The Space Race

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Part 2

The SpaceX CRS-9 Dragon cargo craft departed the ISS Aug. 26 after 5 weeks at the complex. Dragon delivered critical science experiments and the first IDA to which U.S. commercial spacecraft will link up to in the future.

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ULA Innovation: Advanced Cryogenic Evolved Stage

A Concept to Study How Space Affects Multiple Generations

 

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part 3:

NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough and Roscosmos cosmonauts Andrey Borisenko and Sergey Ryzhikov will launch to the ISS Sept. 23 aboard the Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

At Baikonur launch site the spacecraft passed leak test in a vacuum chamber.

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Some old stuff:

The WMAP Spacecraft (Delta II rocket) was launched on June 30, 2001. It was an almost perfect launch, on time to the second. This photo is taken at Kennedy Spaceflight Center Launch, Pad 17B.

It's the only video of that launch

 

[CAPSLOCKSTUCK]

SpaceX Dragon capsule lands in Pacific carrying 12 moustronauts

A SpaceX Dragon capsule that helped prepare the International Space Station for future commercial astronaut flights has returned to Earth after a stay of more than a month.

A robotic arm released the unmanned capsule packed with 3,000 pounds of cargo at 6:11 a.m. EDT. The capsule then fired thrusters several times to move a safe distance away from the station orbiting about 250 miles up.

Among the cargo brought back from space Friday were a dozen mice from a Japanese science experiment — the first brought home alive in a Dragon. Samples from mice euthanized as part of an experiment by pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly also were on board.

Results were returned from an experiment that studied the behavior of heart cells in microgravity, and from research into the composition of microbes in the human digestive system, NASA said. Findings from both could help keep astronauts healthy during deep space exploration missions.

Recovery crews planned to lift the Dragon onto a ship and return it to port in Long Beach, California, where time-sensitive cargo like the mice would be removed. The spacecraft then will be shipped to a SpaceX facility in McGregor, Texas, for post-flight processing

 

[CAPSLOCKSTUCK]

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket exploded on its pad during a test Thursday morning at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. No one was injured.

Witnesses reported seeing a fireball, hearing multiple explosions, feeling shock waves in buildings several miles away at Kennedy Space Center and seeing a plume of smoke rising from Launch Complex 40 just after 9 a.m

http://www.floridatoday.com/story/t...09/01/explosion-reported-spacex-pad/89710076/

 

[dorsetknob]

Whats the Warranty on Refurbished Falcon 9 rockets ??? (This was the Refurbished Rocket ??? )

 

[dorsetknob]

Re

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket exploded on its pad during a test Thursday morning at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. No one was injured.

Its not all bad News
Here is the good news part relating to the Above Story

A launchpad explosion at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida during a SpaceX rocket test has just destroyed Facebook's $200m Amos-6 satellite.

 

[dont whant to set it"']

@CAPSLOCKSTUCK good to know it was only a test, alltough we may not know if it had payload (du.my one or not). Or do we ,oh but can we and we can imagine a Cold War.
Sorry fo using "we" instead of the "I"

 

[dorsetknob]

good to know it was only a test, alltough we may not know if it had payload (

It had a payload !!!
Payload was Facebook's $200m Amos-6 satellite.

Here is a more sucessfull test launch

 

[CAPSLOCKSTUCK]

@CAPSLOCKSTUCK good to know it was only a test, alltough we may not know if it had payload (du.my one or not). Or do we ,oh but can we and we can imagine a Cold War.
Sorry fo using "we" instead of the "I"

it was scheduled for launch on saturday so it is a catastrophic blow. Not only has the launch vehicle been lost but the payload too. It will take time to rebuild the satellite and then reschedule a launch. Dont forget this is the system that could carry Americans back to space so it is a massive event.


The so-called "static fire" test is a standard pre-launch milestone that SpaceX performs. It serves as a countdown rehearsal that fuels the rocket and is intended to culminate in a brief firing of the rocket's nine Merlin main engines, while the rocket remains held down on the pad.

 

[CAPSLOCKSTUCK]

An American astronaut who set the US record for cumulative time in orbit has safely returned to Earth along with two Russian cosmonauts, following a six-month mission aboard the International Space Station.

NASA's Jeff Williams, aged 58, logged a total of 534 days in space over four missions aboard the research outpost, commanding the station during British astronaut Tim Peake's time on the ISS.

The ISS commander landed in Kazakhstan at 7:13am local time (1:13am GMT) this morning aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule along with cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Oleg Skripochka.

 

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ISRO successfully launches advanced weather satellite INSAT-3DR

OSIRIS-REx

 

[CAPSLOCKSTUCK]

China is set to launch a second experimental space station, as it looks to have a manned station by 2022, state media said.

The Tiangong 2 is scheduled to launch just after 22:00 local time on Thursday from the Gobi desert.

artists impression

Next month two astronauts will go to the station to conduct research. Translated as Heavenly Palace 2 it is about 15m long and can have other missions dock with it.

The astronauts that will come on board next month are to spend a full month up there - a longer period of time than possible on Tiangong 1.

The programme for a space station kicked off in earnest with the 2011 launch of the Tiangong 1 which was a smaller prototype able to host astronauts, but for a shorter period of time.

It ended its data service earlier in 2016 but is still circling the earth's orbit, gradually coming closer. It is projected to burn upon entry in the atmosphere in the second half of 2017.

Eventually, Tiangong 3 is to be the final step on the way to a manned station. Around the year 2022 is the scheduled timeframe and the success of Thursday's launch will be crucial for any of those future ambitions.


https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2016/09/china-launch-tiangong-2-orbital-module/

 

[Drone]

Latest episode of spacetoground

Soyuz MS-02 last preparations

Gaia launch (2013) full replay

 

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On 16 September 2016, Vega flight VV07 lifted off from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana to deliver Earth observation satellites into low orbit.
Four SkySat microsatellites for Terra Bella were released followed by PeruSAT-1, Perus's first Earth observation satellite.

Rosetta's final path

NASA SLS Booster Nozzle Plug Pieces Fly During Test

 

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new ESA videos:

useful info

image of the day:

The Diffuse X-ray emission from the Local galaxy, or DXL, sounding rocket launched from White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico on Dec. 13, 2012, to study the source of certain X-rays observed near Earth.

 

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More informative videos:

Journey to ISS part 2 & 3 by ESA (part 1 is in the post above)

Another (old) video explaining how rocket engines work

 

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new videos by NASA

and Roscosmos

Progress MS-4 is planned to be launched on October 20, 2016 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

 

[CAPSLOCKSTUCK]

The UN has signed a deal with Sierra Nevada to send one of its Dream Chaser space planes on a 14-day mission into low Earth orbit in 2021. It is the first time the UN has launched its own space mission and will allow developing nations to take part.

Developing countries will be the first to be offered a chance to take part in the 14-day mission, but any member state of the UN will be able to participate.

Speaking at the International Astronautical Congress in Mexico, Simonetta Di Pippo said: 'The space arena is growing increasingly diverse as private industry actors become more involved in space technologies and exploration.

'At UNOOSA we are committed to helping all countries benefit from space technologies and capabilities.

'I am pleased that SNC has partnered with us to provide such tangible opportunities in pursuit of this goal.

'It's great to see a company like SNC bring their expertise to UNOOSA's holistic approach to capacity building and our goal of bringing the benefits of space to all.'



2 years ago

 

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On 5 October 2016, Ariane 5 flight VA231 lifted off from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana and delivered two telecom satellites, Sky Muster II and GSAT-18, into their planned orbits.

full

highlights

launch only

 

[Drone]

Blue Origin Flight 4 & 5 full coverage:

Technicians moved a giant fuel tank from the Vertical Assembly Center where the tank recently completed friction stir welding to an adjacent work area at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. More than 1.7 miles of welds have been completed for core stage hardware at Michoud. This liquid hydrogen fuel tank is the largest piece of the core stage that will provide the fuel for the first flight of NASA's new rocket, SLS, with the Orion spacecraft in 2018. The tank is > 130 feet long, and together with the liquid oxygen tank holds 733000 gallons of propellant to feed the vehicle's four RS-25 engines to produce a total of 2 million pounds of thrust. SLS will have the power and capacity to carry humans to Mars.

Soyuz MS-02 will transport three members of the Expedition 49 crew to ISS. MS-02 will be the 131st flight of a Soyuz spacecraft. The crew will consist of a Russian commander and flight engineer, as well as an American flight engineer.

Training:

 

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ExoMars arrival seen by Mars Express

Simulated view of Schiaparelli's descent images

Launch Windows

Watch 60-Seconds of Major SLS Hardware Being Moved and Put in the Test Stand at NASA Marshall

Orion Solar Array Wing Passes First Test

Orion service module undergoes vibration tests

Soyuz MS-03 crew

ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet (right) with his fellow Expedition 50/51 crewmates NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson (left) and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy (center), stand underneath a Soyuz rocket at Baikonur Cosmodrome.

 

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MS-02 crew in Cosmonautics museum, Baikonur Cosmodrome

Guide shows Gagarin's uniform, spacesuit, Ivan Ivanovich (the mannequin who beta tested space), cosmonauts' IDs, computers/control panel and launch key that were used then.

Training and preparations

 

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new videos by ESA/NASA

 

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new NASA videos:

ISS over Hurricane Nicole (true speed)

Everything about Living in Space: Interview with NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman, who spent 165 days in space during Expeditions 40 and 41 in 2014

New images of Antares Rocket: Raising/Rollout/Integration

 

[CAPSLOCKSTUCK]

Tomorrow two Chinese asronauts will take off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre for a 30 day visit to Tiangong 2 space station.

See post # 362