Posted on: 3:37 pm, March 11, 2014, by David Wood, updated on: 08:30pm, March 11, 2014

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) -Sierra Nevada Corporation(SNC) announces the expansion of itsDream Chaserprogram team and scope of work in Huntsville with the signing of a Space Act Agreement (SAA) Annex with NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) and a Teaming Agreement with Teledyne Brown Engineering (TBE).

We believe space is a team sport, saidMark Sirangelo, Corporate Vice President and head of SNCs Space Systems.During todays press conference at MSFC Sirangelopresented details of the two new agreements that advance the Dream Chaser spacecraft to enable science payload operations and technology development in support of continued growth and utilization of space and the International Space Station (ISS).

That means going to people who have the expertise, the knowledge and the ability to make us better; and really what today is about is that story were adding to our team.

Sirangelo outlined the substantial contribution each partner will make towards the Dream Chaser Advanced Development program.

Today we are pleased to announce that we are increasing our presence in Alabama by expanding our relationship with theMarshall Space Flight Centerand adding Teledyne Brown Engineering to our growing Dream Chaser team, Sirangelo said.

Each of these organizations provide experts in their respective fields and have already begun applying their invaluable knowledge and experience. We will work together to evaluate future low-Earth orbit (LEO) mission concepts for the Dream Chaser in the area of scientific payload operations with the goal of enhancing and enabling science in LEO. We are honored they are joining our already dynamic list of partners our Dream Team which now includes over 15 companies, seven NASA centers and a growing list of universities. The team spans more than 30 states and several countries with the common goal of furthering the development of the multi-mission Dream Chaser spacecraft.

So what is Dream Chaser? Think of it like a mobile science lab much like we have on the space station.

It has the capability of doing on-orbit research in a variety of different ways and we think one of the most critical ways to do that is looking at the whole bio-science area,Sirangelo said. Which is why SNC is reaching out to other state entities like UAH, UAB, and Hudson-Alpha Institute for Biotechnology.

SNCs Space Systems Advanced Development group is responsible for overseeing the multi-mission capability of the Dream Chaser spacecraft which includes crew-capable LEO servicing, science and transportation missions. The inherent capabilities of the reusable Dream Chaser lifting body spacecraft, as illustrated by its low-g reentry and runway landing, make it an ideal vehicle to support a variety of LEO missions.

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Sierra Nevada Corp. Expands Work in Huntsville with Marshall Space Flight Center and Teledyne Brown for Dream Chaser

Sparks, Nev., March 11, 2014 Sierra Nevada Corporation(SNC) announces the expansion of itsDream Chaserprogram team and scope of work in Huntsville, Ala., with the signing of a Space Act Agreement (SAA) Annex with NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) and a Teaming Agreement with Teledyne Brown Engineering (TBE).

During todays press conference at MSFC,Mark N. Sirangelo, corporate vice president and head of SNCs Space Systems, presented details of the two new agreements that advance the Dream Chaser spacecraft to enable science payload operations and technology development in support of continued growth and utilization of space and the International Space Station (ISS).

Sirangelo outlined the substantial contribution each partner will make towards the Dream Chaser Advanced Development program. Sirangelo stated, Today we are pleased to announce that we are increasing our presence in Alabama by expanding our relationship with theMarshall Space Flight Centerand adding Teledyne Brown Engineering to our growing Dream Chaser team. Each of these organizations provide experts in their respective fields and have already begun applying their invaluable knowledge and experience. We will work together to evaluate future low-Earth orbit (LEO) mission concepts for the Dream Chaser in the area of scientific payload operations with the goal of enhancing and enabling science in LEO. We are honored they are joining our already dynamic list of partners our Dream Team - which now includes over 15 companies, seven NASA centers and a growing list of universities. The team spans more than 30 states and several countries with the common goal of furthering the development of the multi-mission Dream Chaser spacecraft.

SNCs Space Systems Advanced Development group is responsible for overseeing the multi-mission capability of the Dream Chaser spacecraft which includes crew-capable LEO servicing, science and transportation missions. The inherent capabilities of the reusable Dream Chaser lifting body spacecraft, as illustrated by its low-g reentry and runway landing, make it an ideal vehicle to support a variety of LEO missions.

SNC selected MSFCs Mission Operations Laboratory (MOL), an authority in mission operations for science payloads aboard the ISS, to collaborate with SNCs engineers to evaluate Design Reference Missions, operations planning, training and mission execution for utilizing the Dream Chaser as a platform to complement and support science being performed on the ISS.

We are glad to share the knowledge and expertise weve gained through our decades of experience with payload development for space shuttle missions and operating and maintaining science research on the International Space Station, said Patrick Scheuermann, Marshall director. We have enjoyed a successful partnership with Sierra Nevada Corporation for more than two years and look forward to continued collaboration.

The MOL is run by a dedicated team of civil servants and experienced commercial contractors led byTeledyne Brown Engineering, a close partner to SNC. Under the Teaming Agreement, SNC and TBE are working together to evaluate strategic and technical partnership opportunities for the Dream Chaser Advanced Development team and other space systems collaborations.

We are very pleased to team with Sierra Nevada Corporation in the development of the Dream Chaser, said Rex D. Geveden, executive vice president, Teledyne Technologies Incorporated. This is an exceptional opportunity to apply our capabilities in payload development and integration to an exciting new space transportation system.

SNC signed its first Space Act Agreement with NASAs Marshall Center in 2012 leveraging MSFCs expertise and resources to perform wind tunnel testing on various configurations of the Dream Chaser/United Launch Alliance Atlas V launch stack in MSFCs trisonic wind tunnel lab. The data generated from the series of tests helped define the vehicles aerodynamic characteristics in flight.

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SNC Expands Work in Huntsville WIth Marshall Space Flight Center & Teledyne Brown Engineering

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden will get a firsthand look at the work being done on the Space Launch System (SLS) avionics and flight software during a visit Friday, March 14 to the agency's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.

Journalists are invited to participate in the tour and media availability at 1:20 p.m. CDT.

SLS, NASA's new rocket, will be the largest, most capable launch system ever built to support deep space missions. The avionics system -- including hardware, software and operating systems -- that will guide the rocket are arranged in flight configuration, and are being tested at Marshall's System Integration Laboratory.

Bolden will tour the facility and watch flight simulations to see how SLS will perform during launch. In addition, members of the Alabama Congressional delegation and community leaders have been invited to the tour.

Media interested in attending should contact Kimberly Henry in Marshall's Public & Employee Communications Office at 256-544-0034 no later than 4 p.m. Thursday, March 13. Media must report to the Redstone Arsenal Joint Visitor Control Center at Gate 9, Interstate 565 interchange at Rideout Road/Research Park Boulevard. Vehicles are subject to a security search at the gate. Media will need two photo identifications and proof of car insurance.

The first flight test of the SLS, which will feature a configuration for a 70-metric-ton (77-ton) lift capacity and carry an uncrewed Orion spacecraft beyond low-Earth orbit to test the performance of the integrated system, is targeted for 2017. As the SLS evolves, it will provide an unprecedented lift capability of 130 metric tons (143 tons) to enable missions even farther into our solar system, including an asteroid and Mars.

For more information on SLS, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/sls

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NASA Administrator to See Space Launch System Progress at Marshall

Garry #39;s Mod: We Can Build It Episode 1 [Space Flight]
Hello YouTuber #39;s and welcome to the Garry #39;s Mod The We Can Build It series we are going to be making a lot of Episode #39;s as long as we get people Commenting a...

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Garry's Mod: We Can Build It Episode 1 [Space Flight] - Video

Joseph Matus -- an engineer at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., and a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y. -- recently was honored for his work on critical flight hardware for the Orion spacecraft's first flight test, Exploration Flight Test-1.

The adapter will connect the Orion spacecraft with a Delta IV rocket for the launch later this fall. The adapter, designed and built at the Marshall Center, is complete and ready to be shipped ahead of that maiden flight.

Matus, originally from Little Falls, N.Y., received a special commendation award for leading the effort to design, build, test, qualify and deliver the stage adapter. He served in that role from October 2011 to September 2013.

Matus earned his bachelor's degree in 1985 from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He is now the assistant chief engineer for NASA'sDiscovery/New Frontiers Programat the Marshall Center. He identifies and resolves high-level technical issues and provides technical insight into various projects within the program.

During Orion's first trip to space, the spacecraft will travel 3,600 miles above Earths surface before re-entering the atmosphere traveling approximately 20,000 mph at temperatures near 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

The uncrewed flight will provide engineers with important data about Orion's heat shield and other elements, including the adapters performance before it is flown in 2017 as part of the first Space Launch System (SLS) mission. SLS, NASA's new rocket, will be capable of powering humans and support systems to deep space. It has the greatest capacity of any launch system ever built, minimizing cost and risk.

The flight adapter will be delivered in April from Marshall to United Launch Alliance's facility in Decatur, Ala. The company is constructing the Delta IV rocket for Orions first flight. From there, it will travel by ship to Cape Canaveral, Fla.

To watch a video of the adapter's journey to completion, clickhere.

For more information on Orion, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/mpcv/

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Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Alum Joseph Matus Awarded for Work on Flight Hardware for Orion's First Flight Test

HOUSTON -- Astronaut Michael Barratt spent more than six months on the International Space Station, making him well qualified for his current job as manager of NASA's Human Research Program, studying the effects of space on the human body.

Play Video

CBS News correspondent Chip Reid looks at the Johnson Space Centers Neutral Buoyancy Lab, a pool with an underwater mock-up of the International...

Barratt, a medical doctor, says a more serious problem is that months of zero gravity can leave bones brittle and muscles weak. Fortunately, there's a simple solution: vigorous exercise that offsets the loss of muscle and bone mass.

Tom Marshburn

CBS News

"When I finished my five-month mission, I was able to stand up, walk a straight line, and it's quite an accomplishment," Marshburn says. "We had not been able to do that before."

When not in space, Marshburn works on the strength and dexterity needed for space walks in a giant pool at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. But some effects of space on the human body don't have simple answers.

"It's safe to say that radiation is our biggest concern," Barratt says. "Unfortunately, the space flight environment is a radiation environment."

Astronauts train in a giant pool at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

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How astronauts combat debilitating effects of space

Monkeys on Jupiter Space Flight
Monkeys - Jupiter Space Shot - Two rhesus monkeys, Able and Baker, who survived a biomedical research trip into space in a Jupiter missile nosecone are picke...

By: thenatman

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Monkeys on Jupiter Space Flight - Video

The Small Satellite Orbital Deployer, in the grasp of the Kibo laboratory robotic arm, is photographed by an Expedition 38 crew member on the International Space Station as it deploys a set of NanoRacks CubeSats last month. REUTERS/NASA

Wakata, 50, had been a space station flight engineer since he and two crewmates arrived on Nov. 7.

"I am humbled to assume the command of the space station," Wakata said during a change-of-command ceremony broadcast on NASA Television.

Outgoing station commander Oleg Kotov, flight engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy, both from Russia, and NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins are due to depart the orbital outpost on Monday. Their replacements arrive on March 26.

Wakata's command marks just the third time the station is being overseen by a crewmember who is not from NASA or the Russian Space Agency, the two primary partners of the 15-nation project.

Canadian Chris Hadfield served as commander from March to May 2013. European Space Agency astronaut Frank DeWinne led a station crew in 2009.

"I am very proud as a Japanese to be given this important command," Wakata, speaking Japanese, said through a translator.

"I think that this reflects the real trust toward Japan and what Japan has achieved over the past years," he said.

So far, four Japanese astronauts have served as space station crewmembers, including Wakata, who previously flew in 2009. Wakata also is a veteran of two space shuttle missions.

Along with NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin, Wakata is scheduled to remain aboard the station until mid-May.

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Space station command a first for Japan

Space Florida's objective for the space tourism marketing appropriation is to define and develop the scope of space tourism throughout the state of Florida. Breaking the plan into three phases will allow us to address the different needs and goals of the aerospace industry. Each stage of this plan includes specific tactics with messaging relevant to the targeted demographic, as well as built in opportunities to measure reach, effectiveness and the return on investment of each individual tactic.

Phase I will re-engage our targeted demographic and renew their enthusiasm in space through current space-related tourism activities. Although there are no longer shuttle launches, the space industry is just as relevant. By capitalizing on the branding and nostalgia of space history, we will have the opportunity to promote future space travel opportunities while engaging people through current space-related activities. Whether its visits to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, a ride on Zero G gravity plane, or developing new business opportunities, Florida is the place for space.

Phase II will begin the shift fiom space-related tourism to actual "space tourism" by partnering with the organizations involved in this transition in conjunction with Florida's branding of space tourism as human space flight, for pleasure, business or educational opportunities. Defining and promoting the limitless possibilities of space tourism creates a consumer reach that targets millions.

Phase III will begin in anticipation of the first human space flight. The excitement we've been building through the first two phases of space tourism marketing will culminate when space vehicles begin taking tourists to explore space. Florida will be known, not only for the history of the nation's space program, but as the place where private citizens can experience space flight for themselves.

The attached document titled: Space Tourism Strategies & Activities, identifies a three phase approach to the proposed plan which is based on a five year strategy.

Full document: Space Florida Space February 3 FY 2014 Tourism Report DEO Deliverables, Space Florida

Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook.

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Space Florida Space Tourism Marketing Plan

Hypnosis for Astronauts on the International Space Station - Space Adaptation Back Pain
Space Adaptation Back Pain is a pain in the... lumbar region for about 50% of our astronauts. It occurs during the early stages of space flight and lasts for...

By: Susan Wallace

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Hypnosis for Astronauts on the International Space Station - Space Adaptation Back Pain - Video

NASA Testing Robot Satellite Refueling | Space Science HD
More space news and info at: http://www.coconutsciencelab.com - NASA #39;s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland and Kennedy Space Center in Florida joined for...

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NASA Testing Robot Satellite Refueling | Space Science HD - Video

By Travelmail Reporter

PUBLISHED: 11:08 EST, 9 March 2014 | UPDATED: 11:08 EST, 9 March 2014

Sir Richard Branson has revealed that the inspiration for his commercial space flight venture came during a phone-in on a children's TV show in the 1980s.

The Virgin boss said he first had the idea for the ambitious project when a viewer suggested it on the BBC Saturday morning show Going Live in 1988.

What's got into him? The businessman seemed to be having a laugh-a-minute on the show

Mr Branson made his confession while being interviewed on Jonathan Ross ITV chat show.

He said: You never know what sparks things off in your mind but as a result of that show we registered the name Virgin Galactic Airways.

Over the next decade I started travelling around the world meeting technicians and engineers to see if we could find a genius who could build a spaceship that could take you and me into space.

Sir Richard said the idea was the beginning of a whole new era of space travel and was the most ridiculously exciting thing that I've done in my lifetime.

He said: 'People will become astronauts, theyll be able to experience zero gravity. Theyll be able to check the world is really round and theyll have the ride of a lifetime.'

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Sir Richard Branson admits he got idea for space flight from children's TV phone-in

NASA has successfully concluded a remotely controlled test of new technologies that would empower future space robots to transfer hazardous oxidizer a type of propellant into the tanks of satellites in space today.

Concurrently on the ground, NASA is incorporating results from this test and the Robotic Refueling Mission on the International Space Station to prepare for an upcoming ground-based test of a full-sized robotic servicer system that will perform tasks on a mock satellite client.

Collectively, these efforts are part of an ongoing and aggressive technology development campaign to equip robots and humans with the tools and capabilities needed for spacecraft maintenance and repair, the assembly of large space telescopes, and extended human exploration.

Technologies to help satellites that help Earth

The Satellite Servicing Capabilities Office (SSCO) at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., checked another critical milestone off their list with the completion of their Remote Robotic Oxidizer Transfer Test (RROxiTT) in February 2014.

This is the first time that anyone has tested this type of technology, and we've proven that it works. It's ready for the next step to flight, said Frank Cepollina, veteran leader of the five servicing missions to the Hubble Space Telescope and the associate director of SSCO.

RROxiTT gives NASA, and the satellite community at large, confidence that advanced satellite refueling and maintenance technologies aren't a wild dream of the future, said Cepollina. They're being built and tested today and the capabilities that they can unlock can become a reality.

Since 2009, SSCO has been investigating human and robotic satellite servicing while developing the technologies necessary to bring on-orbit spacecraft inspection, repair, refueling, component replacement and assembly capabilities to space.

Taking lessons learned from the successful Robotic Refueling Mission, the SSCO team devised the ground-based RROxiTT to test how robots can transfer hazardous oxidizer, at flight-like pressures and flow rates, through the propellant valve and into the mock tank of a satellite.

While this capability could be applied to spacecraft in multiple orbits, SSCO focused RROxiTT specifically on technologies that could help satellites traveling the busy space highway of geosynchronous Earth orbit, or GEO.

The rest is here:

Space News: NASA tests new robotic refueling technologies

Businessman Sir Richard Branson has admitted he got the idea for his commercial space flight venture during a phone-in on a children's TV show.

The Virgin boss says he first thought about it in 1988 on the BBC Saturday morning show Going Live when someone suggested it during a viewer phone-in.

Appearing on Jonathan Ross's ITV chat show, Branson said: "You never know what sparks things off in your mind but as as result of that show we registered the name Virgin Galactic Airways.

"Over the next decade I started travelling around the world meeting technicians and engineers to see if we could find a genius who could build a spaceship that could take you and me into space."

Sir Richard said the idea was the "beginning of a whole new era of space travel" and was "the most ridiculously exciting thing that I've done in my lifetime".

He added: "If we can get enough people wanting to fly it then we can start building Virgin hotels in space, we can start doing trips to Mars."

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Branson got space idea from kids' TV show

Space Station Live: Cold Atom Laboratory Mission
Public Affairs Officer Lori Meggs at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama spoke with NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientists Anita Sengu...

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Space Station Live: Cold Atom Laboratory Mission - Video

Can Astronauts Return to Earth Without Russia?
The crisis in Ukraine is causing some tension between the United States and Russia. If Russia decided that they don #39;t want to bring American astronauts on th...

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Can Astronauts Return to Earth Without Russia? - Video

NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center and Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) will host a news conference on Tuesday, March 11, to announce a newly expanded Space Act Agreement. Under this new agreement, Marshall will provide technical expertise to SNC as it plans for integration of on-orbit science payloads on its Dream Chaser spacecraft. Teledyne Brown Engineering, which will provide support to SNC under a Teaming Agreement, will also participate.

The news conference will be held in the Marshall Center press room, Building 4200, on Rideout Road at 10 a.m. Media that cannot attend in person may join the news conference via telephone by calling 800-619-2655, passcode: SierraNV

News conference participants are:

- Paul Gilbert, deputy manager of the Flight Programs and Partnerships Office, NASA Marshall - Mark McEylea, chief of the Advanced Planning and Integration Office for Marshalls Mission Operations Laboratory - Mark Sirangelo, corporate vice president and head of Sierra Nevada Corporations Space Systems, Louisville, Colo. - Rex Geveden, executive vice president of Teledyne Technologies, Thousand Oaks, Calif.

News media interested in attending should contact Janet Anderson in Marshall's Public & Employee Communications Office at 256-544-0034 no later than 4 p.m. CDT Monday, March 10.

Media must report to the Redstone Arsenal Visitor Center at Gate 9, I-565 interchange at Rideout Road/Research Park Boulevard at 9 a.m., Tuesday, March 11 for escort.

For more information about Marshall Space Flight Center, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/home/index.html.

For more information about Sierra Nevada CorporationsDream Chaser, visit:

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NASAs Marshall Center Enhances Dream Chaser Agreement with Sierra Nevada Corporation

March 7, 2014

Image Caption: Located at the Kennedy Space Center but commanded from Goddard, the RROxiTT industrial robot mimicked how future space robots could transfer oxidizer to a satellite valve. Credit: NASA

Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

NASA is using the International Space Station (ISS) as a test bed for technologies that could refuel and repair existing satellites in orbit.

The space agency said it is preparing another round of demonstrations on the space station to test the new technology. This testing will focus on real-time relative navigation, spacecraft inspection and the replenishment of cryogens in satellites that were not initially built for in-flight service.

The experiments are part of another initiative to equip robots and humans with tools and capabilities needed for spacecraft maintenance and repair, which could be useful for extended manned missions to places like an asteroid or Mars.

The Satellite Servicing Capabilities Office (SSCO) has been ongoing at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt Maryland since 2009.

With more than 400 satellites in space that could benefit from robotic servicing, we thought a refueling test was the best place to start, Frank Cepollina, veteran leader of the five servicing missions to the Hubble Space Telescope, and associate director of SSCO, said in a statement. We wanted to demonstrate technologies that build life-extension capabilities and jumpstart a discussion about new ways to manage assets in space. We never planned to stop there, however. It was only the first step.

SSCOs Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM) and follow-up tests have demonstrated that remotely controlled robots could work through the caps and wires on a satellite fuel valve and transfer fluid into existent satellites.

NASA conducted a demonstration called the Remote Robotic Oxidizer Transfer Test (RROxiTT) last month where a robot remotely controlled from Goddard successfully transferred corrosive satellite oxidizer into a mock satellite tank located at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Now that this test is over, NASA said SSCO is broadening its portfolio to include xenon transfer technology.

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NASA Looks To Robots To Refuel And Repair Satellites In Orbit

Washington, March 6:

NASA has successfully concluded a remotely controlled test of new technologies to empower future space robots to repair and refuel future satellites in space.

NASA is incorporating results from this test and the Robotic Refuelling Mission on the International Space Station (ISS) to prepare for an upcoming ground-based test of a full-sized robotic servicer system that will perform tasks on a mock satellite client.

These efforts are part of an ongoing and aggressive technology development campaign to equip robots and humans with the tools and capabilities needed for spacecraft maintenance and repair, the assembly of large space telescopes, and extended human exploration.

The Satellite Servicing Capabilities Office (SSCO) at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, checked another critical milestone off their list with the completion of their Remote Robotic Oxidiser Transfer Test (RROxiTT) in February, NASA said.

This is the first time that anyone has tested this type of technology, and weve proven that it works. Its ready for the next step to flight, said Frank Cepollina, veteran leader of the five servicing missions to the Hubble Space Telescope and the associate director of SSCO.

RROxiTT gives NASA, and the satellite community at large, confidence that advanced satellite refuelling and maintenance technologies arent a wild dream of the future, said Cepollina.

Taking lessons learned from the successful Robotic Refuelling Mission, the SSCO team devised the ground-based RROxiTT to test how robots can transfer hazardous oxidiser, at flight-like pressures and flow rates, through the propellant valve and into the mock tank of a satellite.

While this capability could be applied to spacecraft in multiple orbits, SSCO focused RROxiTT specifically on technologies that could help satellites travelling the busy space highway of geosynchronous Earth orbit, or GEO.

Located about 35,406km above Earth, this orbital path is home to more than 400 satellites, many of which beam communications, television and weather data to customers worldwide.

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NASA tests space robots to refuel satellites

March 6, 2014

Image Caption: Two-percent scale models of the Space Launch System (SLS) solid rocket boosters and core stage RS-25 engines. Credit: NASA/MSFC

[ Watch The Video: Models Helping Engineers Better Understand Heat ]

Megan Davidson, NASA

To better understand the heating conditions at the base of what will be the biggest, most powerful rocket ever built, engineers at NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., are thinking small really small.

Models of NASAs Space Launch System (SLS) core stage RS-25 engines and solid rocket boosters scaled down to just 2 percent of the actual size of the flight hardware have been designed, built and hot-fire tested at sea level conditions. The tests are part of the Pathfinder Test Program, which is run by Marshall engineers in close collaboration with Calspan-University of Buffalo Research Center Inc., in Buffalo, N.Y. The SLS core stage, towering more than 200 feet tall with a diameter of 27.6 feet, will store the cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen that will feed the vehicles RS-25 engines.

The replicas will help engineers in a huge way by providing data on the convective heating environments that the base of the vehicle will experience during ascent. The models were developed for base heating testing scheduled for this summer.

Data from those tests will be used to set specifications for the design of the rockets base thermal protection system, which keeps major hardware such as wiring, and later the crew, safe from the extreme heat the boosters and engines create while burning on ascent.

So why use mini rocket engines?

Using scale models of the SLS core stage engines and boosters are not only cost-effective but also can fit in a wind tunnel, said Manish Mehta, lead engineer for the SLS Base Heating Test Program. Wind tunnel testing is one of the most proven ways to adequately simulate the pressure and heating an actual rocket will experience during ascent. We had to make sure these models achieve aerodynamic and rocket plume similarity with the real flight vehicle as close as possible.

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Mini Rocket Models Used For Space Launch System Base Heating Test