“A Dragon by the tail.”
The berthing of the privately-built Dragon capsule with the International Space Station on May 25 requires a bit of perspective to make clear the importance of this achievement.
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Tag: spaceflight
Dragon has been captured and now is being docked with ISS
Success: Dragon has been captured and is now docked with ISS.
The scientists building a space probe to go to asteroid 1999 RQ36 have better pinpointed its orbit.
The scientists building a space probe to go to asteroid 1999 RQ36 have better pinpointed its orbit.
Knowing this asteroid’s orbit is not only important for planning the mission. 1999 RQ36 has a 1in a 1000 chance of hitting the Earth in 2182.
The Lunar Orbiter image of Copernicus Crater, taken forty-six years ago, has been re-released after significant refurbishing..
Reboot: The Lunar Orbiter image of Copernicus Crater, taken forty-six years ago, has been re-released after significant refurbishing.
By adding modern computer interfaces and data handling techniques, the LOIRP was able to scan and record the data in ways that simply could not have been accomplished in the 1960s. As a result the images that were obtained had a much higher resolution and dynamic range than had been seen to date. Indeed, in many cases, these images often rival or exceed images taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter which is currently surveying the Moon.
You should definitely check it out, as it is a breathtaking image. Historic too, as it was the first image from the Moon that truly made the place understandable.
The conflict between exploration and history
The Google X Prize has agreed to recognize the guidelines created by NASA for protecting the historic first landing sites on the Moon.
In glancing at the guidelines, I found it fascinating that it only mentions the Soviet lunar rover sites as an aside, noting their value but stating that
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Dragon’s dress rehearsal rendezvou last night was a success, and the spacecraft has been cleared to proceed with berthing tomorrow morning.
Dragon’s dress rehearsal rendezvou last night was a success, and the spacecraft has been cleared to proceed with berthing tomorrow morning.
Dragon’s test rendezvous with ISS tonight has begun.
Dragon’s test rendezvous with ISS tonight has begun.
The rendezvous won’t be completed until 6:30 am (Eastern), with two orbital engine burns scheduled for 3 and 4 am. For further updates you can go here. Or you can watch everything on NASA TV.
Dragon has been approved to approach within one mile of ISS tonight in its first rendezvous test.
Dragon has been approved to approach within 1.5 miles of ISS tonight in its first rendezvous test. More information here.
If this goes well tonight, Dragon will next attempt to approach the station close enough for its robot arm to grab it.
At a conference in Washington DC yesterday both Russia and Japan announced the Moon as their next primary space exploration goal.
The new colonial movement: At a conference in Washington DC yesterday both Russia and Japan announced the Moon as their next primary space exploration goal.
If the U.S. gets a competitive private aerospace industry going — which seems increasingly likely — I’m willing to bet those companies will get to the Moon before either of these governments.
Killer microbes from the edge of space?
Killer microbes from the edge of space? One organization wants to know.
A rocket launch pushes Congress towards free enterprise
Several key elected officials who have generally been hostile to commercial space have commented positively to the successful launch of the Dragon capsule last night.
First, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) released this short statement:
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One step closer to a robust competitive space industry
Not surprisingly, last night’s successful launch of Falcon 9 has produced a large number of news articles. Rather than list them all, go to spacetoday.net for the links.
However, I think Clark Lindsey, in describing Elon Musk’s reaction to the successful launch, captured the most important aspect of last night’s success:
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Falcon 9 has cleared the tower
Falcon 9 has cleared the tower and is “looking good.”
First stage has completed its job and has been released. The second stage is firing as planned.
Dragon has separated from the second stage and is now in orbit. Now comes the real test of this mission: Can Dragon maneuver and rendezvous with ISS?
The best moment for the entire launch sequence was when Dragon’s solar arrays deployed. The camera link was still working, so that everyone could see it. When the arrays locked open, there was a gigantic roar from the crowd of people watching at SpaceX’s mission control. Dragon was in orbit and operational!
The countdown has begun
Tonight’s Falcon 9 launch: The countdown has begun, and the weather conditions have improved.
SpaceX will begin its own webcast at 3 am (Eastern), which is midnight here in Arizona.
An aside: The ashes of actor James Doohan, who played Scotty on the 1960s television show Star Trek, will be among 308 other cremated remains launched into space by Falcon 9 tonight. As one commenter for the above article noted quite appropriately,
You haven’t really covered any of the important questions here.
i.e. Are there enough dilithium crystals in the engine room to get Scotty up there? And are they using photon torpedoes to blast him out into space? And when they launch, will someone say, “Take her out, Mr. Sulu. Warp factor one.”?
Godspeed, Scotty old bean.
The Falcon 9 launch tonight is a go, with weather 80 percent favorable
The Falcon 9 launch tonight is a go, with weather 80 percent favorable.
Boeing has unveiled a design to put small satellites into orbit for as little as $300,000 per launch.
The competition heats up: Boeing has unveiled a design to put small satellites into orbit for as little as $300,000 per launch.
SpaceX is set to begin the countdown tonight for a May 22nd launch of Falcon 9/Dragon.
SpaceX is set to begin the countdown tonight for a 3:44 am (Eastern) May 22nd launch of Falcon 9/Dragon.
SpaceX has reported that they have found the cause of the Falcon 9 launch abort this morning.
In an email update, SpaceX reports that they have found the cause of the Falcon 9 launch abort this morning.
During rigorous inspections of the engine, SpaceX engineers discovered a faulty check valve on the Merlin engine. We are now in the process of replacing the failed valve. Those repairs should be complete tonight. We will continue to review data on Sunday. If things look good, we will be ready to attempt to launch on Tuesday, May 22nd at 3:44 AM Eastern.
If this is true, than this entire exercise is an unqualified success and illustrates a certain robustness to SpaceX’s engineering on Falcon 9. Their control computer during the launch process spotted the problem before it caused a complete loss of the vehicle and payload. They can now locate the problem, fix it, and proceed with launch.
Some thoughts on the scrub
Last night Falcon 9’s computers shut the launch down at T minus zero seconds after sensing a high chamber pressure in one first stage engine.
Two thoughts, one good, one not so good.
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Falcon 9 aborted its launch tonight at 4:55 am (Eastern) at T minus zero seconds.
No go: Falcon 9 aborted its launch tonight at 4:55 am (Eastern) at T minus zero seconds.
Just after ignition there was a shutdown. They were able to make the vehicle safe, and are trying to figure out what happened. It appears there was a high pressure reading in one engine.
The next opportunity to launch is three days hence, though whether they will go for it then depends on whether they can figure out what caused the shutdown.
Update: More details here.