Congress Tells NASA To Stop Messing Around And Get Back To The Moon

http://www.inquisitr.com/3146752/congress-tells-nasa-to-stop-messing-around-and-get-back-to-the-moon/


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Fwd: Spaceship Cockpits Through the Years

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Begin forwarded message:

From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: May 3, 2016 at 8:08:32 PM CDT
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: Spaceship Cockpits Through the Years

One photo which shows the MIR Control Panel doesn't show up, it does show up if you look at the note on an iPad or iPhone.

Gary

 

 

 

 

Sitting in a Tin Can: Spaceship Cockpits Through the Light Years (PHOTOS)

© NASA. National Aeronautics and Space Administration

 

14:51 02.05.2016(updated 15:34 02.05.2016) 

22596180

The instrument panels in spacecraft have become more and more complex since the first cockpits were constructed in the 1960s.

A comparison of spacecraft cockpits and their display and control systems through the ages illustrates the increased complexity of their control panels since the first space flight in 1961.

News and technology blog Gizmodo recently put together a collection of images of the control panels in spacecraft, which show how the display and control system in the cockpit became more complex and sophisticated.

More recent designs are less cluttered thanks to more advanced software and touch screens that can be used to carry out several operations.

© Photo: Wikipedia

Layout of Vostok spacecraft cabin, 1961. Left: Main switchboard (ПКРС,PKRS, Panel of rocket systems control). Center: Panel with flight instruments, indicators and annunciators. Right: hand controller ("stick") of reaction control system thrusters

© Photo: GTCT

Soyuz T-2, a 1980 Soviet space flight to the Salyut 6 space station

© Photo: NASA

A fish-eye lens was used to photograph this Gemini flight article's forward displays and controls. The first piloted Gemini flight, Gemini 3, went into orbit in March 1965

© Photo: Eric Long, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution

Apollo Command Module Interior. Apollo Command and Service modules were flown by the United States between 1966 and 1975

© NASA. National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Prime crew astronauts for the first space shuttle mission, Commander John Young and Pilot Robert Crippen, take a break from their intensive training schedule to pose for pictures in the flight deck of the orbiter Columbia. The first Columbia orbiter launched on 12 April 1981 and returned on 14 April, 54.5 hours later, having orbited the Earth 37 times

© NASA. Bill Ingalls

NASA astronaut Scott Kelly is seen inside a Soyuz simulator at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC), Wednesday, March 4, 2015 in Star City, east of Moscow

© NASA. National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NASA Astronaut Lee Archambault performs an evaluation of reach and visibility of controls and displays during an end-of-year interior layout evaluation of The Boeing Company's CST-100 spacecraft. The spacecraft is expected to fly to the International Space Station with an astronaut aboard by December 2017

© Flickr/ NASA Orion Spacecraft

Spacesuit engineers demonstrate how four crew members would be arranged for launch inside the Orion spacecraft, using a mockup of the vehicle at Johnson Space Center. Astronauts will board Orion for a first crewed flight in 2021, and NASA hopes send humans to Mars in Orion in the 2030s

...

 

 

© 2016 Sputnik All rights reserved. 

 

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Fwd: This Week in The Space Review - 2016 May 31

Sent from my iPad

Begin forwarded message:

From: Jeff Foust <jeff@thespacereview.com>
Date: May 31, 2016 at 3:55:30 PM CDT
To: <bobbygmartin1938@gmail.com>
Subject: This Week in The Space Review - 2016 May 31
Reply-To: Jeff Foust <jeff@thespacereview.com>

This Week in The Space Review View this email in your browser This Week in The Space Review May 31, 2016 Welcome to The Space Review's weekly newsletter! A year on Mars The recent Humans to Mars Summit in Washington was only the latest in a series of conferences about human exploration of Mars. Dwayne Day compares this conference with some other ones, and discusses what was said, and overlooked, there about getting humans to Mars.   XS-1 prepares for liftoff Last week, DARPA released a request for proposals for the next phase of its experimental reusable launch vehicle program, XS-1. Jeff Foust reports on how the competition stacks up for XS-1 and whether the program can retain its relevance as private ventures make progress on their own reusable vehicles.   The rapture of the wonks Advocates of artificial intelligence can be as devoted to their belief that it will positively benefit society as space advocates are of the benefits of space settlement. Dwayne Day describes a recent interview with a science fiction author who has a more cautionary view of both subjects.   A comprehensive first look at Denmark's domestic space law Denmark is the latest country to develop a national space law. Michael Listner reviews the provisions of the new law and how they compare with other nations and with international treaties.   Petitioning the US to take the lead in space solar power Advocates of space-based solar power have launched petitions seeking to win attention and support for the concept within the federal government. Mike Snead makes the case for why readers should sign those petitions.   Review: Eyeing the Red Storm Thanks to documents declassified after the end of the Cold War, CORONA is now widely recognized as the first US reconnaissance satellite program. Jeff Foust reviews a book that examines an earlier, and largely unknown, effort by the Air Force to develop a spysat called WS-117L.   We appreciate any feedback you may have about these articles as well as any other questions, comments, or suggestions about The Space Review. We're also actively soliciting articles to publish in future issues, so if you have an article or article idea that you think would be of interest, please email me. Until next week, Jeff Foust Editor, The Space Review jeff@thespacereview.com Copyright © 2016 The Space Review, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you previously signed up to receive these weekly newsletters from The Space Review. Our mailing address is: The Space Review 12205 Village Square Ter Suite 101 Rockville, MD 20852 Add us to your address book unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences

Without the World's Greatest/Most Capable Space Capability/ Military-- Your life may not be very pleasant!

Read Lost in Space, The Case to Save the Shuttle, nasa Plan puts AMERICA at Risk & Evolve & use Shuttle.

Also, read Boeing X37C proposal.

You might want to Spread the word---- THIS IS VERY SERIOUS!!

Abbey states we should use Boeing proposed X37C to get our capability back. Read Lost in Space by Abbey in Washington examer!

We Never Should Have Mothballed the Space Shuttle - Scientific American Blog Network

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/we-never-should-have-mothballed-the-space-shuttle/


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Gross waste!

Gross waste! Destruction of manned space program resulting from a potus that is anti American! Remember, the USA has a vast array of assets in EO that will eventually require attentions!

Trump 100 day action plan--- energy

Here is my 100-day action plan:

We're going to rescind all the job-destroying Obama executive actions including the Climate Action Plan and the Waters of the U.S. rule.
We're going to save the coal industry and other industries threatened by Hillary Clinton's extremist agenda.
I'm going to ask Trans Canada to renew its permit application for the Keystone Pipeline.
We're going to lift moratoriums on energy production in federal areas
We're going to revoke policies that impose unwarranted restrictions on new drilling technologies. These technologies create millions of jobs with a smaller footprint than ever before.
We're going to cancel the Paris Climate Agreement and stop all payments of U.S. tax dollars to U.N. global warming programs.
Any regulation that is outdated, unnecessary, bad for workers, or contrary to the national interest will be scrapped. We will also eliminate duplication, provide regulatory certainty, and trust local officials and local residents.
Any future regulation will go through a simple test: is this regulation good for the American worker? If it doesn't pass this test, the rule will not be approved.

Trump Energy plan

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​An America First Energy Plan | Donald J Trump for President

https://www.donaldjtrump.com/press-releases/an-america-first-energy-plan


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COULDN'T BE ANY DUMBER!! Spent billions & put Shuttle in Museum!

We invested billions & years to develop the most capable vehicle that the USA desperately needs AND place in museum. The Internet has thousands of articles delineating the pluses of the shuttle system.

Unfortunately, the present potus does not believe in AMERICAN PREEMINENCE!!!!

If you care for your off springs, you better get busy & get the LIBERALS OUT!!!!!

Look at What is going on in Europe & South America!

Capability to transport large structures to EO & to Assemble ( Shuttle capability)

Most seem pleased re shuttle retirement. A very, very bad decision for the USA !
Abbey's Lost in Space article in Washington Examiner sums it up.

Shuttle capability

Maybe decades before we recover capability.

We have no government funded national security related program. Manned capability dependent on poorly funded commercial efforts with capsules ( no payload ) !

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EO Capability ---- Lack of

The USA has significant assets in EO that affect our security & economy , yet we are allowing this adm to destroy badly needed EO capability. Abbey feels strongly re this topic-- read Lost in Space by Abbey!

The Space Review: Apples and oranges: Why comparing India’s reusable launch vehicle with the space shuttle is totally out of place

http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2990/1


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Launch of ISROs RLV Space Shuttle

http://www.mensxp.com/technology/latest/30719-the-successful-launch-of-isro-s-rlv-space-shuttle-ensured-that-it-s-a-proud-day-for-india.html


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The shuttle gets a bad rap!

Shuttle killed by uninformed liberals-- China will soon be in control of EO--- very significant to the security of the USA ! Better write your rep.!

Shuttle engineering marvel--- with inadequate funds & poor management!
I'm seeing a lot of misinformation in this thread. I am a young Aerospace engineer working on Orion, and i wanted to clear some things up. And honestly most of this info is easy to find with a simple Google search. I'll just give a summary. 
The shuttle WAS an engineering marvel, even into the 2000s, that is a fact. And it's fine to admire it as such. 
There was NOT anywhere near enough political will at the end of Apollo to move forward with more moon missions or a mission to Mars, etc. The US had won the race, it was over, at least in the eyes of the people making the financial decisions. 
Funding to NASA was drastically lowered (as a percentage of annual federal budget) PRIOR to the shuttle's final development. The shuttle had to be redesigned multiple times becoming less and less ambitious each time due to dwindling national and political interest/support and thereby funding. Eventually NASA had to cut a deal with the USAF in order to even build the shuttle. The air force put additional constraints on what the shuttle had to do, again limiting NASA.
The USAF ended up backing out of the deal very late in the process, leading to a shuttle with USAF constraints and requirements but no USAF missions. 
The end product was a vehicle that, while an impressive feat of engineering, was NOTHING like the original designs(especially in scope), didn't have a super clear purpose, had limited support from the beginning, had a fraction of the Apollo budget, and had HUGE expectations following the success of the Apollo program.
There were some design issues that in hind sight could have been solved better, but design flaws were NOT the primary problem with the shuttle. Ultimately, the shuttle did what it's final design intended for quite well.
Having studied both the engineering aspects of the shuttle, and specifically the Challenger and Colombia disasters, as well the management decisions prior to the disasters, it is my opinion that the Primary cause of BOTH disasters was far and away the poor decisions made by Non-Engineer Managers. Most of the decision making managers had little to no engineering experience, and in both cases actively ignored the concerns of the engineers. Engineers said DONT launch prior to Challenger, but managers more concerned with launching on time ignored them. In Colombia, engineers had repeatedly complained about the foam strike, but management refused to address it. Engineers knew that the foam caused damage particularly on launch of the final Colombia mission, and one Engineer tried to get access to a DoD telescope to inspect the damage, but management stifled the attept.
Ultimately, we did learn tons from the shuttle program, many things that are hard to quantify. True, the shuttle did not live up to many people's expectations, but they were unrealistic expectations made by people who don't understand the complexity of rocket science and or didn't realize that NASA funding (again, as a fraction of federal budget) had been dramatically reduced. 
The shuttle did not "hold back" progress in space exploration. People did. The American public did. They voted with a list of priorities that didn't include space exploration. I won't debate the importance of the civil rights movement, the war in Vietnam, the antiwar movents, the social welfare moments, the war on drugs, the war on terror, etc. The fact of the matter is that almost 2 full generations simply didn't care enough about space exploration. 
Don't quote me "per launch cost" and such, as those numbers can be manipulated in a myriad of ways. I've seen the costs and done the math. The shuttle did not reduce cost to LEO significantly but was NOT definitively cost inefficient. Saturn V could NOT have done all the things the shuttle did. We would have had to develop 2 or 3 separate systems over the 70s-00s in order to achieve what we did with the shuttle, and total cost of such undertakings would have almost certainly exceeded what was spent on the shuttle program. 
Ultimately, this popular idea that the shuttle was a failure, is unfounded. People making this claim clearly are misinformed. The people who make this claim and perpetuate it seem to have little scientific/Engineering/ or even historical knowledge, so be careful who you listen to.
The shuttle was an under-funded and under-supported program without a clear and consistent goal or purpose, and yet it still accomplished many impressive things and flew for 30 years. The public was not interested in providing support for the program, and yet had expectations higher than for Apollo. The shuttle gets a bad rap, when really is the American people (and people worldwide) who are to blame for our species stagnation in space exploration.
I just hope my generation doesn't make the same mistake.

Writer : unknown.!

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Wake up!

This adm has destroyed our manned capability & capability to build & maintain large structures in EO! Impacts National Security! Wake up people!

Very bad for American security!

Still gathers dust while we pay Russia. Even when commercial capsules are flying, we are long way from having shuttle capability--- maybe decades-- Bad, Bad for American security. Google " USA assets in EO" !

Fwd: One year in space: X-37B celebrates anniversary

Sent from my iPad

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: May 20, 2016 at 5:06:10 PM CDT
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: One year in space: X-37B celebrates anniversary

 

One year in space: X-37B spaceplane celebrates anniversary without fanfare

May 20, 2016 Justin Ray

Atlas 5 launches with X-37B on May 20, 2015. Credit: Walter Scriptunas II / Scriptunas Images

CAPE CANAVERAL — Orbiting the world in seclusion for the past year, the Air Force's mysterious X-37B spaceplane marks the anniversary of its launch today.

The stubby-winged craft was boosted into space by a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket on May 20, 2015, departing Cape Canaveral for a 20-minute ride into a 200-mile-high orbit inclined 38 degrees.

Today, the maneuverable craft operates in a 220-mile orbit, a higher altitude it briefly held last fall and roughly the same perch occupied twice by the previous X-37B mission, according to satellite-tracking hobbyist Ted Molczan.

This X-37B carries at least two payloads, revealed by the military before the ship took off — an experimental electric propulsion thruster to be tested in orbit and a pallet to expose sample materials to the space environment.

Made by Aerojet Rocketdyne, the enhanced five-kW Hall Thruster, called the XR-5A, is being tested aboard the spaceplane for the Air Force Research Laboratory and Space and Missile Systems Center.

Operation of the modified thruster — said to have improved performance and operating range — is being checked by measuring the thrust imparted on the vehicle before inclusion aboard the military's future Advanced Extremely High Frequency ultra-secure communications satellites.

The electric propulsion system produces a whisper-like thrust by ionizing and accelerating xenon gas. The fuel economy is a distinct advantage of such systems over conventional chemical rockets, keeping the weight down and enabling launch aboard a smaller, cheaper rocket.

Artist's concept of X-37B in orbit. Credit: Boeing

There's also a NASA advanced materials investigation aboard the X-37B.

Known as the Materials Exposure and Technology Innovation in Space, or METIS, the experiment is exposing nearly 100 different quarter-sized samples of polymers, composites and coatings to the harshness of space.

What else this craft is carrying, if anything, has not been divulged by Pentagon officials.

The Air Force had not publicly identified any payloads on the three earlier X-37B missions flown since 2010.

Also unknown is how long the reusable mini-shuttle plans to remain in space.

Flight No. 1
Launch: April 22, 2010
Landing: Dec. 3 2010
Duration: 224 days

Flight No. 2
Launch: March 5, 2011
Landing: June 16, 2012
Duration: 469 days

Flight No. 3
Launch: Dec. 11, 2012
Landing: Oct. 17, 2014
Duration: 675 days

One-quarter the size of NASA's now-retired space shuttle orbiters, the unmanned X-37B conducts its mission and then autonomously returns to Earth, braking from orbit, plunging through the atmosphere and gliding to a pinpoint touchdown on a conventional runway to be refurbished and reused.

X-37B features a pickup truck-size cargo bay, seven feet long and four feet wide.

The craft's unique capability to drop from orbit and land on a runway allows technicians to get their hands on the hardware after it spent considerable time in space.

Built by Boeing's Phantom Works division, the spaceplane is 29 feet long with a wing span of 15 feet, made of light-weight composite structures instead of aluminum and shielded with improved leading-edge ceramic insulation panels on its wings and tougher silica tiles affixed to its belly that are designed to be more durable than first-generation tiles used on the space shuttle.

The three earlier X-37B flights landed at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The Air Force and Boeing have worked to consolidate the spaceplane operations at the Kennedy Space Center, using former space shuttle hangars and practicing for eventual use of the Shuttle Landing Facility runway as end-of-mission homecomings.

 

© 2016 Spaceflight Now Inc.

 

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Aldrin is Trump's Advisor!

Aldrin said use & evolve shuttle!

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Gathering dust, we pay Russia!

Why DARPA is pursuing a reusable spaceplane - SpaceNews.com

http://spacenews.com/why-darpa-is-pursuing-a-reusable-spaceplane/


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Reestablish America's capability

The U.S. Air Force's Boeing X-37B, which began as a NASA craft but was transferred to the Pentagon in 2004, is an unmanned space plane that looks like a small space shuttle. Like the shuttle, it returns to Earth and lands on a runway. It has been flying successfully for five years. A scaled-up version with an astronaut crew to work outside the vehicle could reestablish America's ability to build and maintain big structures in Earth orbit.

ISRO prepares for launch of India's first space shuttle RLV-TD: 10 facts you should know

http://www.newsnation.in/article/131297-isro-to-launch-rlv-td-space-shuttle-on-may-23.html


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We pay Russia, our hdw gathers dust! Insane!

TASS: Science & Space - NASA to pay Russia $88 mln to deliver astronauts to world’s sole orbiter in 2018-2019

http://tass.ru/en/science/875995?utm_source=Today%27s+Deep+Space+Extra%2C+Tuesday%2C+May+17%2C+2016&utm_campaign=dailycsextra&utm_medium=email


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Just like the Transgender BS-- Destruction of our capability & paying Russia--- INSANE!

Abbey in Lost in Space article sums it up.

This country better change direction or we are in BIG trouble!!

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For decades we will not have shuttle capability!

O brags in 2017 budget re the great commercial effort.

It should be noted our capabilities have been REDUCED significantly re we now pay russia for rides to ISS!!!! A TRUE DS, knucklehead!!!!

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The 14th International Conference on Space Operations :: SpaceOps 2016 ::

http://www.spaceops2016.org/Award_Recognition.php


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Fwd: SpaceX Dragon successfully splashes down

Sent from my iPad

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: May 12, 2016 at 9:02:22 AM CDT
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: SpaceX Dragon successfully splashes down

 

 

 

May 11, 2016

RELEASE 16-052

Critical NASA Science Returns to Earth aboard SpaceX Dragon Spacecraft

This series of images from NASA Television shows the SpaceX Dragon resupply craft moments after its release from the International Space Station's Canadarm2 robotic arm on May 11, 2016, as it steadily moves a safe distance before beginning the deorbit burn for its trip back to Earth.

Credits: NASA Television

A SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean at 2:51 p.m. EDT Wednesday, May 11, about 261 miles southwest of Long Beach, California, with more than 3,700 pounds of NASA cargo, science and technology demonstration samples from the International Space Station.

The Dragon spacecraft will be taken by ship to Long Beach where some cargo will be removed and returned to NASA, and then be prepared for shipment to SpaceX's test facility in McGregor, Texas, for processing.

A variety of technology and biology studies conducted in the unique microgravity environment of the space station returned aboard the commercial resupply spacecraft, including research in the burgeoning field of nanotechnology. The Microchannel Diffusion study, for example, examined how microparticles interact with each other and their delivery channel in the absence of gravitational forces. In this one-of-a-kind laboratory, researchers were able to observe nanoscale behaviors at slightly larger scales – knowledge which may have implications for advancements in particle filtration, space exploration and drug delivery technologies.

CASIS Protein Crystal Growth 4 also has applications in medicine – specifically, drug design and development. Growing protein crystals in microgravity can avoid some of the obstacles inherent to protein crystallization on Earth, such as sedimentation. One investigation explored the effect of microgravity on the co-crystallization of a membrane protein with a medically-relevant compound in order to determine its three-dimensional structure. This will enable scientists to use "designer" compounds to chemically target and inhibit an important human biological pathway thought to be responsible for several types of cancer.

The spacecraft also returned to Earth the final batch of human research samples from former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly's historic one-year mission. These samples will be analyzed for studies such as Biochemical Profile, Cardio Ox, Fluid Shifts, Microbiome, Salivary Markers and the Twins Study. Additional samples taken on the ground, as Kelly continues to support these studies, will provide insights relevant for NASA's Journey to Mars as the agency learns more about how the human body adjusts to weightlessness, isolation, radiation and the stress of long-duration spaceflight.

The spacesuit worn by NASA astronaut Tim Kopra during a January spacewalk also was returned for additional analysis by engineers on the ground, as NASA continues to investigate the source of water that caused and early end to the spacewalk after Kopra reported a small water bubble inside his helmet.

Dragon currently is the only station resupply spacecraft able to return a significant amount of cargo to Earth. The spacecraft lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida April 8, and arrived at the space station April 10, carrying almost 7,000 pounds of supplies and scientific cargo on the company's eighth NASA-contracted commercial resupply mission.

The International Space Station is a convergence of science, technology and human innovation that demonstrates new technologies and makes research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. The space station has been occupied continuously since November 2000. In that time, more than 200 people and a variety of international and commercial spacecraft have visited the orbiting laboratory. The space station remains the springboard to NASA's next great leap in exploration, including future missions to an asteroid and Mars.

Get more information about SpaceX's mission to the International Space Station at:

http://www.nasa.gov/spacex

Get more information about the International Space Station at:

http://www.nasa.gov/station

-end-

Cheryl Warner
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
cheryl.m.warner@nasa.gov

Dan Huot
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
daniel.g.huot@nasa.gov

Last Updated: May 11, 2016

Editor: Karen Northon

 

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    May 11, 2016 20:05

U.S. cargo spaceship Dragon undocks from ISS

MOSCOW. May 11 (Interfax-AVN) - The cargo spaceship Dragon has undocked from the International Space Station (ISS), the Mission Control Center said.

"In accordance with the flight program of the International Space Station, the automated cargo spacecraft Dragon (SpaceX CRS-8) undocked at 2:02 p.m. Moscow time on May 11, 2016, from the lower node of the Harmony module (Node 2) of the U.S. ISS segment," the statement said.

After the SSRMS robotic arm pulled the automated cargo spacecraft from the station it was released at 4:19 p.m. Moscow time from the robotic arm, and started fulfilling the final phase of its flight that envisages the undocking of the pressurized descent capsule from the spacecraft, its controllable descent, and a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, not far from the U.S. Californian coast.

The cargo spaceship Dragon (SpaceX CRS-8) delivered 3,136 kilograms of various cargoes to the station on April 10, 2016. The cargo included foodstuffs and clothes for crewmembers, equipment, consumable materials for the use onboard the station, as well as the experimental inflatable habitat BEAM (Bigelow Expandable Activity Module) weighing nearly 1,400 kilograms, which was retrieved from the unpressurized cargo container of the spacecraft by the robotic arm, and docked to the Tranquility node module. The module is due to be deployed in the last days of May 2016.

In the history of flights to the ISS, this has been the second case, when six Russian and U.S. cargo spaceships, namely manned spaceships Soyuz TMA-19M and Soyuz TMA-20M, cargo spacecraft Progress MS, Progress MS-02, Cygnus CRS OA-6 and Dragon (SpaceX CRS-8), have been simultaneously docked to the station.

sb ab iz

 

©   1991—2016   Interfax Information Service. All rights reserved.

 

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© 2016 TASS

 

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SpaceX Dragon Cargo Ship Delivers Critical Science Samples to Earth - NASA

© Fotobank.ru/Getty Images/

 

02:10 12.05.2016

014400

The SpaceX Dragon cargo ship returned to Earth on Wednesday delivering critical samples from technology and biology studies conducted in space, the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The delivered tests include research in the field of nanotechnology and a batch of human research samples, according to the press release.

© Flickr/ NASA Johnson

WATCH SpaceX Dragon Cargo Ship Departs From ISS, Returns Back to Earth

"A SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean… with more than 3,700 pounds of NASA cargo, science and technology demonstration samples from the International Space Station," NASA stated.

The cargo ship arrived at the International Space Station and docked at the Harmony utility hub on April 10 after a historic launch from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in the US state of Florida.

The next Dragon mission is expected to be launched in June and may reuse the Falcon 9 rocket, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has said.

 

© 2016 Sputnik All rights reserved. 

 

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SpaceX Dragon craft successfully splashes down after Int'l Space Station delivery

By Andrew V. Pestano and Doug G. Ware   |   Updated May 11, 2016 at 4:15 PM

 

WASHINGTON, May 11 (UPI) -- The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft successfully returned to Earth Wednesday after a month-long orbital journey to deliver 7,000 pounds of cargo to the International Space Station.

The Dragon began its departure procedure from the station around 9 a.m. EDT Wednesday and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean nearly six hours later.

After detaching from the station, the Dragon circled Earth multiple times before firing its thrusters around 2 p.m. to start its descent from orbit. The craft's un-pressurized "trunk" jettisoned before the capsule re-entered the atmosphere.

The Dragon deployed its parachutes and gently splashed down in the ocean, about 250 miles southwest of Long Beach, Calif., at 2:51 p.m. EDT, SpaceX said.

A recovery team retrieved the capsule and nearly 4,000 pounds of cargo, NASA said in a news release earlier Wednesday. The cargo included human, biology and biotechnology studies, as well as physical science investigations.

SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft detached from the International Space Station early Wednesday and returned to Earth at around 3 p.m. EDT. The cargo spaceship hauled the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, seen here being fitted into the ISS, which Robert Bigelow says he hopes will lead to rentable space in the near future. Photo courtesy NASA

"The Dragon spacecraft has served us well," British astronaut Tim Peake radioed to mission controllers in Houston after the Dragon first departed the space station. "It's good to see it departing full of science, and we wish it a safe recovery back to planet Earth."

Also among the cargo was more than 1,000 tubes of blood, urine and saliva collected from former American astronaut Scott Kelly before his yearlong mission in the ISS ended in March. NASA will analyze the biological materials to further study the effects of microgravity on humans over extended periods of time.

The Dragon launched aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on April 8.

Packed aboard the craft and now installed in the International Space Station is the the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, or BEAM -- an experimental living space designed by Bigelow Aerospace, which company owner Robert Bigelow says he hopes will lead to rentable space in the near future.

SpaceX and NASA will launch the next resupply mission from Cape Canaveral next month -- the ninth of as many as 20 planned missions.

 

© 2016 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 

 

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By William Harwood CBS News May 11, 2016, 4:18 PM

SpaceX capsule brings station science back to Earth

A SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule departed the International Space Station and plunged back to Earth Wednesday, bringing down more than 3,700 pounds of station cargo and research material, including urine, saliva and blood samples collected from Scott Kelly during his recent nearly one-year stay aboard the lab.

The automated Dragon capsule, which arrived at the International Space Station on April 10, was detached from the Earth-facing port of the forward Harmony module and released by the lab's robot arm at 9:19 a.m. EDT (GMT-4).

After moving a safe distance away, the Dragon's braking rockets fired at 2:01 p.m. and the ship plunged back into the discernible atmosphere about a half hour later. After a high-speed descent, three large braking parachutes deployed and the capsule splashed down on target, 261 miles southeast of Long Beach, Calif., at 2:51 p.m.

"Good splashdown of Dragon confirmed, carrying thousands of pounds of @NASA science and research cargo back from the @Space_Station," SpaceX tweeted.

The capsule was launched on April 9, loaded with more than 3.5 tons of cargo, supplies and other equipment, including an expandable module that later was attached to the aft port of the space station's Tranquility module. The Bigelow Expandable Crew Activity Module, or BEAM, will be inflated later this month for two years of tests to determine the viability of such expandable compartments.

After unloading the Dragon, the station crew re-packed it with trash, no-longer-needed gear and research equipment and samples, along with a spacesuit that will be examined by engineers to determine what might have caused a small water bubble that prompted an early end to a spacewalk earlier this year.

The Dragon is the only space station cargo ship capable of bringing significant amounts of cargo and science gear back to Earth.

Completing SpaceX's eighth operational station resupply mission, the Dragon brought back 53 pounds of computer gear, 377 pounds of crew supplies, 602 pounds of spacewalk equipment, 1,137 pounds of vehicle hardware and 1,292 pounds of science gear and samples, including the final batch of blood, urine, saliva and other samples collected during Kelly's stay in orbit.

The samples will be processed and compared with those collected before Kelly's launch last year, during his stay aboard the station and after his return March 1 to better understand the effects of weightlessness and space radiation on long-duration crew members.

SpaceX plans to haul the Dragon capsule back to Long Beach, where personnel were standing by to off-load high-priority items. From there, the spacecraft will be shipped to SpaceX's McGregor, Texas, facility for additional processing.

 

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Cargo-carrying Dragon spaceship returns to Earth

May 11, 2016 Stephen Clark

The Dragon spacecraft descends to the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday. Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX's Dragon supply ship departed the International Space Station on Wednesday, fired rocket thrusters to brake out of orbit, and parachuted to a picture-perfect splashdown in the Pacific Ocean with approximately 3,461 pounds (1,570 kilograms) of experiment samples and equipment.

Concluding a 31-day stay at the outpost, the 12-foot-diameter (3.7-meter) spacecraft detached from the space station's Harmony module early Wednesday in the grasp of the research lab's Canadian-built robotic arm, which maneuvered the capsule to a release point about 30 feet, or 10 meters, beneath the complex.

European Space Agency flight engineer Tim Peake gave the command for the robotic arm to let go of Dragon at 9:19 a.m. EDT (1319 GMT) as the space station sailed 260 miles (418 kilometers) off the coast of Australia southwest of Adelaide.

"The Dragon spacecraft has served us well, and it's good to see it departing full of science, and we wish it a safe recovery back to planet Earth," Peake radioed mission control.

In quick succession, the Dragon spacecraft fired its Draco thrusters three times shortly after its release from the space station to depart the vicinity of the orbiting research outpost.

A few hours later, SpaceX engineers at the company's headquarters in Hawthorne, California, commanded Dragon's guidance, navigation and control bay door to close, sealing the spaceship for the fiery trip back to Earth.

Dragon ignited its Draco engines at 2:01 p.m. EDT (1801 GMT) for about 10 minutes to nudge the craft out of orbit. Minutes later, the spacecraft's disposable unpressurized trunk section jettisoned to burn up in the atmosphere.

Protected by an ablative carbon-based heat shield, the gumdrop-shaped capsule plunged into the atmosphere as it soared on a northwest-to-southeast trajectory over the Pacific Ocean, withstanding temperatures of more than 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit before deploying a series of parachutes to slow down for final descent.

Three orange and white main chutes, each measuring 116 feet (35 meters) in diameter, unfurled for the final descent toward the Pacific about 261 miles (420 kilometers) southwest of Long Beach, California.

The spaceship reached the Pacific Ocean for an on-target splashdown at 2:55 p.m. EDT (1855 GMT).

SpaceX did not provide live video of the splashdown, but the company released periodic updates during the landing sequence on Twitter.

SpaceX tweeted that company personnel aboard recovery vessels arrived at the splashdown zone soon after the capsule's return: "Dragon recovery team on site after nominal splashdown in Pacific."

The recovery crew will hoist the capsule aboard a ship and set course for Long Beach, with arrival due as soon as Thursday to remove time-sensitive experiment samples carried aboard the spacecraft. The Dragon capsule itself will be transported to SpaceX's rocket test facility in McGregor, Texas, to offload toxic substances from the spaceship and finish unpacking the rest of the mission's cargo.

The Dragon spacecraft launched April 8 aboard a Falcon 9 rocket and reached the space station two days later, taking more than 7,000 pounds of provisions and experiments for the space station and its six-man crew.

An inflatable experimental module made by Bigelow Aerospace was among the payloads delivered by Dragon. It was attached to the space station's Tranquility module and will be expanded later this month to test concepts for future space habitats.

Astronauts stowed 3,461 pounds (1,570 kilograms) of cargo into Dragon's pressurized compartment in the last few weeks. With packaging, the total returned mass comes to more than 3,700 pounds.

The Dragon returned about 1,292 pounds (586 kilograms) of science gear, including more than 1,000 tubes of blood, urine and saliva samples from astronaut Scott Kelly's nearly one-year expedition on the space station, which ended March 1.

Researchers are eager to analyze the specimens to study how Kelly weathered the long-duration mission. They will compare the results to Scott's twin brother Mark Kelly, a retired space shuttle commander who contributed similar fluid samples to study the health of two genetically identical individuals over the course of the year.

Dragon also brought home a balky spacesuit that sprung a water leak during a January spacewalk. Astronaut Tim Kopra safely returned to the space station after he reported a small water bubble in his helmet, but the problem prompted a premature end to the excursion.

Engineers will investigate the cause of the water leak in the spacesuit, and potentially repair it to be re-launched to the space station.

It is the same spacesuit that leaked a more significant amount of water into the helmet of astronaut Luca Parmitano in 2013, a frightening episode that threatened to drown the Italian spacewalker.

A failed sequential shunt unit, or SSU, was also aboard SpaceX's Dragon spaceship for the journey home Wednesday. Astronauts replaced the failed voltage regulator during the January spacewalk before Kopra's spacesuit began leaking water.

The SSU failed last year, knocking out one of the space station's eight power channels until it could be replaced.

The Dragon spacecraft is the only vehicle capable of returning large items from the space station for refurbishment and repairs.

Engineers used to bring back tons of equipment when the space shuttle regularly visited the space station, but officials are more selective in what to return to Earth aboard Dragon, according to Mark Mulqueen, the space station program manager at Boeing, NASA's prime engineering contractor for the complex.

"Shuttle gave us the ability, with so much down-mass, to do everything," Mulqueen said in a recent interview with Spaceflight Now. "We don't do everything now, but we do what's smart. NASA and Boeing look at the price to replace something, start from zero or start from a known failure and (see) how much it costs to repair, and we decide.

"Some things are too big to get inside Dragon," Mulqueen said. "An ammonia tank, for example, you don't bring it inside the modules. You could have saved it with shuttle because it's out in the cargo bay, but you don't want to bring it into the pressurized modules. There are limits now, but we're still doing, just smartly."

Wednesday's splashdown marks the end of SpaceX's eighth operational cargo flight to the space station.

Led by Elon Musk, the billionaire tech mogul, SpaceX has a multibillion-dollar contract with NASA to deliver supplies to the outpost and bring some items home. The company has 26 resupply missions contracted with NASA — including the eight already in the books — under two separate cargo delivery deals.

NASA also has contracts with Orbital ATK and Sierra Nevada Corp. for space station logistics flights.

SpaceX's next cargo mission is set for launch in late June from Cape Canaveral.

 

© 2016 Spaceflight Now Inc.

 

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SpaceX Dragon Cargo Ship Headed Home from Space Station

By Mike Wall, Space.com Senior Writer | May 11, 2016 09:30am ET

 

SpaceX's uncrewed Dragon spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station May 11, 2016 at 9:19 a.m. EDT (1319 GMT) after a monthlong orbital stay attached to the station.

Credit: NASA TV

SpaceX's robotic Dragon cargo capsule has left the International Space Station and is headed back to Earth.

The uncrewed Dragon spacecraft undocked at 9:19 a.m. EDT (1319 GMT) today (May 11), ending a monthlong orbital stay attached to the space station. Dragon is scheduled to make a parachute-aided splashdown today at 2:55 p.m. EDT (1855 GMT) in the Pacific Ocean west of Baja California, where it will be retrieved via boat by SpaceX personnel.

"Dragon spacecraft has served us well, and it's good to see it departing full of science, and we wish it a safe recovery back to planet Earth," British astronaut Tim Peake said from aboard the space station.

Unlike the undocking, Dragon's splashdown and its recovery will not be broadcast by NASA TV, agency officials said.

Dragon launched atop SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on April 8 and reached the International Space Station (ISS) two days later. The capsule delivered nearly 7,000 lbs. (3,175 kilograms) of supplies, scientific experiments and other gear to the ISS, including an experimental inflatable habitat called the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM).

Dragon is the only robotic cargo vessel currently servicing the orbiting lab that's able to bring cargo back down to Earth. The others — Orbital ATK's Cygnus spacecraft, Russia's Progress freighter and Japan's H-II Transfer Vehicle — are designed to burn up in Earth's atmosphere, so astronauts typically simply pack them with garbage.

Dragon, by contrast, is hauling about 3,700 lbs. (1,678 kg) of gear on its return trip from the ISS, including biological samples gathered during the unprecedented one-year mission of NASA's Scott Kelly and cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko, which wrapped up in March, NASA officials said.

Scientists will study the one-year mission samples to learn more about the physiological and psychological effects of long-duration spaceflight, in an effort to help pave the way for crewed missions to Mars and other distant destinations.

The April 8 launch kicked off SpaceX's eighth robotic cargo mission to the space station for NASA. About 10 minutes after liftoff, the first stage of the Falcon 9 successfully landed on "Of Course I Still Love You," a robotic ship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean several hundred miles off the Florida coast.

The milestone marked the first-ever landing of a rocket on a ship at sea. SpaceX repeated the achievement on May 6, during the launch of the Japanese communications satellite JCSAT-14 from Cape Canaveral.

SpaceX's next Dragon cargo launch is currently scheduled for late June.

 

SpaceX Dragon Space Capsule Splashes Down in Pacific Ocean

By Mike Wall, Space.com Senior Writer | May 11, 2016 05:50pm ET

SpaceX's robotic Dragon cargo capsule splashes down in the Pacific Ocean west of Baja California on May 11, 2016.

Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX's robotic Dragon capsule has come back down to Earth, wrapping up the company's latest cargo mission to the International Space Station (ISS) for NASA.

The uncrewed Dragon spacecraft splashed down today (May 11) in the Pacific Ocean 261 miles (420 kilometers) southwest of Long Beach, California, at 2:51 p.m. EDT (1851 GMT), about 5.5 hours after undocking from the ISS, NASA officials said.

The capsule came down with more than 3,700 lbs. (1,680 kilograms) of NASA cargo and scientific samples, including material from the one-year ISS mission recently completed by NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko, agency officials said.

SpaceX personnel will recover Dragon by ship and then haul the spacecraft to Long Beach for processing.

Dragon is the only robotic cargo vessel currently flying that's capable of bringing material safely from the ISS down to the ground. The other freighters — Orbital ATK's Cygnus spacecraft, Russia's Progress vessel and Japan's H-II Transfer Vehicle — are all designed to burn up in Earth's atmosphere and therefore are packed with garbage, not cargo, when they depart the orbiting lab.

Dragon launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on April 8, loaded up with nearly 7,000 lbs. (3,175 kg) of supplies, hardware, scientific experiments and other gear. During this launch, the first stage of the Falcon 9 succeeded in landing softly on a robotic ship in the Atlantic Ocean, marking the first time a booster had ever touched down on a ship at sea.

Dragon reached the ISS on April 10.

SpaceX has now flown a total of eight cargo missions for NASA (though the seventh, which launched in June 2015, ended less than 3 minutes after liftoff when the Falcon 9 broke apart). The next Dragon/Falcon 9 flight is scheduled to blast off from Cape Canaveral in late June.

 

 

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