Category Archives: Space Station

A thruster problem on the robotic Dragon space capsule launched by the private spaceflight company SpaceX on Friday (March 1) has engineers scrambling to identify the cause, forcing a delay in the spacecraft's arrival at the International Space Station by at least a day.

SpaceX and NASA officials say the thruster glitch, which occurred after the Dragon spacecraft's launch atop a Falcon 9 rocket today, prevented the spacecraft from performing vital maneuvers to put it on course for the International Space Station. The spacecraft is hauling nearly a ton of cargo and support equipment to the space station for NASA.

The Falcon 9 rocket launched on time at 10:10 a.m. ET (1510 GMT) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, but once the Dragon capsule separated from the booster, the problem became apparent.

Three of the four thruster pods on the Dragon space capsule required to propel the spacecraft to the space station did not activate properly after today's launch, according to officials at SpaceX. An issue with one of the capsule's propellant valves caused the thrusters to malfunction before the solar arrays the pieces of machinery responsible for powering Dragon to the station could deploy. [Photos: SpaceX's Dragon Launch to Space Station]

Friday afternoon, SpaceX founder Elon Musk announced that after some troubleshooting, ground controllers were able to activate one of the inactive thruster pods.

"Pods 1 and 4 now online and thrusters engaged," Musk wrote in a Twitter post. "Dragon transitioned from free drift to active control. Yes!!"

Engineers on the ground decided to extend the two solar arrays in spite of the less-than-ideal conditions. The solar panels were deployed when the capsule was upside down, preventing them from performing their intended function, according to press reports.

According to NASA officials, three thrusters need to be in working order before the craft can dock with the space station. Two will get the capsule within the vicinity of the orbiting science laboratory, but unless three thrusters are proved to be functioning, it cannot attach to the station.

This is the first time SpaceX has experienced problems with a Dragon spacecraft in orbit, but not the first glitch on a mission by the company.

During an October 2012 cargo launch to the International Space Station, one of the nine Merlin engines on the Falcon 9 rocket shut down during launch. The engine shutdown did not affect the delivery of Dragon to the station, but it did prevent the mission's secondary payload from being deployed in its proper orbit.

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SpaceX Dragon Capsule Problem Stalls Space Station Cargo Delivery

LOW EARTH ORBIT A commercial vessel carrying a ton of supplies for the International Space Station ran into thruster trouble shortly after liftoff Friday and will miss its docking date, despite a day spent scrambling by flight controllers to fix the problem.

In a press conference Friday afternoon, SpaceX founder Elon Musk said the company had resolved issues that prevented three of the four sets of thrusters on the company's unmanned Dragon capsule from kicking in, delaying the release of solar panels -- and ultimately preventing the vehicle from making its planned docking date.

Dragon's twin solar wings swung opened two hours later than planned as SpaceX worked to bring up the idled thrusters, which Musk said should happen shortly.

Weve been deeply engaged in trying to find out what went wrong with the Dragon thruster system, Musk said over the phone from SpaceX mission control in California. "Im optimistic that well be able to turn all four thruster pods on and restore full control soon, he added.

The Dragon is equipped with 18 thrusters, divided into four sets, and can maneuver adequately even with some unavailable. The thruster issues caused SpaceX to miss its scheduled rendezvous.

Fortunately, we have quite a bit of flexibility in our birthing date, explained Michael Suffredini, International Space Station program manager. Musk noted that the capsule could orbit safely for up to a month before docking, if needed. And because the cargo is largely scientific, a delay won't put the station crew in any jeopardy.

The problem cropped up following Dragon's separation from the rocket upper stage, nine minutes into the flight. The liftoff was right on time and appeared to go flawlessly; the previous Falcon launch in October suffered a single engine failure that resulted in the loss of a communications satellite that was hitching a ride on the rocket.

This is the first major trouble to strike a Dragon in orbit. Two similar capsules, launched last year, had no problem getting to the orbiting lab.

It was a little frightening there, Musk admitted, stressing that the Falcon rocket performed perfectly despite the minor troubles with the Dragon capsule. More than 1 ton of space station supplies are aboard the cargo craft, including some much-needed equipment for air purifiers.

SpaceX has a $1.6 billion contract with NASA for 12 deliveries to restock the space station, and hopes the venture will lead to transporting astronauts there in a few years. A company-sponsored demo mission kicked everything off last May.

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SpaceX Dragon capsule to miss berthing date at space station after thruster issue

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) The International Space Station is about to get another commercial shipment.

The California company known as SpaceX is set to launch its unmanned Falcon rocket on Friday morning, hoisting a Dragon capsule containing more than a ton of food, tools, computer hardware and science experiments.

There won't be any ice cream, though, for the six-man station crew. The freezers going up are filled with mouse stem cells, protein crystals and other research items. On the previous Dragon delivery in October, chocolate-vanilla swirl was tucked inside.

SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said snacks straight from the orchard of an employee's father are on board and not just apples.

"It's a little bit healthier, I think, than the one that NASA sent last time," she told reporters on the eve of the flight.

Forecasters put the odds of good weather at 80 percent. Launch time is 10:10 a.m.

This will be the third space station visit for SpaceX, or more formally Space Exploration Technologies Corp., the creation of Elon Musk of PayPal and Tesla electric carmaker fame.

NASA is paying the company to supply the orbiting lab; the contract is worth $1.6 billion for 12 delivery runs.

If launched Friday, the Dragon should arrive at the space station on Saturday morning. Astronauts will use the station's robot arm to grab the Dragon and attach it to the orbiting complex.

A variety of plant life is going up, including 640 seeds of mouse-ear cress, a small flowering weed used in research. Other experiments involve paint; high school students want to see how it will adhere and dry in space.

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SpaceX on verge of 3rd supply run to space station

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) A commercial craft carrying a ton of supplies for the International Space Station ran into thruster trouble shortly after liftoff Friday. Flight controllers managed to gain control, but were forced to delay its arrival at the orbiting lab.

The earliest the Dragon capsule could show up is Sunday, a full day late, said top officials for NASA and the private company SpaceX.

"We're definitely not going to rush it," said SpaceX's billionaire founder Elon Musk. "We want to make sure first and foremost that things are safe before proceeding."

The Dragon, owned and operated by SpaceX, holds considerable science experiments for the International Space Station as well as food and spare parts.

Musk said six hours into the flight that all four sets of thrusters finally were working properly. "All systems green," he reported via Twitter. The problem might have been caused by a stuck valve or line blockage. The thrusters are small rockets used for maneuvering the capsule.

It is the first serious trouble to strike a Dragon in orbit. None of the three previous flights had any signs of thruster issues, Musk told reporters by phone from company headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif.

He said it appeared to be a glitch versus a major concern.

NASA space station program manager Mike Suffredini said at least three groups of thrusters on the Dragon need to work before the capsule can come close to the complex. That's a safety rule that will not be waived, Suffredini said.

Engineers for both SpaceX and NASA plan an exhaustive study before allowing the rendezvous to take place. The Dragon could hang around at least a month before linking up with the station, Musk said. It's supposed to spend more than three weeks there.

A crucial maneuver needed to be made quickly, however, to raise the orbit and keep the capsule from plunging down through the atmosphere. Musk promised in a tweet that was forthcoming.

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Space station capsule problem appears fixed

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - A rocket built by Space Exploration Technologies blasted off on Friday on supply run to the International Space Station, but a thruster problem with the cargo ship threatened to derail the mission.

The 157-foot (48-meter) tall Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon cargo ship lifted off at 10:10 a.m. EST from the company's leased launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, just south of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

"It appears that although it achieved Earth orbit, Dragon is experiencing some kind of problem right now," John Insprucker, a Falcon 9 manager with Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX as the company is known, said during a webcast after the capsule's release into orbit.

The Dragon capsule, which carries more than 2,300 pounds (1,043 kg) of science equipment, spare parts, food and supplies, is scheduled to reach the station Saturday morning.

Engineers, however, were troubleshooting a problem with three of the capsule's four thruster pods, which are needed to maneuver in orbit and position the ship's solar arrays to face the sun.

"Holding on solar array deployment until at least two thruster pods are active," company founder and Chief Executive Elon Musk posted on Twitter.

The arrays were later deployed even though three of the four thruster pods were not operational, said SpaceX spokeswoman Christine Ra.

The glitch occurred about 11 minutes after liftoff, when the capsule's solar wings were to unfurl. SpaceX's onboard cameras did not show that happening.

The cargo run is the second of 12 missions for privately owned SpaceX under a $1.6 billion NASA contract.

Following a successful test flight to the space station in May 2012, SpaceX conducted its first supply run to the orbital outpost in October. During launch of that mission, one of the Falcon's nine engines shut down early, but the other motors compensated for the power shortfall.

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SpaceX capsule hits glitch after launch for space station

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) A commercial cargo ship rocketed toward the International Space Station on Friday under a billion-dollar contract with NASA that could lead to astronaut rides in just a few years.

SpaceX, a private California company run by the billionaire who helped create PayPal, launched its unmanned Falcon rocket into clouds right on time. It is the third supply run by a Dragon capsule, an unparalleled accomplishment all under a year.

Launch controllers applauded and gave high-fives to one another, once the spacecraft safely reached orbit. The successful separation of the Dragon from the rocket was broadcast live on NASA TV; on-board cameras provided the unique views nine minutes into the flight.

The space station and its six-man crew were orbiting 250 miles above the Atlantic, just off the New England coast, when the Falcon soared. The Dragon spacecraft is due to arrive Saturday morning after an unusually short chase; astronauts will use a hefty robot arm to draw the Dragon in and dock it to the station.

SpaceX tucked fresh fruit into the Dragon for the station residents; the apples and other treats are straight from the orchard of an employee's family. There wasn't room in the research freezers for the usual ice cream cups.

Also on board: 640 seeds of a flowering weed used for research, mouse stems cells, protein crystals, astronaut meals and clothing, trash bags, air-purifying devices, computer parts and other gear.

SpaceX formally Space Exploration Technologies Corp. has a $1.6 billion contract with NASA for space station shipments. Its founder, Elon Musk, monitored the launch from the company's Mission Control and home office in Hawthorne.

NASA's deputy administrator, Lori Garver, said using commercial providers is more efficient for the space agency. It's part of a long-term program, she noted, that has NASA spending less money on low-Earth orbit and investing more in deep-space missions. That's one reason why the space shuttles were retired in 2011 after the station was completed.

The goal is to have SpaceX and other private firms take over the job of ferrying astronauts to and from the space station in the next few years.

SpaceX so far the leader of the pack is aiming for a manned Dragon flight by 2015.

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Private SpaceX rocket launched to space station

Desoto Parish is losing child welfare office Desoto Parish is losing child welfare office

Updated: Thursday, February 28 2013 12:10 AM EST2013-02-28 05:10:07 GMT

Updated: Thursday, February 28 2013 12:06 AM EST2013-02-28 05:06:57 GMT

Updated: Wednesday, February 27 2013 11:48 PM EST2013-02-28 04:48:44 GMT

Updated: Wednesday, February 27 2013 11:44 PM EST2013-02-28 04:44:09 GMT

The International Space Station (ISS) will pass through the skies overEast Texas and the ArkLaTexseveral times over the next few nights, with some viewings lasting up to six minutes each.

According to the KSLA StormTracker 12 Weather team, the skies will be clear over the next several nights, making it easy to spot the ISS in the darkening skies. Because of its large size (about the size of a football field), the ISS reflects a great deal of sunlight, making it visible in the darkening sky. It will look like a slow-moving airplane in the sky, although the light will be steady, not blinking like an airplane.

Thursday's viewing of the International Space Station will last from 7:36 p.m. until 7:40 p.m.,trackingthe west to thesouth. However, the station will only reach a maximum height of 20 degrees above the horizon.

The ISS can be seen Friday, March 1 at 6:44 p.m. and remain visible until 6:51. The space station will move from northwest to southeast and reach a maximum height of 41 degrees above the horizon.

For more information on the International Space Station passing over the United States, click here.

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International Space Station visible in the ETX, ArkLaTex skies

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket completed a two-second ignition of its first stage while being held down onto its Florida launch pad on Monday, in preparation for Friday's launch to the International Space Station. This view of the test was taken by a remote video camera, which makes it difficult to see the flare of the rocket.

By Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News

SpaceX said it completed a successful test of the engines on its Falcon 9 rocket on Monday, in preparation for Friday's planned cargo launch to the International Space Station.

The California-based rocket company's unmanned Dragon capsule is due to deliver about 1,200 pounds (550 kilograms) of supplies to the space station and bring back 2,300 pounds (1,050 kilograms) of cargo, including scientific samples and space station hardware.

Monday's static-fire test was aimed at checking the performance of the Falcon 9 first stage's nine engines before they're called upon to loft the second stage and the Dragon capsule toward orbit on Friday. The rocket was held down onto its launch pad at Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida for the engine firing, which came at the end of a dress rehearsal for Friday's countdown.

"SpaceX engineers ran through all countdown processes as though it were launch day," the company said in a statement issued after the 1:30 p.m. ET firing. "All nine engines fired at full power for two seconds, while the Falcon 9 was held down to the pad. SpaceX will now conduct a thorough review of all data and continue preparations for Friday's targeted launch."

In a Twitter update, SpaceX's billionaire founder, Elon Musk, reported that the static-fire test looked good: "Engines generated 433 tons of thrust, parameters nominal."

SpaceX said the first opportunity for launch will come at 10:10 a.m. ET on Friday. This is the third Dragon to be sent to the space station, and the second flight under the terms of a $1.6 billion, 12-flight cargo resupply contract with NASA.

Another company, Virginia-based Orbital Sciences Corp., has a separate $1.9 billion contract to deliver supplies to the space station but has not yet begun flying its Antares rocket and Cygnus cargo capsule. On Friday, Orbital completed a successful static-fire test of Antares' engines in preparation for the rocket's first flight, which is expected to take place later this year.

NASA's contracts with SpaceX and Orbital are meant to help fill the gap left by the retirement of the space shuttle fleet in 2011. Russian, European and Japanese unmanned spacecraft are also used to send supplies to the space station, but Russia's Soyuz capsule is the only spacecraft currently cleared to transport astronauts to and from orbit. NASA is providing more than $1 billion to SpaceX, the Boeing Co. and Sierra Nevada Corp. to support the development of new crew-capable spacecraft for low Earth orbit.

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SpaceX tests rocket for space station launch

International Space Station ISS Update - Feb. 26, 2013
The International Space Station ISS update video for Feb. 26, 2013.

By: NASAObservatory

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International Space Station ISS Update - Feb. 26, 2013 - Video

China aims to establish a large manned space station within the next decade, officials have said, and the latest reports suggest that this outpost could host not only Chinese astronauts, but European spaceflyers as well.

A plan is afoot for China and Europe to cooperate on the venture, which might see the European Space Agency (ESA) building technologies, including a rendezvous and docking system, for the station, in exchange for opportunities for its astronauts to visit the facility.

China plans to have the space station running by 2020. Both the station and China's manned spacecraft Shenzhou could use ESA's International Berthing and Docking Mechanism (IBDM), because of a problem with the Russian system the Chinese have been using until now.

China's Shenzhou and Tiangong-1 space laboratory, a test module already in orbit, use a modified version of Russia's Androgynous Peripheral Attach System (APAS). APAS was developed for the 1975 Apollo Soyuz Test Project and is used on the International Space Station (ISS). [HowChina'sFirstSpaceStation Will Work (Infographic)]

Bouncing off

An unmanned Shenzhou spacecraft docked with Tiangong-1 for the first time in November 2011, and the docking mechanism didn't work exactly as planned, some say.

"It was originally bouncing off," Bob Chesson, an ESA human spaceflight advisor, told SPACE.com. "Essentially they have to ram this [Shenzhou] thing in and they are very worried that if you assemble a station like that, you basically will have all sorts of structure fracture mechanics problems, that type of thing."

The Shenzhou spacecraft is not heavy enough to activate the APAS docking system correctly, Chesson said, so it had to be rammed forcefully to make a connection.

Chesson traveled to Beijing with ESA's director-general Jean-Jacques Dordain and talked with the China Manned Space Engineering Office.

"Our director general has made some noises that he wants us to get involved with [the Chinese space station program]," Chesson said. "The Chinese, we had them over and showed them [the IBDM] and they were very interested because they are using the modified APAS system."

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Europe May Work With China on Space Station