Daily Archives: December 19, 2014

Space Station Live: ISS: The Research Possibilities are Endless
NASA Commentator Lori Meggs at the Marshall Space Flight Center speaks with NASA Chief Scientist Ellen Stofan about research on the International Space Station and why the orbiting laboratory...

By: ReelNASA

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Space Station Live: ISS: The Research Possibilities are Endless - Video

Dec 16, 2014 by Ken Kremer, Universe Today A SpaceX Falcon 9 at Cape Canaveral launch pad 40 is slated to launch on Dec. 19, 2014 on the CRS-5 mission. Credit: Ken Kremer kenkremer.com

NASA and SpaceX are now targeting Dec. 19 as the launch date for the next unmanned cargo run to the International Space Station (ISS) under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services contract.

The fifth SpaceX cargo mission was postponed from Dec. 16 to Dec. 19 to "allow SpaceX to take extra time to ensure they do everything possible on the ground to prepare for a successful launch," according to a statement from NASA.

The Dragon spacecraft will launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

Both the Falcon 9 rocket and its Dragon spacecraft are in good health, according to NASA.

The mission dubbed SpaceX CRS-5 is slated for liftoff at 1:20 p.m.

An on time liftoff will result in a rendezvous with the ISS on Sunday. The crew would grapple the Dragon with the stations 57 foot long robotic arm at about 6 a.m.

US astronaut and station commander Barry Wilmore will operate the Canadarm2 to capture the SpaceX Dragon when it arrives Sunday morning. ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti will assist Wilmore working at a robotics workstation inside the domed Cupola module during the commercial craft's approach and rendezvous.

The unmanned cargo freighter is loaded with more than 3,700 pounds of scientific experiments, technology demonstrations, crew supplies, spare parts, food, water, clothing and assorted research gear.

The Dragon research experiments will support over 256 science and research investigations for the six person space station crews on Expeditions 42 and 43.

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NASA and SpaceX targeting Dec. 19 for next space station ...

Launch of a SpaceX Dragon cargo ship like this one, shown during final approach to the International Space Station last September, has been delayed from Friday to Jan. 6 because of technical issues, holiday launch opportunities and orbital temperature constraints. SpaceX

SpaceX has delayed the launch of its fifth operational space station resupply mission from Friday to Jan. 6 because of problems encountered during an engine test firing Tuesday, limited options for additional launch attempts over the holidays and unrelated issues concerning the space station's orbit, the company and NASA confirmed Thursday.

SpaceX spokesman John Taylor said the hot fire test, in which the nine Merlin 1D engines in the Falcon 9 rocket's first stage were briefly ignited Tuesday evening to make sure ground and flight systems were ready for launch, was cut short, but he did not provide any details.

He said it would have been possible to press ahead for launch either Friday or Saturday, but mission managers decided to err on the side of caution and to delay the flight to early January.

"While the recent static fire test accomplished nearly all of our goals, the test did not run the full duration," he said via email. "The data suggests we could push forward without a second attempt, but out of an abundance of caution, we are opting to execute a second static fire test prior to launch."

"Given the extra time needed for data review and testing, coupled with the limited launch date availability due to the holidays and other restrictions, our earliest launch opportunity is now Jan. 6 with Jan. 7 as a backup."

The "other restrictions" refer to so-called "beta angle cutouts," periods when the angle between the sun and the plane of the space station's orbit results in near continuous sunlight and higher-than-normal temperatures that increase the demand on the lab's cooling systems.

The next cutout, extending from Dec. 28 to Jan. 7, would not have any impact on the Falcon 9's launch, but the arrival of the SpaceX Dragon cargo ship could cause problems. For a launch on Jan. 6, the Dragon would reach the station on Jan. 8, after the beta constraint eases.

The upcoming launch will kick off the first U.S. station resupply flight since an Orbital Sciences Antares rocket carrying a station-bound Cygnus cargo ship exploded seconds after liftoff Oct. 28.

In the wake of the space shuttle's retirement, NASA is relying on Orbital and SpaceX to deliver critical U.S. supplies and equipment to the lab complex, augmenting cargo carried up aboard Russian Progress supply ships and occasional Japanese freighters.

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SpaceX delays space station resupply flight

NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko are gearing up for launch March 27 to kick off a record one-year stay aboard the International Space Station, an orbital marathon both men say is crucial for planning future flights beyond Earth orbit and, eventually, to Mars.

While four cosmonauts logged flights longer than one year between 1987 and 1999, the upcoming flight will be a first for the international lab complex and the first to focus on the long-term biological effects of the space environment using state-of-the-art medical and scientific research equipment and procedures.

"If we're ever going to go beyond low-Earth orbit for longer periods of time, spaceflight presents a lot of challenges to the human body with regard to bone loss, muscle loss, vision issues that we've recently realized people are having, the effect on your immune system, the effect of radiation on our bodies," Kelly said Thursday during a news conference in Paris. "Understanding those effects are very important.

"If a mission to Mars is going to take a three-year round trip, we need to know better how our body and our physiology performs over durations longer than what we've previously on the space station investigated, which is six months. Perhaps there's a cliff out there with regards to some of these issues that we experience and perhaps there aren't. But we won't know unless we investigate it."

A veteran of three previous space flights, including a shuttle mission to the Hubble Space Telescope and a 159-day stay aboard the station in 2010-11, Kelly is the twin brother of Mark Kelly, a retired astronaut who flew four shuttle missions and who is married to former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.

Kornienko also is a station veteran, logging 176 days aboard the outpost in 2010.

Astronaut Scott Kelly, left, and cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko strike a pose during training for launch next year on a record year-long mission aboard the International Space Station.

NASA

"The last long-time space mission was on the Mir (space) station and it brought major data for investigations and research about how humans will feel during long-term flights into space," he said. "I hope that our mission will be an opportunity for others who will follow in our footsteps and take space exploration further."

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Space station team eager to begin record year-long flight