Perspective view of Hellas Basin taken with the High Resolution Stereo Camera on ESA’s Mars Express in January 2014, and released in July 2014. Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin
Such great heights! A mountain chain peeks in the background of this new view of Hellas Basin, based on information taken by a European spacecraft circling the Red Planet.
Beyond the pretty picture is a tale of how snow behaved on the Martian surface, according to the European Space Agency. The vast basin is about half the size of Brazil.
The wrinkled view of that crater in front is a product of snowing and freezing that took place when the Martian surface was wetter, ESA said.
A map of the Hellas basin in the southern hemisphere of Mars, as well as the rocky Hellespontus Montes. Image taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera on ESA’s Mars Express. Credit: NASA MGS MOLA Science Team/Freie Universitaet Berlin
“During this period, snow fell and covered the surface and later moved downhill into the crater. Once inside the crater, the snow became trapped and soon covered by surface dust, before compacting to form ice. The number of concentric lines indicates many cycles of this process and it is possible that craters like these may still be rich in ice hidden beneath just tens of metres of surface debris.”
Additionally, the high hill chain in the back (called Hellespontus Montes) is a remnant of how Hellas basin was formed, the agency said.
“This feature is a product of the final stages of the formation of the vast Hellas impact basin itself, most likely as the basin walls – which were first pushed outwards by the extraordinary forces at work during the formation of the basin – later collapsed and sank inwards to create the observed stair-stepped shape.”
The image was taken by ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft, which is just one of several robotic emissaries circling the Red Planet.
An impact crater on Mars called Graterri, which is only 4.3 miles (6.9 km) in diameter, shines in a global heat map of the Red Planet produced in 2014. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Arizona State University
For years, NASA’s Mars Odyssey has been working on some night moves. It’s been taking pictures of the Red Planet during nighttime — more than 20,000 in all — to see how the planet’s heat signature looks while the sun is down.
The result is the highest-resolution map ever of the thermal properties of Mars, which you can see here. Why is this important? Researchers say it helps tell the story about things such as if an area is shrouded with dust, where bare bedrock is, and whether sediments in a crater are packed tight or floating freely.
“Darker areas in the map are cooler at night, have a lower thermal inertia and likely contain fine particles, such as dust, silt or fine sand,” stated Robin Fergason at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center in Arizona, who led the map’s creation. Brighter areas are warmer, likely yielding regions of bedrock, crust or coarse sand.
The map from Odyssey’s Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) is also used for a more practical purpose: deciding where to set down NASA’s next Mars mission.
After assisting in landing site selection for the Curiosity mission, the THEMIS data will be used to figure out where the Mars 2020 rover will be placed, Arizona State University stated.
Orbital Sciences Corporation Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft blasts off on July 13 2014 from Launch Pad 0A at NASA Wallops Flight Facility , VA, on the Orb-2 mission and loaded with over 3000 pounds of science experiments and supplies for the crew aboard the International Space Station. Credit: Ken Kremer - kenkremer.com
The Cygnus commercial cargo craft is rapidly closing in on the International Space Station (ISS) for an expected berthing on Wednesday morning, July 16, following a spectacular lunchtime blastoff from the Virginia shore on Sunday, July 13, carrying over one and a half tons of supplies and science experiments for the six man crew.
During a three day orbital chase, mission controllers are executing a series of carefully choreographed thruster firings to maneuver the private Orbital Sciences Cygnus ever closer to the space station.
You can watch the final rendezvous and berthing sequence live on NASA TV on Wednesday starting at 5:15 a.m.
All systems “green” reported Orbital Sciences as of about 6 p.m. Tuesday evening, July 15.
In this photo posted to Twitter by Flight Engineer Alexander Gerst, he and Commander Steve Swanson (foreground) use the robotics workstation in the International Space Station’s cupola. Image Credit: NASA
Cygnus orbit was 415 x 409 km and some 4 kilometers below and 270 kilometers behind the ISS. It is closing in at 23 km/hour using its 32 thrusters.
Cygnus roared to orbit during the flawless July 13 blastoff of the Orbital Sciences Corp. Antares rocket at 12:52 p.m. (EDT) from the beachside Pad 0A at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.
The two stage rocket ascended very slowly after ignition with a mounting sound and deafening crescendo that reverberated across the local Virginia viewing area. It put on a spectacular sky show before disappearing into the clouds after about 40 seconds or so.
The 13 story Antares lofted the Cygnus christened “Janet Voss” in honor of the late shuttle astronaut bound for the space station and packed with a wide range of science experiments and essential supplies.
ISS Expedition 40 crew members Commander Steve Swanson of NASA and Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency conducted a last minute practice session today at the robotics work station inside the domed cupola.
They used the Robotics Onboard Trainer, or ROBoT, to practice techniques for capturing Cygnus with Canadarm2, said NASA.
Orbital Sciences Corporation Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft blasts off on July 13 2014 from Launch Pad 0A at NASA Wallops Flight Facility , VA, on the Orb-2 mission and loaded with over 3000 pounds of science experiments and supplies for the crew aboard the International Space Station. Credit: Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com
They are expected to capture the private cargo freighter at approximately 6:39 a.m. (EDT) using the stations 57-foot (17-meter) Canadarm2 robotic arm.
Live coverage will then pause as the crew makes final preparations.
NASA will resume the live webcast at 8:30 a.m. EDT for the berthing of Cygnus.
ISS Astronauts grapple Orbital Sciences Cygnus spacecraft with robotic arm and guide it to docking port during Orb-1 mission in January 2014. Credit: NASA TV
Mission Control in Houston will command the arm to move Cygnus into place for its installation at the Earth-facing port on the Harmony module expected to take place some 15 minutes later at around 8:45 a.m.
The Antares/Cygnus Orbital-2 (Orb-2) mission is the second of eight cargo resupply missions to the ISS under Orbital’s Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA.
The pressurized Cygnus cargo freighter will deliver 1,657 kg (3653 lbs) of cargo to the ISS Expedition 40 crew including over 700 pounds (300 kg) of science experiments and instruments, crew supplies, food, water, computer equipment, spacewalk tools and student research experiments.
The wide ranging science cargo and experiments includes a flock of 29 nanosatellites and deployers, student science experiments and small cubesat prototypes that may one day fly to Mars.
Stay tuned here for Ken’s continuing ISS, OCO-2, GPM, Curiosity, Opportunity, Orion, SpaceX, Boeing, Orbital Sciences, MAVEN, MOM, Mars and more Earth & Planetary science and human spaceflight news.
A NASA "poster" marking the one year to Pluto encounter by New Horizons. Credit: NASA
Countdown! Just under one year from now, the New Horizons will finally reach its mission goal after sailing through the solar system for the better part of a decade. It will fly by the dwarf planet Pluto and its moons on July 14, 2015, showing us the surface of these distant bodies for the very first time.
And the New Horizon’s team reported a thruster burn yesterday has put the spacecraft right on course to correct the spacecraft’s arrival time – a year from now – at the precisely intended aim point at Pluto.
The spacecraft fired its thrusters for just under 88 seconds, which sped the craft up by about 3.8 km/h (2.4 miles per hour.)
“If we hadn’t performed this maneuver, we would have arrived at Pluto about 36 minutes later than we wanted to,” said Mark Holdridge, New Horizons encounter mission manager. “Making the adjustment now means we won’t have to perform a bigger maneuver – and use more of the spacecraft’s fuel – down the road.”
“It was a great burn, performed flawlessly” said Alan Stern, New Horizons principal investigator. “You could say that New Horizons just lit a little candle for its one year out anniversary.”
It was the spacecraft’s sixth course correction maneuver since launch in January 2006, and the first since 2010.
“Pluto gets closer by the day, and New Horizons continues into rare territory, as just the fifth probe to traverse interplanetary space so far from the sun,” said NASA on the New Horizon’s website. “And the first ever to travel to Pluto.”
It’ll be a treat to see what the dwarf planet looks like after so many tantalizing glimpses by the Hubble Space Telescope and New Horizons spacecraft itself (see this story from last week for some views.) Happy sailing!
Pluto’s surface as viewed from the Hubble Space Telescope in several pictures taken in 2002 and 2003. Though the telescope is a powerful tool, the dwarf planet is so small that it is difficult to resolve its surface. Astronomers noted a bright spot (180 degrees) with an unusual abundance of carbon monoxide frost. Credit: NASA
A view from the Rosetta spacecraft on July 11, 2014 showing what appears to be double lobes in the nucleus of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Screenshot from YouTube. Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA
A view of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko’s nucleus, appearing to show a double binary. Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA
It appears that Rosetta’s comet has a double nucleus. A video from the spacecraft speeding towards Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko shows what looks two lobes touching each other, which could send a small wrinkle in the plans to land Philae on the comet’s surface later this year.
Edit, July 17: As the original video was removed off of YouTube, we have now replaced it with a GIF of the comet from here.
“The nucleus of the comet is clearly a contact binary — two smaller (and unequally sized object) in close contact,” she wrote, adding the nucleus measures 4 kilometers by 3.5 kilometers (2.5 miles by 2.17 miles).
It has a rotational period of about 12.4 hours.
“Philippe Lamy is quoted as estimating that the two components would have come into contact at a relative speed of about 3 meters per second in order to stick together in this way … This unusual shape could present a navigational challenge for the Philae lander team.
“The CNES release quotes Philae navigator Eric Jurado,” she continued, “as saying that ‘navigation around such a body should not be much more complex than around a nucleus of irregular spherical type, but landing the Philae probe [scheduled for November 11], however, could be more difficult, as this form restricts potential landing zones.’ ”
A view from the Rosetta spacecraft on July 11, 2014 showing what appears to be double lobes in the nucleus of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Screenshot from YouTube. Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA
Only a handful of spacecraft have ever got up close to a comet (see the picture gallery of the others here). While a contact binary may be a surprise to scientists, the irregular shape spotted from afar was something that we’ve seen before in other comets.
“Irregular, elongated, and structured shapes are not uncommon for small bodies such as asteroids and comets,” stated the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in a release last week. “Of the five cometary nuclei that have been visited by spacecraft in close flybys so far, all are far from spherical.”
Makes us all eager to see what Rosetta finds out as it draws closer to the comet, for its rendezvous in August. The spacecraft will remain with the comet as 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko makes its closest approach to the Sun in 2015.
Some astronomers are already having fun imagining the possibilities of the new shape, such as the University of California, Berkeley’s Alex Parker.
Artist's conception of NASA's Space Launch System with Orion crewed deep space capsule. Credit: NASA
In three years, NASA is planning to light the fuse on a huge rocket designed to bring humans further out into the solar system.
We usually talk about SLS here in the context of the astronauts it will carry inside the Orion spacecraft, which will have its own test flight later in 2014. But today, NASA advertised a possible other use for the rocket: trying to find life beyond Earth.
At a symposium in Washington on the search for life, NASA associate administrator John Grunsfeld said SLS could serve two major functions: launching bigger telescopes, and sending a mission on an express route to Jupiter’s moon Europa.
The James Webb Space Telescope, with a mirror of 6.5 meters (21 feet), will in part search for exoplanets after its launch in 2018. Next-generation telescopes of 10 to 20 meters (33 to 66 feet) could pick out more, if SLS could bring them up into space.
“This will be a multi-generational search,” said Sara Seager, a planetary scientist and physicist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She added that the big challenge is trying to distinguish a planet like Earth from the light of its parent star; the difference between the two is a magnitude of 10 billion. “Our Earth is actually extremely hard to find,” she said.
Much like our solar system, Kepler-62 is home to two habitable zone worlds. The small shining object seen to the right of Kepler-62f is Kepler-62e. Orbiting on the inner edge of the habitable zone, Kepler-62e is roughly 60 percent larger than Earth. Image credit: NASA Ames/JPL-Caltech.
While the symposium was not talking much about life in the solar system, Europa is considered one of the top candidates due to the presence of a possible subsurface ocean beneath its ice. NASA is now seeking ideas for a mission to this moon, following news that water plumes were spotted spewing from the moon’s icy south pole. A mission to Europa would take seven years with the technology currently in NASA’s hands, but the SLS would be powerful enough to speed up the trip to only three years, Grunsfeld said.
And that’s not all that SLS could do. If it does bring astronauts deeper in space as NASA hopes it will, this opens up a range of destinations for them to go to. Usually NASA talks about this in terms of its human asteroid mission, an idea it has been working on and pitching for the past year to a skeptical, budget-conscious Congress.
But in passing, John Mather (NASA’s senior project scientist for Webb) said it’s possible astronauts could be sent to maintain the telescope. Webb is supposed to be parked in a Lagrange point (gravitationally stable location) in the exact opposite direction of the sun, almost a million miles away. It’s a big contrast to the Hubble Space Telescope, which was conveniently parked in low Earth orbit for astronauts to fix every so often with the space shuttle.
An Artist’s Conception of the James Webb Space Telescope. Credit: ESA.
While NASA works on the funding and design for larger telescope mirrors, Webb is one of the two new space telescopes it is focusing on in the search for life. Webb’s infrared eyes will be able to peer at solar systems being born, once it is launched in 2018. Complementary to that will be the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, which will fly in 2017 and examine planets that pass in front of their parent stars to find elements in their atmospheres.
The usual cautions apply when talking about this article: NASA is talking about several missions under development, and it is unclear yet what the success of SLS or any of these will be until they are battle-tested in space.
But what this discussion does show is the agency is trying to find many purposes for its next-generation rocket, and working to align it to astrophysics goals as well as its desire to send humans further out in the solar system.
An image of distant mountains taken by Curiosity's navcam on July 11, 2014, Sol 685 of the mission. The rover is in Gale Crater (near the equator of Mars) making a trek to Mount Sharp (the unofficial name for Aeolis Mons). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Fancy a little Mars in your daily life? You need go no further than the excellent raw image archive that NASA generously provides on its website, showing the view from the Opportunity and Curiosity rovers as they make their way on the surface.
Opportunity is rolling along in its eleventh year of operations, busily exploring the west rim of Endeavour Crater. Below the jump is a stunning stitch-together of some of its latest images from space tweep Stu Atkinson, who runs a lovely blog called Road to Endeavour about the rover’s adventures. NASA also has an official blog that was last updated July 1.
The Curiosity rover is in Gale Crater near the Martian equator, heading towards Mount Sharp as NASA picks paths that are the softest for its damaged wheels. Panorama maker Andrew Bodrov recently put together a new 360-degree view of Curiosity’s mastcam, which encompasses 137 images taken on Sol 673. You can see that below the jump as well.
Panorama based on pictures taken by the Opportunity rover in July 2014. Credit: Panorama by Stu Atkinson, photos by NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell Univ./Arizona State Univ
Below are a couple of more raw views from the Curiosity rover taken on Sol 685.
A view of one of Curiosity’s wheels taken by the rover’s navcam on July 11, 2014 (Sol 685). Credit: NASA/JPL-CaltechMartian dunes dominate the scene in this picture taken by the Curiosity rover’s navcam on July 11, 2014 (Sol 685). The rover is in Gale Crater, an equatorial region, on its way to Aeolis Mons (Mount Sharp). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
And across Mars, some views from Opportunity on Sol 3721 of the mission. The rover is facing the elimination of its funding in 2015, although in budget discussions from February NASA said it does have a route for it to get money (if Congress approves).
A view from NASA’s Opportunity rover on Sol 3721 as it explores Endeavour Crater. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell Univ./Arizona State Univ.A view from NASA’s Opportunity rover on Sol 3721 as it explores Endeavour Crater. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell Univ./Arizona State Univ.A view from NASA’s Opportunity rover on Sol 3721 as it explores Endeavour Crater. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell Univ./Arizona State Univ.
Will you see it? Comet Jacques will pass about 3.5 degrees north of brilliant Venus tomorrow morning July 13. This map shows the sky facing northeast about 1 hour before sunrise. Stellarium
Comet C/2014 E2 Jacques has returned! Before it disappeared in the solar glow this spring, the comet reached magnitude +6, the naked eye limit. Now it’s back at dawn, rising higher each morning as it treks toward darker skies. Just days after its July 2 perihelion, the fuzzball will be in conjunction with the planet Venus tomorrow morning July 13. With Mercury nearby, you may have the chance to see this celestial ‘Rat Pack’ tucked within a 8° circle.
First photo of Comet Jacques on its return to the morning sky taken on July 11. Two tails are visible – a short, dust tail pointing to the lower left of the coma and longer gas or ion tail to the right. Credit: Gerald Rhemann
While I can guarantee you’ll see Venus and probably Mercury (especially if you use binoculars), morning twilight and low altitude will undoubtedly make spotting Comet Jacques challenging. A 6-inch telescope might nail it. Look for a small, fuzzy cloud with a brighter core against the bluing sky. Patience is the sky observer’s most useful tool. It won’t be long before the comet’s westward motion combined with the seasonal drift of the stars will loft it into darkness again.
Use this map to follow Comet Jacques as it moves west across Taurus and Auriga over the next few weeks. Planet positions are shown for July 13 with stars to magnitude +6. Jacques’ position is marked every 5 days. Click to enlarge. Source: Chris Mariott’s SkyMap
A week from now, when the moon’s slimmed to half, the comet will be nearly twice as high and should be easily visible in 50mm binoculars at the start of morning twilight.
Comet Jacques is expected to remain around magnitude +6 through the remainder of July into early August and then slowly fade. It will be well-placed in Perseus at the time of the Perseid meteor shower on Aug. 12-13. Closest approach to Earth occurs on August 29 at 52.4 million miles (84.3 million km). Good luck and let us know if you see it.
A new study looking at several more gullies comes to about the same conclusion. Researchers examined images of 356 sites, with each of these sites captured multiple times on camera. Of the 38 of these sites that showed changes since 2006, the researchers concluded site changes happened in the winter — when it’s too cold for any liquid water to flow.
This image covers a location that has been imaged several times to look for changes in gullies. This is in the Terra Sirenum region, part of the southern highlands in the mid-latitudes. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona.
“As recently as five years ago, I thought the gullies on Mars indicated activity of liquid water,” stated lead author Colin Dundas of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Astrogeology Science Center in Arizona.
“We were able to get many more observations, and as we started to see more activity and pin down the timing of gully formation and change, we saw that the activity occurs in winter.”
Observations were made using NASA’s long-running Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission, which has been in orbit there since 2006. The researchers said that these lengthy missions are important for examining and confirming findings, because they can revisit data over time and change their conclusions, as needed, as more evidence comes in. Pictures were taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera.
A 164-yard (150-meter) wide swath of Martian surface. It shows gullies changing between passes of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The earlier image, at left, was taken May 30, 2007. Near the arrows on the image on right, which was taken May 31, 2013, is a “rubbly flow” near the channel’s mouth. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona
The first images of gullies in 2000 sparked speculation that liquid water could be responsible for changing the surface today. It’s true that Mars has water frozen in its poles, and observations with several NASA rovers show strong evidence that water once flowed on the surface. But, these trenches are unlikely to show evidence that liquid water is flowing right now.
“Frozen carbon dioxide, commonly called dry ice, does not exist naturally on Earth, but is plentiful on Mars. It has been linked to active processes on Mars such as carbon dioxide gas geysers and lines on sand dunes plowed by blocks of dry ice,” NASA stated.
“One mechanism by which carbon-dioxide frost might drive gully flows is by gas that is sublimating from the frost providing lubrication for dry material to flow. Another may be slides due to the accumulating weight of seasonal frost buildup on steep slopes.”
The team added that smaller features could be the result of liquid water, such as this recent study using MRO. It’ll be interesting to see what other data is churned up as the fleet of orbiters continues making observations, and other scientists weigh in on the results.
Orbital 2 Launch from NASA Wallops Island, VA on July 12, 2014- Time of First Sighting Map This map shows the rough time at which you can first expect to see Antares after it is launched on July 12, 2014. It represents the time at which the rocket will reach 5 degrees above the horizon and varies depending on your location . We have selected 5 degrees as it is unlikely that you'll be able to view the rocket when it is below 5 degrees due to buildings, vegetation, and other terrain features. As an example, using this map when observing from Washington, DC shows that Antares will reach 5 degrees above the horizon more than a minute. Credit: Orbital Sciences
Orbital 2 Launch from NASA Wallops Island, VA on July 12, 2014- Time of First Sighting Map
This map shows the rough time at which you can first expect to see Antares after it is launched on July 12, 2014. It represents the time at which the rocket will reach 5 degrees above the horizon and varies depending on your location . We have selected 5 degrees as it is unlikely that you’ll be able to view the rocket when it is below 5 degrees due to buildings, vegetation, and other terrain features. As an example, using this map when observing from Washington, DC shows that Antares will reach 5 degrees above the horizon more after than a minute. Credit: Orbital Sciences
See more trajectory viewing maps and NASA TV broadcast link below Story updated[/caption]
NASA WALLOPS FLIGHT FACILITY, VA – Catching a break from nearly relentless and damaging thunderstorms along the US East coast, Orbital Sciences Corp. was finally able to roll their commercial Antares rocket out to its beachside launch pad at NASA Wallops Flight Facility, VA, early this morning, July 10, following a weather postponement that pushed the scheduled liftoff back by one day to Saturday, July 12 from Friday, July 11.
UPDATE: Orbital Sciences Corp. has postponed the launch of its Cygnus cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station until 12:52 p.m. EDT on Sunday, July 13, from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s Pad 0A at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Severe weather in the Wallops area has repeatedly interrupted Orbital’s operations schedule leading up to the launch.
The long delayed blastoff of the privately developed Antares rocket on a critical cargo mission bound for the International Space Station (ISS) and packed with science experiments is now slated for 1:14 p.m. on July 12 12:52 p.m. EDT on Sunday, July 13 from Launch Pad 0A at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) at NASA Wallops Island on Virginia’s Eastern shore.
Antares is carrying the Orbital Sciences Cygnus cargo logistics spacecraft to orbit on the Orbital-2 (Orb-2) mission. It is the second of eight cargo resupply missions to the ISS under Orbital’s Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA.
Here’s our complete guide on “How to See the Antares/Cygnus July 12 Blastoff” – chock full of viewing maps and trajectory graphics (above and below) from a variety of prime viewing locations; including historic and notable landmarks in Philadelphia, Washington, DC., NYC, New Jersey, Virginia and more.
US National National Mall Antares Orb-2 trajectory. Credit: Orbital Sciences
If you have never seen a rocket launch, this one could be for you especially since it’s now on the weekend and you don’t have to take the long trek to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Depending on local weather conditions, portions of the daylight liftoff could be visible to millions of spectators along the US Eastern seaboard stretching from South Carolina to Massachusetts.
The launch window on Sunday, July 13 opens at 12:52 p.m. for a duration of 5 minutes.
Philadelphia – Antares Orb-2 trajectory. Credit: Orbital Sciences
In the event of a delay for any reason the next available launch opportunity is Sunday, July 13 at 12:52 p.m.
The weather prognosis for both days this weekend is currently excellent.
The weather forecast shows a probability of acceptable weather at 80% GO on Saturday and improves to 90% GO on Sunday. Of course the weather can change on a dime.
Certainly the best viewing of all will be in the mid-Atlantic region closest to Wallops Island.
So if you have the opportunity to observe the launch locally, you’ll get a magnificent view and hear the rockets thunder at either the NASA Wallops Visitor Center or the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge/Assateague National Seashore.
For more information about the Wallops Visitors Center, including directions, see: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/wallops/visitorcenter
NASA will have special “countdown speakers” set up at the NASA Wallops Visitor Center, Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge/Assateague National Seashore and Ocean City inlet.
Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft await launch on Orb 2 mission on July 13, 2014 from Launch Pad 0A at NASA Wallops Flight Facility Facility, VA. LADEE lunar mission launch pad 0B stands adjacent to right of Antares. Credit: Ken Kremer – kenkremer.comOrbital Sciences Antares rocket and Cygnus cargo spacecraft are set to blast off on July 12, 2014 on the Orb-2 mission from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The rocket undergoes processing at the Horizontal Integration Facility at NASA Wallops during visit by Universe Today/Ken Kremer. Credit: Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com
The Orb-2 launch was postponed about a month from June 10 to conduct a thorough re-inspection of the two Russian built and US modified Aerojet AJ26 engines that power the rocket’s first stage after a test failure of a different engine on May 22 at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi resulted in extensive damage.
I was granted a visit to the Orbital Sciences Antares rocket integration facility at NASA Wallops recently as the engine re-inspection work by Aerojet engineers was winding down and ultimately resulted in approval to launch. See my Antares/Cygnus Orb-2 rocket photos herein.
The pressurized Cygnus cargo freighter will deliver 1,657 kg (3653 lbs) of cargo to the ISS including science experiments and instruments, crew supplies, food, water, computer equipment, spacewalk tools and student research experiments.
Cygnus will remain berthed at the station for 40 days.
For the destructive and fiery return to Earth, Cygnus will be loaded with approximately 1,346 kg (2967 lbs) of trash for disposal upon atmospheric reentry.
Battery Park, NYC – Antares Orb-2 trajectory. Credit: Orbital Sciences
Despite the 1 day delay, an on time launch on Saturday will still result in Cygnus arrival at the ISS on July 15. The flight time to the ISS reduced from approximately 3 days to 2 days.
Station commander Steven Swanson of NASA and Flight Engineer Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency (ESA) will grapple and berth Cygnus using the stations 57 foot-long robotic arm onto the Earth-facing port of the station’s Harmony module.
Orbital Sciences was awarded a $1.9 Billion supply contract by NASA to deliver 20,000 kilograms of research experiments, crew provisions, spare parts and hardware for 8 flight to the ISS through 2016 under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) initiative.
The July mission marks the second operational Antares/Cygnus flight.
The two stage Antares rocket stands 133 feet tall. It takes about 10 minutes from launch until separation of Cygnus from the Antares vehicle.
SpaceX has a similar resupply contract using their Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon cargo carrier and just completed their 3rd operational mission to the ISS in May.
Atlantic City, NJ – Antares Orb-2 trajectory. Credit: Orbital Sciences
Watch for Ken’s onsite Antares Orb-2 mission reports from NASA Wallops, VA.
Stay tuned here for Ken’s continuing ISS, OCO-2, GPM, Curiosity, Opportunity, Orion, SpaceX, Boeing, Orbital Sciences, MAVEN, MOM, Mars and more Earth & Planetary science and human spaceflight news.
Learn more about NASA’s Mars missions and Orbital Sciences Antares ISS launch on July 12 from NASA Wallops, VA in July and more about SpaceX, Boeing and commercial space and more at Ken’s upcoming presentations.
July 11/12: “Antares/Cygnus ISS Launch from Virginia” & “Space mission updates”; Rodeway Inn, Chincoteague, VA, evening
Iwo Jima Memorial – – Antares Orb-2 trajectory. Credit: Orbital SciencesATK built 2nd stage integrated onto 1st stage of Orbital Sciences Antares rocket slated for July 11, 2014 launch on the Orb-2 mission from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, bound for the ISS. The rocket undergoes processing at the Horizontal Integration Facility at NASA Wallops during visit by Universe Today/Ken Kremer. Credit: Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com
