Tag: Atlas 5
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First astronaut flight on Boeing capsule slips to 2018
The first piloted test flight of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner commercial crew capsule has been delayed to early 2018 as designers wrestle with the mass of the spacecraft, aerodynamic loads the vehicle will see during launch, and new software requirements levied by NASA, company officials said. Boeing hoped to launch the first CST-100 Starliner with astronauts…
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New lineup spelled out for upcoming Atlas 5 rocket launches from the Cape
The most recent Atlas 5 arcs to orbit over the next Delta 4-Heavy rocket. Credit: ULA CAPE CANAVERAL — The revised Atlas 5 rocket firing order includes two national security missions this summer before launching NASA’s daring asteroid sampler mission in September as originally planned. That’s the schedule the United Launch Alliance managers have devised…
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Mixture ratio valve the culprit in Atlas 5 anomaly, next launch this summer
Photo by ULA CAPE CANAVERAL — With the performance hit on the Atlas 5 rocket’s most recent flight last month now isolated to a faulty valve, preparations to resume the manifest are underway as United Launch Alliance workers stack the next booster for blastoff this summer. The Mixture Ratio Control Valve (MRCV) governing the blend…
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Door now open to launch educational hitchhikers on Atlas 5 rockets for free
CAPE CANAVERAL — United Launch Alliance has begun accepting applications from colleges and universities across the U.S. to compete for free cubesat launch slots aboard upcoming Atlas 5 rockets. The educational opportunity will use excess performance aboard rockets launching to space to carry the tiny student-made craft made of science and technology experiments. “Universities pioneered…
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New target date for next Atlas 5 launch
File photo of Atlas 5 first stage in ASOC. Credit: NASA-KSC CAPE CANAVERAL — As the internal investigation continues into the first stage performance trouble on the last Atlas 5 rocket launch, the next mission on the manifest has slipped to May 27. Originally planned for May 5, the flight of the Navy’s fifth and…
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Atlas 5 to launch commercial space habitat for Bigelow Aerospace
An illustration of Bigelow module launching atop Atlas 5. Credit: ULA The maker of inflatable technology for a commercial space station will use a top-of-the-line Atlas 5 rocket with a stretched nose cone to hoist the first habitat into Earth orbit in 2020. Bigelow Aerospace and United Launch Alliance announced the partnership today at the…
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United Launch Alliance narrowing lists of suspects in rocket anomaly
First stage graphic. Credit: NASA TV CAPE CANAVERAL — The detective work into the Atlas 5 rocket’s first stage performance trouble during the Cygnus cargo ship launch a week ago has implicated the fuel system as the likely culprit for using up the liquid oxygen supply too quickly. That is what United Launch Alliance engineers…
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Cygnus cargo ship hooks up to space station; ULA investigates rocket glitch
The International Space Station’s robotic arm reaches out to grapple Orbital ATK’s Cygnus cargo ship in a video view with an overlay of computer data. (Credit: NASA TV) Orbital ATK’s Cygnus commercial cargo ship had a smooth link-up with the International Space Station today, delivering about 7,500 pounds of supplies, equipment, experiments and high-tech gizmos.…
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Photos: Cygnus goes from Cape Canaveral to the space station
This collection of official NASA photographs captures the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket rolling to the pad on Monday, successfully blasting off Tuesday and the Cygnus freighter arriving at the International Space Station on Saturday morning. Credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky Credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky Credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett Credit: NASA/Tony Gray & Kevin O’Connell…
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Atlas 5 forced to improvise during Tuesday’s climb to orbit
Credit: United Launch Alliance CAPE CANAVERAL — The Centaur upper stage launching the Cygnus space freighter Tuesday persevered through a velocity shortfall from the first stage of the Atlas 5 rocket, improvising with a longer firing to reach the correct orbit. The 16,500-pound payload was injected into a 147 by 144-statute-mile orbit at 51.6 degrees…