Felix Baumgartner has set October 8 as the day he will attempt his record-setting sky-dive from almost 23 miles high.
Felix Baumgartner has set October 8 as the day he will attempt his record-setting sky-dive from almost 23 miles high.
Tag: engineering
The first stage of Orbital Sciences’ Antares rocket was rolled to the launchpad today.
The competition heats up: The first stage of Orbital Sciences’ Antares rocket was rolled to the launchpad today for testing.
Europe’s ATV cargo freighter finally undocked successfully from ISS on Friday.
Europe’s ATV cargo freighter finally undocked successfully from ISS on Friday.
The rollout to the launchpad of the first stage of Orbital Sciences’ Antares rocket has been delayed until Saturday.
The competition heats up: The rollout to the launchpad of the first stage of Orbital Sciences’ Antares rocket has been delayed until Saturday.
The rollout had been scheduled for today, but had to be scrubbed due to a battery problem in the transporter for moving the rocket. Once on the pad, they will then spend the next 4 to 6 weeks preparing for a hold down firing test. And if that test goes well, they will follow it up with the first launch of Antares before the end of the year.
The undocking of Europe’s ATV cargo freighter from ISS has been delayed again.
The undocking of Europe’s ATV cargo freighter from ISS has been delayed again.
No explanation, which is worrisome. Then again, this might be nothing.
The head of Russia’s space agency said today that they need to reorganize their industry in order to compete.
Isn’t competition wonderful? The head of Russia’s space agency said today that they need to reorganize their industry in order to compete.
Key quote: “Unless we act now – we will cease to be competitive,” he warned.
I wonder why? Could it be there is a company out there selling launch capability at half the cost?
Scientists are proposing that Europe send a probe to Titan and sail it on that planet’s methane lakes.
Scientists are proposing that Europe send a probe to Titan and sail it on that planet’s methane lakes.
This concept had been proposed to NASA last year but it was rejected when the Obama administration shut down the planetary program.
The failed undocking of Europe’s ATV cargo craft from ISS earlier this week occurred because the astronauts used the wrong computer code.
The failed undocking of Europe’s ATV cargo craft from ISS earlier this week occurred because the astronauts used the wrong computer code.
They have rescheduled the undocking now for Friday.
A computer glitch prevented the undocking of the European ATV-3 cargo vehicle from ISS today.
A computer glitch prevented the undocking of the European ATV-3 cargo vehicle from ISS today.
Undocking of the European Space Agency’s third Automated Transfer Vehicle, or ATV, from the aft port of the Zvezda module had been scheduled for 6:35 p.m. EDT (GMT-4). Cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko attempted to send a command to begin the undocking sequence on time, but the command apparently never reached the docking mechanism.
I am not sure what will happen if they cannot pin down the problem. For example, it is unclear whether the cargo vehicle can be reprogrammed to be manually controlled. Also, it presently blocks a docking port. Is that port needed for the next ATV freighter as well as for other craft, such as Progress freighters? If so, this could become a serious problem.
A toy train in space
An evening pause: As my wife Diane says, “Dads today can be so cool!”
Scaled Composites successfully completed a 45 second burn of the engine for SpaceShipTwo last Thursday.
The competition heats up: Scaled Composites last Thursday successfully completed a 45 second test burn of the engine for SpaceShipTwo.
Curiosity has zapped its first rock and moved on.
Curiosity has zapped its first rock and moved on.