The Space Race

[CAPSLOCKSTUCK]

COVERAGE AT 20.30 GMT

At the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, NASA astronaut Jeff Williams and cosmonauts Oleg Skripochka and Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos are preparing for launch to the International Space Station. Their six-month journey will begin with a lift off in a Soyuz spacecraft at 5:26 p.m. EDT Friday, March 18 (3:26 a.m. on March 19 in Baikonur).

NASA Television will broadcast launch coverage live. For the NASA TV schedule and where to watch live and replays, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/

Below is the launch timeline for the crew in EDT:
March 18
11:26 a.m. Crew departs Cosmonaut Hotel (L-6)
11:41 a.m. Batteries installed in booster
12:11 p.m. Crew arrives at Site 254
12:26 p.m. Tanking begins
12:56 p.m. Crew suit up
12:21 p.m. Booster loaded with liquid oxygen
1:56 p.m. Crew meets family members on other side of the glass
2:21 p.m. First and second stage Oxygen fueling complete
2:26 p.m. Crew walkout from 254 and boards bus for the launch pad (L-3)
2:31 p.m. Crew departs for launch pad (Site 1)
2:51 p.m. Crew arrives at launch pad (Site 1)
3:01 p.m. Crew boards Soyuz; strapped in to the Descent module
3:51 p.m. Descent module hardware tested
4:06 p.m. Hatch closed; leak checks begin
4:26 p.m. Launch vehicle control system prep; gyro activation (L-1)
4:30 p.m. NASA TV Launch Coverage Begins
4:40 p.m. NASA TV: Crew pre-launch activities played (B-roll)
4:41 p.m. Pad service structure components lowered
4:42 p.m. Clamshell gantry service towers retracted
4:49 p.m. Suit leak checks begin; descent module testing complete
4:52 p.m. Emergency escape system armed
5:11 p.m. Suit leak checks complete; escape system to auto
5:16 p.m. Gyros in flight readiness and recorders activated
5:19 p.m. Pre-launch operations complete
5:20 p.m. Launch countdown operations to auto; vehicle ready
5:21 p.m. Commander’s controls activated
5:22 p.m. Combustion chamber nitrogen purge
5:23 p.m. ISS FLIES OVER THE BAIKONUR COSMODROME
5:23 p.m. Propellant drainback
5:23 p.m. Booster propellant tank pressurization
5:25 p.m. Ground propellant feed terminated
5:25 p.m. Vehicle to internal power
5:26 p.m. First umbilical tower separates
Auto sequence start
5:26 p.m. Ground umbilical to third stage disconnected
5:26 p.m. Second umbilical tower separates
5:26 p.m. Launch command issued
Engine Start Sequence Begins
5:26 p.m. Engine turbopumps at flight speed
5:26 p.m. Engines at maximum thrust
5:26 p.m. Launch of SOYUZ TMA-20M to the ISS
10:30 p.m. Docking Coverage Begins on NASA TV
11:11 p.m. Docking to the ISS
MARCH 19
12:30 a.m. Hatch opening coverage begins on NASA TV
12:55 a.m. Hatch opens

 

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watch live

deleted

 

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I removed live video because it's 'un-live' now lol. Here it is:

New images:

Some unique footage by roscosmos (Russian), duh but I'm too lazy to translate it so .. just watch it lol

 

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NASA's James Webb Space Telescope completed primary mirror sits in the cleanroom at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and supported over it on the tripod is the secondary mirror.

Engineers completed the stacking of the Orbital ATK CRS-6 launch vehicle when the Cygnus cargo spacecraft was bolted to the top of the Atlas V rocket at the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Biggest rockets ever (Russian)

My translation: Soviet rocket N-1 and American rocket Saturn-5.

N-1's height is 105 meters. This superheavy rocket was designed for getting large space station into space to build a spaceship to fly to Venus and Mars. Unfortunately project was scrapped. Otherwise we'd have known much more about Venus and Mars by now.

Saturn 5's weight is 3000 tons, and height is 110 meters. The total number of launches - 13 (9 times to the Moon).

 

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Specialists working on "Прогресс МС-02" (cargo spacecraft)

"Союз-2.1а" with "Прогресс МС-02" will launch on 31st March. Can't wait!

 

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Shitload of cool shit:

"Восточный" - general rehearsal before 31st March launch

Cygnus Cargo Supply Spacecraft Safely Reaches the ISS

Cygnus Cargo Supply Spacecraft Mated to the ISS

Explore Space Station in 360

Click for ISS virtual tour

 

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Japan's 'Hitomi' satellite

Space agency admits it has LOST its $273 million black hole probe


Space scientists are desperately scouring the skies after losing track of a quarter-of-a-billion-dollar Japanese satellite that was sent to study black holes.
The ultra-high-tech 'Hitomi' - or eye - satellite was supposed to have been communicating from orbit by now, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa) said, but no-one can say where it is.
The device briefly made contact with ground crews but has since disappeared, with American researchers reporting it could have broken into several pieces

Jaxa has around 40 technicians on the case, trying to locate the spacecraft and establish some kind of communication with it, an agency spokesman told AFP on Monday.

'We know approximately where it is,' the spokesman added, but scientists were still trying to work out its precise location.
The satellite, developed in collaboration with Nasa, the US space agency, and various other groups, was launched on 17 February and was designed to observe X-rays emanating from black holes and galaxy clusters.
Black holes have never been directly observed, but scientists believe they are huge collapsed stars whose enormous gravitational pull is so strong that nothing can escape.
The announcement last month that gravitational waves had been detected for the first time added to evidence of their existence after scientists found the waves had been caused by two enormous black holes colliding.
The lost satellite, which cost 31 billion yen ($273 million), including the cost of launching it, was supposed to orbit at an altitude of about 360 miles (580km).
The Japanese rocket carrying the satellite was launched by the country's mainstay H-IIA rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan.

The 'Hitomi', or Astro-H satellite, was launched aboard the H-IIA rocket (pictured) along with three smaller satellites - Horyu-4 and ChubuSat 2 and 3 in February. It was set to enter Earth's orbit at an estimated altitude 360 miles (580 km) - far above the International Space Station's orbit of around 250 miles (400 km)

 

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traumatizing news indeed

Now some good news:

РКН Союз-2.1а with ТГК Прогресс МС-02 are 100% ready and have been rolled out. Just 2 days till launch! YAY!

 

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Images show 200ft tall cylinder being built for world’s most powerful rocket

Over the past week, Nasa has taken great strides toward this achievement, marking the completion of welding on hardware for the massive liquid oxygen tank (pictured above) for the Space Launch System (SLS)

As one of two tanks necessary to power the SLS, the liquid oxygen tank will be part of the core stage, which stands more than 200 feet tall with a diameter of 27.6 feet.
Liquid oxygen coupled with a separate tank of cryogenic liquid hydrogen will feed the powerful rocket’s Rs-25 engines.
As of last week, welding for the confidence hardware of the liquid oxygen tank has been completed.
Photos of the massive structure show just how big one of these tanks really is.
On the Vertical Assembly Center at Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans where the welding was competed, engineers standing nearby are dwarfed in comparison.

 

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This is the day:

Launch

and full coverage

 

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First animals in space (Russian)

My translation:

First animals in space were dogs Dezik (Дезик) and Tsygan (Цыган, "Gypsy"). On July 1951 Dezik and Tsygan were the first to successfully fly on rocket R-1B (successful sub-orbital flight, altitude ~ 100 km). First animals that orbited Moon were turtles.

You can read about space dogs here and about rocket R1 here

Space to ground video:

 

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Blue Origin to launch its reusable rocket again in toughest test flight yet.

It's not yet known at what time the flight will occur in Van Horn, Texas, but Bezos said Blue Origin will attempt a few new manoeuvres with this launch.

One change will be a restart the New Shephard rocket engines 'fast at high thrust' just 3,600 feet from the ground, just before landing.
Bezos said if the engine doesn't restart, then the rocket will hit the ground in six seconds.
The company will also trial new software that controls one of the capsule's control systems.
Bezos added there will be drones present to capture the view.
Blue Origin successfully launched the New Shepard rocket for the first time in November, and repeated the take-off successfully just two months later.
The rocket hit an altitude of 333,582 feet (63 miles) before 'gently' returning to Earth in west Texas.

In addition to testing the engine and a new software for the crew capsule, the launch will also take two microgravity experiments — developed by theSouthwest Research Institute and the University of Central Florida — to suborbital space.
Also, before the end of this year, Blue Origin is planning to begin tests on its BE-4 rocket engine, which it says would end dependence on Russian-made engines.

 

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A successful Blue Origin launch, the third

 

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They finally released the video....................STUPENDOUS.....

 

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Unfortunately I've missed Roskosmos's live stream (Progress MS-02 docking ISS, April 2). But luckily they didn't delete the video so here it is:

Interesting info on (cargo resupply missions):

Progress MS-01 and 02 and SpaceX (pics, diagrams, facts ... everything's inside)

 

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More on BEAM.........and link to launch.

An unmanned SpaceX Falcon rocket is set to launch later today, carrying a capsule full of supplies with the pioneering pod in its trunk.

Bigelow Aerospace is behind the experiment, which will get a ride to the International Space Station (ISS) with another private space company.

It will be SpaceX's first station delivery since a launch accident halted shipments last June.

Following the launch, SpaceX will try once more to land its Falcon 9 on a ship in the Atlantic Ocean.

The launch and landing attempt is scheduled to take place at 16:43pm EDT (20:43 GMT) and can be watched live on Nasa TV.

The inflatable pod demo is meant to pave the way for moon bases and Mars expeditions, as well as orbiting outposts catering to scientists and tourists in just a few more years.

The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, or Beam, will be the first inflatable habitat to ever be attached to the ISS.

'Expandables' like Beam, also called 'inflatables', are ideal because they are lightweight and take up minimal space on a rocket.
They expand after being deployed in space to potentially provide a comfortable area for astronauts to live and work.

'The journey to Mars is complex and filled with challenges that Nasa and its partners are continuously working to solve,' Nasa said.

'Before sending the first astronauts to the red planet, several rockets filled with cargo and supplies will be deployed to await the crews' arrival.'

Once attached to the station, the soft-sided Bigelow compartment will be inflated to the size of a small bedroom.

Made up of aluminum and soft fabric, Beam is designed to pack down into a relatively compact 5.7ft (1.7 metres) long and just under 7.75ft (2.4 metres) in diameter when stowed for the flight into space.

When it is attached to the station's structure and inflated, it will expand to 12ft (3.7 metres) long and 10.5ft (3.2 metres) in diameter.

Nasa outlined the four possible ways it might expand in a video.

The inflation is going to be done very slowly so Nasa can monitor the expansion process and maintain the safety of the crew and the station.

The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, B for short, will stay there for two years, with astronauts occasionally entering it.

It will be the first time an astronaut steps inside an expandable habitat structure in space.

'It's not just historic for our company, which obviously is the case, but I think it's historic for the architecture,' said Robert Bigelow, founder and president of Bigelow Aerospace and owner of Budget Suites of America.

 

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Beam

"loaded dragon"

Tim Copra posted a new image from ISS.

ISS 360: Harmony (Node 2)

Ariane 6

Old but nice video: «Зенит» with «Фрегат» booster rollout

 

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pretty damn impressive!

 

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Absolutely brilliant. Two major successes within a few days of each other.

 

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LIVE NOW: Coverage of Rendezvous and Capture of SpaceX Dragon Cargo Craft to Space Station, 5:30 a.m. EDT, NASA TV

Check NASA gov




yesterday video

 

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Bad news for Kepler .. Hope it's fixable

Russian cosmodrome ЦЭНКИ (COSGBI - Center for Operation of Space Ground-Based Infrastructure) trailer/teaser call it whatever you want

CCCP space programs (historical footage; Yuri Gagarin, Valentina Tereshkova, Alexey Leonov)

SpaceX Dragon Reaches ISS with New Supplies