Need shuttle capability-- lost in space by Abbey

Placing ourselves in danger!

How crazy can we be---- give up space capability, not assure the best missile defense & put ordinary criminals in all levels of gov!

Sent from my iPad

No plans to reacquire this important capability!

Armstrong: Obama NASA plan 'devastating' - NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams | NBC News

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/36470363/ns/nbc_nightly_news_with_brian_williams/t/armstrong-obama-nasa-plan-devastating/#.WA9J5Os8KrU


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Don't need their way of life !

We must Reverse the crap this potus has thrust on the US !!

Bobby Martin

9 hrs · 

WAKE UP AMERICA. ,!!!! This Potus is destroying the USA -- wake up!

Dale Netherton Obama and His Muslim Legacy

There is much confusion about the policies and direction of the Obama presidency. Pundits and politicians alike flounder when trying to explain the actions of President Obama. The reason for this confusion and misunderstanding is the lack of courage to identify and integrate the unmistaken evidence of what they are dealing with. 

The recent defense of Islam at the prayer breakfast was a central clue to what is going on in Obama's mind. Searching for some way to downplay the role of other religions and therefore equivocate atrocities performed today with those of other religions in the past can only be described as evasion of context. Denying the words Islamist terrorists and constantly referring to Islam as a religion of peace only confirms his basic premise that translates into action to promote Islam consistently and almost openly. When you look at the words of the Koran and Obama's actions you see a pattern that cannot be misinterpreted. 

First take the Islamic tenet that lying to promote Islam is perfectly acceptable. This includes such practices as evading and distorting. We know the man is a liar from his claims on healthcare, his shovel ready jobs and " You didn't build that". Why would we accept that he was truthful when he swore to defend the Constitution. That has been an obvious lie. 

Now consider that what if a man with Muslim proclivities decides that his contribution to Muslim dominance can best be served by using his oratorial talents to become President of the United States and then undermine the county with weak leadership, massive debt and doing all that he can to diminish America and her defenses? Could not a person's intent on Muslim dominance accomplish this mission to some extent? It was pointed out by Laura Ingram that Obama seems well qualified to accomplish what he wants to accomplish and she pointed to his elections, his free college program, his stimulus , etc. But when it comes to dealing with ISIS he seems feckless. Is this because he doesn't know what to do or is it because his agenda is far different than an American President who would want to protect and promote the American Dream?

President Obama seems to have little interest in his legacy as an American President. No one would want their country to become more mediocre, weak, and debt ridden if they had a spark of rationality in them. Yet these destructive avenues keep being advocated and reflect only a mission to boost Muslim stature and diminish America. His foreign apologist speeches can only point to such a mission.

In Obama's mind where he displays many of the attributes identified by Patai in his book ," The Arab Mind", we see the notion that speech is more potent than action, lying to promote Islam is perfectly acceptable and a central drive to avoid denouncing Islam is evident by the weak leadership regarding national defense. Releasing terrorist leaders and attempting to close Gitmo also fit with the overall objective of a Muslim legacy.

At the end of his term of office he will be able to say to his Islamic cohorts, " See what I have done to promote your case and diminish the power and stature of the nation of infidels as asked by the Prophet. Such a legacy will sit well with the Muslims who will see a path to dominance they had not envisioned. Infiltration will be the strategy of the Muslim future and although simple bombing will continue, infiltration into the institutions and government will play a major part. Identifying and challenging this invasion will require more than simple vigilance. A lock step party will only accelerate the invasion as we have already seen. If no one is willing to identify this mission for what it is America will be degraded to the status the Muslim religion seeks. The land of the free without the home of the brave will cease to exist.

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Have we lost our minds!!!

Unique Capabilities critical to USA !

Go figure, we had in shuttle UNIQUE capabilities, that were the envy of the world.
We could accomplish tasks in EO that had not been accomplished by any other country, & by operating shuttle, we improved the following:
1. Improved designs for various systems & mfg. & test capabilities 
2. Created tens of thousands of excellent jobs
3. Supported iss & maintained an improved safety state than is presently being done re Kraft letter on placing Iss in danger w/ o shuttle
4. Provided the option by maintaining a STS to accomplish important EO tasks, & to explore universe by placing exploration modules in EO.
5. Improve Iss research by providing equipment & supplies that can not be done with Soyuz & cargo transportation system.
6. By maintaining a multiplicity of operations & a dynamic program, provided a Dream for our youth to strive for.
7. Developed approaches/techniques for military operations in EO which are critical to the capabilities of national security

But, after spending billions , we scrap the effort, & develop capsule approach that will not be manned for several more years, & when it is will not come CLOSE to shuttle capabilities, meanwhile WE pay Russia. 

Whole deal TOTALLY NONSENSICAL--- seem our leaders in Congress have lost their minds!!!!

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New US-Russian Crew Arrives at International Space Station

http://www.space.com/34463-new-space-station-crew-arrives-at-last.html?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Twitter&utm_campaign=socialtwitterspc&cmpid=social_spc_514648


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USA in danger!

Better think long & hard re what this ignorant potus has done to the US manned program!

We have a deficient missile defense system & our manned space capability has been destroyed by this grossly inept liberal administration! We are in serious trouble & are at risk of nuclear attack. We have near zero on-orbit offense/ defensive capability Our assets in orbit are in danger of destruction! Spread the word, contact your senators & congressmen, set up blogs---- this is very serious! Wake up America!

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AN ESTABLISHMENT IN PANIC: Ruling class fears the people won't accept its political legitimacy | US Defense Watch

http://usdefensewatch.com/2016/10/an-establishment-in-panic-ruling-class-fears-the-people-wont-accept-its-political-legitimacy/


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Op-ed | Trump's space policy reaches for Mars and the stars - SpaceNews.com

http://spacenews.com/trumps-space-policy-reaches-for-mars-and-the-stars/?utm_source=Today%27s+Deep+Space+Extra%2C+Thursday%2C+October+20%2C+2016&utm_campaign=dailycsextra&utm_medium=email


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Fwd: Remembering Galileo’s Ride on STS-34

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Begin forwarded message:

From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: October 20, 2016 at 10:47:42 AM CDT
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: Remembering Galileo's Ride on STS-34

 

AmericaSpace

For a nation that explores
October 15th, 2016 

The Romance of Adventure: Remembering Galileo's Ride on STS-34 (Part 1)

By Ben Evans

 

Atlantis roars into orbit on 18 October 1989 to deploy the Galileo spacecraft on its mission to Jupiter. Photo Credit: NASA

When the Galileo spacecraft drifted out of Shuttle Atlantis' payload bay on the evening of 18 October 1989, on the first leg of its voyage to Jupiter, the sight was a moving one for Shannon Lucid. As STS-34's lead mission specialist, she was primarily responsible for the deployment of one of the most important payloads ever launched by NASA. For almost a dozen years, Lucid had lived and worked with the reality that her job was an overwhelmingly technical one, drawing from its roots in engineering and pure science … but on this day, as Galileo and its Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) booster floated silently into the inky void, she beheld a new reality: the romance of adventure. Emblazoned across the base of the spacecraft which would one day circle Jupiter and deposit an instrumented probe into its atmosphere were two names: "Galileo" in script and "NASA" in worm-like block capitals.

To Lucid, those two words symbolized exactly what the mission stood for: The script represented the romance of adventure and exploration, whilst the worm was indicative of the outstanding engineering and scientific talent which had brought this awesome project from the drawing board to fruition. Yet Galileo's journey to the launch pad had been a long and tortured one, and its voyage to Jupiter would be longer and harder still.

The mission traced its genesis back to the mid-1970s. Named in honor of the great Italian scientist, Galileo Galilei, whose endeavors in the early 17th century included the discovery of Jupiter's four large moons—Ganymede, Callisto, Europa, and Io—but which also assured him a retirement under house arrest, courtesy of the Roman Inquisition.

Originally known as "Jupiter Orbiter and Probe" (JOP), the name "Galileo" seemed an obvious one and the project received Congressional approval on 1 October 1977, with a planned launch four years later. However, delays to the first flight of the shuttle and the limited capability of Boeing's IUS to boost Galileo on its way to Jupiter raised concerns. In 1979, Washington Post journalist Thomas O'Toole highlighted that problems with certifying the three Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSMEs) to operate at the 109 percent performance threshold needed to lift Galileo posed additional obstacles.

Galileo's target was Jupiter, the largest planet in the Solar System. Photo Credit: NASA, ESA and E. Karkoschka (University of Arizona)

By now, the launch had slipped until 1982 at the earliest. O'Toole noted that if the 109-percent-capable SSMEs were not ready for this date, Galileo could slip even further. Timing was critical, since a 1982 launch depended upon a Mars gravity assist and if it was delayed much further, the potential existed to halve the scientific mission at Jupiter, from 11 to just five orbits of the giant planet. At length, in late 1980, under pressure from Rep. Edward Boland, a Democrat from Mass., NASA was obliged to abandon the IUS plan and initiate planning for a launch on General Dynamics' liquid-propeled Centaur-G Prime, which Administrator Robert Frosch had earlier opposed.

The situation for Galileo's future dimmed substantially for much of 1981, with Congressional mutterings of closing down the California Institute of Technology's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., which managed many of NASA's planetary projects. A massive letter-writing campaign to George Keyworth, head of the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy, was spearheaded by Galileo investigator and famed physicist James van Allen. In a speech to the National Academy of Sciences, van Allen identified Galileo as one of the most exciting missions of exploration ever undertaken and that its cancellation would prove devastating.

Thankfully, in December 1981 the Office of Management and Budget relented, reinstated Galileo and it was rescheduled for 1983. There was a caveat, however: Galileo would not use the powerful Centaur-G Prime. In January 1982, NASA rescoped the mission and returned to the less powerful IUS fitted with a third, "injection stage" to provide increased propulsion. As a consequence, Galileo's launch was rescheduled for August 1985, but the absence of the powerful Centaur meant that it would take five years, instead of two, and the spacecraft would be injected into a two-year-long elliptical solar orbit, would require a gravity assisted boost from Earth in June 1987, and would finally reach Jupiter in January 1990.

By the summer of 1982, some members of Congress—led by New Mexico Sen. Harrison "Jack" Schmitt, a former Moonwalker and chairman of the Senate Space Subcommittee of the Science, Commerce and Transportation Committee—were pushing vigorously for a return to the Centaur and a reduced journey time. Despite worries about additional expense in changing boosters again, coupled with concerns about further delays to the mission, in July President Reagan approved the move and NASA was forced to replan. The Centaur would be used to boost Galileo, but launch would be unavoidably postponed until May 1986, with a two-year flight time to the giant planet.

Artist's impression of Galileo, attached to the giant Centaur-G Prime upper stage, shortly before deployment from the Shuttle in May 1986. The Challenger disaster sounded the death knell for the highly dangerous human-rated Centaur. Image Credit: NASA

At this stage, the mission truly entered the phase of equipment testing. In the early summer of 1983, the parachute for the instrumented probe, which would descend into Jupiter's atmosphere, successfully passed full-scale tests, and by September of that year the main spacecraft and probe were integrated. A model of the Centaur passed its own tests in September 1984, and the actual flight model was rolled out of General Dynamics' plant in San Diego, Calif., in August of the following year. By this time, NASA Administrator Jim Beggs had endorsed other possible tasks for Galileo, most notably a flyby of the asteroid Amphitrite, which it was hoped might unlock secrets of the primordial solar nebula from which the Sun and planets formed. An Amphitrite flyby would delay the Jupiter arrival from August to December 1988, however, and it was decided to make a final decision after launch. In December 1985, only weeks before the loss of Challenger, Galileo was transported, cross-country by truck, guarded by police, state troopers, and other guards, and arrived safely at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) for launch the following May.

When Challenger exploded in the skies above Florida on 28 January 1986, Galileo was undergoing final checkout and preparation for attachment to its Centaur-G Prime booster. In the weeks after the accident, NASA Acting Administrator William Graham spoke of the possibility of a return to flight in the spring of 1987, which kept alive the option to launch Galileo in the next Jovian "window" in June of that year. Eventually, the modifications to the shuttle's Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) and the orbiters themselves inevitably pushed the return to flight further to the right.

On 19 June 1986, newly-reappointed NASA Administrator Jim Fletcher formally canceled Centaur-G Prime and new options had to be found. One of these was an "enlargement" of the IUS, possibly coupled with an additional booster, such as a Special Payload Assist Module (PAM-S). However, as already noted, the IUS was insufficient to send Galileo directly to Jupiter and alternate trajectories, involving planetary gravity assists, were explored. Even before NASA settled on October-November 1989 as the most appropriate "window" for Jupiter, Galileo's planners were already working toward this date, creating a complex flight profile, known as the Venus-Earth-Earth Gravity Assist (VEEGA), in which the spacecraft would perform a flyby of Venus in February 1990, return to Earth in December, and be placed into a two-year elliptical solar orbit. Returning a second time to Earth in December 1992, it would pick up sufficient energy to reach Jupiter in December 1995.

The VEEGA technique was highly conservative of Galileo's on-board propellant, with predictions indicating that up to 176 pounds (80 kg) would remain, even after the arrival at Jupiter and completion of its primary mission. The trajectory also permitted possible rendezvous with up to three asteroids—Ausonia, Gaspra, and Ida—and eventually the latter two were selected. However, since the spacecraft would fly much closer to the Sun than had been planned, additional thermal shielding was added in the three-year down time after Challenger. It is interesting that Galileo also "leapfrogged" Ulysses in the launch pecking order. "NASA based its decision on optimising data return from the two missions," wrote Michael Meltzer in Mission to Jupiter. "Launching Ulysses first would have resulted in too long a wait before Galileo reached Jupiter and began transmitting prime data from the Jovian system."

Jupiter and Galileo adorn the official crew patch for STS-34, together with the names of the five-member crew: Commander Don Williams, Pilot Mike McCulley and Mission Specialists Shannon Lucid, Franklin Chang-Diaz, and Ellen Baker. Image Credit: NASA

As launch neared, with an opening of the Jupiter window at 1:29 p.m. EST on 12 October 1989, there were still last-minute concerns about Galileo … although these were not focused upon its mission, but upon its power system. Since the spacecraft would be traveling so far from the Sun, the use of solar cells for electrical provision was impractical. Therefore, General Electric supplied a pair of Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs), fueled by fracture-resistant pellets of plutonium-238, whose decay produced heat which was in turn converted into electricity. To keep them at a safe distance from the sensitive scientific instruments, the RTGs were mounted on a boom, which extended them 16 feet (5 meters) away from the main body of the spacecraft.

Both power plants produced 570 watts of electricity at launch, which steadily decreased by around half a watt per month and reached around 493 watts by the time Galileo reached Jupiter. Shuttle Atlantis also required modification to incorporate an RTG coolant line and purging system in her payload bay. In the late 1980s, of course, "nuclear" was a dirty word—a word which conjured images of military superpowers, the faceless Department of Defense and Department of Energy, and greedy power corporations. Peace marches were undertaken and representatives of several anti-nuclear groups gathered at the gates of KSC to express their disgust and fear that a Challenger-like explosion could spread radioactive plutonium across much of the United States' eastern seaboard.

The allegation that NASA was playing "ecological roulette" with the lives of Floridians was not groundless. Memories of the "messy" crash of the Soviet Union's nuclear-fueled Cosmos 954 satellite in Canada, a decade earlier, were fresh in many minds, and even the noted physicist Carl Sagan remarked that "there is nothing absurd about either side of this argument." Final approval to proceed with the Galileo launch came from President George H.W. Bush himself in September 1989. Three days before the scheduled launch, on 9 October, outraged protestors staged a mock "death scene" at the Cape and even threatened to sit on Pad 39B itself to prevent Atlantis from launching into orbit.

STS-34 astronaut Franklin Chang-Díaz was astonished by the controversy surrounding a mission which was not a military one, but a scientific odyssey. "It was striking to drive through the gates…and see all these demonstrators, trying to stop the launch," he told a Smithsonian interviewer, years later. "The topic of nuclear power is going to come up over and over again as we move into space. It's a key issue we are going to have to resolve, because the survival of people in space, far away from Earth, will totally depend on the use of nuclear power."

The launch window for Jupiter would close on 21 November 1989, after which the next opportunity would not arise until 1991, so there existed a very real risk that the mission might be canceled. Security was increased at KSC, as guards armed with M-16 assault rifles and 9 mm semi-automatic pistols patrolled the perimeter of the launch site. A faulty main engine controller put paid to the 12 October attempt and launch was rescheduled for the 17th, then the 18th when rain showers drifted within 18 miles (30 km) of the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF). During these few days, final efforts to stop the launch were rejected by the Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. In her summary, Chief Justice Patricia Wald declared that she could find no evidence that NASA had improperly compiled its environmental assessment reports for Galileo, and on 16 October a number of activists were arrested at the Cape for trespassing.

With this final clearance, the last hurdle was removed before Galileo's long-awaited mission to the King of the Planets.

 

Copyright © 2016 AmericaSpace - All Rights Reserved

 

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AmericaSpace

For a nation that explores
October 16th, 2016 

The Romance of Adventure: Remembering Galileo's Ride on STS-34 (Part 2)

By Ben Evans

 

Jupiter and its volcanic moon Io were key focuses for the Galileo mission. Image Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute/Goddard Space Flight Center

Almost three decades ago, shuttle mission STS-34 and the crew of Atlantis rocketed into orbit to launch NASA's Galileo spacecraft on a lengthy odyssey to Jupiter. As described in yesterday's AmericaSpace history article, the mission was extensively delayed, by political and technical issues—including the Challenger tragedy—and almost met with outright cancellation, when anti-nuclear protesters campaigned against the use of its plutonium-powered Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (RTG). However, after considerable rain, on the wet morning of 18 October 1989, the five astronauts departed their crew quarters at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), bound for Pad 39B and Atlantis.

In command of STS-34 was Don Williams, who had previously flown as pilot of Mission 51D in the spring of 1985. He was joined by pilot Mike McCulley and mission specialists Shannon Lucid—a veteran of the multi-national Mission 51G—Franklin Chang-Díaz, and Ellen Baker. The quintet had been training since November 1988. Their launch on 18 October was postponed by 3.5 minutes, in order to update the shuttle's computers for a change in the Transoceanic Abort Landing (TAL) site, which had been moved to Zaragoza in Spain, due to heavy rain at Ben Guerir in Morocco. Finally, at 12:53 p.m. EST, Atlantis thundered into clear Florida skies, bound for low-Earth orbit.

Despite all of his training, the dynamic nature of the launch surprised Mike McCulley, who described much of its effect as "acoustic," which "shakes your body and your soul." At one stage, a few seconds after liftoff, as the tower disappeared faster than his simulator experience had taught him to expect, he turned to Williams and jokingly remarked: "You didn't prepare me for this!" Another thing which came as unexpected was the separation of the twin Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs), about two minutes into the ascent. "In the simulator, there's a flashbulb that goes off when you get to SRB sep," McCulley told the STS-34 post-flight press conference, "and in real life there's an explosion that goes off, right in front of your face. It was wonderful … but it was surprising!"

Atlantis roars into orbit on 18 October 1989 to deploy the Galileo spacecraft on its mission to Jupiter. Photo Credit: NASA

To be fair to Williams, his position in command of STS-34 was quite distinct to his previous stint as a shuttle pilot. "There's some amount of loneliness at the top," he told the NASA oral historian, "and having that authority and with it comes the responsibility for accomplishing the mission. With those first two comes the most important one, in my mind, which I learned early on as a midshipman at Purdue … is with the authority and responsibility comes the accountability and if something goes wrong, it's not somebody else's fault, it's the person in command's fault! The same thing is true when you command a mission. You're accountable for the performance of the crew, for the accomplishment of the mission, for getting the objectives completed successfully, and for getting the spacecraft back so somebody else can use it again. That's the name of the game." Command was important to Williams. In fact, by his own admission, it was his primary goal as a pilot: to command the shuttle. "Okay, this is what you came here for," he told himself. "Let's go do it."

Six hours into the mission, at 7:15 p.m., under the watchful eye of Shannon Lucid, Galileo and its Boeing-built Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) booster were tilted to their deployment position and set free. "Galileo is on its way to another world," exulted Williams. "It's in the hands of the best flight controllers in the world. Fly safely!" Franklin Chang-Díaz felt a very personal affinity with Galileo. To him, it was a memorable occasion, because it represented his childhood desire to leave Earth and travel to other planets. Shortly thereafter, Williams and McCulley maneuvered Atlantis to a safe separation distance, and the IUS fired to boost Galileo onto a course for Venus, which it would reach in a little over three months' time.

"Both Ellen and I sighed a great sigh of relief," recalled Lucid, "because we figured Galileo was not our concern at that point, because we'd gotten rid of it. Happiness was an empty payload bay and we got happier and happier as the IUS and Galileo went further away from us." An hour after deployment, the IUS fired to commence Galileo's six-year journey to the King of the Planets.

As circumstances transpired, it would prove a remarkable example of the triumph of human ingenuity over adversity. Eighteen months into its cruise, and several months after its first flyby of Earth, Galileo's high-gain antenna only partially unfurled, threatening to ruin the mission. "Workaround" techniques were devised to use the low-gain antenna instead, and the spacecraft returned remarkable images from the asteroids Gaspra (in October 1991) and Ida (in August 1993) and, far from conducting two years of scientific exploration at Jupiter, Galileo spent almost eight years in operation. During that period, it measured the chemical composition of the giant planet's atmosphere, directly observed its ammonia clouds and mysterious Great Red Spot, analyzed the causes and effects of volcanism on Io, and yielded tantalizing clues for liquid oceans beneath the frozen surfaces of Europa and Ganymede, and the extent of Jupiter's gigantic magnetosphere was mapped and modeled for the first time. On its way to the planet, in July 1994, Galileo also observed the impact of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 into the Jovian clouds.

By the time Galileo eventually left Earth in October 1989, it was boosted towards Jupiter by a less powerful Inertial Upper Stage (IUS). Photo Credit: NASA

Having set Galileo on its way, for all intents and purposes, the primary mission of STS-34 was over. Several secondary experiments were performed, including the first flight of the Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SSBUV) instrument in the payload bay. This was part of an ongoing NASA effort to calibrate ozone sounders on free-flying satellites and verify the accuracy of atmospheric ozone and solar irradiance data. A polymer solidification study was conducted on the middeck, and observations were made of lightning events in the high atmosphere.

Living in space, even for just five days, was quite different to anything the astronauts had experienced before. Williams described it as akin to a camping trip, with the exception that none of them departed their camper van, at all, for the entire five days. "What's it like to be in space?" he rhetorically asked his audience at the STS-34 post-flight press conference. "Unfortunately, this is one of the most difficult questions to answer, since the word 'like' implies a comparison, and it's not 'like' anything you've ever done before. So most of us are stuck with describing the differences. Weightlessness. How do you describe weightlessness, when we live in a world where everything weighs something? The ability to move about, almost be thinking about it. No up or down. Behavior and misbehavior of common, ordinary things, such as liquids, elastic, food, objects.

"Watch the video with us," Williams invited his audience. "Compare it to things you do on Earth. Look for the differences. Perhaps you can describe 'em to us!"

Betwixt this wonderland of weightlessness, the crew was periodically called away to tend to minor issues with Atlantis herself. A problem with one of the shuttle's Auxiliary Power Units (APUs) triggered an alarm on 22 October, together with a glitch with the Flash Evaporator System (FES) and cryogenic oxygen manifolds. Predicted high winds at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., on the 23rd prompted a decision to bring the shuttle home two orbits earlier than planned, and Williams and McCulley guided the shuttle to a smooth touchdown at 6:33 a.m. PST (12:33 p.m. EST), just 20 minutes short of five full days after launch.

Don Williams regarded STS-34 and having accomplished something quite remarkable for science. "We knew that Galileo was going to be a lasting program," he said, "as opposed to the first flight, where we deployed the two satellites. The Galileo mission, we knew, if it was successful, the spacecraft was going to end up in orbit around Jupiter several years later and then there were going to be several years of data and images sent back. It was going to be a living, ongoing program and we got to be a part of it."

 

Copyright © 2016 AmericaSpace - All Rights Reserved

 

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Fwd: BOEING will far exceed SpaceX!

Sent from my iPad

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Peter M. Callahan" <pmcallah@gmail.com>
Date: October 19, 2016 at 5:21:12 PM CDT
To: Bobby Martin <bobbygmartin1938@gmail.com>
Subject: BOEING will far exceed SpaceX!

BOEING will far exceed SpaceX!

SpaceX is a flop.

Spacecraft Team is Dancing with the Stars

Boeing Starliner undergoes rigorous testing in run-up to first flight

October 18, 2016 in Space

http://www.boeing.com/features/2016/10/starliner-dancing-stars-10-16.page

--
Sent from Gmail Mobile

Missile defense & space capabilities must be improved or likelihood of attack increases

We have a deficient missile defense system & our manned space capability has been destroyed by this grossly inept liberal administration! We are in serious trouble & are at risk of nuclear attack. We have near zero on-orbit offense/ defensive capability Our assets in orbit are in danger of destruction! Spread the word, contact your senators & congressmen, set up blogs---- this is very serious! Wake up America!

Fwd: Orbital ATK Successfully Launches Sixth Cargo Delivery Mission to International Space Station

Sent from my iPad

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: October 18, 2016 at 6:42:14 AM CDT
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: Orbital ATK Successfully Launches Sixth Cargo Delivery Mission to International Space Station

 

 

Oct. 17, 2016

RELEASE 16-100

NASA Space Station Cargo Launches from Virginia on Orbital ATK Resupply Mission

The crew of the International Space Station soon will be equipped to perform dozens of new scientific investigations with cargo launched Monday aboard NASA's latest commercial resupply services mission from the agency's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

Orbital ATK's Cygnus spacecraft lifted off at 7:45 p.m. EDT from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport's Pad 0A on the company's upgraded Antares 230 rocket carrying more than 5,100 pounds of cargo. Cygnus is scheduled to arrive at the space station Sunday, Oct. 23. Expedition 49 astronauts Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Kate Rubins of NASA will use the space station's robotic arm to grapple Cygnus, about 6 a.m.

This is the first flight on the upgraded Antares 230 launch vehicle, and the first launch from Wallops since an Antares rocket and its Cygnus spacecraft were lost in October 2014. It's also the third flight of an enhanced Cygnus spacecraft featuring a greater payload capacity, supported by new fuel tanks and UltraFlex solar arrays.

"It's great to see launches to the International Space Station happening again from the Virginia coast – and it shows what can be accomplish with a close partnership of federal and state agencies, along with the U.S. industry, all working together," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden.

The cargo aboard the Cygnus will support dozens of new and existing investigations as the space station crews of Expeditions 49 and 50 contribute to about 250 science and research studies. The new experiments include studies on fire in space, the effect of lighting on sleep and daily rhythms, collection of health-related data, and a new way to measure neutrons.

Low-temperature fires with no visible flames are known as cool flames. In previous combustion experiments aboard the space station, researchers observed cool flame burning behaviors not predicted by models or earlier investigations. The Cool Flames Investigation examines low-temperature combustion of droplets of a variety of fuels and additives in low gravity. Data from this investigation could help scientists develop more efficient advanced engines and new fuels for use in space and on Earth.

The Lighting Effects investigation tests a new lighting system aboard the station designed to enhance crew health and keep their body clocks in proper sync with a more regular working and resting schedule. The system uses adjustable light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and a dynamic lighting schedule that varies the intensity and spectrum of the LEDs in tune with sleep and wake schedules. Research has shown that enhancing certain types of light can improve alertness and performance while other types can promote better sleep.

A user-friendly tablet app provides astronauts with a new and faster way to collect a wide variety of personal data. The EveryWear investigation tests use of a French-designed technology to record and transmit data on nutrition, sleep, exercise and medications. EveryWear has potential for use in science experiments, biomedical support and technology demonstrations.

Astronauts aboard the space station are exposed to space radiation that can reduce immune response, increase cancer risk, and interfere with electronics. The Fast Neutron Spectrometer investigation will help scientists understand high-energy neutrons, part of the radiation exposure experienced by crews during spaceflight, by studying a new technique to measure electrically neutral neutron particles.

The Cygnus spacecraft will remain at the space station until November before its destructive reentry into Earth's atmosphere, disposing of about 3,000 pounds of trash.

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

Keep up with the International Space Station, and its research and crews, at:

http://www.nasa.gov/station

Get breaking news, images and features from the station on Instagram and Twitter:

http://instagram.com/iss

and

http://www.twitter.com/Space_Station

Learn more about Orbital ATK's mission at:

http://www.nasa.gov/orbitalatk

-end-

Kathryn Hambleton
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
kathryn.hambleton@nasa.gov

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

Last Updated: Oct. 17, 2016

Editor: Allard Beutel

 

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Orbital ATK Successfully Launches Sixth Cargo Delivery Mission to International Space Station

 

Dulles, Virginia 17 October 2016 – Orbital ATK, Inc. (NYSE: OA), a global leader in aerospace and defense technologies, successfully launched its AntaresTM rocket carrying a CygnusTM spacecraft today at 7:45 p.m. EDT, marking its return to flight operations from NASA Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Virginia. The launch is Orbital ATK's sixth cargo delivery mission to the International Space Station for NASA. During the mission, designated OA-5, Cygnus will deliver vital equipment, supplies and experiments to astronauts aboard the space station, as well as conduct scientific experiments onboard Cygnus following undocking from the space station.

"Today's success is a credit to the dedication and hard work of the Orbital ATK employees who support our Antares and Cygnus programs," said Dave Thompson, Orbital ATK CEO. "They worked many long hours to successfully execute a plan that enabled us to continue to deliver cargo for NASA while implementing several upgrades to our Antares rocket."

The Antares medium-class rocket launched approximately 5,300 pounds (2,400 kilograms) of cargo to the crew of six that will be aboard the space station later this week. Following a nine-minute ascent, the S.S. Alan Poindexter spacecraft, named in honor of the late astronaut, was successfully deployed into orbit. Orbital ATK's engineering team confirmed that reliable communications have been established and that the vehicle's solar arrays are fully deployed, providing the necessary electrical power to operate the spacecraft.

"The Antares team has worked tirelessly over many months to prepare for this launch," said Scott Lehr, President of Orbital ATK's Flight Systems Group. "Congratulations to the entire Orbital ATK and NASA team on a successful launch."

Frank Culbertson, President of Orbital ATK's Space Systems Group, added, "As a company headquartered in Virginia, we are proud to again launch from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility. We are well prepared to continue delivering essential cargo to the International Space Station for years to come."

Cygnus will be grappled at approximately 7:05 a.m. EDT on Oct. 23. The spacecraft will remain attached to the International Space Station for approximately one month before departing with roughly 3,700 pounds (1,700 kilograms) of disposable cargo for a safe, destructive reentry into Earth's atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean. Cygnus' large-volume and pressurized disposal cargo capability, a critical service to NASA, is unique among America's commercial cargo providers.

For the current Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) mission, Cygnus is carrying the Saffire II payload experiment to study combustion behavior in microgravity, further demonstrating its versatility in conducting science experiments in space. Data from this experiment will be downloaded via telemetry. In addition, a NanoRacks deployer will release Spire Cubesats used for weather forecasting. These secondary payload operations will be conducted after Cygnus departs the space station.
Under the CRS-1 contract with NASA, Orbital ATK will deliver approximately 66,000 pounds (30,000 kilograms) of cargo to the space station through 2018. NASA will manifest a variety of essential items based on space station program needs, including food, clothing, crew supplies, spare parts, laboratory equipment and scientific experiments.

Beginning in 2019, Orbital ATK will carry out a minimum of six initial cargo missions under NASA's recently awarded CRS-2 contract. The partnership is cultivating a robust American commercial space industry, freeing NASA to focus on developing the next-generation rocket and spacecraft that will enable humans to conduct deep space exploration missions.

The Cygnus system consists of a common service module and pressurized cargo module (PCM). The service module was built and tested at Orbital ATK's manufacturing facility in Dulles, Virginia. The enhanced Cygnus also uses Orbital ATK's UltraFlexTM solar arrays, which are the latest in lightweight, space-qualified, electrical power technology. Orbital ATK manufactured the arrays and composite structures at its Goleta and San Diego, California, facilities, and the propellant tanks for the Cygnus spacecraft at its Commerce, California, site.

The upgraded Antares rocket includes new RD-181 engines from Energomash, a core designed by Yuzhnoye and manufactured by Yuzhmash, as well as the Castor 30XL solid rocket motor second stage that is manufactured at Orbital ATK's facility in Magna, Utah.

B-roll and animation footage for the mission can be found here:
http://www.orbitalatk.com/news-room/bmc/#
Please note that media will need to request a PIN for access.

About Orbital ATK

Orbital ATK is a global leader in aerospace and defense technologies. The company designs, builds and delivers space, defense and aviation systems for customers around the world, both as a prime contractor and merchant supplier. Its main products include launch vehicles and related propulsion systems; missile products, subsystems and defense electronics; precision weapons, armament systems and ammunition; satellites and associated space components and services; and advanced aerospace structures. Headquartered in Dulles, Virginia, Orbital ATK employs approximately 12,000 people in 18 states across the U.S. and in several international locations. For more information, visit www.orbitalatk.com.

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Antares Media Contact:   
Trina Helquist (801) 699-0943  
Launch Vehicles Division
Orbital ATK    
trina.helquist@orbitalatk.com    

Cygnus Media Contact: 
Vicki Cox ((410) 409-8723
Space Systems Group Public Relations
Orbital ATK
vicki.cox@orbitalatk.com

Print Press Release

Media Contact

Trina Hequist

(801) 699-0943
trina.helquist@orbitalatk.com

©2016 Orbital ATK Inc. - All Rights Reserved.                                                                                                                            

 

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By William Harwood CBS News October 17, 2016, 8:32 PM

In dramatic return to flight, Antares rocket delivers

Orbital ATK's redesigned Antares rocket, powered by two Russian-built RD-181 engines, thunders away from Wallops Island, Virginia, Monday on a flight to deliver more than 5,300 pounds of supplies and equipment to the International Space Station. It was the first flight of an Antares rocket since a spectacular explosion seconds after liftoff in 2014. NASA

 

In a major milestone, a redesigned Antares rocket equipped with newer, more powerful Russian-built engines boosted a space station cargo ship into orbit Monday, the first flight of the Orbital ATK launcher since an older Russian engine triggered a spectacular 2014 explosion seconds after liftoff.

Running a day late because of trouble with ground equipment, the Antares' two RD-181 first-stage engines ignited with a burst of flame at 7:45 p.m. EDT (GMT-4) -- five minutes behind because of an unspecified problem -- throttled up to a ground-shaking 864,000 pounds of thrust and quickly pushed the 139-foot-tall rocket away into the night sky.

Burning liquid oxygen and refined kerosene, the Antares initially climbed straight up from pad OA at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport -- MARS -- at NASA's Wallops Island, Va., flight facility before arcing over onto a southeasterly trajectory over the Atlantic Ocean, launching directly into the plane of the space station's orbit.

Despite carrying some 5,100 pounds of station-bound equipment and supplies, the launching was as much a test flight as an operational mission. More than a few observers, remembering the spectacular explosion that destroyed the last Antares just after liftoff in 2014, felt a bit more nervousness than usual awaiting liftoff.

"We're always nervous, but we wouldn't have a rocket out there if we weren't confident we're ready to go," Mike Pinkston, Orbital's Antares program manager, said Saturday.

The stakes were especially high for NASA in the wake of a Sept. 1 launch pad explosion that destroyed a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket during a pre-flight test at Cape Canaveral, knocking NASA's only other U.S. space station resupply contractor out of action for at least the next several months.

But the redesigned Antares chalked up a picture-perfect climb to space Monday, putting on a dramatic evening sky show for observers along the East Coast as it climbed away and accelerated toward orbit.

The RD-181 engines apparently worked as expected, shutting down four minutes after launch. Seconds later, the stage fell away and an Orbital ATK-built solid-fuel motor powering the rocket's second stage ignited for a three-minute burn to complete the boost out of the atmosphere.

Nine minutes after liftoff, the Cygnus cargo ship separated from the spent second stage and set off after the International Space Station. If all goes well, the cargo ship will catch up with the lab complex early Sunday, pulling up to within about 30 feet and then standing by for capture by the station's robot arm.

From there, flight controllers at the Johnson Space Center in Houston will pull the spacecraft in for berthing at the Earth-facing port of the forward Harmony module.

The Cygnus is delivering nearly 1,100 pounds of science gear, 1,290 pounds of food, clothing and supplies for the station's crew, 2,255 pounds of space station hardware, new laptop computers, spacewalk equipment and Russian hardware.

Equally important, if not more so, the Antares launch marked a major milestone for Orbital ATK and NASA, coming almost exactly two years after the last Antares exploded seconds into flight on Oct. 28, 2014.

The Orbital ATK Antares rocket, powered by new Russian-built RD-181 engines, climbs away from Wallops Island, Va.

NASA

"This is a very exciting time for us," said Frank Culbertson, a former space shuttle commander who now serves as vice president of Orbital ATK. "I want to thank everyone who's had a part in getting us back to this point, getting ready for a launch after two years. A lot of hard work has gone into this."

Joel Montalbano, deputy director of the International Space Station program at the Johnson Space Center, said NASA "is glad to be back at Wallops."

"We've missed these guys, and we've missed seeing launches from here," he said Saturday. "The Orbital ATK team has done just a fantastic job getting us to where we are today, and we look forward to seeing another Cygnus spacecraft berthed to the International Space Station."

Orbital's 2014 launch failure was blamed on a turbopump in a Russian-built AJ-26 engine left over from the ill-fated Soviet moon rocket program. The resulting explosion destroyed the rocket, more than 5,000 pounds of needed station supplies and equipment and caused about $15 million in damage to pad OA at the MARS spaceport.

In the wake of the failure, Orbital managers decided to discard the 1970s-era Russian engines used in the five Antares rockets launched to that point and to replace them with more powerful RD-181 engines, built by Energomash in Russia.

In the meantime, Orbital purchased two Atlas 5 rockets from United Launch Alliance to help make up for the Antares failure and fulfill the company's $1.9 billion contract with NASA to deliver some 44,000 pounds of supplies and equipment through 2016. NASA subsequently purchased three more supply missions and Orbital won a follow-on contract to continue station resupply flights through 2024, the current space station retirement date.

To power the redesigned Antares, Orbital ATK reportedly ordered 20 RD-181 engines from Energomash, with two options for 20 engines each, in a deal Russian media outlets claimed was worth about $1 billion. Orbital officials disputed that number, saying the actual cost, even with options exercised, was much lower.

After capture by the station's robot arm Sunday, the Cygnus cargo ship will remain attached to the lab for about a month. As they unload the module over the next several weeks, the station astronauts will repack it with about 3,000 pounds of trash and no-longer-needed equipment.

Before falling back to Earth and burning up in the atmosphere, a final experiment will be carried out to study how fire propagates in weightlessness, a follow-on to research performed on an earlier mission.

"Fire is a significant risk in spacecraft, but the problem is not limited to the fire itself," said David Urban, principal investigator for Saffire-II experiment at NASA's Glenn Research Center. "You really have to understand how it interacts with the entire vehicle."

A fabric sample 3.2 feet long by 16 inches wide will be ignited in a vented enclosure mounted inside the Cygnus capsule. Cameras will record the fire and sensors will measure temperature and other factors. The video and data will be downlinked before the cargo ship plunges back into the atmosphere several days after leaving the station.

Another flame-related experiment will be carried up aboard the Cygnus and moved into the space station for operation. Known as "Cool Flames," the research is focused on how small droplets of fuel burn in the microgravity environment of space.

"As everyone probably knows, the combustion of liquid fuels is a major source of energy in the world today, and the research we're doing ... is targeted at improving our fundamental understanding of how liquid fuels burn," said Dan Dietrich, co-investigator at the Glenn Research Center.

Earlier experiments showed that some fuels can continue burning longer than expected. Such low-temperature flames are "very important in a wide range of real engines here on Earth," Dietrich said. "These low-temperature chemical reactions that are responsible for the burning are responsible for engine knocks in car engines and a lot of pre-ignition kinds of behavior.

"One of the research (interests) is to gain a better fundamental understanding of the chemistry behind these low-temperature reactions, they are very difficult to study on Earth."

© 2016 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.                      

 

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October 17, 2016  Video: Antares rocket returns to flight with new engines Antares 

 

 

October 17, 2016  Cargo manifest for the OA-5 station resupply mission Antares 

 

 

October 18, 2016   Video: Antares post-launch news conference Antares 

 

 

 

© 2016 Spaceflight Now Inc.

 

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Antares launches Cygnus on return-to-flight mission

by Jeff Foust — October 17, 2016

An Orbital ATK Antares lifts off Oct. 17 carrying a Cygnus cargo spacecraft. Credit: NASA TV

Updated at 10:55 p.m. Eastern.

WASHINGTON — In its first flight in nearly two years, an Orbital ATK Antares successfully launched a Cygnus cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station Oct. 17.

The Antares lifted off from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops Island, Virginia, at 7:45 p.m. Eastern, at the end of a five-minute launch window. The launch shifted from the beginning to the end of the window because of an unspecified but minor engine issue.

Frank Culbertson, president of Orbital ATK's Space Systems Group, said at a post-launch press conference that the five-minute delay was designed to give controllers enough time to catch up in the final minutes of the countdown. "The launch conductor decided, to make sure we didn't miss anything in the checklist, to add five minutes," he said. "It made sure nobody skipped anything."

The launch itself went as planned, as the RD-181 engines in the first stage and the Castor 30XL motor in the second stage accelerated the Cygnus spacecraft, on a mission designated OA-5, into orbit. The Cygnus separated from the Antares' upper stage nine minutes after liftoff.

The launch was the first for the Antares since an October 2014 mission that suffered an engine failure seconds after liftoff, causing the vehicle to fall back to the ground and explode. That explosion caused $15 million in damage to the launch site. Orbital ATK decided shortly after that accident to replace the AJ26 engines previously used on the Antares with new RD-181 engines from NPO Energomash.

Culbertson said the upgraded Antares performed better than expected, putting the Cygnus in an orbit slightly higher than expected, but one that poses no issues for the spacecraft's arrival at the station. "Since it was the first flight of this configuration, we had fairly conservative estimates of what the results would be," he said. "The first stage was a little bit above what we expected."

The launch went through a number of delays. Once planned for August, NASA and Orbital ATK postponed the mission eventually to early October because of ISS schedules and additional time needed by the company to resolve issues found during a static-fire test of an Antares first stage at the end of May. Various technical and weather issues, including the passage of a hurricane that shut down a tracking station Bermuda, delayed the launch by several days to Oct. 16. A problem with a ground support equipment cable postponed the Oct. 16 launch.

The Cygnus, named the SS Alan Poindexter after the former astronaut who died in 2012, is carrying 2,425 kilograms of cargo for the ISS. That cargo includes science experiments, crew supplies and station hardware. Joel Montalbano, NASA space station deputy manager, said at an Oct. 15 briefing that NASA replaced ballast on the Cygnus with additional supplies and other cargo because of likely delays in upcoming SpaceX Dragon cargo flights after a Sept. 1 Falcon 9 pad explosion.

Cygnus will arrive at the ISS on Oct. 23. That arrival is later than usual because of the scheduled launch of the Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft, carrying three new station crew members, on Oct. 19. That spacecraft will dock with the ISS Oct. 21. It will depart the station in late November, performing a combustion experiment and deploying several cubesats before reentering.

 

 © 2016 SpaceNews, Inc. All rights reserved.

 

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Orbital ATK's Antares Rocket Returns to Flight with Gorgeous Night Cargo Launch

By Hanneke Weitering, Staff Writer-Producer | October 17, 2016 07:50pm ET

 

http://www.space.com/34416-stunning-antares-rocket-return-to-flight-launch.html#ooid=xweHlzNjE6D8mMlX-l5x5kEW-OuRvHh3

 

WALLOPS ISLAND, Va. — We have liftoff! For the first time in two years, an Orbital ATK Antares rocket has successfully launched into space, departing NASA's Wallops Flight Facility here this evening (Oct. 17) on a mission to deliver supplies to the International Space Station (ISS).

The upgraded Antares rocket soared into the night sky at 7:45 p.m. EDT (2345 GMT) today, topped with Orbital ATK's uncrewed Cygnus cargo capsule. Millions of observers along the U.S. East Coast had the opportunity to view the rocket's ascent, which was visible from as far north as Boston and as far south as central South Carolina.

After liftoff, Antares veered southeast on its way into low-Earth orbit. About 9 minutes into the mission, Cygnus entered orbit carrying its load of 5,100 lbs. (2,300 kilograms) of science experiments, hardware and other supplies for the astronauts aboard the ISS. [Photos: Antares Rocket Launches for 1st Time Since 2014]

An upgraded Orbital ATK Antares rocket soars into the night sky over NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia on Oct. 17, 2016, beginning a Cygnus cargo delivery mission to the International Space Station for NASA. It was Orbital ATK's first Antares rocket launch since a 2014 accident.

Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

How Orbital Sciences' Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft service the space station. See how Orbital's Cygnus spacecraft and Antares rockets works in this infographic.

Credit: Karl Tate, SPACE.com Infographics Artist

This is a high-stakes mission for the Virginia-based commercial spaceflight company Orbital ATK. Its last attempt at launching an Antares rocket, nearly two years ago, ended in a catastrophic explosion just a few seconds after liftoff from Pad-0A here at Wallops. The current mission, titled OA-5, is Orbital ATK's sixth official cargo resupply mission for NASA, and the fourth using an Antares rocket. (The two missions immediately following the October 2014 accident employed United Launch Alliance Atlas V rockets.)

During a news conference here Saturday (Oct. 15), NASA officials and Orbital ATK representatives expressed confidence that OA-5 would go well. Dale Nash, executive director of Virginia's Commercial Space Flight Authority, said the Wallops launchpad — which cost $15 million to rebuild after the 2014 explosion — is in better shape than ever before. Nash said the OA-5 prelaunch tests went "extremely well," and that they were "two of the cleanest tests we've ever seen."

Despite the clean bill of health for Antares and the onboard Cygnus, an issue with one of the ground support cables at the launchpad just hours before launch time on Sunday (Oct. 16) forced NASA and Orbital ATK to postpone the launch by a day. A few days prior, Hurricane Nicole prompted a scrub of Thursday's (Oct. 13) planned launch as the Category 1 storm shut down Orbital ATK's tracking station in Bermuda.

Because the Antares launch date slipped several days, the Cygnus spacecraft's planned arrival now conflicts with the arrival of a Russian Soyuz spacecraft that will be delivering three astronauts to the ISS Friday (Oct. 21). Therefore, Cygnus will wait its turn, loitering in orbit until Sunday (Oct. 23), NASA officials said. [Gallery: Orbital Sciences' Cygnus Spaceship & Antares Rocket]

Under Orbital ATK's $1.9 billion contract with NASA, the private spaceflight company will carry about 66,000 lbs. (30,000 kg) of cargo to the space station over the course of 10 missions. Among Cygnus' cargo on OA-5 are a number of science experiments, supplies and hardware for spacewalks, as well as food and clothing for the astronauts.

Today's launch was the first to use Orbital ATK's new and improved Antares 230 rocket. The updated launch system uses Russian-made RD-181 rocket engines in place of AJ26 engines, which were implicated in the October 2014 accident.

When Antares' engines ignited this evening, it took the rocket 3.6 seconds to lift off and about 8 seconds to completely exit its support structure. Shortly after liftoff, the rocket wiggled slightly. Gut-wrenching as it may have looked, this wobbling motion was nothing to worry about; the rocket was intentionally designed to wiggle to avoid placing its fiery plume directly over the transporter-erector vehicle at the launchpad, Orbital ATK general manager Mike Pinkston said at a news conference.

Once deployed in orbit, Cygnus separated from Antares and began to unfold its solar panels — a process that takes about 15 minutes. The spacecraft then revved up its propulsion system to start maneuvering toward the space station. Orbital ATK named the Cygnus flying on this flight the S.S. Alan Poindexter, in honor of the late NASA astronaut Alan Poindexter. 

Cygnus should arrive at its space station destination on Sunday (Oct. 23), NASA officials said. During its trip, Cygnus will orbit Earth every 90 minutes at about 17,500 mph (28,200 km/h) while gradually increasing its altitude. When it's ready to rendezvous, a robotic grapple arm will extend from the ISS, grab Cygnus and attach or "berth" it to the space station.

After unloading the cargo, astronauts on the ISS will fill Cygnus with up to about 5,100 lbs. (2,300 kg) of "disposal cargo" — garbage, in other words. Sometime between 10 and 90 days into the mission, Cygnus will leave the space station and head back to Earth. The spacecraft and all that trash should burn up entirely upon re-entry into Earth's atmosphere. There is little to no risk that it will hit the ground, NASA officials said. But just in case, the spacecraft's trajectory during re-entry will take it to an unpopulated area to minimize any risk.

Orbital ATK is now tracking Cygnus from its mission control center in Dulles, Virginia, while NASA follows the spacecraft from the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

 

 

Monday, October 17, 2016 04:45  Blastoff! Upgraded Antares Rocket Launches Cygnus To Space Station | Video
The Orbital ATK cargo spacecraft launched from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on Oct. 17, 2016. This was the return to flight for the Antares rocket, which was redesigned after its last launch failure.

 

 

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Новости

 

ЭНЕРГОМАШ. УСПЕШНЫЙ ПУСК АМЕРИКАНСКОЙ РН ANTARES С РОССИЙСКИМИ ДВИГАТЕЛЯМИ РД-181

18.10.2016 09:30

Сегодня, 18 октября 2016 года, ракета-носитель (РН) Antares-230 с двигателями РД-181 разработки и производства «НПО Энергомаш им. ак. В.П.Глушко» в составе ее первой ступени успешно стартовала из Среднеатлантического регионального космопорта на острове Уоллопс (штат Виргиния, США).

 

Пуск осуществлен в 19:45:40 17 октября (02:45:40 мск 18 октября). Двигатели РД-181 отработали в полном соответствии с полетной программой, и через 214 секунд произошло разделение первой ступени и ракеты-носителя.

 

«Я не сомневался в благополучном исходе запуска. Наша техника в очередной раз подтвердила надежность и эффективность. Первая ступень отработала штатно, замечаний у американской стороны нет. Нас ждет дальнейшая плодотворная работа в рамках текущего контракта с Orbital ATK, и я не исключаю, что результат этого пуска послужит основой для расширения международного сотрудничества», - прокомментировал итоги запуска генеральный директор АО «НПО Энергомаш им. ак. В.П.Глушко» Игорь АРБУЗОВ.

 

Контракт на поставку восьми двигателей РД-181 был подписан в декабре 2014 г., и уже летом 2015 г. первые товарные двигатели РД-181 были поставлены в США. Производство и поставки жидкостных ракетных двигателей (ЖРД) РД-181 продолжаются в соответствии с условиями контракта.

 

РД-181 принадлежит семейству жидкостных ракетных двигателей РД-170/171 и представляет собой однокамерный ЖРД с вертикально расположенным турбонасосным агрегатом. Двигатель дросселируется по тяге в диапазоне 100% - 47%, управление вектором тяги - 5º. В 2014 году была выпущена конструкторская документация, в начале 2015 года проведено первое огневое испытание двигателя РД-181, а в мае 2015 года успешно завершена сертификация этого двигателя.

 

АО «НПО Энергомаш им. ак. В.П.Глушко» (входит в Госкорпорацию «РОСКОСМОС») - разработчик и производитель мощных жидкостных ракетных двигателей первой ступени для российских и зарубежных ракет-носителей космического назначения. Двигатели, разработанные предприятием, устанавливаются практически на все российские ракеты-носители: СОЮЗ, ПРОТОН, АНГАРА и на американские ATLASV и ANTARES.

 

 

 

Energomash. SUCCESSFUL START AMERICAN RN ANTARES with Russian engines RD-181

18.10.2016 9:30

Today, 18 October 2016, the launch vehicle (LV) Antares-230 RD-181 design and manufacture of "NPO Energomash named. ak. VPGlushko "as part of its first stage was successfully launched from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops Island (Virginia, USA).

 

Start 19:45:40 performed in October 17th (2:45:40 MSK 18 October). RD-181 engines have worked in full accordance with the flight program, and after 214 seconds was the separation of the first stage and the launcher.

 

"I had no doubt in the successful outcome of the launch. Our equipment has once again confirmed the reliability and efficiency. The first stage worked normally, notes the American side does not. We are waiting for further fruitful work under the current contract with Orbital ATK, and I do not exclude that the result of the start-up will be the basis for the expansion of international cooperation ", - commented on the launch of the results of the general director of JSC" NPO Energomash named. ak. VPGlushko "Igor watermelon.

 

The contract for the supply of eight engines RD-181 was signed in December 2014, and in the summer of 2015 the first product of RD-181 engines were delivered in the United States. Production and delivery of liquid rocket engines (LRE) RD-181 continues in accordance with the terms of the contract.

 

RD-181 belongs to the family of liquid rocket engines RD-170/171 and is a single-chamber rocket engine with a vertically positioned turbopump assembly. The engine is throttled on the draft in the range of 100% - 47%, thrust vector control - 5º. In 2014 it was released design documentation, in early 2015 conducted the first firing test of RD-181 engine, and in May 2015 successfully completed the certification of the engine.

 

JSC "NPO Energomash named. ak. VPGlushko "(part of the state corporation" Roscosmos ") - a developer and manufacturer of high-power liquid rocket engines of the first stage for the Russian and foreign carrier rockets for space purposes. Engines designed now, installed in almost all Russian launch vehicles: Soyuz, Proton, Angara and American ATLASV and ANTARES.

 

 

 

 

Государственная корпорация по космической деятельности "РОСКОСМОС"

107996, ГСП-6, г. Москва, ул. Щепкина, д.42 
Тел.: +7 (495) 631-97-61 
Факс: +7 (495) 688-90-63 

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Antares launches from Virginia

James Dean , FLORIDA TODAY 8:06 p.m. EDT October 17, 2016

 

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The Orbital Antares rocket that exploded during a launce at the NASA facility in Virginia costs more than $200 million itself. NASA has also reported significant ground damage at its facility.

(Photo: Orbital ATK)

Update, Oct. 17, 7:53 p.m.: Antares launched at the end of its 5-minute window and reached orbit about 9 minutes later.

Launch coverage: Watch the Antares launch live

Update: Sunday's planned launch of an Antares rocket from Wallops Island, Virginia has been postponed to 7:40 p.m. EDT Monday, Oct. 17. A ground support equipment cable did not perform as expected during a pre-launch check. 

For the first time in two years, an Antares rocket is poised to blast off from Virginia's Eastern Shore.

Orbital ATK is targeting an 8:03 p.m. Sunday return to flight of the redesigned rocket, now powered by a pair of Russian RD-181 main engines.

Atop the rocket is an unmanned Cygnus cargo module carrying nearly 5,300 pounds of food, equipment and experiments to the International Space Station.

The last time an Antares lifted off from Wallops Island, on Oct. 28, 2014, its flight was short-lived.

The rocket rose briefly, then fell back to the ground with a tremendous explosion after a failure by decades-old Russian engines that had been refurbished.

Since then, Orbital ATK launched two Cygnus mission's from Cape Canaveral on United Launch Alliance's Atlas V rocket. The stakes are high again because SpaceX, NASA's other commercial launcher of station cargo, is investigating a Falcon 9 rocket's Sept. 1 launch pad explosion, and it's unclear how soon it will fly again.

The Antares launch was delayed a few days when Hurricane Nicole threatened a Bermuda tracking station, which suffered only minor damage.

 

 

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The Orbital ATK Antares rocket topped with the Cygnus cargo spacecraft launches from Pad-0A, Monday, Oct. 17, 2016 at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Orbital ATK's sixth contracted cargo resupply mission with NASA to the International Space Station. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer

 

Antares 'Return to Flight' Blastoff Soars to Stellar Success

Article Updated: 18 Oct , 2016

by Ken Kremer

 

The Orbital ATK Antares rocket topped with the Cygnus cargo spacecraft launches from Pad-0A, Monday, Oct. 17, 2016 at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Orbital ATK's sixth contracted cargo resupply mission with NASA to the International Space Station. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer

NASA WALLOPS FLIGHT FACILITY, VA – The 'Return to Flight' blastoff of Orbital ATK's upgraded Antares rocket soared to a stellar success this evening, Oct. 17, on a space station bound mission to stock the orbiting outpost with two and a half tons of science and supplies.

The re-engined Orbital ATK Antares/Cygnus OA-5 mission lifted off at 7:40 p.m. EDT, tonight from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport pad 0A at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia's picturesque Eastern shore spewing about 1.2 million pounds of liftoff thrust and brilliantly lighting up the evening skies in every direction.

Sporting a pair of more powerful new RD-181 engines, Antares roared off the launch pad somewhat more swiftly than the previous launches and consequently reached its preliminary orbit about one minute earlier.

Cygnus separated from the second stage as planned about 9 minutes after liftoff. The launch marked the first nighttime liftoff of Antares.

"It's great to see launches to the International Space Station happening again from the Virginia coast – and it shows what can be accomplish with a close partnership of federal and state agencies, along with the U.S. industry, all working together," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden.

"I am incredibly proud of what you have all done," said Bolden in post launch remarks to the launch team at Wallops Launch Control Center. "Thank you for all your hard work."

Antares launch on Oct. 17, 2016 from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Credit: © Patrick J. Hendrickson / Highcamera.com

This was the first Antares launch in two years following the rockets catastrophic failure just moments after liftoff on Oct. 28, 2014, which doomed the Orb-3 resupply mission to the space station – as witnessed by this author.

The weather was absolutely perfect at 100% GO by launch time and consequently was visible to millions of East Coast residents from the Carolinas to Maine as well as inland regions.

Visibility was aided by cloudless evening skies that afforded a spectacular long distance view of the engine firings for both the first and second stages, as the rocket accelerated to orbit in a southeastwardly direction before arcing over towards the African continent.

The power producing and life giving solar arrays were deployed and unfurled about two hours after liftoff, finished at about 9:40 p.m.

Cygnus is loaded with over 5,100 pounds of science investigations, food, supplies and hardware for the space station and its crew.

Antares launch on Oct. 17, 2016 from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Credit: © Patrick J. Hendrickson / Highcamera.com

After Cygnus arrives at the ISS on Sunday, Oct. 23, Expedition 49 Flight Engineers Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Kate Rubins of NASA will grapple the spacecraft with the space station's 57 foot long Canadian-built robotic arm. It will take hold of the Cygnus,

Ground controllers will then command the station's arm to rotate and install it on the bottom of the station's earth facing Unity module.

The Cygnus spacecraft will spend about five weeks attached to the space station. Cygnus will remain at the space station until November, when the spacecraft will depart the station and begin a fire experiment dubbed Saffire-II.

The 14 story tall commercial Antares rocket launched for the first time in the upgraded 230 configuration – powered by a pair of the new Russian-built RD-181 first stage engines.

For the OA-5 mission, the Cygnus advanced maneuvering spacecraft was loaded with approximately 2,425 kg (5,346 lb.) of supplies and science experiments for the International Space Station (ISS). The cargo was packed inside 56 cargo bags of multiple sizes.

The experiments will support dozens of new and existing investigations as the space station crews of Expeditions 49 and 50 contribute to about 250 science and research studies.

Among the science payloads aboard the Cygnus OA-5 mission is the Saffire II payload experiment to study combustion behavior in microgravity. Data from this exp,eriment will be downloaded via telemetry. In addition, a NanoRack deployer will release Spire Cubesats used for weather forecasting. These secondary payload operations will be conducted after Cygnus departs the space station.

Here is the Cygnus payload manifest:

Payloads:
• Spacecraft Fire Experiment-II (Saffire-II)
• Fast Neuron Spectrometer
• ACM and Experiment Tray
• SLMMD
Cargo:
• ISS Experiment Hardware
• EVA Equipment– EMU Repair Kit– EVA Supplies
• Emergency Equipment
• Photo/TV and Computer Resources– Computer – iPad Air 2
– Laptop – T61P and Connectors – Camera – Nikon D4
• ISS Hardware and Spare ORUs – Cupola Scratch Panes
– Water ORU
• Food, Crew Supplies and Crew Provisions
• Flight Crew Equipment
• Cargo Environment SensorsAdditional payload details can be found at www.nasa.gov/iss-science.

The Cygnus spacecraft for the OA-5 mission is named the S.S. Alan G. Poindexter in honor of former astronaut and Naval Aviator Captain Alan Poindexter.

Under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA, Orbital ATK will deliver approximately 28,700 kilograms of cargo to the space station. OA-5 is the sixth of these missions.

Watch for Ken's continuing Antares/Cygnus mission and launch reporting. He is reporting from on site at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility, VA during the launch campaign. 

 

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