Tag: ISS
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Ariane 5 launches ATV-5 en route to the ISS
Europe’s ATV-5 cargo ship has set sail on a 14 day journey to the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday. The final ATV mission began when the vehicle’s Ariane 5 ES carrier rocket launched the “Georges Lemaître” from the Guiana Space Centre, in Kourou, French Guiana at 23:47 UTC. ATV-5: Arianespace’s latest ATV mission in support…
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Dream Chaser flies through major CCiCAP challenge
Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) is one step closer from allowing a human crew to fly inside the Dream Chaser spacecraft, as the vehicle passed yet another Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) milestone. While Milestone 9 has the rather mundane title of Risk Reduction and Technology Readiness Level (TRL), it provided the baby orbiter with a major review…
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ORB-2 Cygnus completes ISS rendezvous and berthing
Orbital’s ORB-2 Cygnus spacecraft has successfully rendezvoused and berthed with the International Space Station (ISS) on Wednesday morning. The American spacecraft, partly built in Italy, guided in by Canadian sensors and grabbed by an American astronaut using another Canadian asset – Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) – completed her arrival at 6:36 Eastern. ORB-2…
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Antares lofts ORB-2 Cygnus on a path to the ISS
Orbital Sciences launched an Antares rocket with their third Cygnus spacecraft Sunday afternoon, beginning a commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station. The rocket launched at the end of a very smooth countdown at 12:52 local time (16:52 UTC) from Pad 0A at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport. Antares Launch with ORB-2 Cygnus: Cygnus was…
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EVA-38: Frustration morphs into success during Russian spacewalk
Two Russian cosmonauts, Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev, ventured out into the vacuum of space for a spacewalk on Thursday, tasked with carrying out important work – including the installation of an antenna – on outside of the International Space Station (ISS) Russian segment. The initial work proved to be frustrating for the cosmonauts, until…
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Russian GLONASS launch spotted by the ISS crew
The launch of a Soyuz 2-1B from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome – lofting another Russian GLONASS -M satellite – caught the crew of the International Space Station (ISS) by surprise this weekend, as European astronaut Alexander Gerst grabbed his camera and took photos of the satellite ascending during powered flight. Russian Launch: The Russian GLONASS Global Navigation…
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Hardware and Humans ready to support the World Cup from space
As billions of people prepare to cheer on their countries in the World Cup, which kicked off in Brazil on Thursday, the crew of the International Space Station sent down messages of support, while enjoying an impromptu kickabout on the orbital outpost. By far the world’s biggest sporting event, Intelsat noted its fleet of satellites…
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NEEMO returns with two new underwater missions
Two new missions under the NEEMO (NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations) program have been announced, returning an international crew to an underwater base off the coast of Florida. The two summer missions – which follow a two year hiatus – will continue the work of training astronauts for potential deep space missions, including those to…
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Commercial duo refine upcoming launch dates
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 v1.1 launch of six ORBCOMM OG-2 satellites has seen its launch date tweaked to No Earlier Than (NET) launch date to June 15, pending its Static Fire test on Friday. The slight delay is understood to be related to a re-test requirement on the satellites. Meanwhile, Orbital’s launch of the Antares rocket…
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SpaceX’s Reisman ready for the next giant leap with Dragon V2
Dragon V2 Program Lead Dr. Garrett Reisman believes SpaceX’s new crew vehicle is a “giant leap forward” in safety and technology. The new vehicle – unveiled last Thursday – is the leading contender to win the right to launch NASA astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS), a viable advance on the current mode of…