A Soyuz rocket and Progress supply ship packed with nearly 3 tons of cargo, provisions and fuel for the International Space Station rolled out to a launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Monday.

The Progress MS-05 cargo freighter is set for liftoff Wednesday at 0558:33 GMT (12:58:33 a.m. EST; 11:58:33 a.m. Baikonur time) on a two-day trip to the space station.

The launch will be the last mission of the Soyuz-U version of Russias most-flown rocket. The Soyuz-U was a workhorse for the Russian space program, launching nearly 800 times with military spy satellites, cosmonaut crews and space station resupply missions to a series of Russian orbital outposts since 1973.

Newer versions of the expendable Soyuz booster are now flying with upgraded engines.

Wednesdays launch will be the first Soyuz-U flight, and the first Progress cargo launch, since a rocket failure doomed a Russian resupply mission Dec. 1 on the way to the space station.

Russian investigators believe foreign object debris or a manufacturing defect in the third stages RD-0110 engine led the failure, which caused the Progress MS-04 spaceship to crash in Siberia downrange from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

The most likely cause of the contingency was the third stage liquid oxygen tank opening as a result of exposure of (RD-0110) engine destruction elements that occurred (as a) result of fire, and further destruction of the oxidizer compound pump, the Russian space agency, or Roscosmos, said in a Jan. 11 statement.

The oxidizer pump fire could have been caused by the introduction of foreign object debris into the pump cavity, or a violation of engine assembly procedures, Roscosmos said.

Engineers replaced the third stage RD-0110 engine on the Soyuz-U booster flying Wednesday with a powerplant from a different manufacturing batch after the inquiry discovered some engines produced by the same contractor were made with substandard alloys.

The automated Progress MS-05 cargo freighter, known as Progress 66P in the space stations visiting vehicle manifest, will reach orbit around 8 minutes, 49 seconds, after liftoff Wednesday. Docking with the International Space Stations Pirs module is set for 0834 GMT (3:34 a.m. EST) Friday.

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Soyuz booster rolled out to snowy Baikonur launch pad - Spaceflight Now

Tomasz Nowakowski

February 21st, 2017

Artists rendering of the GOES-16 satellite in orbit. Image Credit: NOAA

NOAAs new highly advanced GOES-16 (formerly known as GOES-R) weather satellite, which has just completed its third month in space, is expected to provide crucial data necessary to detect the presence of lightning earlier and better than before. The satellites Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) instrument will soon deliver first data essential for forecasting intensifying storms and severe weather events.

On February 28, the first light images and data will be available from NOAA GOES-16s GLM instrument, Connie Barclay of NOAA told Astrowatch.net.

This image shows the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) as it prepares to undergo vibration testing, which simulates the stresses experienced during launch. Photo Credit: Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Corporation

GLM will collect information such as the frequency, location, and extent of lightning discharges to improve the detection of thunderstorms and tropical cyclones that are strengthening. The instrument is sensitive to the in-cloud lightning that is most dominant in severe thunderstorms and provides nearly uniform total lightning coverage over the region of interest.

GLMs ability to capture trends in total lightning is critical for forecasters, which will allow them to focus on severe storms as they develop much earlier than they can now, and before the storms produce damaging winds, hail, or even tornadoes, Barclay said.

Built by Lockheed Martin, GLM is a single-channel, near-infrared optical transient detector that can detect the momentary changes in an optical scene, indicating the presence of lightning. It has a telescopic CCD camera sensitive to 777.4 nm light with a spatial resolution of five miles / eight kilometers (at nadir) to 8.7 miles / 14 kilometers (at theedge of thefield of view), capturing 500 frames per second.

The instrument has great potential to increase lead time for severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings and reduce false alarm rates. It is also expected to provide early warning of lightning ground strike hazards and improve our detection of heavy rainfall and flash flooding. Moreover, it will allow monitoring the intensity change of tropical cyclones, which is often accompanied by increased lightning activity.

The GLM will be the first-ever lightning mapper instrument operated in a geostationary orbit, Barclay noted.

She added that the importance of this tool is undeniable when you take lightning statistics into account.

Lightning kills an average of 49 people in the U.S. each year and lightning strikes the U.S. an average of 25 million times each year, Barclay told Astrowatch.net.

NOAA plans to use data from the GLM instrument to produce a long-term database to track decadal changes in lightning activity. This database could be of high importance for long-term climate variability studies.

GOES-16 was launched into space on Nov. 19, 2016, from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida atop an Atlas V booster. The spacecraft is part of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) system operated by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Currently, GOES-16 is situated in orbit 22,300 miles (36,000 kilometers) above Earth. On Jan. 23, 2017, NOAA released first images of our planet acquired by this satellite.

After undergoing a checkout and validation of its six instruments, GOES-16 will become operational in November 2017, a year after launching. In general, the new spacecraft is expected to boost the nations weather observation network and NOAAs prediction capabilities, leading to more accurate and timely forecasts, watches, and warnings.

Tagged: GOES-16 GOES-R NOAA The Range

Tomasz Nowakowski is the owner of Astro Watch, one of the premier astronomy and science-related blogs on the internet. Nowakowski reached out to SpaceFlight Insider in an effort to have the two space-related websites collaborate. Nowakowski's generous offer was gratefully received with the two organizations now working to better relay important developments as they pertain to space exploration.

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NOAA's GOES-16 weather satellite to showcase its lightning detection capabilities - SpaceFlight Insider

SpaceXs Falcon 9 rocket took off Sunday for the first time from launch pad 39A, a historic facility under lease from NASA, and delivered to orbit an uncrewed supply ship heading for the International Space Station.

The first stage booster returned to a landing at nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station 9 miles (15 kilometers) to the south of pad 39A the first such recovery on land in daylight.

Liftoff occurred at 9:39 a.m. EST (1439 GMT) from pad 39A, a day after SpaceX called a last-minute abort to examine and replace a suspect actuator in the upper stage engine.

Around two-and-a-half minutes later, the Falcon 9s first stage engines switched off, and the second stages single Merlin engine ignited to propel the missions cargo craft payload into orbit. Cold-gas nitrogen thrusters on the first stage booster re-oriented the vehicle to fly tail first, then a subset of its main engines fired in succession three times to guide the rocket back to Earth at Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral.

The first stages center engine conducted the final landing burn as four legs deployed from the base of the booster for touchdown. It was the eighth time SpaceX has recovered a rocket stage, the third time the booster has returned to land at Cape Canaveral, and the first such descent over land in daylight.

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These photos were released by SpaceX late Sunday and early Monday.

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Photos: Falcon 9 rocket blasts off from pad 39A, then lands nearby - Spaceflight Now

Curt Godwin

February 20th, 2017

The final Soyuz-U rocket is rolled out to the launch pad. The payload, Progress MS-05, will launch to space on Feb. 22, 2017, and spend two days catching up to the International Space Station to dock. Photo Credit: Roscosmos

Russias state-run corporation for space activities, Roscosmos, is in the final stages of preparingto launch the Progress MS-05 cargo resupply spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS).

Progress 66P also known as ProgressMS-05 will launch at 12:58 a.m. EST (05:58 GMT) Feb. 22, 2017, atop the final Soyuz-U rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Progress MS-05 before being encapsulated in the Soyuz-U fairing. Photo Credit: Roscosmos

Russias Progress spacecraft is an uncrewed variant of the crewed Soyuz vehicleand is capable of fully automated flight and docking with the Russian segment of the ISS.

Progress MS-05 will be carrying 5,401pounds (2,450 kilograms) of supplies and consumablesto the orbiting outpost, including 1,554 pounds (705 kilograms) of propellant.

As with previous Progress missions, MS-05 will embark on a two-day, 34-orbit rendezvous profile with the space station and will likely spend about fourmonths attached to the outpost. Docking with the Pirs module is expected to take place at 3:34 a.m. EST (8:34 GMT) Feb. 24.

The venerable Soyuz-U rocket was tapped to launch the Progress MS-05. The U-variant of the Soyuz line of vehicles has had a long career, notching 764 successful launches over its nearly 44 years of active life.

Not only has the Soyuz-U been in service longer than any other orbital-class rocket, but also it holds the world record for thehighest launch rate with 47 flights in 1979. However, the Russian space agency classifiedthe Soyuz-U as obsolete in April 2015 in favor of the more modern Soyuz-2.

The Soyuz-U utilizes an older analog flight control system that requires the rocket to be mounted on a rotating platform so that the vehicle could be aimed sinceit was incapable of performing a roll maneuver.

Like all Russian vehicles based on the iconic R-7 design, the Soyuz-U consists of a core stage with four strap-on liquid-fueled boosters. According to legacy information, each booster is outfitted with anRD-117 liquid oxygen and kerosene-fueled (kerolox) engine, providing 188,502pounds (838.5 kilonewtons) of sea-level thrust.

The core stage utilizes a single RD-118 engine, providing 182,770pounds (813 kilonewtons) of liftoff thrust. Like its RD-117 counterpart, it has four combustion chambers fed by a single turbopump assembly.

The loss of Progress MS-04 has been attributed to a failure of the liquid oxygen turbopump in the RD-0110 engine, seen mounted in the second stage in this file photo. Photo credit: Roscosmos

The primary difference between the two engine models is the amount of control authority the engines provide via their integrated vernier thrusters: the side boosters only have a pair of verniers, whereas the core needs a full range of attitude control and has fourverniers.

The second stage, the Blok-I, is powered by a single RD-0110 engine, which provides 67,000 pounds (298 kilonewtons) of vacuum thrust. Like much of the stable of Russian spaceflight components, the RD-0110 has a long history. The RD-0110 was initially introduced in 1965and is still in production.

Progress MS-05 was initially targeted to launch in early February 2017. However, it has seen multiple delays related to the failure of the launch of its predecessor Progress MS-04.

An investigation determined a failure in the RD-0110s oxidizer pump caused the assembly to fail and disintegrate.The breakup of the engine caused Progress MS-04 to separate from the stage 22 seconds early.

Failing to achieve orbital velocity, the resupply craft subsequently re-entered the atmosphere, with remnants crashing to the ground in Siberia.

The investigation could not determine a root cause for the failure, though the investigative panel believes the pump was destroyed either from a foreign contaminant or from animproper assembly at the factory.

In a bid to prevent a recurrence of this issue on Progress MS-05, the launch was delayed more than two weeks so that an engine from a different production run could be installed in the Blok-I stage.

The launch of Progress MS-05 will mark the 786th, and final, flight of the Soyuz-U.

Video courtesy of Roscosmos

Tagged: Expedition 50 International Space Station Lead Stories Progress MS-05 Roscosmos Russia Soyuz-U

Curt Godwin has been a fan of space exploration for as long as he can remember, keeping his eyes to the skies from an early age. Initially majoring in Nuclear Engineering, Curt later decided that computers would be a more interesting - and safer - career field. He's worked in education technology for more than 20 years, and has been published in industry and peer journals, and is a respected authority on wireless network engineering. Throughout this period of his life, he maintained his love for all things space and has written about his experiences at a variety of NASA events, both on his personal blog and as a freelance media representative.

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After multiple delays, Progress MS-05 set for launch - SpaceFlight Insider

Laurel Kornfeld

February 21st, 2017

A dramatic plume sprays water ice and vapor from the south polar region of Saturns moon Enceladus. Cassinis first hint of this plume came during the spacecrafts first close flyby of the icy moon on February 17, 2005. Image & Caption Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

An unexpected finding by NASAs Cassini spacecraftduring itsfirst flyby of Saturns moon Enceladushas led to the discovery of its subsurface ocean, which could, possibly, host microbial life.

After arriving at Saturn in 2004, Cassini made its first pass by Saturns sixth largest moon on February 17, 2005. The flyby was part of the spacecrafts detailed study of the planets icy moons.

Illustration showing the bending of Saturns magnetic field near Enceladus that was detected by Cassinis magnetometer. (Click to enlarge) Image & Caption Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

As Cassini flew by Enceladus, the spacecrafts magnetometer, which measures the magnetic field in the area, detected an anomaly, suggesting that the 157-mile (252-kilometer) moon had a thin atmosphere.

Orbiting in the middle of Saturns faint E ring, Enceladus is the Solar Systems most reflective object, but scientists attributed this brightness to the emission of ice dust from its surface and believed the small moon to be an inactive world.

However, inexplicably, Saturns magnetic field was being perturbed above Enceladuss south pole.

Because of the unusual findings, Cassini flew even closer to the small moon just several weeks later, on March 9, 2005, to obtain a better look.

According to Cassini Magnetometer Principal Investigator Michelle Dougherty, [] the atmospheric signature that we were seeing was focused at the south pole. It was almost like there was a cometary plume of water vapor coming off from the south pole.

The fact that Enceladus resembled a comet actively emitting gases led scientists to speculate its atmosphere is somehow replenishing these gases.

Some scientists excitedly speculated the south polar plume came from jets, but members of Cassinis imaging team were skeptical and wanted to make another pass at the small moon before confirming anything.

That led to a third flyby on July 14, 2005, this time coming within just 175 kilometers of Enceladuss surface, which put an end to the skepticism.

Tiger Stripes on Enceladus. Image Credit: Cassini Imaging Team / SSI / JPL / ESA / NASA

From that vantage point, the mission team was able to see geysers of water vapor and water ice particles streaming out of Enceladus south pole.

Cassinis science instruments studied the region, imaging the now-famous cracks and tiger stripes, along with heat being emitted from the stripes.

These discoveries dramatically altered mission plans. Enceladus was so exciting that, instead of just three close flybys planned for our four-year primary mission, we added 20 more, including seven that went right through the geysers at the south pole, noted Cassini project scientist Linda Spilker.

Subsequent flybys confirmed that the plumes are emitting organic material in addition to dust, water vapor, volatile gases, salts, and silica.

The surprising magnetometer reading led us to the liquid water ocean underneath Enceladus icy crust, Spilker emphasized.

From Cassinis extensive study of this small world, scientists know that an underground ocean is present and suspect Enceladuss interior is being heated by tidal forces from Saturn, meaning it could potentially support microbial life.

That has altered the way we think about where life might be found in our own Solar System, and in the worlds beyond, she added.

Microbial life has been found in underwater hydrothermal vents on Earth and could, possibly, exist in such vents on the floor of Enceladuss global salty subsurface ocean.

Enceladus joins a growing list of ocean worlds that could potentially harbor such life, including Jupiters moon Europa, fellow Saturn moon Titan, Neptunes moon Triton, and even possibly dwarf planets Ceres and Pluto.

Video Courtesy of NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Tagged: Cassini Enceladus Jet Propulsion Laboratory NASA Saturn The Range

Laurel Kornfeld is an amateur astronomer and freelance writer from Highland Park, NJ, who enjoys writing about astronomy and planetary science. She studied journalism at Douglass College, Rutgers University, and earned a Graduate Certificate of Science from Swinburne Universitys Astronomy Online program. Her writings have been published online in The Atlantic, Astronomy magazines guest blog section, the UK Space Conference, the 2009 IAU General Assembly newspaper, The Space Reporter, and newsletters of various astronomy clubs. She is a member of the Cranford, NJ-based Amateur Astronomers, Inc. Especially interested in the outer solar system, Laurel gave a brief presentation at the 2008 Great Planet Debate held at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab in Laurel, MD.

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Cassini's first flyby of Enceladus led to discovery of its subsurface ocean - SpaceFlight Insider

Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX sent a cargo capsule with nearly 5,500 pounds of experiments and supplies on a three-day trip to the International Space Station on Sunday, firing the automated spaceship through low-hanging clouds and into orbit from the same launch pad where Apollo astronauts began voyages to the moon.

A kerosene-fueled 213-foot-tall (65-meter) Falcon 9 rocket powered the cargo freighter into space, soaring on a northeasterly course from launch pad 39A at NASAs Kennedy Space Center at 9:39 a.m. EST (1439 GMT) atop 1.7 million pounds of thrust.

A few minutes later, the first stage booster nailed an on-target landing back at Cape Canaveral in the first such return to the launch base in daylight.

The launch the first SpaceX has conducted from pad 39A was timed for the Dragon cargo carrier align its course with the orbital path of the space station.

The historic launch complex, situated about a half-mile (750 meters) from the Atlantic Ocean, was the departure point for 94 missions before Sunday.

Originally constructed in the 1960s for the Apollo moon program, pad 39A hosted 12 Saturn 5 blastoffs on test flights, all of the moon landing missions and the uncrewed launch of NASAs Skylab space station from 1967 through 1973.

NASAs fleet of space shuttles launched from the pad 82 times, including the first and last flights of the program in 1981 and 2011.

The launch pad has remained dormant since the last shuttle mission took off July 8, 2011, and SpaceX signed a 20-year lease to take over the facility as a commercially-operated launch complex in 2014.

It was really awesome to see 39A roar back to life for the first time since the shuttle era, and it was extremely special that this first launch off of 39A was a Dragon mission for NASA heading to the space station, said Jessica Jensen, a Dragon mission manager who spoke with reporters after Sundays launch.

NASA decided it no longer needed pad 39A after the shuttles retirement. Nearby launch pad 39B, previously built for Apollo and shuttle flights, will be home to NASAs Space Launch System, a government-owned heavy-lift rocket that will launch astronaut crews on deep space expeditions.

This pad would have just sat here and rusted away in the salt air had we not had the use agreement with SpaceX to continue to enable commercial operations for our nation, said Bob Cabana, director of the Kennedy Space Center.

The concrete foundation of pad 39A dates back to the Apollo era of the 1960s, while the 347-foot-tall (106-meter) fixed service structure and lightning tower were emplaced before the first shuttle launch.

It gives me a little bit of chills when I walk out there and see stuff thats left over from Apollo, said Hans Koenigsmann, SpaceXs vice president of flight reliability.

Since SpaceX took over, changes to pad 39A have included the construction of the new rocket hangar outside the south gate to the facility, where space shuttles and Saturn 5 moon rockets arrived on top of tracked crawler-transporters after rollout from the nearby Vehicle Assembly Building.

The hangar can accommodate five Falcon 9 rocket cores at a time, according to SpaceX.

Weve taken good care of this pad during the refurbishment and the rebuild, said Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceXs president, in remarks to reporters at the launch site Friday. We saved precious things that needed to be saved. Weve upgraded things to make them usable in the contemporary era. Its hard to express how excited I am to be here, just two-and-a-half years after we got the lease.

SpaceX sped the pad to completion after a rocket explosion damaged the companys other Cape Canaveral launch facility Complex 40 a few miles to the south and grounded Falcon 9 flights until the booster returned to service last month in a mission from California.

Other additions at the pad include the installation of RP-1 kerosene fuel tanks and the construction of the massive transporter-erector, which is sized to accommodate SpaceXs powerful triple-body Falcon Heavy rocket when it debuts later this year.

An access arm to allow astronauts to board SpaceXs Crew Dragon capsule, a human-rated ship in development to launch people as soon as next year, will be added to pad 39A in the coming months.

SpaceX tested many of the launch pads new parts Feb. 12 during a countdown rehearsal in which the Falcon 9 rocket was fueled before a hold-down engine firing.

Engineers returned the two-stage launcher to SpaceXs hangar, added the Dragon spacecraft, then rolled the fully-assembled vehicle back to the pad Thursday for further tests and the loading of final cargo.

But some features of the launch pad like the quick partial retraction of the transporter-erector strongback umbilical tower at liftoff were not been exercised until Sunday.

This is a huge deal for us, Jensen said. We completely modernized the way the pad is built, so yeah, its super exciting, and youre always a little bit nervous. Weve run tons of tests to ensure that the hold-downs released properly, and the strongback throws back in a different way than it used to at pad 40.

Weve had tons of ground tests, but weve never mated an actual rocket with a payload on top for that, she added. So to watch it happen for the first time was just amazing.

The missions takeoff was delayed from Saturday after SpaceX managers ordered a last-minute abort to investigate unexpected readings from the Falcon 9 upper stage engines backup steering mechanism.

Ground crews lowered the rocket at pad 39A overnight to replace parts of a redundant actuator on the second stages Merlin engine thrust vector control system, which directs the powerplants thrust to point the launcher in the right direction.

The rocket was raised upright again around six hours before launch, and the SpaceX launch team, working from a control center around 13 miles (21 kilometers) to the south, oversaw filling of the Falcon 9 with super-chilled, densified kerosene and liquid oxygen propellants in the final hour of the countdown.

Scattered rain showers around the Kennedy Space Center threatened to hold up the launch, but all weather criteria toggled green in time for the days instantaneous launch opportunity.

Eight minutes after it blasted off, the Falcon 9s first stage booster made a dramatic vertical landing at a recovery site around 9 miles (15 kilometers) south of pad 39A at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the first time a SpaceX rocket has touched down on land in daylight.

An overcast deck of clouds prohibited ideal viewing of the launch and return, but the rockets nine Merlin engines sent a wave of window-rattling sound across the spaceport on the trip up, and twin sonic booms heralded the boosters final descent as it became visible to spectators just before touchdown.

SpaceX plans to inspect the landed rocket and prepare it for another flight some time in the future. The company now has eight flown first stage boosters in its inventory, recovered after landings at Cape Canaveral and at sea. Seven of those are considered flight-worthy, according to Jensen.

The SES 10 satellite, a commercial broadcasting spacecraft, is in Cape Canaveral preparing for a launch on a Falcon 9 rocket in March that will fly with a previously-used first stage booster for the first time.

Once in orbit, the Dragon supply freighter unfurled two power-generating solar array wings to a span of 54 feet (16 meters). The spacecraft was scheduled to open a navigation bay later Sunday and fine-tune its course toward the space station with a series of thruster firings ahead of its arrival at the outpost early Wednesday.

French-born European Space Agency flight engineer Thomas Pesquet will grapple the approaching cargo craft around 6 a.m. EST (1100 GMT) Wednesday with the space stations robotic arm after the automated ship flies within about 30 feet, or 10 meters, of the research complex.

The Canadian-built robot arm, under the command of ground controllers in Houston, will transfer the gumdrop-shaped logistics freighter to a berthing port on the stations Harmony module a few hours later.

Once bolts drive closed to firmly connect the SpaceX cargo craft to the space station, astronauts inside the orbiting science lab will open hatches and begin unpacking the 3,373 pounds (1,530 kilograms) of supplies, experiments and provisions inside.

Meanwhile, the robot arm and the stations two-armed Dextre handyman will remove three payloads totaling more than 2,100 pounds (more than 950 kilograms) from the Dragons unpressurized trunk for placement on platforms on the outposts huge structural truss.

One of the payloads is NASAs $92 million Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment 3, or SAGE 3, an ozone monitor that comes with a separate ESA-built hexapod mounting plate designed to point the instrument at Earths limb, or horizon, at sunset and moonset.

The sunlight and moonlight passing through the layers of the upper atmosphere will help tell scientists about the condition of the ozone layer and allow researchers to track pollutants and particles suspended high above Earth.

SAGE 3, developed by NASAs Langley Research Center in Virginia, is the latest in a series of ozone measurement sensors developed by NASA since 1979. Previous space missions studying ozone showed a decline in the distribution of the gas over Earths poles, and researchers tied the ozone depletion to chlorofluorocarbon, a chemical used in cleaning agents, refrigeration and air conditioning.

An international treaty called the Montreal Protocol that went into force in 1989 banned chlorofluorocarbons, and scientists have observed the depletion stop and watched the ozone layer begin to recover.

How does SAGE 3 fit into that? Were going to make measurements from the space station that show the recovery is on track, said Michael Cisewski, SAGE 3 project manager at NASA. I think that, from a science perspective, it doesnt get any better than that.

SAGE 3 will also measure other important stratospheric gases and atmospheric aerosols, which are components of pollution that also impact the radiation balance of our planet, said Michael Freilich, director of NASAs Earth science division.

The other experiment package carried inside the Dragon capsules external bay is sponsored by the U.S. militarys Space Test Program, hosting more than a dozen investigations for NASA and the Defense Department.

Among STP-H5s investigations are NASAs Raven autonomous space navigation demonstration designed to support future satellite servicing missions and NASAs Lightning Imaging Sensor.

The Raven payload is made up of three sensors optical, infrared and laser trackers to autonomously follow visiting cargo vessels arriving and departing from the space station.

Benjamin Reed, deputy director of NASAs satellite servicing program at Goddard Space Flight Center, called Raven a three-eyed instrument.

The Raven module will be observing visiting vehicles as they approach in all three wavelengths, Reed said. We will be generating range, bearing and pose estimates of those visiting vehicles on-board with sophisticated algorithms and on-board processing, based on the input that the sensors are receiving.

Raven is a follow-up to a NASA experiment that tried out satellite refueling techniques using a boilerplate test panel outside the space station.

The satellite servicing demonstrations will refine the technologies needed for future robotic missions to refuel, refurbish, upgrade and reposition satellites, beginning with NASAs Restore-L spacecraft in development for launch in 2020 to gas up the aging Landsat 7 environmental observatory in orbit.

Raven will try out the navigation equipment needed for Restore-L, and missions like it, to approach another object in orbit without any input from the ground and latch on to it, even if the target was never designed for a docking.

Landsat 7 was launched in 1999 before any such refueling mission was ever proposed, so it is not equipped with markings or a docking port.

These technologies are quite difficult, and that is why NASA is taking the lead, pushing the envelope, (and) doing the hard work first, Reed said. Once we have developed it on missions like Raven, we will then transfer that technology to U.S. industry that is interested in taking this on commercially.

The Lightning Imaging Sensor, managed by NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center in partnership with the University of Alabama in Huntsville, will take pictures and log lightning strikes from the space stations perch nearly 250 miles (400 kilometers) above Earth.

Based on a spare camera made for the U.S.-Japanese Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission, the instrument cost $7 million to refurbish and will detect lightning day and night in a belt between 56 degrees north and south latitude.

Lightning actually occurs somewhere on Earth some 45 times every single second, Freilich said. Understanding the processes which cause lighting and the connections between lightning and subsequent severe weather events like convective storms and tornadoes are keys to improving weather predictions and saving lives and property in this country and throughout the globe.

A bevy of biological experiments are packed inside the Dragon supply ship.

Scientists are sending 40 mice into orbit to examine how bone fractures heal in the absence of gravity, and search for the biological reasons why most animals, including humans, cannot regrow lost limbs.

Were trying to understand what happens in the body as the bones start healing, said Rasha Hammamieh, the rodent research projects chief scientist from the U.S. Army Center for Environmental Health Research.

The military is co-sponsoring the bone health experiment, with an eye toward learning lessons that could be applied to helping injured soldiers recover from catastrophic bone injuries.

There are also implications for civilians, such as elderly patients with osteoporosis.

Up in space, you lose bone, said Melissa Kacena, co-investigator for the bone experiment and an associate professor of orthopedic surgery, anatomy and cell biology, and biomedical engineering at Indiana University. In fact, astronauts lose about 1 to 3 percent of their bone density in a month. Someone with advanced osteoporosis loses closer to 1 percent per year.

Kacena added that scientists want to test drugs on rodents that might be able to rebuild your bone systematically, so it could have applications not only for bone healing, but also for osteoporosis.

Astronauts on the space station will euthanize the mice and return them to Earth for comparison with a control group that remained on the ground.

Bacterial and stem cell researchers also had a stake in Sundays launch.

We are excited to put MRSA, which is a superbug, on the International Space Station and investigate the effects of microgravity on the growth and mutation patterns of these bugs, said Anita Goel, chairman and science director of Nanobiosym, which developed the experiment with the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space.

I have this hypothesis that microgravity will accelerate the mutation patterns. If we can use microgravity as an accelerator to fast forward and get a sneak preview of what these mutations will look like, then we can esssentially build smarter drugs back on Earth.

A science team led by a Mayo Clinic biologist is sending human adult stem cells to the space station, pursuing research that could help transplant patients and stroke victims.

We know stem cells grow differently using simulated microgravity, said Abba Zubair, medical and scientific director of the Cell Therapy Laboratory at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida. Primarily, our focus is to see if microgravity actually can help stem cells to expand faster, so that we can grow more of them to bring back to use for human application.

The Dragon spaceship will remain at the space station until around March 21, when it will detach and head for a re-entry and parachute-assisted splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, where SpaceX will safe the capsule, transfer it back to port, and begin removing the returned cargo.

The resupply mission is SpaceXs tenth cargo launch to the space station. The company has two multibillion-dollar cargo contracts with NASA covering at least 26 round-trip missions.

SpaceXs next launch is scheduled within the next two weeks perhaps as soon as Feb. 28 with the EchoStar 23 communications satellite. That flight will also blast off from pad 39A.

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Historic launch pad back in service with thundering blastoff by SpaceX - Spaceflight Now

Science minister Jo Johnson said the bill would "cement the UK's position as a world leader in this emerging market"

Space ports could be set up and satellites launched from regions across the UK under new powers to be unveiled this week.

The Spaceflight Bill will also allow scientists to fly to the edge of space and conduct experiments in zero gravity, which could help develop vaccines and antibiotics, the Department for Transport (DfT) said.

Science minister Jo Johnson said the bill would "cement the UK's position as a world leader in this emerging market".

The first commercial flight from a UK space port could lift off by 2020 under the powers, the DfT said.

Mr Johnson said: "From the launch of Rosetta, the first spacecraft to orbit a comet, to Tim Peake's six months on the International Space Station, the UK's space sector has achieved phenomenal things in orbit and beyond.

"With this week's Spaceflight Bill launch, we will cement the UK's position as a world leader in this emerging market, giving us an opportunity to build on existing strengths in research and innovation."

Aviation minister Lord Ahmad said: "We have never launched a spaceflight before from this country. Our ambition is to allow for safe and competitive access to space from the UK, so we remain at the forefront of a new commercial space age."

The Bill will be unveiled in parliament this week.

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Space flight is next frontier for UK under new powers - Belfast Telegraph

Curt Godwin

February 20th, 2017

The Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) is transported to a pressure test area at ULAs Decatur, AL, manufacturing facility. Image Credit: NASA

DECATUR, Ala. United Launch Alliance (ULA) invited media to their 1.6 million-square-foot (148,645 m2) rocket factory in northern Alabama to get a look at the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) flight hardware prior to it being shipped to Florida. SpaceFlight Insider was on hand at this event and had a chance to speak with industry insiders about the progress being made on NASAs Space Launch System (SLS).

Though a significant amount of hardware has been manufactured for Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1) the first flight of the super-heavy-lift rocket the SLS is still very much a vehicle waiting to be assembled. However, while large portions of the mammoth rocket have yet to leave the manufacturing floor, progress has been steady and completed flight hardware is beginning to take shape.

ULA was tapped by Boeing the prime contractor for SLS core stage to construct a modified Delta Cryogenic Second Stage (DCSS) to support the SLS for its first flight. After delivering a test article of the ICPS to NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center in 2016, the company is now ready to cross a key milestone in SLS construction: the completion of a major propulsion system for the vehicle.

This is the first piece of integrated flight hardware for the SLS system to be shipped down to the Cape in preparation for our very first launch, said Jerry Cook, Deputy SLS Program Manager for NASA. Cook noted that the ICPS test article is currently undergoing stress and load tests at Marshall.

The completion of the ICPS is yet another landmark in SLS development, though some contend its stilla drawing-board vehicle.John Shannon, Boeings Vice President and General Manager of the SLS Program, disagrees.

John Shannon, Boeings Vice President and General Manager for the SLS Program, speaks with SpaceFlight Insider about the companys progress on SLS. Photo Credit: Curt Godwin / SpaceFlight Insider

The SLS has, in various forms, been called a paper rocket [] and, if I think you look to your right, youll see that absolutely is not true, stated Shannon. If you had the opportunity to go to the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, where were puttingthe bigger core stage together, you would also see that it is not true because we are putting hardware together as we speak.

Shannon also noted that the Boeing team at Michoud is nearly back up to 100 percent after the facility sustained damage from a direct hit by a tornado.

Considering the damage sustained by the facility, SpaceFlight Insider was interested in how the flight hardware at Michoud fared in the wake of the tornado and asked Cook the disposition of the pieces already constructed.

After noting that no one was killed or seriously injured in the incident, hewent on to discuss the hardware itself.

From an assessment of the flight hardware, we havent seen anything that has sustained any type of major damage, Cook told SpaceFlight Insider.

Beyond that, there were some minor dings and scratches, and some buildings are still without power. Cook hopes to have a complete analysis of the state of Michoud in the next 23 weeks.

Though the facilityis designed to support a flight cadence of 12 launches per year, Boeings Shannon told SpaceFlight Insider he holds a more optimistic view.

I would like to see us, certainly, get to two a year;though, with some minor modifications to the facility, we could get to four a year.

Recently, acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot announcedthat he was directing the agency to study the feasibility of converting EM-1 to a crewed mission. Until a firm plan comes to light, though, the agency and its partners will continue to work toward a late 2018 date for the uncrewed launch of EM-1.

Whether or not EM-1 carries crew is not as relevant to Astronaut Butch Wilmore as what the rocket represents. He sees the SLS as the vehicle needed to advance human spaceflight beyond low-Earth orbit.

Right over here in this test cell is the start of taking humans to deep space, stated Wilmore.

If NASA has anything to say about it, that may be sooner than many had anticipated.

The ICPS flight article is in a pressure test chamber at ULAs Decatur manufacturing facility. Photo Credit: Curt Godwin / SpaceFlight Insider

Tagged: Exploration Mission 1 Lead Stories Space Launch System United Launch Alliance

Curt Godwin has been a fan of space exploration for as long as he can remember, keeping his eyes to the skies from an early age. Initially majoring in Nuclear Engineering, Curt later decided that computers would be a more interesting - and safer - career field. He's worked in education technology for more than 20 years, and has been published in industry and peer journals, and is a respected authority on wireless network engineering. Throughout this period of his life, he maintained his love for all things space and has written about his experiences at a variety of NASA events, both on his personal blog and as a freelance media representative.

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ULA gives sneak peek at SLS' second stage before it gets shipped to Florida - SpaceFlight Insider

Tomasz Nowakowski

February 20th, 2017

NASA astronaut Mike Fossum, Expedition 28 flight engineer, floats freely in the Harmony node of the International Space Station. His long-duration flight aboard thespace station lasted from June to November 2011. Photo credit: NASA

In an interview with Astrowatch.net, veteran NASA astronaut Mike Fossum talked about his career as an astronaut, recollecting unforgettable and thrilling moments in space.

Astrowatch.net: You grew up during the Apollo era. How much did Moon landings inspire you to become an astronaut?

Mike Fossum: I was born two months after the launch of Sputnik and grew up enthralled with the space program. I distinctly remember the night the dream of flying in space became personal to me. I was laying on my back as our Boy Scout campfire died down, looking up at a beautiful star-filled sky. I was about 12 years old and the dream became crystal clear: I want to reach for those stars, too. This seemed like an impossible dream and it faded over time, but it did help motivate me throughout my education and early work career.

Astrowatch.net: How much did your education in systems engineering and physical science, together with your Air Force experience, prepare you for being an astronaut?

Fossum: For me, this was the perfect preparation for a career as an astronaut. I enjoyed my undergraduate work in mechanical engineeringbut wanted to broaden myself in the field of systems engineering. In that program, I learned more about other discipline areas and how the design of complex systems requires a balance of many conflicting considerations. I later earned another masters degree in physical science, which had a strong emphasis on space science. I had always had a strong interest in our natural world, including things like geology and astronomy. This program allowed me to learn about planetary geology, how stars work, and the science of creation.

My defining years in the Air Force were as a Flight Test Engineer at Edwards Air Force Base (AFB). I loved the challenge of figuring out how we could test new systems and technology to ensure it was safe and performed the mission properly. We tested some new ideas which did not work during those years. Some might consider those failures, but I call it a success when we were able to run a disciplined series of tests and could definitively prove something was not a good idea.

NASA X-38 flight test engineer Mike Fossum is all smiles following the first free flight of the first X-38 prototype in March 1998. Two months after this photo was taken Fossum was selected as an astronaut. Photo Credit: Ed Hengeveld

Astrowatch.net: You began your career at NASA as a systems engineer. Could share some details about this job? What were you responsible for?

Fossum: I actually worked at two different times at NASA. From 1982 to 1984, I was detailed from the Air Force to NASAs Johnson Space Center (JSC) and served as a Space Shuttle procedure specialist. My job was to help manage the complex procedures used by the astronauts to operate the Space Shuttle orbiter and its systems. I directly supported every flight in Mission Control during those years beginning with STS-3 (NASAs third Space Shuttle mission).

When I came back to NASA as a civilian in 1993, I started working on a project for NASA dedicated to buying Russian Soyuz spacecraft that could be used as an emergency escape vehicle for the International Space Station (ISS). Later that year, NASA started a major effort to redesign the Space Station and to include the Russians as new partners in the program. I worked for two to three years to help finalize the designs and the details of how the elements would come together. This involved a lot of work in the robotics and spacewalk areas. I wrote the flight test plan for the Simplified Aid for EVA (extravehicular activity) Rescue, or SAFER a self-rescue backpack to be worn by spacewalking astronauts. I later convinced the ISS program that we needed to invest in this capability to protect our crews.

In another challenge, I worked closely with astronaut Charles Lacy Veach to justify the need for the ISS cupola to provide direct viewing for robotics support. Having had the pleasure of using the cupola on orbit, I cannot imagine the ISS without this incredible asset.

Astrowatch.net: What was your role in the development of the X-38 experimental re-entry vehicle?

Fossum: Together with Col. Don Reed, I helped lead the flight test program for the X-38 test program. We both had military flight test experience and were brought onto the team as the first test vehicle, V-131, was nearing readiness for [a]test. We supported parafoil and systems testing at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, and led the efforts at NASAs Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards AFB (now NASAs Armstrong Flight Research Center) for the captive carry and free flight program of the X-38 test vehicle.

Astrowatch.net: Could you recall the moment when you were chosen by NASA as an astronaut in 1998? What did you feel back then, what was your reaction?

Fossum: I was at Yuma supporting an X-38 test and heard a phone ringing in an empty conference room. On a whim, I went in and answered the phone. Duane Ross (NASA veteran managing astronaut candidate selection and training at JSC) was on the other end and asked me if I was still interested in being an astronaut. I was in shock and stammered something about maybe that would work out and hung up on him. I literally fell to my knees with a prayer of thanks for making this dream come true after so many years.

I must note that I submitted my first application in 1985 and went through five interviews before I was finally selected 13 years later, so my emotions were definitely very high.I was told I could not tell anyone but my wife until NASA made the public announcement the next day, but it was impossible to keep the secret from the NASA friends with whom I was deployed in Arizona. When they saw my face, they knew something big had just happened and quickly guessed the truth. There was no time for celebration until much later that evening because we were preparing for a test mission in a few hours.

Mike Fossum, STS-121 mission specialist, works in the Questairlock of the International Space Station while Space Shuttle Discovery was docked with the outpost. An Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) spacesuit is visible at bottom. Photo Credit: NASA

Astrowatch.net: Which of your three spaceflights do you remember the most and why?

Fossum: It is very hard to narrow this down all were very special but I will have to say it was my first flight (STS-121 July 4, 2006). We were on a return-to-flight mission after the accident (Space Shuttle Columbia disaster on Feb. 1, 2003). There was a lot of internal controversy concerning the integrity of the foam on the external tank and whether or not NASA was ready to attempt another flight before making more modifications to the foam. The NASA Administrator, Mike Griffin, spent three hours meeting with our crew in quarantine the night before the final Flight Readiness Review (FRR). He wanted to look each one of us in the eyes to make certain we were ready to proceed. There were tough calls being made by the managers and careers were on the line, but he wanted to hear directly from the individuals who would be on the rocket.

The launch was spectacular with an astonishing rush of acceleration as the rocket burned fuel. When we reached orbit and the main engines abruptly shut down, my arms and checklist floated up from my stomach. My job was to get photos of the external fuel tank as it fell away, so I immediately removed my helmet and gloves, unstrapped, and floated up to the window.

Since I got there in about a minute, we had not pitched around enough to see the external fuel tank. Instead, I was looking at an expanse of the blue Atlantic Ocean with a dappling of white clouds. Also visible was the blackness of space with a thin, curved band of atmosphere separating the two. It suddenly hit me this was not a photo or a video replay but this was me looking back at planet Earth through a window from space! I wondered if this might also be Gods view looking down from above and I said a quick prayer of thanks for getting us to orbit safely and for making my lifelong dream come true. Then the external tank came into view and I got to work.

In short, that first ride to orbit and view of the Earth below is a vivid memory I hope will never fade.

Astrowatch.net: How much does a Soyuz flight differ from a Space Shuttle mission?

Fossum: There are a huge number of differences. [A] Space Shuttle mission lasts only about two weeks. The Soyuz flight to [the] ISS is almost half a year. Space Shuttle was spacious inside while the Soyuz is a tight fit, but excellent for [a] crew of three and some cargo. [A] Space Shuttle launch included a lot of dynamic vibrations from the solid rocket boosters. Soyuz was smooth all the way up, except for a brief bump between the second and third stage. Space shuttle landings were so smooth, it was hard to tell exactly when touchdown occurred. The same is not true for the landing of a Soyuz!

Astrowatch.net: What were your duties when you served as the ISS commander during Expedition 29 in 2011?

Fossum: As the ISS commander, my job was to look out for the safety and well-being of my crew, to take good care of the ISS, and to accomplish our mission objectives. The greatest challenge we faced was a delay in Soyuz launch operations after the failure of [the] Progress [M-12M] cargo mission. Due to similarities in the rockets, the second half of my crew was delayed for two months. Not only were we short-handed, but nobody was certain when they would arrive, so we had to prepare for the possibility of extending our mission by two months and even leaving the ISS before the next crew arrived. A lot of work went into this, but, in the end, we were only extended by a week and the new guys arrived with four days of overlap to hand over the keys.

Astrowatch.net: You have conducted an impressive number of seven spacewalks. Which one was the most challenging?

Fossum: My most difficult EVA was probably my first during STS-121. During this EVA, my lead, Piers Sellers, and I were tasked with trying to determine if we could perform the kinds of dynamic tasks which might be required to repair damage to the orbiters thermal protection system.

In order to get access to a potential repair site, we needed to extend the reach of the shuttle remote manipulator system and provide a work platform for the EVA crew. This was done with the Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS) a new boom system which had a suite of inspection sensors on one end.

This photo was taken at the moment when Mike Fossum was free-floating and looking back down the arm. His EVA partner, Piers Sellers, is partially obscured behind the OBSS. The photo made the cover of Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine. Photo Credit: NASA

Piers went up first for a solo run, then the arm was maneuvered back to the orbiters payload bay. I secured my feet in the footplate while Piers hung onto the side and we were lifted into free space for the tests. To excite structural modes in the extended system, I made big, intentional moves with my waist and legs, then held still while the dynamics damped out. It is important to note that my heels were loosely rotated into a boot plate and I was positioned such that I could not see anything made by a human the ISS and orbiter were out of my view. The only sense of security I had was pressing my heels outward to ensure I remained firmly attached to the boot plate.

After completing several test points, we reached the point where I was required to rotate my feet out of the boot plate, climb down to change the configuration of the Articulating Portable Foot Restraint (APFR), then re-ingress the APFR. I was secured to the robotic devices with two tethers, so in no real danger of floating away, but there were a few moments of sheer, stark terror as I floated free and looked back at the very disturbing sight of the long, spindly robotic arms and the safety of our Space Shuttle orbiter a very long distance away. I managed to control my voice, but my heart rate gave me away.

For this first EVA and all subsequent, I maintained a healthy respect for the environment and never allowed myself to feel too confident, lest I get complacent. EVA remains the most dangerous thing we do, other than launch and landing.

Astrowatch.net: How could your spaceflight experience help you in your new role as a vice president of Texas A&M?

Fossum: I have lived a life of service to our country through NASA and the U.S. Air Force. I have been blessed to experience my childhood dream of flying and working in space, and I have greatly enjoyed helping others achieve the same goal while working with amazing teams on the ground who made it possible. At this point in my career, I am proud to serve the university I love which prepared me for this journey, and I look forward to inspiring and equipping our next generation of leaders and explorers. I really am moving from one dream job to another!

Mike Fossum is a retired U.S. Air Force colonel and a former NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of three space flights: STS-121 in 2006, STS-124 in 2008, and Expedition 28/29 in 2011. Fossum has logged more than 194 days in space, including more than 48 hours of EVA time during seven spacewalks. After retiring from NASA in January 2017, Fossum assumed the role of chief operations officer of Texas A&M University at Galveston.

Tagged: Expedition 28 International Space Station Mike Fossum NASA Soyuz Space Shuttle The Range

Tomasz Nowakowski is the owner of Astro Watch, one of the premier astronomy and science-related blogs on the internet. Nowakowski reached out to SpaceFlight Insider in an effort to have the two space-related websites collaborate. Nowakowski's generous offer was gratefully received with the two organizations now working to better relay important developments as they pertain to space exploration.

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Reaching for the stars: An interview with former NASA astronaut Mike Fossum - SpaceFlight Insider

Space ports could be set up and satellites could blast off from regions across the UK under new proposals set to be unveiled this week.

The Spaceflight Bill would allow scientists to conduct experiments in zero gravity - paving the way for the development of vaccines and antibiotics, the Department for Transport (DfT) said.

Science minister Jo Johnson said the bill would "cement the UK's position as a world leader in this emerging market".

Under the proposals, the first commercial flight from a UK space port could lift off by 2020.

Mr Johnson said: "From the launch of Rosetta, the first spacecraft to orbit a comet, to Tim Peake's six months on the International Space Station, the UK's space sector has achieved phenomenal things in orbit and beyond.

"With this week's Spaceflight Bill launch, we will cement the UK's position as a world leader in this emerging market, giving us an opportunity to build on existing strengths in research and innovation."

Aviation minister Lord Ahmad said: "We have never launched a spaceflight before from this country.

"Our ambition is to allow for safe and competitive access to space from the UK, so we remain at the forefront of a new commercial space age."

Grants worth 10m would be made available to help develop commercial launch capability for spaceflight.

The commercial spaceflight market is worth an estimated 25bn over the next 20 years.

The bill will be unveiled in Parliament this week.

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Commercial space flights from UK by 2020 under new Govt plans - Sky News

Jim Sharkey

February 19th, 2017

This enhanced color composite image, made with data from the framing camera aboard NASAs Dawn spacecraft, shows the area around Ernutet Crater. The bright red portions appear redder with respect to the rest of Ceres. Image & Caption Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA

NASAs Dawn spacecraft has detected evidence of organic materials on Ceres, a dwarf planet that is the largest object in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Researchers using Dawns visible and infrared mapping spectrometer (VIR) discover the material in and around a crater in Ceres northern hemisphere named Ernutet. Organic materials are of interest to scientists because they are necessary, but not sufficient, components of life on Earth.

Ernutet Crater measures about 32 miles (52 km) in diameter and is located in the northern hemisphere of Ceres. Image & Caption Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA

Organic materials have previously been found inside certain meteorites and inferred from telescopic observations of certain asteroids. Ceres shares many attributes in common with meteorites rich in water and organics; in particular, a group of meteorites called carbonaceous chondrites. The discovery of organics on Ceres strengthens the connection between the dwarf planet, these meteorites, and their parent bodies.

This is the first clear detection of organic molecules from orbit on a main belt body, said Maria Cristina De Sanctis, lead author of the study, based at the National Institute of Astrophysics, Rome.The discovery is reported in the journal Science.

Data presented in the new study supports the idea that organic materials are native to Ceres. Carbonates and clays previously found on Ceres provide evidence for chemical activity in the presence of water and heat. It is possible that the organics were similarly produced in a warm, water-rich environment.

The discovery of organics on Ceres adds to the ingredients found on the dwarf planet that areassociated with life in the past. Previous studies have foundhydrated minerals, carbonates, water ice, and ammoniated clays that must have been altered by water. Salts and sodium carbonate, such asthose foundin the bright areas of Occator Crater, are also thought to have been carried to the surface by liquid.

This discovery adds to our understanding of the possible origins of water and organics on Earth, said Julie Castillo-Rogez, Dawn project scientist based at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

This enhanced color composite image from Dawns visible and infrared mapping spectrometer shows the area around Ernutet Crater on Ceres. Image & Caption Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / ASI / INAF

The organic materials on Ceres are primarily located in an area covering approximately 400 square miles (about 1,000 square kilometers). A very strong signal of organics is visible on the floor of Ernutet Crater, on its southern rim and in an area to the southwest, just outside of the crater. There are smaller organics-rich areas several miles (11 kilometers) west and east of the crater. Organics were also located in a small portion of Inamahari Crater, approximately 250 miles (400 kilometers) from Ernutet.

DawnsVIR instrument was able to detect the organic material because of its special signature in near-infrared light. In enhanced, visible-light images taken by Dawns framing camera, the organic material associated with areas that appear redder than the rest of Ceres. The unique nature of these regions stands out even in low- resolution images from the VIR instrument.

Were still working on understanding the geological context for these materials, said study co-author Carle Pieters, professor of geological sciences at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island.

After completing nearly two years of observations at Ceres, Dawn is now in an extremely elliptical orbit of the dwarf planet, going for an altitude of 4,670 miles (7,529 kilometers) up to nearly 5,810 miles (9,350 kilometers). On February 23, Dawn will raise its orbit to approximately 12,400 miles (20,000 kilometers), about the same height as GPS satellites above Earth.

The spacecraft will also shift into a different orbital plane, allowing Dawn to study Ceres in a new geometry. In late spring, Dawn will view Ceres with the Sun directly behind the spacecraft, so that Ceres will appear brighter than before, possibly revealing more clues about its nature.

Tagged: Ceres Dawn NASA The Range

Jim Sharkey is a lab assistant, writer and general science enthusiast who grew up in Enid, Oklahoma, the hometown of Skylab and Shuttle astronaut Owen K. Garriott. As a young Star Trek fan he participated in the letter-writing campaign which resulted in the space shuttle prototype being named Enterprise. While his academic studies have ranged from psychology and archaeology to biology, he has never lost his passion for space exploration. Jim began blogging about science, science fiction and futurism in 2004. Jim resides in the San Francisco Bay area and has attended NASA Socials for the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover landing and the NASA LADEE lunar orbiter launch.

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Dawn spacecraft finds evidence of organic materials on Ceres - SpaceFlight Insider

Bart Leahy

February 17th, 2017

Astronaut Shane Kimbrough tends the Veggie experiment on board the International Space Station. Photo Credit: NASA

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. Children might not want to hear this, but, if they want to be the first astronaut on Mars, theyll need to eat their vegetables. To account for that painful truth, NASA has several space farming projects to ensure people living and working in space get fresh green stuff as part of their diet.

One project the agency has in work is the Advanced Plant Habitat (APH), an experiment scheduled to head to the International Space Station (ISS) later this year.

The Advanced Plant Habitat. Photo Credit: Jim Siegel / SpaceFlight Insider

This 18 18 18-inch (45 45 45-centimeter) enclosure contains a seed bed filled with thick sand-quality clay chips for soil, fertilizer, and pumped-in water. It is covered by a plastic top to keep the surface from floating around.

The enclosure also includes two small robotic arms, which take leaf temperatures and measure the interior humidity.

Thin-stemmed flowering plants called Arabidopsis (the white mice of the plant world) will be tested for different levels of humidity, water, and light, which consists of red, white, and blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs), to determine which combination of factors most effectively support plant growth.

After the astronauts plug APH into an existing EXpedite the PRocessing of Experiments to Space Station (EXPRESS) rackaboard, they can monitor the experiment using an existing computer called FARMER or let people on the ground run it.

The system runs on approximately three liters of water and, being a mostly closed-loop system, it can run for as many as six weeks without needing to be refilled.

APH is scheduled to be launched in two parts. The first will launch on Orbital ATKs OA-7 Cygnus launch and the other aboard SpaceXs CRS-11 or CRS-12 Dragon spacecraft.

One NASA plant experiment already aboard the ISS is called Veggie.

Filling approximately a 12 12-inch (30 cm 30 cm) area, Veggie is a soft plastic enclosure that can accordion from six to 12 inches high. The base of the enclosure contains half a dozen plant pillows containing ground clay chips and fertilizer, which substitute for the dirt they would use on Earth.

The enclosure includes an interior fan to draw in space station air and keep it moving around the plants. Without constant air movement, plants in zero gravity tend to build up bubbles of oxygen around themselves.

Kjell Lindgren (left) and Scott Kelly eat lettuce grown in the Veggie experiment during Expedition 44 in August 2015. Photo Credit: NASA

Veggie project scientist Gioia Massa explained that unlike the APH, the Veggie experiment is actually growing plants that astronauts can eat, like Chinese cabbage, bell peppers, and jalapeno peppers.

Astronauts are allowed to keep and eat half of the crop developed by Veggie, while the other half is packaged up and sent back to Earth for analysis.

Plants could be useful for more than just providing food for space travelers they could also supplement spacecraft life-support systems by providing oxygen.

Raymond Wheeler, Kennedy Space Centers advanced life support lead, is looking into growing plants using whats called controlled environment agriculture.

Plants will be much easier to grow on a planetary body like the Moon or Mars because gravity allows water to flow more naturally than in zero gravity. With planet-based agriculture in mind, Wheeler is studying Earth-based techniques such as hydroponics and LED-lighted greenhouses to maximize plant growth.

When asked whether any particular plants produce more oxygen than others, Wheeler told Spaceflight Insider, No, not really. But the more light plants get, the more oxygen they produce its almost a linear function. The trick is to identify plants that are more light-tolerant.

NASAs advanced greenhouses can produce useful outcomes on Earth as well. While its hard to beat Idaho for growing consumable potatoes in the ground, Wheeler explained that NASAs nutrient-film technique is ideal for growing seed potatoes, which provide the seed stock for the potatoes grown on Earth.

By planting seed potatoes in shallow, tilted trays with a thin layer of nutrient-laden water, they can grow in a clean, disease-free environment, which is better for producing high-quality seeds.

Ralph Fritsche, Kennedy Space Centers project manager for food production, is looking into multiple creative ways to keep plants fed and watered in zero gravity.

One approach to growing food on a Mars mission is to utilize microgreens, which doesnt take up a lot of room and can be cultivated in a couple of weeks. Photo Credit: Jim Siegel / SpaceFlight Insider

Another challenge with growing plants in zero-g is overcoming surface tension, as water tends to form in globules rather than flow in a way plants can access easily.

One approach to embedding seeds in a 3-D-printed, triangle-latticed box that draws water into crevices where roots can get at it.

Some other strong contenders for Mars veggies are microgreens, which are commonly found in salads at upscale restaurants. They dont take up a lot of room, are more flavorful, and can grow in a couple of weeks.

Fritsche also mentioned a project being conducted by the Buzz Aldrin Institute to investigate plants that grow in the Atacama Desert in Chile. It is hoped that edible plants could be combined with Atacama plants to adapt to conditions on Mars.

Something NASA is still working on is determining how much space and mass will be dedicated to providing fresh vegetables on the long haul to Mars. Most of the astronauts food will be prepackaged in some form, yet fresh fruits and vegetables will still be vital for their dietary health.

Fritsche said: The challenge is getting the engineers to talk with the plant biologists to determine the best mix of equivalent system mass.

In short, NASA still needs to determine how much hardware to grow and care for plants is needed compared to just shipping prepackaged foods.

Much of this space farming technology is still a work in progress, and the ISS is the testing ground for a lot of systems. When crews start living and working at more distant destinations, they will need to take a bit of Earth with them, to help them breathe and, yes, to make sure they eat their vegetables.

Tagged: Advanced Plant Habitat CRS-11 Cygnus Dragon International Space Station OA-7 Orbital ATK SpaceX The Range Veggie

Bart Leahy is a freelance technical writer living in Orlando, Florida. Leahy's diverse career has included work for The Walt Disney Company, NASA, the Department of Defense, Nissan, a number of commercial space companies, small businesses, nonprofits, as well as the Science Cheerleaders.

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NASA studying farming in space to support trips to Mars - SpaceFlight Insider

WOODBINE The Georgia Spaceflight Act has been approved by the state House and now heads to the Senate for consideration.

The Senate companion bill was also approved, by a 49-2 vote, and now heads to the House for consideration.

State Rep. Jason Spencer, R-Woodbine, the bills sponsor, said he was encouraged by the support in both houses of the General Assembly.

The significance is that it sends a clear and resounding message that Georgia is ready to welcome commercial space industry-related jobs, he said.

The legislation requires companies in the business of launching rockets in Georgia to train their employees so they understand the risks associated with space flight. Workers in the space flight industry in Georgia will waive the right to sue the companies they work for unless gross negligence can be proven, he said.

The legislation, if approved, will help the efforts to establish a commercial spaceport in Camden County. An ongoing Federal Aviation Administration environ- mental study at the site is expected to be completed later this year.

During discussions about the legislation, Spencer said a lobbyist hired by opponents unsuccessfully tried to block the proposed bill.

The lobbyist and Little Cumberland Island property owners spent a heavy sum of money to try and stop these bills, Spencer said. So far, by my calculations based on last years and this years ethics disclosures, the opposition has spent about $5,000 per no vote for a total of $35,000 paid to lobbyists.

Spencer cautioned the process is not over and we will continue to beat them back and stay vigilant.

Both bills have crossed over and each chamber will review the respective House and Senate bills. Spencer said he expects one of the bills will pass and be sent to Gov. Nathan Deal for his consideration.

Spencer said he expects opponents to continue their fight to kill the legislation.

So far, they are mismatched and spending a lot of money to lose, he said. But we take nothing for granted.

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Spaceflight legislation passes House, Senate votes - The News (subscription)

Bart Leahy

February 16th, 2017

SpaceX has been working to ready Kennedy Space Centers Launch Complex 39A for Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets since 2014. Photo Credit: Sean Costello / SpaceFlight Insider

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. For the first time since 2011, a rocket will be sending supplies and a collection of science experimentsfor the International Space Station (ISS) from Kennedy Space Centers Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A). However, the Commercial Resupply Service (CRS) 10 mission, scheduled for Feb. 18, 2017, is not being flown by a NASA launch vehicle, but SpaceXs Falcon 9 rocket.

SpaceXs launch from LC-39A also will be a major milestone for Elon Musks rocket company. In addition to being the first flight from the former Apollo and Space Shuttle site, it will mark the companys first flight from Florida since the Sept. 1, 2016, loss of a Falcon 9 during a static fire test. The accident resulted in the loss of both the rocket and Amos-6 satellite on top and severely damaged Space Launch Complex 40, SpaceXs other East Coast launch site, which is just south of LC-39A.

The last time SpaceX launched a Dragon cargo spacecraft to the ISS was on July 18, 2016.

On Feb. 10, 2017, the California-based companyrolledits Falcon 9 and into a vertical position at LC-39A on its new transporter-erector. Two days later, the rocket underwent a static engine test.

In addition to supplies for the station, CRS-10 will deliver severalscience experiments, including the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) III instrument, the Microgravity Growth of Crystalline Monoclonal Antibodies for Pharmaceutical Applications experiment, and the Raven spacecraft navigation system, among others.

The Raven technology module. Photo Credit: Chris Gunn / NASA Goddard

SAGE III is a NASA Langley Research Center instrument that will be mounted on the Earth-facing side of ISS to study ozone in the atmosphere. The experiment is a follow-on to several previous experiments.

The original SAGE was launched to follow the Stratospheric Aerosol Measurement, or SAM, flown on the Apollo-Soyuz mission in 1975. SAGE II was a part of the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite, or ERBS, which the crew of Space Shuttle Challenger deployed in 1984. SAGE III, designed for the ISS, is a near-duplicate of one launched aboard aRussian Meteor-3M satellite in 2001.

CRS-10 also will bring materials to continue supporting a CASIS experiment monitoring the growth of monoclonal antibodies in zero gravity. Monoclonal antibodies are molecules that attach to other specific molecules in the body to aid in fighting multiple human diseases, including cancer.

The CASIS experiment crystallizes a monoclonal antibody developed by Merck Research Labs. It will use microgravity to grow extremely high-quality crystals, which allow scientists to study the proteins structure, improve drug delivery and manufacturing, anddevelop better methods for storing these molecules.

The Raven investigation studies a real-time spacecraft navigation system that provides the sensors and guidance to see a target and steer toward it safely.

Raven also will enable future exploration missions near Earth and beyond, including satellite servicing and repair, asteroid exploration and redirect missions, and the Orion program.

A previous, single-sensor version of the Raven technology flew as the Relative Navigation Sensor (RNS) Payload on STS-125, the fifth Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission.

The Raven visible camera is a repurposed flight unit from the STS-125 demonstration. It also reuses the flash lidar flown as part of the Sensor Test for RelNav Risk Mitigation (STORRM) demonstration on STS-134.

Over its two-year mission on the ISS, Raven will estimate the relative navigation state of the vehicles visiting the station each year in real time. As vehicles approach and depart from ISS, the instrument will monitor them in action and send thedata to Earth.

NASA operators will then evaluate how Ravens technologies work as a system and make system adjustments to increase its tracking performance. The device is expected to monitor approximately 50 individual rendezvous or departure trajectories over the course of its mission.

An artists illustration of Raven monitoring an approaching spacecraft. Image Credit: NASA Goddard

Other science missions Dragon will carry include the following:

An archive photo of a previous Dragon being attached to a Falcon 9 inside a horizontal integration hangar. Photo Credit: NASA

The Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) will test a charge injection device (CID) in space, attached to the exterior of ISS.A CID-based sensor can be used in astronomy experiments to directly image exoplanets and the distant stars they orbit. If proven successful, this sensor will offer a novel approach to differentiating objects in high-and-low contrast image collection scalable to large aperture space telescopes, airborne and undersea search and rescue, and NASA exploration.

CRS-10is scheduled to lift off at 10:01 a.m. EST (15:01 GMT) Feb. 18. The weather outlook for the mission is iffy with a 40 percent chance of a violation of launch constraints. The primary concern a thick cloud layer.

Should a 24-hour delay occur, the weather improves slightly to a 30 percent chance of a weather violation. The primary concern for Feb. 19 is cumulus clouds and precipitation.

Video courtesy of NASA Goddard

Tagged: CRS-10 Dragon Falcon 9 International Space Station Launch Complex 39A Lead Stories NASA SpaceX

Bart Leahy is a freelance technical writer living in Orlando, Florida. Leahy's diverse career has included work for The Walt Disney Company, NASA, the Department of Defense, Nissan, a number of commercial space companies, small businesses, nonprofits, as well as the Science Cheerleaders.

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SpaceX Dragon delivering the science on CRS-10 - SpaceFlight Insider

Indias space agency has released stunning video captured by cameras mounted on-board a rocket that launched this week with 104 satellites.

The views begin with the blastoff of the 145-foot-tall (45-meter) Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle from Indias east coast, then the separation of the rockets six strap-on solid rocket boosters and main stages.

The video then jumps to the deployment of the Cartosat 2D environmental satellite, the missions primary passenger, to begin its tasks aiding Indian infrastructure planners and mapmakers. Two Indian-built nanosatellites carrying experimental Earth observation sensors are then seen flying away from the PSLVs fourth stage in orbit 300 miles (500 kilometers) above the planet.

Next comes the release of 101 CubeSats from 25 QuadPacks mounted on the rocket. The deployments from both sides of the rocket occurred at intervals of every few seconds, taking around 10 minutes for all of the tiny spacecraft to fly free of the rocket.

Most of the satellites seen in the video are CubeSats built and owned by Planet, a San Francisco-based company with a fleet of more than 140 mini-observatories looking down on Earth.

Tiny reaction wheels derived from the motors used in dental drills were to gain pointing control of each of Planets 88 CubeSats, and the satellites which are not equipped with rocket thrusters will be spread out along their orbital path by tilting into the rarefied air flow in the uppermost reaches of Earths atmosphere, generating minute drag forces, according to a representative of the company.

Other CubeSats on the mission included eight commercial weather satellites for Spire Global, another San Francisco company, and experimental and educational payloads for institutions in Switzerland, Israel, the Netherlands, Kazakhstan and the United Arab Emirates.

Read our full story for details on the mission.

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Don't miss this spectacular video of 104 satellites deployed in space - Spaceflight Now

File photo of a Dragon supply ship berthed at the International Space Station. Credit: NASA

The 10th dedicated cargo delivery mission by SpaceXs Dragon spacecraft, and the first to liftoff from launch pad 39A at NASAs Kennedy Space Center, will carry more than 5,000 pounds of equipment to the International Space Station.

The spacecraft is set for launch no earlier than Saturday, Feb. 18, and should reach the space station Monday, Feb. 20. A Falcon 9 rocket will send the Dragon cargo carrier into orbit for the two-day transit to the research outpost.

SpaceX has launched nine resupply missions to the space station to date, including one cargo capsule lost in a launch failure. One more Dragon spacecraft flew to the space station in May 2012 on a demonstration mission.

In addition to more than 3,000 pounds of cargo inside Dragons pressurized cabin, the spacecrafts external trunk is packed with two experiment packages to be mounted outside the space station by the robotic arm.

One of the instruments, NASAsStratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment 3, will study ozone and aerosol tiny particles in the atmosphere from an observing post on one of the space stations external payload platforms.

Another unpressurized payload is sponsored by the U.S. militarys Space Test Program, hosting a suite of 13 experiments for the Defense Department and NASA.

Among STP-H5s investigations: NASAs Raven autonomous space navigation demonstration designed to support future satellite servicing missions, NASAs Lightning Imaging Sensor, NASAs SpaceCube-Mini miniaturized computer processor, the Air Forces Spacecraft Structural Health Monitoring payload to capture how fasteners, glue and mechanical parts respond to the harsh environment of space, the Air ForcesRadiation Hardened Electronic Memory Experiment, and two Naval Research Laboratory payloads intended to study the structure, composition and density of the upper atmosphere and ionosphere.

NASA has provided a breakdown of the cargo manifest listed below.

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Cargo manifest for SpaceX's 10th space station resupply mission - Spaceflight Now

File photo of a Falcon 9 rocket inside a SpaceX hangar at Cape Canaveral. Credit: SpaceX

Rainy weather expected across Central Florida this weekend has a 50-50 chance of preventing the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket Saturday on a resupply mission to the International Space Station, U.S. Air Force forecasters said Wednesday.

The official weather outlook issued by the Air Forces 45th Weather Squadron calls for thick clouds and isolated rain showers at Cape Canaveral during Saturdays launch countdown.

Liftoff is timed for 10:01 a.m. EST (1501 GMT), roughly the moment the space stations orbital path is positioned above Floridas Space Coast.

But meteorologists are tracking a upper-level trough expected to strengthen over the Gulf of Mexico on Friday.

On Saturday, this upper-level trough will migrate east, bringing the clouds and rain over the Florida peninsula, the Air Force weather team wrote in Wednesdays forecast. The clouds and rain will gradually increase through the countdown and be entrenched over the spaceport by midday. The primary weather concern for launch Saturday is the thick cloud cover and rain showers associated with the upper-level trough.

There is a 50 percent chance the weather conditions will violate one of the Falcon 9s launch rules.

The outlook calls for mostly cloudy skies, isolated rain showers, southeast winds of 10 to 15 mph, and a temperature of 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

If the launch is delayed to Sunday, the weather should improve, with a 70 percent chance of acceptable conditions.

On Sunday, the cloudiness and rain associated with the upper-level trough will continue to slowly move east, diminishing through the countdown, forecasters wrote. The main weather concern will be cumulus clouds associated with lingering instability.

The 213-foot-tall Falcon 9 rocket will take off from launch pad 39A at NASAs Kennedy Space Center, a complex just inland from the beach originally constructed for Saturn 5 moon rockets in the 1960s and modified in the late 1970s to support space shuttle flights.

SpaceX signed a 20-year lease for the launch pad in 2014, and the company has temporarily transferred all of its Florida launches to pad 39A while workers repair damage to nearby pad 40 after a rocket exploded there in September.

Crews finished modifications and testing of the historic Apollo-era launch pad with a fueling and hotfire test of the Falcon 9s first stage engines Sunday. The successful test verified the new RP-1 and liquid oxygen fueling system installed by SpaceX at pad 39A.

Technicians rolled the rocket back inside SpaceXs hangar at the southern perimeter of the launch facility for attachment of the Dragon cargo capsule loaded with supplies for the space station and its six-person crew, including a lightning imager and an instrument to monitor the health of the atmospheres ozone layer.

The Dragon supply ship will carry 5,266 pounds (2,389 kilograms) of cargo on SpaceXs 10th logistics launch to the orbiting research outpost. If the mission takes off as scheduled Saturday, the cargo carrier will reach the space station Monday, with grapple by the robotic arm expected around 9 a.m. EST (1400 GMT).

SpaceX has two cargo transportation contracts with NASA for at least 26 space station supply shipments through 2024.

The rocket is expected to return to the pad this week, riding a new transporter-erector that will hoist the Falcon 9 vertical on the launch mount over the flame trench.

After liftoff, the Falcon 9s first stage will return to Cape Canaveral from the edge of space, targeting a rocket-assisted vertical touchdown at SpaceXs Landing Zone 1 about 9 miles (15 kilometers) south of pad 39A. The recovery would mark the third time a Falcon 9 booster stage has landed at Cape Canaveral, and the first time in daylight.

Final regulatory approval for the launch and landing from the Federal Aviation Administration is still pending.

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Weather could stand in way of Falcon 9 launch Saturday - Spaceflight Now

Bart Leahy

February 16th, 2017

The Hubble Space Telescope as seen by the departing STS-125 crew after a week servicing the observatory in 2009. Photo Credit: NASA

The Wall Street Journal reports that Trump administrationadvisers are considering a public-private crewed mission aboard the Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC)Dream Chaser spacecraft to keep the aging Hubble Space Telescope (HST) operational. The proposed mission, which would not happen before 2019, would require support from the next NASA administrator.

The crew variant of Dream Chaser. Image Credit: Sierra Nevada Corporation

The Journal suggested the mission would align well with the Trump administrations desire to advance public-private partnerships while also advancingmissions that could be accomplished within the presidents current four-year term.

According to the Journal story, Mark Sirangelo, head of SNCs space systems unit, told a conference last week that Dream Chaser could be used as an exploration vehicle, a free-flight science laboratory and a servicing vehicle for in-orbit satellites and spacecraft. Additionally, an SNC representative stated that Dream Chaser was designed from the beginning to be a multi-mission orbital transportation system eventually targeting servicing, repair and assembly of technology in space.

The Journal story also stated that updatingHubblewould require relatively few additional dollars because the telescope has a modular design and Dream Chasers cargo variant already is undergoing flight tests. The vehicle would need additional life-support systems as well as a launch abort system designed to protect the crew in the event of an explosion or serious problem on the pad or during early phases of its ascent.

However, before Dream Chaser can be sent to chase Hubble in its 335-mile (539-kilometer) orbit, it first has to fly into space.

SNC is still conducting development and testing activities on the spacecraft at NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center in California as part of its Commercial Resupply Services contract. Another glide test of the vehicle is scheduled for spring 2017, with the first cargo launch to the International Space Station scheduled for sometime in 2019.

Having launched aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery on STS-31 in 1990, Hubbles primary mirror was discovered to have improperly manufactured optics, requiring its first servicing mission. That mission,STS-61, launched aboard Shuttle Endeavor in 1993. It corrected the optics and installed additional instruments to support the telescopes science mission.

Hubble Space Telescope being lifted from the payload bay of Atlantis following repairs during STS-125. Photo Credit: NASA

Four subsequent missions in 1997, 1999, 2002, and 2009 replaced items such as spectrographs, thermal insulation, gyroscopes, batteries, computers, and other components.

With these repairs, James Jeletic, deputy project manager of Hubble operations at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center, told CBS News in 2013 that he believed Hubble could operate up to 2020.

Without a reboost, Hubblewill re-enter Earths atmosphere sometime between 2030 and 2040.

Dream Chasers availability aside, the question remains: Is a sixth mission to Hubble a good investment of NASAs time and limited budget?

Jim Muncy, a long-time space lobbyist with PoliSpace and senior adviser to the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, told Spaceflight Insider:

I think the concept of using a commercial crewed vehicle to service Hubble makes a lot of sense. Its good to see SNC thinking creatively they have always talked about DreamChaser as a platform as well as a crew/cargo transporter, so this makes sense. Its not clear to me whether or not a Dragon or Starliner could carry out the same sort of mission.The SNCs cargo variants expendable mission module could make for a great airlock to allow crew to egress.But none of these vehicles have an arm for grappling Hubble [] so youd have to do some interesting EVA work to tether them together.

When asked if Hubbles role could be supplemented by existing ground-based telescopes, Dr. Tom Brown, Mission Head of the Hubble Space Telescope, told Spaceflight Insider:

Hubble is currently performing well, and it provides unique capabilities that are not achievable from any ground facility in existence or planned (e.g., ultraviolet imaging and spectroscopy, high-resolution optical imaging with low backgrounds).We expect Hubble to provide these capabilities for at least a few years of overlap with the upcoming mission of the James Webb Space Telescope, launching in late 2018. Beyond that, the Space Telescope Science Institute has no official position regarding the servicing of Hubble to extend its lifetime.

Dr. Garth Illingworth, an astronomer at the Lick Observatory, has used Hubble to study the formation of galaxies. Regardingthe potential worth of a Hubble servicing mission. Dr. Illingworthtold Spaceflight Insider:

The question of the worth of another servicing mission hinges on a careful evaluation of the capabilities of the upcomingWFIRST[Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope] Hubble-like telescope (similar in size) and on what we would do differently with Hubble. I have heard some interesting ideas for instruments that would be great to have on Hubble. While I might love to have Hubble serviced again, one needs a hard-nosed evaluation of the science that would be gained to decide if it is worth the cost.

What we would try to do in space for astrophysics depends a lot of what is judged to lead to the most interesting scientific results. This is always a topic of much discussion among scientists. And ultimately we look to the Decadal Survey to establish our priorities.

While JWST is not serviceable, we expect that most future telescopes will be potentially serviceable. Current plans are to make WFIRST serviceable []. And larger future telescopes beyond will surely be serviceableand maybe even will be assembled and tested in space by astronauts and robotic capability.

The James WebbSpace Telescope (JWST), Hubbles designated successor observatory, is scheduled to launch to the Earth-Sun L2 Lagrange point aboard an Ariane 5 rocket in 2018. One argument for updating Hubble is that could serve as a backup space telescope in case JWST suffers a failure of some kind.

As Illingworth noted, unlike Hubble, JWSTis not designed to be serviced in space.Lynn Chandler with NASAs JWST Communications group told Spaceflight Insider,

In the early days of the Webb project, studies were conducted to evaluate the benefits, practicality and cost of servicing Webb either by human space flight, by robotic missions, or by some combination such as retrieval to low-Earth orbit. Those studies concluded that the potential benefits of servicing do not offset the increases in mission complexity, mass and cost that would be required to make Webb serviceable, or to conduct the servicing mission itself.

Whether NASA decides to pursue this commercial Hubble servicing mission will be up to the next agency administrator. As with any new presidential administration, the answer, for now, is wait and see.

Tagged: Dream Chaser Hubble Space Telescope James Webb Space Telescope Lead Stories NASA Sierra Nevada Corporation

Bart Leahy is a freelance technical writer living in Orlando, Florida. Leahy's diverse career has included work for The Walt Disney Company, NASA, the Department of Defense, Nissan, a number of commercial space companies, small businesses, nonprofits, as well as the Science Cheerleaders.

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Trump space advisors considering Hubble servicing mission - SpaceFlight Insider

First Coast News , WTLV 3:09 PM. EST February 16, 2017

Georgia Capitol Building (Photo: FCN)

The Georgia House of Representatives passed a bill 162-5 that would define procedures for space flight in Georgia, as well as bring jobs to the state.

HB1, the Georgia Space Flight Act, is sponsored by Georgia Representative Jason Spencer (R-Woodbine). It would limit a "willing participant's" ability to sue for damages relating to space flight activities, as well as require the participant to give informed consent.

Proponents of the bill also say it will bring jobs to the state.

"Today's passage of HB1 sends a clear message to the commercial space industry that Georgia is serious about bringing much needed high-tech jobs to our state," said Rep. Spencer. "Georgia and Camden County are becoming well positioned as an attractive hub for the (space) industry's future business activities and operations, bringing significant economic and inspirational benefits to the citizens of Georgia."

The commercial space industry continues to grow from its current base of $330 billion per year, Spencer says.

( 2017 WTLV)

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Georgia Space Flight Act passes in the House, closer to bringing jobs to Camden County - Firstcoastnews.com

Indias Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle lifts off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center on the coast of the Bay of Bengal, sending 104 satellites spaceward. (ISRO Photo)

A record-setting flock of 104 satellites was successfully deployed into orbit overnight after the launch of an Indian rocket. Seattle-based Spaceflight Industries played a part in getting nine of those satellites where they needed to go.

Indias Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, or PSLV, lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center at Sriharikota at 9:28 a.m. local time today (7:58 p.m. PT Tuesday).

The missions main payload was the Indian Space Research Organizations Cartosat 2D, a car-sized satellite designed for environmental mapping. Another 88 Dove nanosatellites, each about the size of a toaster oven, will become part of Planets Earth-observing constellation.

Eight more nanosatellites were launched for Spire Global, which is filling out a constellation to monitor weather as well as aviation and maritimetraffic. This is the second Spire PSLV mission facilitated by Spaceflight Industries, which handles launch logistics.

Spaceflight also arranged to get Israel Aerospace Industries BGUSat nanosatellite on the flight. BGUSat is a research spacecraft built by students at Ben Gurion University to perform cloud imaging and measure atmospheric background radiation.

Sixmore research satellites rounded out the flock, which represented the highest number of satellites launched on a single rocket. ISRO said all 104 satellites were successfully deployed into pole-to-pole orbits within a half-hour after launch.

The mission marked a numerical milestone for Spaceflight Industries as well as for Indias space effort.

Weve hit (and passed) the 100-satellite milestone, Spaceflight said in a pre-launch blog posting. With this launch, weve sent103 satellites to space since our first one in 2013. The team at Spaceflight is proud of this achievement, and to be part of enabling the growth of commercial enterprises and new science missions in space.

In addition to launch logistics, Spaceflight is building its own spacecraft for its BlackSky Earth-observing constellation. Its first BlackSky Pathfinder satellite was launched on a PSLV rocket last September, and the second Pathfinder is due to be sent into orbit later this year.

Eventually, Spaceflights BlackSky subsidiary aims to have 60 satellites sending down on-demand imagery from low Earth orbit.

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104-satellite launch marks success for India (and Seattle's Spaceflight Industries) - GeekWire