The Space Race

[Drone]

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In preparation for launch, the NROL-61 payload for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) is mated to an Atlas V rocket at the Vertical Integration Facility.

Atlas V carrying NROL-61 lifts off from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL., July 28 2016

Highlights

Rocket Cam

Full coverage

 

[CAPSLOCKSTUCK]

SpaceX has received a second contract from Nasa to take astronauts to the International space Station.

The award is seen as another important step in returning U.S. astronaut launches from U.S. soil.

Currently, Russian Soyuz craft are Nasa's only option since the end of the Space Shuttle programme.

It is the fourth and final guaranteed order NASA will make under the Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) contracts.

Boeing received its two orders in May and December of 2015, and SpaceX received its first order in November 2015.

Both companies have started planning for, building and testing the necessary hardware and assets to carry out their first flight tests, and ultimately missions for the agency.

At a later time, NASA will identify which company will fly the first post-certification mission to the space station. Each provider's contract includes a minimum of two and a maximum potential of six missions.

SpaceX is building four Crew Dragon spacecraft at its Hawthorne facility -- two for qualification testing and two for flight tests next year.

The company also is in the process of modifying Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, from which the company will launch future crewed missions to the space station.

A standard commercial crew mission to the station will carry as many as four crew members and about 220 pounds of pressurized cargo, and remain at the station for as long as 210 days, available as an emergency lifeboat during that time.


The fourth Falcon 9 rocket carried the Thaicom 8 communications satellite into orbit in May this year before landing safely, marking the company's fourth successfully landing.

Now the company has begun testing this rocket as it prepares to meet its goal of relaunching a 'reusable' rocket by October.

 

[Drone]

Next century, an asteroid called Bennu could fly between the moon and Earth, possibly threatening life on Earth. So of course, NASA wants to study it.

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NASA marches on with test of RS-25 engine for New Space Launch System

 

[Drone]

A nice collection of HD videos of NASA's STS launches (125,127,128,135)

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DSCOVR Launches Aboard SpaceX Falcon 9

 

[CAPSLOCKSTUCK]

Virgin Galactic says it has received an operating license for its space tourism rocket from the Federal Aviation Administration.

The firm says the operating license awarded by the FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation will ultimately permit commercial operations.

The company said Monday the licensing process involved a review of the system's design, safety analysis and flight trajectory analysis.

statement released yesterday

 

[Drone]

Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building @ NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, platform installation reached the midpoint in High Bay 3, with installation of the F north and south platforms

Five summers in the making, the Future Heavy rocket successfully launched from Fort Carson Army Post on July 24, 2016. At just over 50 feet tall, it is the largest sport rocket ever launched. It carried 19 payloads built by student teams ranging from kindergarten through college. Over 300 students had a hand in creating the rocket and its payloads. The event was sponsored by ULA, Ball Aerospace and the Space Foundation.

/removed/

Engineers and astronauts conducted testing in a representative model of the Orion spacecraft @ NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston to gather the crew's feedback on the design of the docking hatch and on post-landing equipment operations.

That Future Heavy rocket video is brilliant, i often watch the amateur launches on y/t but that one is a stonker.

Nice one @Drone

Not a problem glad we could watch it. Dunno why but ULA just removed the video

 

[CAPSLOCKSTUCK]

That Future Heavy rocket video is brilliant, i often watch the amateur launches on y/t but that one is a stonker.

Nice one @Drone

 

[Drone]

ULA re-added Future Heavy video

not 100% space-related but new interesting videos by NASA

NASA Astronaut Kate Rubins Talks About Microbes

 

[CAPSLOCKSTUCK]

In June, Nasa conducted a crucial test of a booster for its Space Launch System. Nasa was also testing out a revolutionary new camera, recording the rocket booster in never before seen detail.

Nasa’s new High Dynamic Range Stereo X (HiDyRS-X) shows rocket motor plumes in brilliant detail.
http://gameon.nasa.gov/files/2015/11/FS_HiDyRS-X_150504.pdf

The camera was created to overcome the problem that exists when trying to film rocket motor tests.

The plumes created are extremely loud, as well as bright, making them difficult to record without drastically cutting down the exposure settings on the camera.

Unlike most cameras, which only use one exposure at a time, the HiDyRS-X records multiple, slow motion video exposures simultaneously.

The camera was used during the massive booster test, called QM-2, at Orbital ATK’s test facility in Utah.

This is the Space Launch System’s final test before it is scheduled to launch in a test flight in 2018.

 

[CAPSLOCKSTUCK]

80 seconds of your life....its all i ask for


EPIC VID

 

[CAPSLOCKSTUCK]

This week Nasa named its six partners for developing craft to house a human crew in deep space.

Concept habitats will be built here on Earth, to help the space agency gain a better insight into the needs and opportunities for extensive manned missions around the moon and beyond.


Nasa has released artists' impressions from its six contenders, which come from well-established aerospace firms already working with space agencies on satellite and probe technology.

Included in the mix is Bigelow Aerospace, the Nevada-based firm behind the inflatable pod recently installed on the International Space Station, as well as long standing partners Boeing and Lockheed Martin.

The partnerships are part of Nasa's 'NextSTEP' programme, which will see a mix of private and public expertise and resources combined to push the existing boundaries of manned space exploration, initially testing a manned habitat near the moon as a testing ground for Mars and beyond.

‘The NextSTEP partnerships are a large contribution to the dual objectives of advancing deep space habitation development and stimulating commercial activities in low-Earth orbit,’ said Jason Crusan, Nasa’s director of Advanced Exploration Systems.




Boeing

Lockheed Martin

Orbital ATK Cygnus

Sierra Nevada Corp. Dream Chaser

Ixion

Bigelow

 

[Drone]

A United Launch Alliance Delta 2 rocket blasts off from Cape Canaveral (on June 11, 2008) carrying NASA's Gamma Ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST).

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NEW videos: DSI

 

[Drone]

New video:

The Air Force's AFSPC-6 payload, encapsulated inside a 4-meter diameter payload fairing, is transported and mated to a Delta IV rocket at Space Launch Complex-37. AFSPC-6 will deliver two Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program (GSSAP) satellites to near-geosynchronous orbit. The twin GSSAP spacecraft, built by Orbital ATK, will support U.S. Strategic Command space enhanced awareness operations.

Old stuff:

Delta II rocket carrying Dawn spacecraft

New Horizons atop an Atlas V booster on Jan. 19, 2006.

 

[Drone]

The private spaceflight company launched the satellite for Japanese company SKY Perfect JSAT on Aug. 14, 2016. SpaceX successfully landed the first stage of the rocket on the company's drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.

Full webcast: (lift-off stars around 17 min)

The vertical landing on the reconverted deck barge in the Atlantic Ocean was especially challenging because the JCSAT-16 satellite had to be carried into a highly elliptical orbit some 36000 km above the Earth's equator.

 

[Drone]

Latest space news/videos

 

[Drone]

Latest space news/videos

 

[Drone]

Nasa Exploring Beyond:

NASA Successfully Launches Student Experiments from Wallops

NASA Commentator Lori Meggs at the Marshall Space Flight Center talks to Dr. Alan Hargens, professor of orthopedic surgery at the University of California, San Diego, about back pain and injury that many astronauts experience during and after long-duration missions.

ESA astronaut Tim Peake inaugurated Futures Day at Farnborough International Airshow

 

[Drone]

Part 2: A couple of old/new videos I forgot to watch/post. Some might be not 100% launch/blast-off related but they all got something to do with space anyway:


NASA successfully launched a super pressure balloon (SPB) from Wanaka Airport, New Zealand, at 11:35 a.m. Tuesday, May 17 2016

Rosetta Plush Toy Reaches Stratosphere

See a Massive Rocket Fuel Tank Built in A Minute

What Is a Sounding Rocket?

 

[Drone]

Latest videos:

Delta IV AFSPC-6 launched today

(Almost) Live Launch Broadcast

 

[CAPSLOCKSTUCK]

Thanks for the heads up on the launch.

 

[dorsetknob]

clicked link wah................... 20 min to launch ta very much
Always Nice to See non Nuclear tipped Rockets launch

 

[Drone]

latest episodes of space to ground

NASA conducted another firing of an RS-25 development engine (the first one is in post#328 on this page)

NASA hopes to sell International Space Station

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Atlas V rocket with NASA's Juno spacecraft lifts off from Space Launch Complex 41 of the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, August 5, 2011. Photo credit: Pat Corkery, United Launch Alliance

 

[Drone]

Outside the ISS, Expedition 48 Commander Jeff Williams and Flight Engineer Kate Rubins of NASA installed a new docking port onto the forward end of the Harmony module during a spacewalk on August 19. The first of two IDA was installed and latched in place onto Pressurized Mating Adapter-2 on the forward end of Harmony, the same place that space shuttles used to dock during the shuttle era. The new docking port will be the port of call for the SpaceX Crew Dragon and Boeing CST-100 “Starliner” commercial crew vehicles that are under development. The docking adapter was launched in July aboard a SpaceX/Dragon cargo vehicle. A second docking adapter for the U.S. commercial crew vehicles is being constructed and will ultimately be placed on the space-facing side of the Harmony module. Williams and Rubins will conduct a second spacewalk on Sept. 1 to retract a thermal radiator on the port truss of the station and install the first of several HD cameras outside the complex.

clicked link wah................... 20 min to launch ta very much

Specially for you Delta IV AFSPC-6 Launch Highlights

 

[Drone]

On 24 August 2016, Ariane 5 flight VA232 lifted off from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana and delivered two satellites, Intelsat-33e and Intelsat-36, into their planned orbits.

full

highlights

Other news:

 

[Drone]

I've updated Intelsat launch video (see post above).


Lots of stuff for today, here's part 1:


Here's a new episode of SpacetoGround

Spitzer Space Telescope Begins 'Beyond' Phase

read here

New images from ISS

Engineers at NASA's Langley Research Center conducted a splashdown test of the Orion Crew Module Ground Test Article on Aug. 25, 2016. The goal of this series of tests to gather data on simulated splashdowns in stressful landing scenarios.

(full)