Scientists have finalized their flyby plans of Pluto when New Horizons arrives there in 2015.
Scientists have finalized their flyby plans of Pluto when New Horizons arrives there in 2015.
Tag: engineering
Slinging payloads into orbit.
A Russian Progress freighter has arrived at ISS with supplies and a spacesuit repair kit for fixing one American spacesuit.
A Russian Progress freighter has arrived at ISS with supplies and a spacesuit repair kit for fixing one American spacesuit.
Arianespace’s Ariane 5 rocket successfully launched two satellites into orbit today.
The competition heats up: Arianespace’s Ariane 5 rocket successfully launched two commercial satellites into orbit late yesterday.
The box that built the modern world.
The box that built the modern world.
A really fascinating, detailed, and well-written article about something none of us thinks about but has made our lives infinitely better.
The new solar space observatory IRIS has taken its first pictures.
The new solar space observatory IRIS has taken its first pictures.
The effort to bring Kepler back to life does not look good.
The effort to bring Kepler back to life does not look good.
Today’s parachute test of the Orion capsule successfully demonstrated that the capsule could safely land with only two of its three parachutes.
Today’s parachute test of the Orion capsule successfully demonstrated that the capsule could safely land with only two of its three parachutes.
A Norwegian town, sunless for five months of the year, is building a giant array of mirrors to light up its town square.
A Norwegian town, sunless for five months of the year, is building a giant array of mirrors to light up its town square.
Three mirrors with a total surface area of about 538 square feet will sit at an angle to redirect winter sun down into the town, lighting up over 2150 square feet of concentrated space in the town square. A similar idea exists in the Italian village of Viganella, which has used brushed steel to reflect light since 2006.
The developmental engineering successes of the new commercially-built private spaceships, Dragon, CST-100, and Dream Chaser, appears to be winning over Congress.
The developmental engineering successes of the new commercially-built private spaceships, Dragon, CST-100, and Dream Chaser, appears to be winning over Congress.
The article linked above is mostly about Boeing’s effort with its CST-100 spaceship, but within it was this significant paragraph:
Last week, the House Appropriations committees approved $500 million and Senate appropriators $775 million for commercial crew development as part of NASA’s 2014 budget. The first figure is well below the Obama administration’s $821 million request, a figure NASA Administrator Charles Bolden has characterized as essential to meet the 2017 objective. Nonetheless, agency and company managers believe legislators are losing their skepticism over a program that has so far committed $1.4 billion to competing vehicle designs from SpaceX, Sierra Nevada, Boeing and others. [emphasis mine]
Congress is still insisting that NASA spend far more for the Space Launch System (SLS), but they do appear to be increasingly less interested in cutting the new commercial crew program. Eventually, a light will go off in their dim brains and they will realize how much more cost effective this program is compared to SLS. I expect this to happen sometime in the next three years, It is then that SLS will die.
Note that I don’t have any problems at all with the above cuts to the commercial program. It is far better to keep these private efforts on a short leash, thereby forcing the companies to stay lean and mean, than to give them a blank check (as has been done in the past and with SLS) and thus allow them to become fat and lazy.
SpaceX has begun assembly of the upgraded Falcon 9 rocket that will launch its first commercial payload in early September.
The competition heats up: SpaceX has begun assembly of the upgraded Falcon 9 rocket that will launch its first commercial payload in early September.
This launch has been significantly delayed because the company was testing the actual engines to be used in the rocket, and had a series of engine aborts during testing (as outlined in the article above). Once the engines completed a full duration burn last week, however, the way was cleared for launch.
The article is very detailed, and also outlines the other new features of the upgraded Falcon 9 rocket to be flown for the first time in September. I must admit that this list makes me nervous. A lot rides on the success of this launch, both for SpaceX and for the entire new commercial space industry.
NASA has initiated a second investigation board looking into last week’s spacesuit incident on ISS.
NASA has initiated a second investigation board looking into last week’s spacesuit incident on ISS.
The investigations will run concurrently, with the second having a broader purpose, looking into “maintenance, quality assurance, and any operations that could have had a role.”