer, or MDM, has been in place since S0's launch in 2002. Known as MDM EXT-2, the 50-pound "black box" commands 12 of 24 externally mounted computers, serving as a backup for commanding solar array motion, a robot arm transporter and other critical systems.

 

While MDM EXT-1 is working normally, NASA managers want to restore redundancy as soon as possible to protect against a subsequent failure that, without a backup in place, could disable a variety of critical systems.

 

NASA managers cleared SpaceX to proceed with the Falcon 9/Dragon flight after implementing protective measures that would enable near-normal operations even if MDM EXT-1 runs into problems.

 

A spare MDM has been stored in the Destiny laboratory module since its launch in 2001. In preparation for the replacement spacewalk, Mastracchio and Steven Swanson installed a new circuit board in the spare unit as part of a software upgrade.

 

During a planned two-and-a-half-hour spacewalk Wednesday, Mastracchio and Swanson plan to exit the Quest airlock, float up to the forward face of the S0 truss segment, remove the faulty MDM and install the replacement.

 

The old box then will be carried back inside the station for troubleshooting. Any circuit boards that don't check out will be replaced and the device will be put in storage for use as a spare if needed.

 

The Dragon cargo ship sails away from the Falcon 9 second stage after a successful boost to orbit. (Credit: NASA TV)

 

Getting the Dragon spacecraft safely into orbit was the primary objective of SpaceX's third commercial resupply mission, or CRS-3. But the company also used the launch as an opportunity to test procedures and techniques aimed at getting a Falcon 9 first stage back to Earth for recovery and eventual reuse.

 

The discarded first stage was programmed to attempt what amounted to a "soft landing" in the Atlantic Ocean east of Cape Canaveral, firing its engines for a controlled descent and deploying four 25-foot-long landing legs just before ocean impact.

 

Musk said high seas prevented recovery ships from reaching the planned impact zone and made it unlikely the rocket stage would survive splashdown, even if everything went well. But telemetry captured by a SpaceX airplane in the area showed the rocket stabilized itself and that its engines fired as planned to begin the descent.

 

"I would consider it a success in that we were able to control the boost stage to a zero roll rate, which is previously what has destroyed the stage, an uncontrolled roll where the on-board nitrogen thrusters were unable to overcome the aerodynamic torque and so it sort of spun up," Musk said.

 

"With more powerful thrusters and more nitrogen propellant, we were able to null the roll rate. So that's a bit of good news there. And, of course, we were able to show on ascent the legs don't have any negative impact and were able to come back" through the region of maximum aerodynamic stress.

 

Even though he did not expect to recover the spent stage this time around, "we're really starting to connect the dots of what's needed," he said. "There are only a few more dots that need to be there to have it all work. I think we've got a decent chance of bringing a stage back this year, which would be wonderful."

 

If SpaceX eventually perfects a recovery system, future rocket stages could be guided to nearby landing sites for refurbishment and reuse, dramatically lowering costs compared to traditional throw-away boosters.

 

This is the third commercial resupply mission carried out by SpaceX under a $1.6 billion contract with NASA that calls for 12 missions through 2016 to deliver some 44,000 pounds of supplies and equipment.

 

Another company, Orbital Sciences Corp., holds a $1.9 billion contract covering eight cargo delivery missions using its Antares rockets and Cygnus supply ships. Both contracts were awarded after the decision to retire NASA's shuttle fleet.

 

The Dragon capsule will remain attached to the space station until May 18 when it will be unberthed for re-entry and splashdown off the coast of California. The Dragon is the only cargo ship currently servicing the station that is capable of bringing components, experiment samples and other materials back to Earth for post-flight analysis.

 

This time around, the spacecraft will be packed with some 1,600 pounds of experiment samples and other station components.

 

© 2011 William Harwood/CBS News 

 

 

SpaceX supply ship begins journey to space station

BY STEPHEN CLARK

SPACEFLIGHT NOW

April 18, 2014

 

SpaceX's commercial Dragon supply ship thundered into orbit Friday to begin a two-day pursuit of the International Space Station, setting up the delivery of 2.4 tons of fresh supplies and experimental cargo to the 450-ton research complex Sunday.

 

The Dragon spacecraft, flying on SpaceX's third operational resupply run to the space station, lifted off at 3:25:21 p.m. EDT (1925:21 GMT) from Cape Canaveral's Complex 40 launch pad, initially rising slowly as its Falcon 9 rocket powered up to more than 1 million pounds of thrust.

 

The launcher picked up speed, breaking the sound barrier about 70 seconds after liftoff and rocketing through the stratosphere before releasing its nine-engine first stage less than 3 minutes into the flight.

 

The first stage fell away, leaving the upper stage's single Merlin 1D engine to accelerate the rocket and Dragon payload into orbit as the vehicle flew northeast from Cape Canaveral, paralleling the U.S. East Coast to reach the space station's exact orbital inclination.

 

The 12-foot-diameter first stage was programmed to ignite its engines two times during its fall back into the Atlantic Ocean, slowing its velocity before deploying four landing legs made of carbon fiber and aluminum honeycomb.

 

Monday's launch was the first Falcon 9 rocket to fly with landing legs.

 

Elon Musk, SpaceX's CEO and chief designer, posted an update Friday night on Twitter saying the first stage made a good landing despite high waves in the recovery zone a few hundred miles northeast of Cape Canaveral.

 

"Data upload from tracking plane shows landing in Atlantic was good! Several boats enroute through heavy seas," Musk tweeted, adding a few minutes later that the first stage's flight computers continued transmitting for 8 seconds after reaching the water, an indication the rocket must have splashed down with minimal damage.

 

SpaceX says the experimental first stage recovery is a stepping stone toward reusing the Falcon 9 rocket, which Musk says is critical for reducing the cost of space transportation.

 

If the stage landed intact, it would mark the first time SpaceX has retrieved part of a Falcon rocket after launch.

 

While the first stage's return maneuvers garnered much attention during a post-flight press conference Friday, the mission's primary goal is to resupply the space station, reinforcing the orbiting outpost's dwindling food inventory and delivering fresh experiments for researchers.

 

"I'm feeling pretty excited," Musk told reporters in a telephone call from SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif. "This is a happy day. Most important of all is that we did a good job for NASA ... Everything else is secondary to that."

 

The mission is SpaceX's third resupply run to the space station, coming after successful flights in October 2012 and March 2013 to kick off the execution of a $1.6 billion logistics contract with NASA. Signed in December 2008, the deal covers 12 missions for the delivery of a cumulative 44,000 pounds of cargo to the space station.

 

After reaching orbit Friday, the Dragon spaceship deployed from the Falcon 9's second stage about 10 minutes after liftoff, receding from the view of an on-board "rocketcam" backdropped by the muted blue colors of the ocean splashed against the stark blackness of space.

 

The spacecraft automatically unfurled two power-generating solar arrays with a wingspan of 54 feet.

 

SpaceX engineers initially ran into a problem with the Dragon spacecraft's propulsion system, causing the capsule to miss an appointed engine burn to set up for its two-day chase of the space station.

 

But Musk said the glitch, traced to an isolation valve, was bypassed by the use of a backup valve and the cargo mission was on track to reach the space station early Sunday.

 

Late Friday, the Dragon spacecraft opened its navigation bay door, exposing the ship's laser and thermal guidance sensors to be used in the final phase of its approach to the space station.

 

Controllers plan a series of orbit-raising burns over the next day-and-a-half, leading to the arrival of Dragon in the vicinity of the complex in the predawn hours Sunday, U.S. time.

 

The spaceship will approach the space station from below, eventually pausing about 30 feet beneath the complex while astronauts Koichi Wakata and Rick Mastracchio snare Dragon with a robotic arm.

 

Grapple is scheduled for 7:14 a.m. EDT (1114 GMT) to wrap up a 40-hour rendezvous that began with the Falcon 9 rocket's launch Friday.

 

The Dragon spacecraft launched Friday sports several upgrades over previous SpaceX cargo vehicles, nearly quadrupling the ship's capacity for powered cargo. The modifications include additional freezers for biological samples and redesigned cargo racks to accommodate additional payloads, according to SpaceX.

 

The mission is also taking up research experiments in the Dragon's unpressurized trunk for the first time. The passengers include a NASA optical communications terminal to demonstrate high data-rate links between the space station and the ground, along with a high-definition camera suite to collect videos of Earth.

 

The payload packages will be mounted outside the space station by the lab's Canadian-built robotics system.

 

Astronauts will manually remove items stowed inside the Dragon spacecraft's internal section, including 1,576 pounds of science and research gear, 1,049 pounds of crew provisions, 449 pounds of vehicle hardware, and 271 pounds of spacewalk tools.

 

The Dragon will arrive with a fresh spacesuit for the space station's six-person crew, a space age garden to demonstrate vegetable growth in microgravity, and legs for Robonaut 2, a humanoid robot launched on a 2011 space shuttle mission.

 

The space station will repack the Dragon spacecraft's pressurized module with experiment samples and other hardware destined to return to Earth. Dragon's departure and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean is scheduled for May 18. 

 

© 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.

 

           

Sea crew to attempt retrieval of Falcon 9 first stage

BY STEPHEN CLARK

SPACEFLIGHT NOW

April 13, 2014; Updated: April 18, 2014

 

Taking a leap toward the eventual reusability of SpaceX's Falcon 9 launcher, engineers have programmed the booster's first stage to make an experimental rocket-assisted splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean a few minutes after liftoff from Cape Canaveral on Friday afternoon.

 

SpaceX is careful to describe the attempted first stage recovery as an "experiment," giving the chance of a fully intact retrieval at just 30 or 40 percent.

 

"The entire recovery of the first stage is completely experimental," said Hans Koenigsmann, vice president of mission assurance at SpaceX. "It has nothing to with the primary mission."

 

SpaceX ultimately hopes reusability will further reduce the cost of its Falcon 9 launches, which are already a fraction of the cost of many of it SpaceX's competitors.

 

Liftoff from Cape Canaveral's Complex 40 launch pad is set for 3:25 p.m. EDT (1925 GMT). The mission will boost a Dragon supply ship into orbit with 2.4 tons of cargo and equipment heading for the International Space Station.

 

But soon after the Falcon 9's first stage shuts down and separates from the launcher's upper stage — a milestone expected to occur less than three minutes after liftoff — the cylindrical 12-foot-diameter first stage will relight some of its engines for a braking maneuver.

 

A few minutes later, the stage will ignite an engine again just above the water for a landing burn to set the rocket down into the sea at a slow velocity. The splashdown is expected a few hundred miles northeast of Cape Canaveral, roughly due east of the Georgia-South Carolina border.

 

The rocket is fitted with four landing legs made of carbon fiber and aluminum honeycomb. The 25-foot-tall legs will extend down and outward, deploying during the first stage's descent.

 

"We have a boat downrange, and we will perform an entry burn and a landing burn," Koenigsmann said, adding the test will pretend the Atlantic Ocean is actually a landing pad.

 

Crews pluck the intact stage or fragments from the water and return them to SpaceX for analysis.

 

Elon Musk, SpaceX's chairman and CEO, posted an update on Twitter on Friday, saying rough waves were preventing the recovery boat from reaching the expected first stage splashdown zone.

 

The company hopes to achieve a controlled return of a Falcon 9 first stage to a precision landing in a touchdown zone near rocket's launch site before the end of 2014, but Koenigsmann admitted that is ambitious and will depend largely on how Monday's attempted water landing works out.

 

"The important part is to collect data on these experiments and figure out if it worked well," Koenigsmann said.

 

It won't be the first time SpaceX has tried to recover a Falcon 9 first stage.

 

The first flight of the Falcon 9 in June 2010 featured parachutes to slow the first stage's fall into the ocean, but the vehicle did not survive the aerodynamic forces of re-entry.

 

SpaceX unveiled a different approach to recovering the first stage for reuse in 2011.

 

The Falcon 9's first stage engines would restart in flight and guide the rocket back to a landing zone somewhere near the launch pad, using landing legs to touch down vertically.

 

SpaceX has devised two prototype reusable launch vehicle testbeds for short hops at the company's Central Texas test facility. Higher-altitude tests will soon be flown from White Sands, N.M.

 

And the first mission of SpaceX's upgraded Falcon 9 v1.1 launcher from California in September tried a water recovery of the first stage.

 

During the September launch, after shutting down its nine Merlin 1D engines and separating from the second stage, the first stage restarted three of its engines in a braking burn to reduce the rocket's velocity during the fall through the atmosphere.

 

The stage's center engine ignited a few minutes later to further slow the rocket's speed just before splashing into the ocean, but the burn was cut short when the booster's spin starved the engine of fuel. SpaceX blamed centrifugal forces for keeping propellant out of pipes leading to the fuel-starved engine, causing it to switch off prematurely as the rocket hit the water and broke apart.

 

"We do it step-by-step, so we'll look at the results of this one and will adjust the timeline and make modifications — basically improvements," Koenigsmann said. "The overall goal is to get landing on land by end of this year, however, that's a challenge and if we pull this off we'll be super thrilled."

 

Mike Suffredini, NASA's space station program manager, said the space agency agreed to SpaceX's placement of the landing legs on Monday's resupply launch after determining there would be "no appreciable impact" to the rocket's primary objective of deploying the Dragon supply ship bound for the space station.

 

"The added mass is very small compared to the overall performance of the 1.1 version of the Falcon 9 vehicle," Suffredini said.

 

According to Suffredini, NASA officials were diligent in making sure the legs could not prematurely deploy during ascent.

 

SpaceX selected Monday's Dragon flight as the first mission with legs after skipping over two commercial satellite launches from Cape Canaveral in December and January. Officials said they committed all of the Falcon 9's lift capability to those missions, which carried communications satellites into geostationary transfer orbit for SES of Luxembourg and Thaicom, achieving the Falcon 9's first launches into a popular and lucrative commercial orbit.

 

Koenigsmann said SpaceX did some limited experimentation with re-igniting the Falcon 9's first stage engines on one of the commercial launches, but the launcher did not carry enough propellant for a full first stage re-entry profile.

 

None of SpaceX's competitors in the domestic and international launch market see the near-term technical feasibility or the economic potential of reusability promoted by SpaceX founder and chief executive Elon Musk.

 

"There's no question it's nirvana," said Robert Cleave, president of Lockheed Martin's launch services unit, which sells the Atlas 5 rocket on the commercial marketplace. "It's been nirvana since the '60s. We've had some reusable things. The space shuttle was reusable, but the price point wasn't the best."

 

Cleave said Lockheed Martin would never say no to rocket reusability.

 

"There are material sciences [issues] involved, there are controls involved, and then simply there are performance efficiencies involved because when you reuse something you carry extra weight into orbit," Cleave said. "Are we there today? We need to do some more studying on the laws of physics to get there."

 

"The reality is for the next 10 years, other than the Falcon, I don't think any of us are looking for reusability," said Phil Slack, president of International Launch Services, a Russian-owned, U.S.-based company which markets commercial launches on Russia's Proton rocket.

 

"Things could change for the future, but as far as a Proton goes or on our next-generation Angara, those are expendable launch vehicles," Slack said. "At least in the near future, there are no plans to look at reusability."

 

Stephane Israel, chairman and CEO of Arianespace, also said reusability was not on the French launch services company's horizon for next few decades.

 

"There are some capabilities in Europe regarding reusability, so the technologies are existing, but it's a matter of fact that when you consider the roadmap of Ariane, we do not bet on reusability," Israel said. "We are looking at it, but it's not our primary bet that the business model is quite convincing. We will monitor closely what will happen."

 

© 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.

           

 

 

SpaceX launches supplies to space station

Associated Press

By MARCIA DUNN 

 

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The SpaceX company returned to orbit Friday, launching fresh supplies to the International Space Station after more than a month's delay.

 

The Dragon cargo ship will reach the orbiting lab on Sunday — Easter morning. That pushes urgent spacewalking repairs to Wednesday; NASA wants a bad computer replaced before something else breaks.

 

This was the second launch attempt this week for SpaceX.

 

NASA's commercial supplier was foiled by a leaky rocket valve Monday. The valve was replaced, and the company aimed for a Friday liftoff despite a dismal forecast. Storms cleared out of Cape Canaveral just in time for the mid-afternoon launch into overcast skies.

 

The unmanned cargo ship contains 2½ tons of station supplies, including material originally intended for the spacewalking repairs.

 

A critical backup computer failed outside the space station last Friday. The primary computer is working fine, but numerous systems would be seriously compromised if it broke, too. A double failure also would hinder visits by the Dragon and other vessels.

 

"It's imperative that we maintain" backups for these external command-routing computer boxes, also called multiplexer-demultiplexers, or MDMs, said flight director Brian Smith said Friday. "Right now, we don't have that."

 

NASA decided late this week to use the gasket-like material already on board the space station for the repair, instead of waiting for the Dragon. Astronauts trimmed the thermal material Friday to fit the bottom of the replacement computer, and inserted a fresh circuit card.

 

Much-needed food is also aboard the Dragon, along with a new spacesuit and spacesuit replacement parts. NASA wants all these things at the space station as soon as possible.

 

The shipment is close to five weeks late. Initially set for mid-March, the launch was delayed by extra prepping, then damage to an Air Force radar and, finally on Monday, the rocket leak.

 

The space station's six-man crew watched the launch via a live TV hookup; the outpost was soaring 260 miles above Turkey at the time of ignition. Video beamed down from Dragon showed the solar wings unfurling.

 

Earlier, as the countdown entered its final few hours, NASA's space station program manager Mike Suffredini said an investigation continues into the reason for last summer's spacesuit failure. The helmet worn by an Italian astronaut filled with water from the suit's cooling system, and he nearly drowned during a spacewalk.

 

Routine U.S. spacewalks are on hold until engineers are certain what caused the water leak. The upcoming spacewalk by the two Americans on board is considered an exception because of its urgent nature; it will include no unnecessary tasks, just the 2½-hour computer swap.

 

NASA is paying the California-based SpaceX — Space Exploration Technologies Corp. — and Virginia's Orbital Sciences Corp. to keep the orbiting lab well stocked. Russia, Japan and Europe also make periodic deliveries.

 

Unlike the other cargo carriers, the Dragon can bring items back for analysis. Among the science samples going up on the Dragon and slated to return with it in a month: 200 fruit flies and their expected progeny, and germs collected from stadiums and sports arenas, as well as such notables as America's Liberty Bell and Sue, the T. rex fossil skeleton at Chicago's Field Museum.

 

Scientists will study the hearts of the returning flies — as many as 3,000 are expected for the trip home, if the males and females do as they should. The germ samples, once back on Earth, will be compared with duplicate cultures on the ground.

 

Staying up there — for as long as the space station lives — will be new legs for NASA's humanoid, Robonaut. The indoor robot has been in orbit for three years, but only from the waist up.

 

___

 

Online:

 

NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

 

SpaceX: http://www.spacex.com/

 

 

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. 

 

 

 

SpaceX rocket lifts off for space station cargo run

By Irene Klotz

 

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - An unmanned Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Friday to deliver a cargo capsule to the International Space Station for NASA.

 

The 208-foot-tall (63-meter-tall) rocket, built and operated by privately owned Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, bolted off its seaside launch pad at 3:25 p.m. EDT, darting through overcast skies as it headed toward orbit.

 

The Dragon cargo ship, which is loaded with about 5,000 pounds (2,300 kg) of equipment, science experiments and supplies, is due to reach the station on Sunday.

 

The station, a $100 billion research laboratory owned by 15 nations, flies about 260 miles above Earth.

 

"The rocket flight was perfect as far as we could tell," SpaceX chief executive and founder Elon Musk told reporters at a news conference after launch.

 

The cargo run is the third by SpaceX under a 12-flight, $1.6 billion contract with NASA. The U.S. space agency hired SpaceX and a second company, Orbital Sciences Corp, to fly supplies to the orbital outpost after the retirement of the space shuttles in 2011.

 

NASA also is planning turn over crew transport from Russia to private industry by 2017.

 

SpaceX had planned to fly last month, but delayed the mission to review a potential contamination concern with its rocket. The issue was resolved, but then an Air Force radar system, needed to track the vehicle during flight, was damaged, sidelining all launches from Cape Canaveral for two weeks.

 

Another launch attempt on Monday was called off after a valve leak was found in a part of the system that separates the Falcon 9's first and second stages. The rocket was removed from the launch pad and repaired.

 

On Friday, the only issue was the weather, but the rain and thunderstorms that clobbered central Florida on Friday cleared in time for the Falcon 9 to lift off at the precise moment when Earth's rotation aligned its launch pad with the plane of the space station's orbit.

 

"Mother Nature is providing a window of opportunity today," NASA mission commentator Michael Curie said shortly before launch.

 

SpaceX also used Friday's launch to test technology it has been developing to recover and reuse its rockets.

 

The Falcon 9's first stage included extra fuel so that some of its engines could reignite as the booster fell back toward Earth, slowing its descent.

 

The vehicle also was outfitted with four deployable landing legs to help stabilize it for a potential vertical touchdown on the ocean before toppling over.

 

Results of the test were still pending, but Musk said he did not think the booster splashed down intact.

 

Given the rough seas and experimental nature of the test, "I wouldn't give it high odds," Musk said.

 

Eventually, SpaceX hopes to fly its Falcon rockets back to land for refurbishment and reuse.

 

(Editing by Eric Walsh and Mohammad Zargham)

 

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. 

 

 

SpaceX Launches Robotic Cargo Mission to Space Station

By Mike Wall, Senior Writer   |   April 18, 2014 03:35pm ET

 

SpaceX launched a robotic capsule into orbit today (April 18), kicking off the company's third contracted cargo mission to the International Space Station for NASA, along with an ambitious rocket reusability test.

 

SpaceX's unmanned Dragon spacecraft blasted off at 3:25 p.m. EDT (1925 GMT) today from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, riding into space atop the company's Falcon 9 rocket. Dragon is scheduled to rendezvous with the orbiting lab on Sunday (April 20), when it will offload nearly 5,000 lbs. (2,268 kilograms) of food, scientific experiments and supplies.

 

The Falcon 9's work wasn't done after delivering Dragon to orbit. SpaceX also aimed to return the rocket's first stage softly to Earth, to help develop and demonstrate reusable-rocket technology, which company representatives say could dramatically reduce the cost of spaceflight in the future. [Liftoff! SpaceX Dragon Capsule Soars Toward Space Station (Video)]

 

The first stage is equipped with four 25-foot-long (7.6 meters) landing legs to help steady its descent toward the ocean, where SpaceX hopes to retrieve it by boat.

 

Just how the reusability test went was not apparent immediately after liftoff. But company representatives would not be shocked or saddened if something went wrong, having pegged the endeavor's odds of success at less than 50 percent in the days leading up to launch.

 

"The entire recovery of the first stage is entirely experimental," Hans Koenigsmann, SpaceX's vice president of mission assurance, told reporters Sunday (April 13). "It has nothing to do with the primary mission here."

 

Today's launch initiates the third of 12 official supply missions that California-based SpaceX will fly to the space station for NASA under a $1.6 billion contract.

 

Dragon is carrying some interesting cargo on this run. For example, it will deliver legs for NASA's humanoid robot Robonaut 2, which is designed to help astronauts perform menial tasks in space. Robonaut 2 will get to test out its new 9-foot-long (2.7 m) legs for the first time in June, NASA officials have said.

 

Dragon is also toting a NASA laser-communication experiment called OPALS (Optical Payload for Lasercomm Science), as well as an experiment called Veg-01 that will help researchers learn more about growing food in space.

 

A tiny NASA satellite called PhoneSat 2.5 also hitched a ride on Dragon today. As its name suggests, PhoneSat 2.5 is based on commercial smartphone technology. The idea is to demonstrate just how well spacecraft made with inexpensive, off-the-shelf electronics can perform in space, agency officials have said. 

 

Today's liftoff was originally slated to occur on March 13, but SpaceX pushed it out by about two weeks to tie up a few loose ends. The launch was delayed again when a fire damaged a ground-based radar system used to track liftoffs from Cape Canaveral. And a planned Monday (April 14) launch was scrubbed due to a helium leak on the Falcon 9's first stage.

 

SpaceX isn't the only company flying cargo to the International Space Station for NASA. Virginia-based Orbital Sciences holds a $1.9 billion deal to make eight such flights using its Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft. The first of these missions blasted off in January.

 

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