| Welcome to Natural Hazards Forum. We hope you enjoy your visit. You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free. Join our community! If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features: |
| SpaceX's historic space station mission delayed again | |
|---|---|
| Tweet Topic Started: 4 May 2012, 03:31 PM (104 Views) | |
| Audi-Tek | 4 May 2012, 03:31 PM Post #1 |
|
SpaceX's historic space station mission delayed again.![]() SpaceX will most likely delay its May 7 launch date to allow for further testing. (SpaceX) The private spaceflight company SpaceX will likely postpone the planned launch of its Dragon capsule to the International Space Station next week, officials announced May 2. SpaceX was targeting the launch for Monday, May 7, but now will likely shift to a later date, possibly May 10. The unmanned Dragon spacecraft is due to lift off atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. "At this time, a May 7th launch appears unlikely," SpaceX spokeswoman Kirstin Brost Grantham wrote in a statement. "SpaceX is continuing to work through the software assurance process with NASA. We will issue a statement as soon as a new launch target is set." The Dragon mission will be be the very first visit of a privately built spacecraft to the International Space Station. During the test flight, the spacecraft will carry food, supplies and scientific equipment for the astronauts living on the orbiting outpost. The flight was previously delayed from an April 30 launch date to allow more time for tests of Dragon's flight software. The new delay is also meant to allow for further checkouts. SpaceX conducted a test firing of its Falcon 9 booster engines April 30. The test went successfully on its second try, after a first attempt that same day was stalled by an apparent computer glitch. SpaceX has a $1.6 billion contract with NASA to fly 12 cargo-delivery missions to the space station with Dragon. The capsule is scheduled to be the first spacecraft to fly under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program, which has funded the development of private vehicles to fill the gap in cargo services left by the space shuttle retirement. Gallery: SpaceX's 1st Mission to Space Station - How It Works ... http://www.space.com/15476-gallery-spacex-capsule-space-station-guide.html Source ............. ![]() |
![]() |
|
| Audi-Tek | 8 May 2012, 06:45 PM Post #2 |
|
NASA officially sets new launch date for SpaceX: Saturday May 19 . NASA has officially set the new launch date of Saturday, May 19, for SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule, which will head for the International Space Station. SpaceX was shooting for April 30, then May 7, but needed to sort through some software issues. Because the U.S. Air Force was launching an Atlas 5 rocket, then the Russians have a May 10 Soyuz to ferry up three fresh astronauts, including Commander Oleg Kononenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Flight Engineer Don Pettit of NASA and Flight Engineer Andre Kuipers of the European Space Agency. So the second delay pushed SpaceX back a couple of weeks. Here’s the announcement this morning from NASA: “In response to today’s SpaceX announcement finalizing a new target date for the launch of its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft, NASA issued the following statement from William Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Human Exploration and Operations at the agency’s Headquarters in Washington: “After additional reviews and discussions between the SpaceX and NASA teams, we are in a position to proceed toward this important launch. The teamwork provided by these teams is phenomenal. There are a few remaining open items, but we are ready to support SpaceX for its new launch date of May 19.” Source ............ http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_space_thewritestuff/2012/05/nasa-officially-sets-new-launch-date-for-spacex-saturday-may-19.html |
![]() |
|
| Audi-Tek | 20 May 2012, 11:39 PM Post #3 |
|
Private mission to space station scrubbed half a second before liftoff. SpaceX's launch of the first private spacecraft bound for the International Space Station has been rescheduled for next week after the mission was aborted Saturday a half a second before liftoff, the company said. The historic launch of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, with its Dragon capsule filled with food, supplies and science experiments, was halted when a flight computer detected "high pressure in the engine 5 combustion chamber," the company said in a statement. "We have discovered the root cause and repairs are underway," it said. SpaceX now plans a pre-dawn launch as early as Tuesday at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Liftoff is scheduled for 3:44 a.m. ET, according to the statement released late Saturday. "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," the company said Saturday. "Those repairs should be complete tonight." SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell told reporters earlier in the day that aborting the liftoff at the last second was not a failure. "We aborted with purpose. It would have been a failure if we lifted off with an engine trending in this direction." The mission is designed to establish whether SpaceX can deliver cargo to the station. NASA and SpaceX envision the unmanned Dragon docking at the station where the crew will pull food, water and other provisions from the space capsule. The scheduled launch is one of 12 planned SpaceX flights to the International Space Station. If the launch succeeds Tuesday, it will be the first time the Dragon capsule has been launched with the components needed for docking at the space station. SpaceX has previously test-launched the rocket. The current mission has been delayed several times because of problems with flight software. Space-flight veterans in the company are well aware of the trial-and-error nature of technology development, but they also know risk is an essential part of innovation. SpaceX hopes the experience with the cargo flights will help it reach its goal of carrying astronauts aboard the Dragon. "The flight is an ambitious test for the company," NASA said. NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program is funding a handful of private companies to carry cargo to the International Space Station. Video link ...... http://cnn.com/video/?/video/us/2012/05/19/spacex-launch-delay-gwynne-shotwell-sots.nasa . Will it ever get of the ground,and than if it does, will it make it to the International Space Station. |
![]() |
|
| Audi-Tek | 22 May 2012, 10:08 PM Post #4 |
|
SpaceX rocket blasts off for space station.![]() The launch by SpaceX of its Falcon 9 rocket and a unmanned Dragon capsule turns night into day during liftoff from Florida's Cape Canaveral, where a shuttle is on display. ![]() The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off with an unmanned Dragon capsule at 3:44 a.m. ET. ![]() SpaceX rocket is seen during a time exposure as it lifts off. CAPE CANAVERAL – A private company sent its unmanned capsule off to the International Space Station early Tuesday, heading for what could be the first nongovernmental docking there. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off with an unmanned Dragon capsule into dark skies above the the cape at 3:44 a.m. ET — three days after a last-second scrub kept it bolted to the launch pad even as the countdown clock ticked toward zero. Some 11 minutes after launch, the solar arrays deployed on the Dragon, prompting and high-fives among SpaceX employees in the Hawthorne, Calif., mission control center. The solar array deployment had been considered the first big post-launch test.Falcon flew perfectly!!" SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk tweeted from California. "Dragon in orbit. … Feels like a giant weight just came off my back." At a post-launch news conference, Musk described the moment as a major adrenaline rush, and "obviously an extremely intense moment." "For us, it's like winning the Super Bowl," he said. Tuesday's liftoff was the second attempt to launch SpaceX's demonstration mission for NASA. If all goes well in a series of maneuvers and tests SpaceX will put the Dragon through, the cargo vehicle could arrive at the space station Friday. It is carrying 1,200 pounds of supplies, such as food and clothing, for the six-person station crew. "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," said John Holdren, assistant to President Obama for science and technology. SpaceX officials and NASA cautioned that much work lies ahead. But Musk said, "Everything is looking really good." He added: "I would really count today a success no matter what happens with the rest of the mission." If SpaceX successfully docks, it could prove the company's readiness to start delivering cargo under a $1.6 billion contract. The other company with a NASA cargo contract is Orbital Sciences Corp., which is set to test launch its rocket this summer. "Today marks the beginning of a new era of exploration," said NASA chief Charles Bolden, speaking at Kennedy Space Center. "The significance of this day cannot be overstated. 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're certainly off to a good start and I hope you all would agree on that." SpaceX initially had planned to launch the Falcon 9 early Saturday but trouble with one of the rocket's nine engines forced a last-second abort. A valve on the engine was replaced, and the rocket was cleared to go. NASA officials said they were impressed with the professionalism of the SpaceX team in getting to this point. "There is something special about a rocket launch. Everybody smiles. Everybody high-fives each other. That's universal," said Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for human exploration and operations for NASA. The spacecraft is to return to Earth on May 31. Video link ................ http://bcove.me/nwr9zic2 Source ............. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/space/story/2012-05-22/SpaceX-rocket-space-station/55126570/1 I will hold off the till we have touch down on earth again on May 31.
|
![]() |
|
| skibboy | 1 Jun 2012, 03:58 AM Post #5 |
|
SpaceX Dragon Concludes Historic Flight With Ocean Landing Len Ly | May 31, 2012 Senior Staff Reporter ![]() The Dragon capsule floating in the Pacific Ocean as it waits for recovery. (Michael Altenhofen/SpaceX/May 31, 2012) The look of commercial spaceflight success: a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. After becoming the first-ever private spacecraft to berth to the International Space Station last week, SpaceX's Dragon safely returned to Earth on Thursday, landing in the waters a few hundred miles west of Southern California. In partnership with NASA, the capsule delivered more than 1,000 pounds of supplies to the space station, mainly food and noncritical crew items. It carried back an estimated 1,400 pounds of cargo, the bulk of it hardware. A barge will carry Dragon to a port near Los Angeles, where some cargo will be returned to NASA within 48 hours. The capsule will then be transported to McGregor, Texas, for remaining cargo unloading and processing. This first test flight to the space station is part of NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program, begun in 2006 to create commercial cargo-carrying capability for access to and from the space station and other low-Earth orbit destinations. NASA will spend the next several weeks evaluating mission results, said COTS Program Manager Alan Lindenmoyer during a post-splashdown press conference at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif., but “it looks like 100 percent success at this point.” “A grand-slam,” added SpaceX CEO and Chief Designer Elon Musk, who founded the firm in 2002. Reflecting on the company's early years of financial hardship in a tough economy, Musk said, “we would've died if it weren't for NASA." Since the retirement of NASA's space shuttle fleet last July, the agency has lacked a follow-on transportation system and needed to completely rely on Russia, Japan and Europe for crew and cargo access to and from the space station, which will remain in operation through at least 2020. Two Americans, one Dutch and three Russians are presently living and working onboard the orbiting complex. Unlike the foreign-provided vehicles, Dragon is the only spacecraft capable of returning a significant amount of cargo from the space station. With NASA's approval, the company may start hauling cargo to and from the space station this year as part of a 2008 contract for a minimum of 12 flights through 2015. The company also plans to use Dragon to ferry crew to and from the space station, but that effort is part of another on-going NASA multi-phase competition. Orbital Sciences is also a COTS partner. Its demonstration mission to the space station is expected later this year. The company has a contract with NASA for eight routine cargo missions to the space station through 2015. NASA is transferring the role of crew and cargo transportation to the space station over to the American private sector so the agency can focus on developing spacecraft to take astronauts farther into space, including to an asteroid and Mars. Musk said President Obama as well as lawmakers from both sides of Congress, many of whom who have continuously expressed doubt toward commercial spaceflight companies, have extended 'congratulations' throughout the mission. Dragon launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., last Tuesday atop SpaceX's two-stage Falcon 9 rocket. There are no definitive post-mission plans yet for the historic capsule, Musk said, but a countrywide tour is a possibility. source:
|
![]() |
|
| Audi-Tek | 3 Jun 2012, 07:36 PM Post #6 |
|
SpaceX Seeks Space Flight Holy Grail.![]() The SpaceX Dragon cargo craft just prior to being released by the International Space Station's Canadarm2 robotic arm on Thursday May 31, 2012. (AP Photo/NASA) Flying a capsule to the International Space Station was apparently just the beginning. The California company SpaceX is also refashioning its Dragon spacecraft to ferry astronauts, and planning to launch a huge new 23-story rocket from an Air Force base near Santa Barbara. Executives say they're even working on a space-age Holy Grail: the world's first reusable rocket, which would fly back to Earth completely intact, the Los Angeles Times reports. But analysts question whether the company's lean, Silicon-Valley mindset will help it prosper (fewer layers of bureaucracy) or foreshadow its demise (fewer lobbyists to guarantee contracts in Washington). With $4 billion in contracts to launch private satellites, however, SpaceX has a few bucks to throw at Congress. "If SpaceX just launched telecommunications satellites, there isn't much that separates them from any other launch provider," says one analyst. "It's the company's aspirations to more difficult tasks that make them exciting." Source ...............
|
![]() |
|
| 1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous) | |
| « Previous Topic · Astronomy & Space · Next Topic » |











and high-fives among SpaceX employees in the Hawthorne, Calif., mission control center. The solar array deployment had been considered the first big post-launch test.
till we have touch down on earth again on May 31.


8:09 PM Jul 11