Category Archives: Transhuman News

British soprano singer Sarah Brightman has announced her plan to ride a Russian rocket into space for a 10-day visit to the International Space Station.

Brightman made her announcement today (Oct. 10) from Moscow during a press conference with Roscosmos (the Russian Federal Space Agency) and Space Adventures, the Virginia firm that brokered the deal.

"Throughout most of my life I've felt an incredible desire to take the journey to space that I have now begun," Brightman said. "A journey into space is the greatest adventure I can imagine."

The singer will be the eighth private citizen to pay her way to space. The last space tourist, Canadian Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte, flew to orbit in 2009 for about $35 million. Space Adventures is not releasing the cost of Brightman's ticket, but it is almost certainly more than Laliberte's. [Photos: The First Space Tourists]

"The price of the flight is confidential, but it is a roundtrip ticket," said Eric Anderson, chairman of Space Adventures.

Brightman, who rose to fame starring in the original Broadway production of "Phantom of the Opera," said space has influenced her from a young age.

"My music has always been inspired by space," Brightman said. "It was because of seeing the first man on the moon back in the '60s that actually inspired me and gave me the courage to go into the career that I had. At moments when I'm feeling nervous onstage or I'm feeling unsure I actually look to the stars and the planets and space and it gives me courage and inspiration."

Brightman will begin a six-month cosmonaut training regime in Star City, Russia, after she completes a year-long world tour for her new album, "Dream Chaser," starting in January.

"This past July, Ms. Brightman completed and passed all of the required medical and physical evaluations; she's fit and mentally prepared for our spaceflight training program," Alexey Krasnov, head of Roscosmos' Piloted Programs Department, said in a statement. "We will work closely with Space Adventures in supporting Ms. Brightman's spaceflight candidacy."

She will be part of a three-person crew launching on a Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan sometime after that. She will spend 10 days aboard the space station, which orbits Earth from 240 miles (386 km) overhead.

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Singer Sarah Brightman Will Ride Russian Rocket to Space

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- A private company successfully delivered a half-ton of supplies to the International Space Station early Wednesday, the first official shipment under a billion-dollar contract with NASA.

The SpaceX cargo ship, called Dragon, eased up to the orbiting lab, and station astronauts reached out with a robot arm and snared it. Then they firmly latched it down.

"Looks like we've tamed the Dragon," reported space station commander Sunita Williams. "We're happy she's on board with us."

Williams thanked SpaceX and NASA for the delivery, especially the chocolate-vanilla swirl ice cream stashed in a freezer.

The linkup occurred 250 miles above the Pacific, just west of Baja California, 2 days after the Dragon's launch from Cape Canaveral, Fla.

"Nice flying," radioed NASA's Mission Control.

It's the first delivery by the California-based SpaceX company under a $1.6 billion contract with NASA. The contract calls for 12 such shipments.

This newest Dragon holds 1,000 pounds of groceries, clothes, science experiments and other gear. Williams and her crew won't get access to all that until Thursday, when the hatch is opened.

The vessel will remain at the space station for nearly three weeks before departing with almost twice that much cargo at the end of the month. Dragon is the only cargo ship capable of bringing back research and other items, filling a void left by NASA's retired shuttles.

SpaceX owned by PayPal's billionaire creator Elon Musk launched Dragon aboard a Falcon 9 rocket Sunday night. One of the nine first-stage engines failed a minute into the flight, but the other engines compensated and managed to put the capsule into the proper orbit. The mishap, however, left a secondary payload aboard the rocket an Orbcomm communication satellite in too low of an orbit.

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SpaceX Dragon capsule arrives at space station

The 1,000-pound delivery included supplies and a sweet treat of ice cream for the astronauts

By Tariq Malik and SPACE.com

THE DRAGON HAS LANDED: SpaceX's Dragon space capsule hovers just below the International Space Station's robotic arm in this view from an arm camera on October 10, 2012, during the CRS-1 commercial cargo mission. Image: NASA TV

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A privately built robotic space capsule arrived at the International Space Station early Wednesday (Oct. 10) to make the first-ever commercial cargo delivery to the orbiting lab under a billion-dollar deal with NASA.

The unmanned Dragon spacecraft was captured by station astronauts using a robotic arm after an apparently flawless approach by the cargo-laden space capsule, which was built by the private spaceflight company SpaceX. It is the first of 12 resupply flights SpaceX will fly for NASA under a $1.6 billion deal.

"Looks like we've tamed the Dragon," station commander Sunita Williams said as the spacecraft was captured by a robotic arm. "We're happy she's onboard with us. Thanks to everyone at SpaceX and NASA for bringing her to us and the ice cream."

The astronauts' chocolate-vanilla swirl ice cream, a rare treat for the space station crew, was a last-minute item packed along with the nearly 1,000 pounds (453 kilograms) of supplies riding up to the orbiting lab on the Dragon capsule. [Photos: SpaceX's Dragon Arrives at Space Station]

The SpaceX spacecraft was captured at about 6:56 a.m. EDT (1122 GMT) by Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide as the space station soared 250 miles (402 kilometers) above the Pacific Ocean, just west of Baja California. The capsule will be attached to an open docking port on the station in the next few hours.

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SpaceX Dragon Capsule Arrives at Space Station With Precious Cargo

After a flawless final rendezvous, a commercial SpaceX cargo ship is captured by the International Space Station's robot arm and attached to a docking port for unloading.

The SpaceX Dragon cargo ship was captured by the International Space Station's robot arm early Wednesday after a smooth rendezvous. The astronauts operating the arm then attached the cargo craft to the forward Harmony module's Earth-facing docking port.

After getting off to a rocky start with an engine failure during launch Sunday, a commercial cargo capsule loaded with a half-ton of equipment and supplies -- including ice cream -- carried out a flawless final approach to the International Space Station early Wednesday, pulling up to within 60 feet so Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, operating the lab's robot arm, could pluck it out of open space for berthing.

Making the first of at least 12 cargo deliveries under a $1.6 billion contract with NASA, the SpaceX Dragon capsule, after a successful test flight last May, is the first commercially developed spacecraft to visit the station, the centerpiece of a push to restore U.S. resupply capability in the wake of the space shuttle's retirement last year.

Hoshide used the station's robot arm to latch onto a grapple fixture on the side of the Dragon capsule at 9:56 a.m. PT as the two spacecraft sailed 250 miles above the Pacific Ocean west of Baja California.

"Houston, station on (channel) two, capture complete," Expedition 33 commander Sunita Williams radioed. "Looks like we've tamed the dragon. We're happy she's on board with us. Thanks to everybody at SpaceX and NASA for bringing her here to us. And the ice cream."

Williams and Hoshide then maneuvered the Dragon capsule to the Earth-facing port of the forward Harmony module and locked it in place at 12:03 p.m., completing the rendezvous and berthing.

"The control center team here and the team out at Hawthorne (Calif.) at SpaceX just did a phenomenal job of making a pretty complex ballet in space look pretty easy," said Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's director of space operations. "And it was not easy by any stretch of the imagination. But they just did a great job, and it's great to have the Dragon spacecraft on board the space station."

Space station commander Sunita Williams photographs the approaching Dragon cargo ship during its final approach to the lab complex Wednesday.

The long-awaited commercial cargo mission began with a spectacular launch Sunday night from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. But during the climb to space, one of the Falcon 9 booster's nine first-stage engines malfunctioned and shut down, forcing the flight computer to fire the other engines longer than planned to compensate for the shortfall.

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Dragon cargo ship captured, berthed to space station

When NASA's space shuttle fleet retires in 2011, the space agency will have to rely on Russian spacecraft and the private sector to taxi cargo and humans to and from the International Space Station, even as it turns its focus to the technologies required to send humans beyond low-Earth orbit.

President Barack Obama views the policy as a boost to the nascent commercial spaceflight industry, where competition is already heating up to supply the taxi services. Some companies are also talking about offering out-of-this-world rides for researchers as well as tourists with deep pockets and a serious case of star lust. Click ahead to check out 10 of the top players in the race to commercialize space.

Space Exploration Technologies

PayPal co-founder Elon Musk has already signed up NASA as a marquee account for his high-flying venture, Space Exploration Technologies, also known as SpaceX. The government has a $1.6 billion contract with the Hawthorne, Calif., company to provide unmanned cargo deliveries to the International Space Station starting in 2011 with its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule.

This image shows the successful test launch of the Falcon 9 rocket on June 4. The rocket will eventually carry the Dragon to orbit. If all goes according to plan, astronauts may get a lift as well, starting in 2013. SpaceX has also secured contracts to launch next-generation satellites for the telecommunications company Iridium.

Orbital Sciences

Another NASA contract this one worth a reported $1.9 billion is in the bag at Virginia-based Orbital Sciences, which is planning to supply the International Space Station with its unmanned Cygnus spacecraft, shown here in an artists rendering. A newly-developed Taurus 2 rocket will ferry the cargo ship to space. If the opportunity presents itself, the company may advance plans to ferry humans to orbit as well.

Boeing

Boeing, the aerospace giant, has unveiled plans to flesh out designs and build a new capsule-based spaceship called the CST-100, which will take cargo and passengers to the International Space Station. The development push comes thanks to an $18 million NASA grant.

The Apollo-like capsule will carry a crew of seven and be designed to launch on a variety of rockets, including the Atlas and Delta rockets operated by the Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture known as the United Launch Alliance, as well as SpaceX's Falcon. Extra seats may be made available for paying passengers through a marketing arrangement with Space Adventures.

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Space station pulls in SpaceX cargo ship

For the second time in five months, the commercial rocket company SpaceX has successfully docked its Dragon capsule at the International Space Station (ISS)this time on its first official cargo run under a supply contract with NASA.

"Looks like we've tamed the Dragon," station commander Sunita Williams, a U.S. Navy officer, told controllers on the ground after the ISS's robotic arm had grabbed the unmanned craft just before 7 a.m. ET, accomplished with the assistance of Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshideh. (Related: "Robot Arm to Grab Robotic ShipA Space Station First.")

"We're happy she's on board with us."

SpaceX's Dragonthe first and only commercial spacecraft to berth at the stationmade contact with the station 252 miles (406 kilometers) above Earth. The capsule is packed with nearly a thousand pounds (450 kilograms) of essential supplies and gear, as well some arguably nonessential chocolate-vanilla swirl ice cream and, for a school science experiment, some Silly Putty.

High-flying SpaceX, founded by PayPal co-founder Elon Musk, won a nearly U.S. $1.6 billion contract with NASA in 2008 to supply the space station via a dozen flights in the years ahead.

Unlike any government-owned capsules supplying the ISS, the SpaceX Dragon is designed to return intact to Earth, and so can be used as a two-way ferry. The capsule brought back 1,300 pounds (590 kilograms) of science experiments and space hardware after its test berthing in May and will do the same later this month.

SpaceX Contract an Investment in the Future?

Today's first formal berthing at the International Space Station under the NASA cargo-supply contract was broadly cheered as a milestone, and perhaps a harbinger of much more to come.

"I think it would be fair to say the successful docking under the NASA contract is parallel to the early days of the commercial airline industry," said John Logsdon, space policy emeritus professor at George Washington University and longtime NASA adviser.

"The government paid airline owners to deliver the mail and gave the early industry the financial support it needed to grow," he said. "Clearly, NASA is hoping the same will happen herethat giving commercial space companies contracts to supply the space station will act as a huge boost to the early commercial space industry."

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Space Station Arm "Tames" Dragon Capsule—SpaceX Docking Is a First