SpaceX Dragon Has Done IT!

SpaceX Dragon, world's first private spacecraft, has been captured by the International Space Station's robotic arm, and has grappled the Dragon spacecraft to the Harmony module on the space station.

Quoting astronaut Don Pettit who operated the robotic arm:  “Looks like we’ve got a Dragon by the tail.”

Pettit's successful capture of the Dragon cause SpaceX Hawthorne headquarters and NASA's Houston Mission Control to errupt in cheers.

It was not a smooth approach according to the article in Wired.com (see link below in Ref Section). Problem with Dragon's thermal camera kept the spacecraft holding at the 250 meter point away from the ISS.  Then there was the interaction between the thermal camera and the on-board LIDAR (light detection and ranging) sensors.

Several times, SpaceX approached the ISS only to issue a retreat due to the sensor information they were getting.  Basically getting stray LIDAR signals coming off of the Japanese Kibo laboratory module on the station.  Future correction for this problem would be to put on "blinders" to limit the Dragon's LIDAR so it could only see "straight ahead."

Eventually, Dragon was finally brought in to the 30 meter point and then the 10 meter point where it could be caputured by the station's robotic arm.

Now the ISS crew will be unloading the 1,014 pounds(460 kilogram) cargo from the capsule and the station in turn will load up nearly 1,367 pounds (620 kilograms) of return to earth cargo.



Dragon is expected to splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on May 31st if all goes to plan.

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Ref.
1. Wired. "ISS Welcomes SpaceX Dragon — First Private Spacecraft at Station" by Jason Paur. May 25, 2012. ( http://www.wired.com/autopia/2012/05/spacex-docking/ ). images from same article.

Two Shuttles Might Stick Around Through 2017!

Found this little bit of news on the nsmbc.mns.com website.

NASA is consider keeping shuttles Endeavour and Atlantis in flight-ready condition after Endeavour's last scheduled mission instead of turning it into a museum piece. Endeavour was the replacement shuttle for the space shuttle Challenger that was lost in a lift-off explosion 25 years ago this year.

Thanks to the proposal from Commercial Space Transportation Service, or CSTS. They would use Endeavour as well as a sister shuttle, Atlantis, to fly two missions a year from 2013 to 2017 at an annual cost of $1.5 billion.

The contractor that currently manages the shuttle program on NASA’s behalf, United Space Alliance; has offered this proposal for the second round of funding from the space agency’s Commercial Crew Development initiative, also known as CCDev 2. United Space Alliance is the only company that proposes keeping the shuttles operational.

Other companies like Boeing and Sierra Nevada Corp, SpaceX, etc. plan on their own replacement vehicles to the shuttle. SpaceX has just successfully flown their Dragon capsule that they propose to make it human-rated.

For more information, check out the link below.

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Ref.

1. msnbc.msn.com. "NASA weighs plan to keep space shuttle until 2017" by Rob Coppinger. February 3, 2011. (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41397955/ns/technology_and_science-space/).

2. Picture of a space shuttle on launch pad.

Space-X Gets FAA License for Re-Entry Operations!

U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, which oversees commercial space transportation as well as regular aviation matters, granted SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies) the one-year license on November 22, 2010.

In the Space.com article, it was mentioned that the FAA has issued 200+ license for commercial launches, but this is the first approval for a commercial re-entry operation.

This allows SpaceX to now test its Dragon space capsule (that is launched by SpaceX Falcon 9 booster into low-earth orbit). This will officially the the first attempt by a commercial company to recover a spacecraft from orbit.

First attempt to fly the Dragon space capsule and recover it will take place as early as December 7, 2010.

If this demo mission is successful, then SpaceX will begin making regular cargo-delivery missions to the International Space Station (ISS). Their fixed-price contract is quoted as having a value of $1.6 billion. The first missions will be unmanned.

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Ref. Space.com "SpaceX Receives FAA License to Return Private Spaceships From Earth Orbit" By Mike Wall. November 23, 2010. (http://www.space.com/news/spacex-faa-license-private-spaceship-reentry-101122.html).

Bigelow's "Hopping" Lunar Base Idea

Bigelow Aerospace is on the verge of expanding its commercial space station operations. Bigelow wants to provide low-cost commercial volume in space - for rent or lease - to both national space agencies and to the private sector.

Bigelow himself thnks that his commercial modules will be ready to launch into orbit by 2015. Weither it is launched on a NASA rocket or SpaceX's Falcon 9 that is still under development. And Bigelow has his one ideas aobut building his very own heavy -lift launcher; currently referred to as "Big Bertha."

Bigelow will have his own set of astronauts who will serve and take care of the housekeeping duties while the inflatible modules are out in space. That leaves the client with crew to jsut do their primary jobs.

One of the wildest ideas is to group multiple modules together and that id could make a soft touch down on the moon - with the crew riding in it no less. If they need to move to another location, no problem; just move the entire base.

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Ref. Space.com, by Leonard David, January 20, 2010. (http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/private-space-stations-bigelow-100120.html).

Image is from Space.com that came from Bigelow Aerospace space station design.

Virgin's Space Tourism is Just the Beginning

Will Whitehorn has plans for the future with Virgin Galactic over the next 20 years.  Plans that include such things as space science, computer server farms and replacing long-haul flights. 

Virigin Galactic has collected $40 million in deposts from future space tourists including such notible people as physicist Stephen Hawking.  VG is planning to begin its commercial space trips within the next two years.  Mr. Whitehorn told reporters that they have bookings from over 300 people that are willing to pay $200,000 for each space flight.  

Right now, Virgin is still running test flights and is hoping to win a license form the Federal Aviation Administration.  "We needed to know we had a sound business plan," Will Whitehorn told FIPP World Magazine Congress, where he was invited to attend. 

Whitehorn also went into how "green" their business plan is by launching their spacecraft from a jet carrier aircraft over more conventional gorund-launch rocket technology.  Plus the non-metallic materials from which the SpaceShipTwo and its carrier aircraft are made from are lighter, and require less power than NASA's space shuttle.  

Virgin is not the only non-government party trying to get in on the space travel industry.  Such companies as SpaceX lead by Elon Musk, are developing their own space-launch vehicles.  some of which might one day be man-rated.  

But other plans for Virgin Galactic is also planning to add to their business plans for orbital computer server farms.  Long-haul transportation flights (i.e. London to Sydney in two and a half hours). Transporting crews up to the space station and launching satellites. 

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Ref. Reuters, London. by Georgina Prodhan posted May 7, 2009. (http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSTRE54639Q20090507). 

Fourth Time The Charm for SpaceX

Fourth Time The Charm for SpaceX!

Elon Musk's Falcon 1 rocket with the Merlin engine finally succeeded in getting to orbit. September 28, 2008, is a important day in space history because a private venture company has gone where only government agencies have gone before. A live webcast of the launch was available for internet surfers could view.

The Falcon 1 is a two-stage rocket. First stage uses the Merlin 1c engine and the second stage uses the Kestral engine. SpaceX plans on a heavier, two stage model known as the Falcon 9 that can loft heavier playloads including the planned Dragon capsule. First flight of Falcon 9 is expected in 2009.