50 years ago today, the U.S. Air Force launched eight communications satellites in the Initial Defense Communications Satellite Program (IDCSP) atop a Titan IIIC rocket from Pad 41, Cape Kennedy. IDCSP was the first attempt for the United States to supply its military, as well as the militaries of NATO and its allies, with global satellite communications. It would join another seven satellites launched in June 1966. This launch was a contingency after a launch failure in August 1966. The probes were placed in an orbit just beneath geosynchronous orbit, mostly at an 8-degree inclination. It was done this way by design, to provide redundancy in the system. An additional four would be launched in July 1967, and another eight in June 1968. They would begin phaseout in 1971 with the first launches of the Defense Satellite Communications System (DSCS).
56 years ago today, NASA entered a contract with Hughes Aircraft Company to build seven Surveyor lander probes, ultimately destined to land on the Moon. The solar-powered landers would use solid rockets to slow their descent to the lunar surface after a three-day cruise. They would carry a TV camera, and a sampler arm to dig into the lunar soil and analyze its surface composition. From Surveyor 3 on, the TV camera would be in color. 5 of the 7 Surveyor probes would safely land. Surveyor 2 crashed near Copernicus crater, and Surveyor 4 crashed in Sinus Medii. The total cost of the program at the time was $467 million USD. The probes would land from May 1966 to January 1968, and were all launched atop Atlas-Centaur rockets..
Happy 69th birthday to one of the masters of the NASA Astronaut Corps, Jerry Ross. After completing the Air Force ROTC at Purdue in 1970, he was permitted to stay to complete his Mechanical Engineering Masters in 1972. After that, he was stationed at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, working on ramjet technology, with a focus on CAD. One of his projects was the ASLAM air-launched missile. He would graduate from Test Pilot School in 1976, and move to Edwards AFB afterward. He would ultimately become Chief Flight Test Engineer for the Rockwell B-1 Lancer, and would also evaluate the RC-135S "Cobra Ball" surveillance aircraft. Ross was hired by NASA in February 1979 in a non-astronaut role, working in the Payload Operations Division at Johnson Space Center. He would be chosen as an astronaut in Group 9 in 1980 in the Mission Specialist track. His first Space Shuttle mission was STS-61-B aboard Atlantis. In addition to launching three comsats, Ross would take part in two spacewalks practicing space station construction. He was intended to fly the first mission out of Vandenberg AFB, STS-62-A, but that was canceled after the Challenger disaster. His second mission was STS-27, a DOD mission believed to be the launch of the LACROSSE 1 RADAR surveillance satellite. He would also fly Atlantis on STS-37 (Compton GRO), Columbia on STS-55 (Spacelab D-2, Payload Commander), Atlantis on STS-74 (First Mir docking), Endeavour on STS-88 (first ISS mission), and Atlantis on STS-110 (S0 Truss install). Ross is the second human to go into orbit on seven separate occasions, after Franklin Chang Diaz. He held the American record for the most number of spacewalks, at nine, until he was overtaken by Michael Lopez-Alegria. Ross retired from the Air Force as a Colonel in 2000, and from NASA in 2012.
53 years ago today, Echo 2, a follow-up to the Echo 1A passive communications satellite, was launched atop a Thor-Agena rocket from Pad 75-1-1, Vandenberg AFB. Echo 2 was a rigidized mylar balloon that was 41 metres in diameter when fully inflated, about 10 m larger than Echo 1A. It was launched into a polar orbit about 200-300 km lower than the first satellite. In addition to passive communications, Echo 2 would be used in geodesy experiments, and its functions as a solar sail were also studied. It re-entered in June 1969. By then, NASA had fully invested in active communications systems.
#DreamChaser spacecraft arrived at @NASAArmstrong for testing to pave the way to take cargo & crew to @Space_Station https://t.co/7zzGlN0TaM pic.twitter.com/J2noqi4erV— NASA (@NASA) January 27, 2017 The Sierra Nevada Dream Chaser spaceplane is taking the next step toward flight readiness in connection with CRS-2. It will undergo several months of systems and wind tunnel tests to verify computer-based testing at Armstrong Flight Research Center in California before undergoing real-world Approach and Landing Tests later this year. Sierra Nevada is planning on beginning operational use of the Dream Chaser in 2019. It is unknown which rocket will be used, but it is stated to be compatible with the Atlas V, Falcon 9, and Ariane 5 rockets. If it works with Atlas V, I would imagine it would work with Vulcan as well.
13 years ago today, Progress M1-11 was launched atop a Soyuz-U rocket from Site 1/5, Baikonur Cosmodrome. It carried spare parts for the International Space Station, including an extra Orlan spacesuit and an extra Elektron oxygen generator. While it was docked, it fired its service module engines for 11 minutes, boosting the ISS by 3.7 km and reducing its orbital inclination by 0.1 degrees. It remained docked for 4 months, and remained in orbit for 10 days after undocking before being de-orbited over the Pacific. This was the last Progress-M1 to fly, as Progress-M, with its larger payload capacity, would be needed while the Space Shuttle was being re-evaluated after the Columbia disaster. A newer Progress-M1 was planned to begin use in 2011, but was canceled when it was clear the Space Shuttle would be retired soon. Instead, an updated Progress-M would begin use in 2008. It would replace the original analog computer systems with new digital computers, which would begin use in the Soyuz-TMA-M manned spacecraft soon after.
Boeing unveiled the pressure suit that will be used for the CST-100 Starliner CCtCap spacecraft yesterday. The new suit is designed by the David Clark Company. DC has been designing pressure suits for high-altitude aviation for over 80 years. They designed the pressure suit used on the X-15, which was adapted for Project Gemini. They also designed a line of pressure suits for the YF-12/SR-71, which eventually evolved into the second-gen Advanced Crew Escape Suit (ACES) used on the Space Shuttle from STS-65 onward. They also designed the pressure suit used by Felix Baumgartner in the Red Bull Stratos project in 2012.
48 years ago today, NASA laid out a 12-month post-Apollo 8 plan for the final push to a manned landing on the Moon. Apollo 9 was scheduled for February 28 using Saturn V rocket SA-504, CSM 104, and LM-3, for a manned test of the Lunar Module in low-Earth orbit. Apollo 10 was scheduled for May 17 using Saturn V rocket SA-505, CSM 106, and LM-4, for a manned test of the entire Apollo platform on a trans-lunar flight. The next-three missions were not given official numbers or launch dates, but were aimed for the Moon: * SA-506, CSM 107, LM-5 * SA-507, CSM 108, LM-6 * SA-508, CSM 109, LM-7 I believe the assumption was that, if Apollo 10 went well enough, the next flight would land on the Moon. If not, they would keep up dress rehearsals until they got it right. For those wondering about the skipped number, CSM 105 was an acoustic test article never intended for flight. It is on display at the National Air and Space Museum as part of their Apollo-Soyuz display, docked with the backup article of the ASTP Docking Module and a model of the Soyuz 7K-TM spacecraft. Apollo 9 would launch on March 3, and Apollo 10 would launch on May 18.
34 years ago today, NASDA (one of the predecessor organizations of JAXA, Japan's space agency) launched the Sakura 2A comsat atop an N-II rocket from Osaki launch complex, Tanegashima Space Center. Sakura 2A was capable of up to 4,000 telephone circuits. But its primary purpose was to be used for search and rescue operations. The N-II was the second generation of rockets lent by the United States to Japan for use in space exploration. N-II was based on the Delta 2000-series rocket. All eight N-II launches used nine Castor 2 SRM's and the Delta F second stage. Some used the Star-37 upper stage, and some used the Burner-2 upper stage.
33 years ago today, a set of three satellites for the Naval Ocean Surveillance System (NOSS) was launched atop an Atlas H rocket from Pad 3E, Vandenberg AFB. The satellites were placed in a 728-mile orbit at 63.4° inclination, the lowest prograde inclination safely possible from Vandenberg. Its purpose was surveillance of ships and submarines. The cluster was the seventh launched, and the sixth successful. The fourth launch, in 1980 atop an Atlas E/F, failed. This was also the third NOSS launch atop the Atlas H. The Atlas H was the direct successor of the Atlas E/F, and was used exclusively to finish the first-gen NOSS system. It exclusively used the Multiple Satellite Dispenser (MSD) upper stage, which was based on the Altair 2 solid-fuel upper stage. Five Atlas H rockets were launched, all successful. The Atlas H first stage would be adapted into the Atlas I rocket. The second gen would be launched by Titan IV, while the third gen would be launched by Atlas IIAS, Atlas III, and Atlas V. In the third generation, satellites are launched two at a time, with one being officially catalogued as debris.
38 years ago today, NASDA attempted to launch ECS-A Ayame-1 comsat atop an N-I rocket from Osaki launch complex, Tanegashima Space Center. It was Japan's first indigenous comsat experiment. Contact was lost 10 seconds after the Star-37N upper stage ignited. It is believed the satellite separated early from the upper stage and recontacted with it. It would be left 5,000 miles short of a full geostationary orbit. The N-I was also based on the Delta 2000-series rocket series, but had an indigenous second stage with a Mitsubishi-built hypergolic engine. All eight launches would use three Castor 2 SRMs. Of the 15 launches between N-I and N-II, this would be the only failure.
Last Tuesday, New Horizons conducted its fifth course correction maneuver on its course to asteroid 2014 MU69. The thruster firing changed its velocity by 44 cm/sec, a little under 1 mph. They didn't say whether it was a velocity increase or decrease. But they did say it would refine the target to the asteroid by 10,000 km. There may be more adjustments over the next two years as the Hubble Space Telescope better refines MU69's orbit. They are targeting a fly-by on January 1, 2019. For those curious, the data dump from the Pluto fly-by completed on October 25, 2016. It will take years to go through all the data.
Whoa. A tornado in New Orleans struck NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility yesterday. The home of the Saturn V rocket and the Space Shuttle external tank, it is currently being used to assemble the liquid fuel portions of the Space Launch System rocket, which currently hopes for its first test flight with the Orion spacecraft in 2018. The tanks being constructed currently were not damaged, but the building itself received roof damage. They are hoping to patch it up so they avoid sustaining water damage to the welding equipment inside. No people on-site were hurt, but they had to shelter in-place for a sustained tornado warning as two other tornadoes passed nearby. Other news reports state dozens of minor injuries, but no deaths, from the outbreak as a whole.
Something both Space and Soccer related Ellison Onizuka was one of the Challenger seven who perished on January 28, 1986, when the shuttle exploded 73 seconds into its flight. His daughter and other soccer players from Clear Lake High School, near NASA’s Johnson Space Center, gave Ellison a soccer ball to take into space with him. Almost unbelievably, the soccer ball was recovered among the wreckage after the crash. [...] Because of Clear Lake High School’s close proximity to the Johnson Space Center, another astronaut now has a son attending the same school. His name is Shane Kimbrough, and he offered to carry a memento from the high school into space. That’s when Principal Engle had the idea to send the soccer ball with Kimbrough on his mission to the International Space Station. http://www.universetoday.com/133304/31-years-disaster-challenger-soccer-ball-finally-gets-to-orbit/
@Orlando Rays I'd rep all of your postings but don't want to be seen as a nerd! [at least more of one] Read them all!!
People are Archive Binging on my content... ******** 19 years ago today, the first official launch of the Taurus rocket was completed from Pad 576E, Vandenburg AFB. It was preceded by a DARPA-sponsored orbital test launch in 1994. The rocket carried two Orbcomm satellites, and a Navy Earth observation satellite called GEOSAT Follow-On (GFO). GFO was a follow-up of a 1985 satellite. It also carried a space burial payload of cremated human remains for Celestis. The Taurus rocket was essentially a Pegasus rocket put atop an LGM-118A Peacekeeper ICBM. It has a capacity of 1,300 kg to LEO. It's also suffered launch failures in three of its four most recent launch attempts, racking up losses of $700 million to NASA, particularly for the high-profile loss of the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) in 2009. Taurus was recently re-branded as Minotaur-C. An allegedly improved rocket is scheduled to make its first launch attempt in six years this May.
47 years ago today, the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), another of the predecessors of JAXA, conducted Japan's first indigenous orbital rocket launch. They launched the Ohsumi probe atop a Lambda 4S rocket from Kagoshima Space Center. Lambda 4S was a beefed-up solid-fuel sounding rocket manufactured by Nissan. Ohsumi was ludicrously small, and essentially was akin to Sputnik 1 in terms of its capabilities. I have no info on how long it lasted, but since it was battery-powered, it could not have lasted long. It was placed in a 220x3,200-mile orbit, and re-entered in 2003.
21 years ago today, the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous probe was launched atop a Delta II 7925 rocket from Pad 17B, Cape Canaveral. NASA had been interested in visiting near-earth asteroids for some time. Various targets had been considered, including 4660 Nereus, 1036 Ganymed, and Comet 2P/Encke. There was even an idea for a "small-body Grand Tour" of two or more asteroids that could have gone as far as the Main Asteroid Belt. In the end, they went small, and targeted 433 Eros as their primary target. Shortly after launch, NEAR was reclassified as NEAR Shoemaker, being named after famed astronomer Eugene Shoemaker. In addition to the fly-by and ultimate orbit and landing on Eros, it also encountered 253 Mathilde in June 1997, and made measurements of gamma ray bursts. A fly-by of Earth on January 23, 1998, seven months after its encounter with Mathilde, lowered its aphelion from 2.17 AU to 1.77 AU, and increased its orbital inclination to 10.2°, roughly matching its orbit with that of Eros. The first of four rendezvous burns on December 20, 1998, was aborted. As a result, its initial orbital attempt at Eros was scrubbed, and turned into a fly-by on December 23, 1998. A successful second attempt led to orbital insertion on February 14, 2000. It would remain in orbit around Eros for just about one year, landing on the asteroid on February 12, 2001. Its last signal was received on February 28 of that year, though attempts to contact the probe would continue through the end of 2002.
This morning, SpaceX rolled a Falcon 9 FT rocket to Pad 39A, carrying a Dragon spacecraft for the CRS-10 mission to the International Space Station. Launch is currently scheduled for 10:06am EST tomorrow. The launch will be the first at Pad 39A since STS-135, the final Space Shuttle mission, in July 2011. It sat as it was after that launch, complete with the Mobile Launcher Platform, for nearly three years until SpaceX leased the site. I've probably shown this before (maybe not this exact photo), but SpaceX built a Horizontal Integration Facility near Pad 39A, completing it in early 2016. The HIF is located about 600 metres due south of the pad. The SpaceX mobile transporter uses a brief access road to get to the Crawlerway, and launches will take place at the 39A Fixed Service Structure, utilizing the Space Shuttle's flame trench. At least one more flight will take place from Pad 39A with the regular Falcon 9, and maybe more depending on ongoing repairs at Pad 40. The first Falcon Heavy launch at 39A is tentatively scheduled for this Spring. They still need to install the new crew access arm for crewed Dragon 2 flights, to begin next year. They can be launched without in unmanned test flights. They also plan on eventually adding a hammerhead crane to the pad for required vertical integration of military payloads.
It's a minor problem now, but it may have long-standing implications. Juno, the probe currently in a polar orbit around Jupiter, may have a busted engine. In October 2016, three months after entering orbit around Jupiter, mission planners attempted an engine burn to lower its apojove from 8.1 million miles, to decrease its orbital period from 53 days to 14 days. It didn't happen. Now, mission planners say they are not going to do that. The official release from NASA suggests they don't want to risk it, in case there is something wrong with the engine. When the mission is over, mission planners intend to de-orbit Juno, to avoid contaminating Europa should it collide with that satellite. If they are unable to, this could make things interesting for the future of interplanetary probes.
Tomorrow at around 1am EST, a Soyuz-U rocket, carrying Progress MS-05 to the International Space Station, is scheduled to be launched from Site 1/5, Baikonur Cosmodrome. It will be the 786th and final launch of the Soyuz-U rocket. The Soyuz 11A511U rocket began use in 1973, and was first used for manned flight in 1974 with the launch of Soyuz 16, the dress rehearsal for Apollo-Soyuz. Its maiden launch, on May 18, 1973, carried a Zenit-class reconnaissance satellite. It was last used for manned spaceflight with Soyuz TM-34, the final Soyuz-TM spacecraft, on April 25, 2002. The Soyuz-TMA was moved to the newer Soyuz-FG (11A511U-FG) rocket at that time. The limits of the Soyuz-U and Soyuz-FG rockets are in their analog control computers. Soyuz-2 (14A14) has a newer digital computer. Eventually, Soyuz-FG will be halted as well, but I have seen no timetable on that. In total, well over 1,800 R-7 derived rockets have been launched.
We may have found the closest candidate for life beyond our solar system. These 7 Earth-sized planets were seen by @NASASpitzer around a nearby, ultra-cool dwarf star called TRAPPIST-1: https://t.co/G9tW3cJMnV pic.twitter.com/Z6gvaH96Tz— NASA (@NASA) February 22, 2017 A star currently being referred to as "TRAPPIST-1", 40 light-years away from our solar system, has been discovered to have seven planets with sizes and basic compositions similar to Earth. TRAPPIST-1 is referred to as an "ultracool dwarf". It is believed to be only slightly larger than Jupiter, likely on the very lower limits of the size a star could possibly be. The planets themselves have orbital periods ranging anywhere from 1.5 to 20 days. It is believed that TRAPPIST-1 would live 4-5 trillion years, a full order of magnitude longer than our Sun. This has become a prime target for the coming James Webb Space Telescope. Scheduled to be launched in 2018, it might be able to better determine the composition of the planets in question.
Fly me to the moon ... Okhttps://t.co/6QT8m5SHwn— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 27, 2017 SpaceX has plans to send two private citizens on a cislunar trip with the Dragon 2 spacecraft as soon as 2018. The plan is for the spacecraft to fly by the Moon and go a little further out before returning to Earth. Elon Musk estimates it could go as far as 400,000 miles beyond Earth, which would smash the distance record set by Apollo 13. He stated that two private citizens had foot the bill for the mission, but that it would not take place until SpaceX had completed their first manned mission to the International Space Station, which is currently targeted for mid-2018. He also said that NASA had the right to insist on NASA astronauts being on-board the lunar mission if they so choose. Personally, I'd like to see them try that with an unmanned craft before doing so with a manned craft. SpaceX has touted that the Dragon was designed to return from Mars, but I'd like to see for myself that it can take such a re-entry.
Back in'61 I watched Alan Shepard's feat on a small B/W tv at a YMCA across the street from work. There were about 50 of us watching and there was a hush until the craft finally lifted from the pad...then all hell broke loose. I ran to the nearest P.O. to get my Mercury stamped envelopes cancelled. I still have them along with some numbered sheets of stamps.