A Soyuz rocket carries the Expedition 42/3 crew to the International Space Station from Kazakhstan on Nov. 24, 2014. On board were Anton Shkaplerov (Roscosmos), Terry Virts (NASA) and Samantha Cristoforetti (European Space Agency). Credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani
And now we have six people in space again — including the first-ever Italian woman to reach orbit. Samantha Cristoforetti has been delighting people worldwide with her behind-the-scenes training posts as she prepares for her “Futura” mission, which will see her spend 5.5 months on the International Space Station with her crewmates. We have the NASA video from the big day above, and some photos from the launch below.
Cristoforetti has been sharing Spotify playlists and amusing tweets with more than 131,000 Twitter followers, not to mention people on Flickr and Google Plus. Her sense of humor and eye for the unusual will make for a fun few months in orbit along with the rest of her crew, NASA’s Terry Virts and Russia’s Anton Shkaplerov.
Just had what was probably my longest shower ever. Good Russian wisdom to leave plenty of time for it on the schedule! #NoRushOnLaunchDay
On station for their arrival last night was the second half of their crew: Barry Wilmore (NASA), Elena Serova (Russia) and Alexander Samoukutyaev (Russia). And in March 2015, a big event occurs: the first one-year mission on the International Space Station will begin with the arrival of the next crew.
The launch took place at 4:01 p.m. EDT (9:01 p.m. UTC) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan aboard a Soyuz rocket.
Prior to the launch of Expedition 42 in November 2014, Samantha Cristoforetti (left, European Space Agency) speaks with a loved one through the glass at a pre-launch press conference. Credit: NASA/Aubrey GemignaniPrior to the launch of Expedition 42 in November 2014, Anton Shkaplerov (Roscosmos, center) visits with a family member (at right) through the glass at a pre-flight press conference. In the background are his crewmates, from left: Terry Virts (NASA) Samantha Cristoforetti (ESA). Credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani
Antares descended into hellish inferno after first stage propulsion system at base of Orbital Sciences Antares rocket exploded moments after blastoff from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, VA, on Oct. 28, 2014, at 6:22 p.m. Credit: Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com
Up close launch pad camera view as Antares descended into a hellish inferno after the first stage propulsion system at the base of Orbital Sciences’ Antares rocket exploded moments after blastoff from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, VA, on Oct. 28, 2014, at 6:22 p.m. The south side engine nozzle is clearly intact in this image. Credit: Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com
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NASA WALLOPS FLIGHT FACILITY, VA – All was calm, the air was crisp with hope, and the skies were clear as far as the eye could see as the clock ticked down to T MINUS Zero for the Oct. 28, 2014, blastoff of an Orbital Sciences commercial Antares rocket from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, VA, on a mission of critical importance bound for the International Space Station and stocked with science and life support supplies for the six humans living and working aboard.
Tragically it was not to be – as I reported live from the NASA Wallops press site on that fateful October day. The 133 foot tall rocket’s base exploded violently and unexpectedly just seconds after a beautiful evening liftoff due to the failure of one of the refurbished AJ26 first stage “Americanized” Soviet-era engines built four decades ago.
And now for the first time, I can show you precisely what the terrible incendiary view was like through exclusive, up close launch pad photos and videos from myself and a group of space journalists working together from Universe Today, AmericaSpace, and Zero-G news.
Antares descended to doom after the first stage propulsion system at the base of Orbital Sciences’ Antares rocket exploded moments after blastoff from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, VA, on Oct. 28, 2014, at 6:22 p.m. Credit: Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com
I was an eyewitness to the awful devastation suffered by the Antares/Cygnus Orb-3 mission from the press viewing site at NASA Wallops located at a distance of about 1.8 miles away from the launch complex.
Our remote cameras were placed directly adjacent to the Antares pad OA at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) on Wallops Island, VA, and miraculously survived the rocket’s destruction as it plunged to the ground very near and just north of the seaside launch pad.
All of our team’s cameras and image cards were impounded by Orbital’s Accident Investigation Board (AIB) that was assembled quickly in the aftermath of the disaster and charged with determining the root cause of the launch failure.
The photos captured on our image cards were used as evidence and scrutinized by the investigators searching for clues as to the cause, and have only just been returned to us in the past two days. Similar NASA and Orbital Sciences photos have not been publicly released.
Collected here in Part 1 is a gallery of images from our combined journalist team of Universe Today, AmericaSpace, and Zero-G news. Part 2 will follow shortly and focus on our up close launch pad videos.
Close up view of Antares’ destruction shows the south side first stage engine intact after the north side engine at the base of Orbital Sciences’ rocket exploded moments after blastoff from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, VA, on Oct. 28, 2014. Credit: Ken Kremer – kenkremer.comAntares descended into a hellish inferno after the first stage propulsion system at the base of Orbital Sciences’ Antares rocket exploded moments after blastoff from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, VA, on Oct. 28, 2014, at 6:22 p.m. Credit: Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com
My lead image shows Antares’ descent into a hellish inferno. And more below clearly show that the south side engine nozzle was intact after the explosion. Thus it was the north side engine that blew up. See my up close AJ26 engine photo below.
Images from my colleagues Matthew Travis, Elliot Severn, Alex Polimeni, Charles Twine, and Jeff Seibert also show exquisite views of the explosion, fireball, and wreckage from various positions around the launch pad.
Antares destruction after the first stage propulsion system at the base of Orbital Sciences’ rocket exploded moments after blastoff from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, VA, on Oct. 28, 2014. Credit: Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com
Close up view of Antares’ destructive fall shows the south side first stage engine intact after the north side engine at the base of Orbital Sciences’ rocket exploded moments after blastoff from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, VA, on Oct. 28, 2014. Credit: Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com
Moments after liftoff, the highly anticipated Antares launch suddenly devolved into utter catastrophe and a doomed descent into a hellish inferno of bloodcurdling terror – falling as a flaming incinerating carcass of unspeakable horror that ended in a mammoth deafening explosion as the pitiful wreckage smashed into the ground and blew back upwards as a raging fireball and hurtling debris that was visible across a wide swath of the sky.
The awful scene was seen by hordes of expectant spectators for miles around the Wallops area.
The disaster’s cause has almost certainly been traced to a turbopump failure in one of the rocket’s Soviet-era first stage engines, according to official statements from David Thompson, Orbital’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
The AJ26 engines were originally manufactured some 40 years ago in the then Soviet Union as the NK-33.
They were refurbished and “Americanized” by Aerojet Rocketdyne.
“While still preliminary and subject to change, current evidence strongly suggests that one of the two AJ26 main engines that powered Antares first stage failed about 15 seconds after ignition. At this time, we believe the failure likely originated in or directly affected the turbopump machinery of this engine, but I want to stress that more analysis will be required to confirm that this finding is correct,” said Thompson.
Overall this was the 5th Antares launch using the AJ26 engines.
The 14 story Antares rocket is a two stage vehicle.
The liquid fueled first stage is filled with about 550,000 pounds (250,000 kg) of Liquid Oxygen and Refined Petroleum (LOX/RP) and powered by a pair of AJ26 engines that generate a combined 734,000 pounds (3,265kN) of sea level thrust.
The Oct. 28 launch disaster was just the latest in a string of serious problems with the AJ-26/NK-33 engines.
Earlier this year an AJ26 engine failed and exploded during pre launch acceptance testing on a test stand on May 22, 2014 at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.
Besides completely destroying the AJ26 engine, the explosion during engine testing also severely damaged the Stennis test stand. It has taken months of hard work to rebuild and restore the test stand and place it back into service.
Antares was carrying Orbital’s privately developed Cygnus pressurized cargo freighter loaded with nearly 5000 pounds (2200 kg) of science experiments, research instruments, crew provisions, spare parts, spacewalk and computer equipment and gear on a critical resupply mission dubbed Orb-3 bound for the International Space Station (ISS).
It was the heaviest cargo load yet lofted by a Cygnus. Some 800 pounds additional cargo was loaded on board compared to earlier flights. That was enabled by using the more powerful ATK CASTOR 30XL engine to power the second stage for the first time.
The astronauts and cosmonauts depend on a regular supply train from the ISS partners to kept it afloat and productive on a 24/7 basis.
The Orbital-3, or Orb-3, mission was to be the third of eight cargo resupply missions to the ISS through 2016 under the NASA Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract award valued at $1.9 Billion.
Orbital Sciences is under contract to deliver 20,000 kilograms of research experiments, crew provisions, spare parts, and hardware for the eight ISS flights.
Enjoy the photo gallery herein.
And watch for Part 2 shortly with exquisite videos, more photos, and personal reflections from our team.
Antares descended into a hellish inferno after the first stage propulsion system at the base of Orbital Sciences’ Antares rocket exploded moments after blastoff from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, VA, on Oct. 28, 2014, at 6:22 p.m. Credit: Ken Kremer – kenkremer.comAntares rocket stand erect, reflecting off the calm waters the night before the planned first night launch from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, VA, that ended in tragic failure on Oct. 28. Credit: Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com
Watch here for Ken’s ongoing reporting about Antares and NASA Wallops.
Stay tuned here for Ken’s continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news.
Orbital Sciences Antares rocket explodes into an aerial fireball seconds after blastoff from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, VA, on Oct. 28, 2014 at 6:22 p.m. Credit: Ken Kremer – kenkremer.comSoviet era NK-33 engines refurbished as the AJ26 exactly like pictured here probably caused Antares’ rocket failure on Oct. 28, 2014. Orbital Sciences technicians at work on two AJ26 first stage engines at the base of an Antares rocket during exclusive visit by Ken Kremer/Universe Today at NASA Wallops. These engines powered the successful Antares liftoff on Jan. 9, 2014, at NASA Wallops, Virginia, bound for the ISS. Credit: Ken Kremer – kenkremer.comUp Close Launch Pad remote camera photographers during prelaunch setup for Orb-3 mission at NASA Wallops launch pad. Credit: Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com
The Columbus module is installed on the International Space Station in 2008. Pictured is NASA astronaut Rex Walheim. Credit: NASA
Need a part on the International Space Station? You’re going to have to wait for that. That is, wait for the next spaceship to arrive with the critical tool to make a repair, or replace something that broke. You can imagine how that slows down NASA’s desire for science on the orbiting laboratory.
Enter the first orbiting “machine shop”: a 3-D printer that was just installed in the station’s Columbus laboratory this week. If the printer works as planned, astronauts will be able to make simple things based on instructions from the ground. Over time, the agency hopes this will save time and money, and reduce the need to rely on shipments from Earth. And keep an eye out in 2015: two other 3-D printers are scheduled to join it.
As NASA aims to send astronauts to an asteroid and perhaps to Mars, the need to manufacture parts on site is critical. Sending a valve to Phobos isn’t an easy proposition. Much better that future crews will make stuff on the spot, and NASA says the space station will be a good spot to test this kind of stuff out. Adding motivation is a National Research Council report from this summer urging NASA to start 3-D printing testing as soon as possible, since the station (as of yet) is only funded by all partners through 2020. Negotiations are ongoing to extend that to 2024.
In November 2014, NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore installed a 3-D printer made by Made in Space in the Columbus laboratory’s Microgravity Science Glovebox on the International Space Station. Credit: NASA TV
“Additive manufacturing with 3-D printers will allow space crews to be less reliant on supply missions from Earth and lead to sustainable, self-reliant exploration missions where resupply is difficult and costly,” stated Jason Crusan, director of NASA’s advanced explorations systems division at NASA headquarters in Washington. “The space station provides the optimal place to perfect this technology in microgravity.”
But don’t get too excited yet; astronauts aren’t going to make screwdrivers right away. The first step will be calibrating the printer. Then, the first files (mainly test coupons) will be printed and sent back to Earth to make sure they meet up to standards compared to identical samples printed on the ground with the same printer.
Made In Space Inc. manufactured this printer (which arrived on station in September) with the aim of sending up a more advanced version in 2015. In a statement, the company said it is “gratified” that the printer is ready to go in space. Any science collected on it will inform the design of the new printer, “which will enable a fast and cost-effective way for people to get hardware to space,” the company added.
And guess what: there is yet another printer that will be launched to the space station next year. Called the POP3D Portable On-Board Printer, the European Space Agency promises that the tiny machine — less than half the diameter of a basketball — will be able to print a plastic part in about half an hour.
The prime contractor for this printer is Italian company Altran. POP3D will reach the station in the first half of next year, ideally while Italy’s Samantha Cristoforetti is still doing her Futura mission in space (which starts this Sunday, if the launch schedule holds.)
The Mars Society prototype habitat in Utah conducts studies on what it would be like to live on Mars.
Credit: Mars Society MRDS
If you wanna get humans to Mars, there are so many technical hurdles in the way that it will take a lot of hard work. How to help people survive for months on a hostile surface, especially one that is bathed on radiation? And how will we keep those people safe on the long journey there and back?
NASA is greatly concerned about the radiation risk, and is asking the public for help in a new challenge as the agency measures radiation with the forthcoming uncrewed Orion test flight in December. There’s $12,000 up for grabs across at least a few awards, providing you get your ideas into the agency by Dec. 12.
“One of the major human health issues facing future space travelers venturing beyond low-Earth orbit is the hazardous effects of galactic cosmic rays (GCRs),” NASA wrote in a press release.
“Exposure to GCRs, immensely high-energy radiation that mainly originates outside the solar system, now limits mission duration to about 150 days while a mission to Mars would take approximately 500 days. These charged particles permeate the universe, and exposure to them is inevitable during space exploration.”
Orion in orbit in this artists concept. Credit: NASA
Here’s an interesting twist, too — more data will come through the Orion test flight as the next-generation spacecraft aims for a flight 3,600 miles (5,800 kilometers) above Earth’s surface. That’s so high that the vehicle will go inside a high-radiation environment called the Van Allen Belts, which only the Apollo astronauts passed through in the 1960s and 1970s en route to the Moon.
While a flight to Mars will also just graze this area briefly, scientists say the high-radiation environment will give them a sense of how Orion (and future spacecraft) perform in this kind of a zone. So the spacecraft will carry sensors on board to measure overall radiation levels as well as “hot spots” within the vehicle.
You can find out more information about the challenge, and participation details, at this link.
Let's hope NASA designs its next suits with dancing in mind!
On April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin entered the “realm of myth and legend” when he became the first human in space and the first person to orbit the Earth. Now, over 53 years later, Gagarin is memorialized with (among many things) a superhero-esque statue in Moscow, yearly Yuri’s Night celebrations held around the world, a launch pad at Baikonur Cosmodrome…and this music video for a hip new tune titled “Gagarin.”
Oh kids these days.
Created by the two-person London-based band PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING “Gagarin” is the first single released off their new album “The Race for Space.” The music and video, which uses newly-available footage from the Soviet space program, is a “brassy, funk-heavy superhero theme song for the most famous man in the world at the time” and “reveals a new side to the band – not least their considerable dancing skills.”
PSB creator J. Willgoose, Esq. explains the rationale behind the song: “We didn’t want to be too literal in our interpretation of the material we were given – material that was full of heroic language and a sense of exuberance, with lines like ‘the hero who blazed the trail to the stars’, and ‘the whole world knew him and loved him’. It seemed more appropriate to try and re-create some of that triumphant air with a similarly upbeat song – and when it came to creating the video, the best way we could think of to communicate that sense of joy was to get our dancing shoes on.”
As a fan of Yuri, spaceflight, and brass-band breakdancers in astronaut suits, I give this video two Vostoks up.
Artist's impression of the New Horizons spacecraft. Image Credit: NASA
It’s not quite the cryogenic sleep featured in Interstellar, but all the same, NASA’s New Horizons probe has spent most of its long, long journey to Pluto in hibernation. So far it’s been asleep periodically for 1,873 days — two-thirds of its journey in space since 2006 — to save energy, money and the risk of instrument failure.
But it’s just about time for the probe to wake up. On Dec. 6, seven months before New Horizons encounters Pluto, the spacecraft will emerge from its last long nap to get ready for humanity’s first flight past the dwarf planet.
“New Horizons is healthy and cruising quietly through deep space – nearly three billion miles from home – but its rest is nearly over,” stated Alice Bowman, New Horizons mission operations manager at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL) in Maryland. “It’s time for New Horizons to wake up, get to work, and start making history.”
Artist’s conception of the Pluto system from the surface of one of its moons. Credit: NASA, ESA and G. Bacon (STScI)
Hibernation periods have lasted anywhere from 36 days to 202 days. Controllers usually rouse the spacecraft about twice a year to make sure all is well, and to do a little bit of science (such as taking distant pictures of Pluto of its moons). This means the next wakeup will be a new phase for the mission — a sustained effort instead of a burst of activity.
Confirmation of the wakeup should come six hours after it takes place, around 9:30 p.m. EST (2:30 p.m. UTC). This will be after the light signal takes an incredible 4.5 hours to reach Earth from New Horizons. What’s next will be a very busy few days — checking out navigation, downloading new science data, then getting the spacecraft ready for Pluto’s big closeup July 2015.
“Tops on the mission’s science list are characterizing the global geology and topography of Pluto and its large moon Charon, mapping their surface compositions and temperatures, examining Pluto’s atmospheric composition and structure, studying Pluto’s smaller moons and searching for new moons and rings,” JHUAPL stated.
At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the agency's Orion spacecraft pauses in front of the spaceport's iconic Vehicle Assembly Building as it is transported to Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. After arrival at the launch pad, United Launch Alliance engineers and technicians will lift Orion and mount it atop its Delta IV Heavy rocket.
Credit: NASA/Frankie Martin
After years of effort, NASA’s pathfinding Orion spacecraft was rolled out to the launch pad early this morning, Wednesday, Nov. 12, and hoisted atop the rocket that will blast it to space on its history making maiden test flight in December.
Orion’s penultimate journey began late Tuesday, when the spacecraft was moved 22 miles on a wheeled transporter from the Kennedy Space Center assembly site to the Cape Canaveral launch site at pad 37 for an eight hour ride.
Watch a timelapse of the journey, below:
Technicians then lifted the 50,000 pound spacecraft about 200 feet onto a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket, the world’s most powerful rocket, in preparation for its first trip to space.
Orion’s promise is that it will fly America’s astronauts back to deep space for the first time in over four decades since the NASA’s Apollo moon landing missions ended in 1972.
Liftoff of the state-of-the-art Orion spacecraft on the unmanned Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) mission is slated for December 4, 2014, from Space Launch Complex 37 (SLC-37) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
“This is the next step on our journey to Mars, and it’s a big one,” said William Gerstenmaier, NASA’s associate administrator for human exploration and operations.
“In less than a month, Orion will travel farther than any spacecraft built for humans has been in more than 40 years. That’s a huge milestone for NASA, and for all of us who want to see humans go to deep space.”
NASA’s Orion spacecraft arrived at Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station to complete its 22 mile move from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Orion is the exploration spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to deep space destinations, including an asteroid and on the journey to Mars. It will have emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities. The first uncrewed flight test of Orion is scheduled to launch Dec. 4, 2014, atop a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket. Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
Orion is NASA’s next generation human rated vehicle that will eventually carry America’s astronauts beyond Earth on voyages venturing farther into deep space than ever before – beyond the Moon to Asteroids, Mars, and other destinations in our Solar System.
The fully assembled Orion vehicle stack consists of the crew module, service module, launch abort system, and adapter that connect it to the Delta IV Heavy rocket. It was completed in October inside Kennedy’s Launch Abort System Facility.
Today’s move was completed without issue after a one day delay due to storms in the KSC area.
The triple barreled Delta IV Heavy booster became the world’s most powerful rocket upon the retirement of NASA’s Space Shuttle program in 2011 and is the only rocket sufficiently powerful to launch the Orion EFT-1 spacecraft.
The two-orbit, four and a half hour EFT-1 flight will lift the Orion spacecraft and its attached second stage to an orbital altitude of 3,600 miles, about 15 times higher than the International Space Station (ISS) – and farther than any human spacecraft has journeyed in 40 years.
Orion will travel almost 60,000 miles into space during the uncrewed Dec. 4 test flight.
Stay tuned here for Ken’s continuing Orion and Earth and planetary science and human spaceflight news.
NTSB investigators are seen making their initial inspection of debris from the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo. The debris field stresses over a fiver mile range in the Mojave desert. (Credit: Getty Images)
The surviving co-pilot of the Virgin Galactic crash was unaware that SpaceShipTwo’s re-entry system was unlocked prematurely during the flight test, according to an update from the National Transportation Safety Board.
In an interview with investigators, the board said Peter Siebold provided testimony that was consistent with other information gathered so far since the crash. The incident, which killed fellow co-pilot Mike Alsbury when the craft plunged into the Mojave desert, took place Oct. 31.
“The NTSB operations and human performance investigators interviewed the surviving pilot on Friday. According to the pilot, he was unaware that the feather system had been unlocked early by the copilot,” read an update on the board’s website.
“His description of the vehicle motion was consistent with other data sources in the investigation. He stated that he was extracted from the vehicle as a result of the break-up sequence and unbuckled from his seat at some point before the parachute deployed automatically.”
Inset: Pilot Peter Siebold of Scaled Composites. Photo of SpaceShipTwo, SS Enterprise, in flight with its tail section in the feathered position for atmospheric re-entry. (Photo Credits: Scaled Composites)
Accidents are due to a complex set of circumstances, which means the NTSB finding that the re-entry system was deployed prematurely is only a preliminary finding. The investigation into the full circumstances surrounding the crash could take anywhere from months to a year, according to multiple media reports.
Virgin was performing another in a series of high-altitude test flights in preparation for running tourists up to suborbital space early next year. A handful of ticket-holders, who made deposits of up to $250,000 each, have reportedly asked for their money back. The Richard Branson-founded company has not revealed when the first commercial flight is expected to take place.
Meanwhile, Virgin does have another version of SpaceShipTwo already under assembly right now, which is considered 95% structurally complete and 60% assembled, according to NBC News. The prototype could take to the skies before the NTSB investigation is complete, the report added.
Launch teams practice countdown and fueling tests on the United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket that will lift NASA’s Orion spacecraft on its unmanned flight test in December 2014. Credit: NASA
And Orion is so big and heavy that she’s not launching on just any old standard rocket.
To blast the uncrewed Orion to orbit on its maiden mission requires the most powerful booster on Planet Earth – namely the United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket.
Liftoff of the state-of-the-art Orion spacecraft on the unmanned Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) mission is slated for December 4, 2014, from Space Launch Complex 37 (SLC-37) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
Just days ago, the launch team successfully completed a countdown and wet dress rehearsal fueling test on the rocket itself – minus Orion – at launch complex 37.
The high fidelity rehearsal included fully powering up the booster and loading the tanks with cryogenic fuel and oxidizer, liquid oxygen, and liquid hydrogen
The high fidelity rehearsal included fully powering up the booster and loading the tanks with cryogenic fuel and oxidizer, liquid oxygen, and liquid hydrogen.
ULA technicians and engineers practiced the countdown on Nov. 5 which included fueling the core stages of the Delta IV Heavy rocket.
“Working in control rooms at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, countdown operators followed the same steps they will take on launch day. The simulation also allowed controllers to evaluate the fuel loading and draining systems on the complex rocket before the Orion spacecraft is placed atop the launcher,” said NASA.
The next key mission milestone is attachment of the completed Orion vehicle stack on top of the rocket. Read more about the fully assembled Orion – here.
Today’s scheduled rollout of Orion to the launch pad for hoisting atop the rocket was scrubbed due to poor weather.
The Orion spacecraft sits inside the Launch Abort System Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Ogive panels have been installed around the launch abort system. Credit: NASA/Jim Grossman
The triple barreled Delta IV Heavy booster became the world’s most powerful rocket upon the retirement of NASA’s Space Shuttle program in 2011 and is the only rocket sufficiently powerful to launch the Orion EFT-1 spacecraft.
The first stage of the mammoth Delta IV Heavy generates some 2 million pounds of liftoff thrust.
“The team has worked extremely hard to ensure this vehicle is processed with the utmost attention to detail and focus on mission success,” according to Tony Taliancich, ULA’s director of East Coast Launch Operations.
“The Delta IV Heavy is the world’s most powerful launch vehicle flying today, and we are excited to be supporting our customer for this critical flight test to collect data and reduce overall mission risks and costs for the program.”
From now until launch technicians will continue to conduct the final processing, testing, and checkout of the Delta IV Heavy booster.
These three RS-68 engines will power each of the attached Delta IV Heavy Common Booster Cores (CBCs) that will launch NASA’s maiden Orion on the EFT-1 mission in December 2014. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com
The Delta IV Heavy first stage is comprised of a trio of three Common Booster Cores (CBCs).
Each CBC measures 134 feet in length and 17 feet in diameter. They are equipped with an RS-68 engine powered by liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants producing 656,000 pounds of thrust. Together they generate 1.96 million pounds of thrust.
The first CBC booster was attached to the center booster in June. The second one was attached in early August.
Side view shows trio of Common Booster Cores (CBCs) with RS-68 engines powering the Delta IV Heavy rocket resting horizontally in ULA’s HIF processing facility at Cape Canaveral that will launch NASA’s maiden Orion on the EFT-1 mission in December 2014 from Launch Complex 37. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com
This fall I visited the ULA’s Horizontal Integration Facility (HIF) during a media tour after the three CBCs had been joined together as well as earlier this year after the first two CBCs arrived by barge from their ULA assembly plant in Decatur, Alabama, located about 20 miles west of Huntsville. See my photos herein.
Orion in orbit in this artist’s concept. Credit: NASA
Orion is NASA’s next generation human rated vehicle that will eventually carry America’s astronauts beyond Earth on voyages venturing farther into deep space than ever before – beyond the Moon to Asteroids, Mars, and other destinations in our Solar System.
The two-orbit, four and a half hour EFT-1 flight will lift the Orion spacecraft and its attached second stage to an orbital altitude of 3,600 miles, about 15 times higher than the International Space Station (ISS) – and farther than any human spacecraft has journeyed in 40 years.
“This mission is a stepping stone on NASA’s journey to Mars,” said NASA Associate Administrator Robert Lightfoot.
The United Launch Alliance Delta-IV Heavy rocket tasked with launching NASA’s Orion EFT-1 mission being hoisted vertical atop Space Launch Complex-37B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on the morning of Oct. 1, 2014. Photo Credit: Alan Walters / AmericaSpace
.
“The EFT-1 mission is so important to NASA. We will test the capsule with a reentry velocity of about 85% of what’s expected by [astronauts] returning from Mars.”
“We will test the heat shield, the separation of the fairing, and exercise over 50% of the eventual software and electronic systems inside the Orion spacecraft. We will also test the recovery systems coming back into the Pacific Ocean.”
Stay tuned here for Ken’s continuing Orion and Earth and planetary science and human spaceflight news.
NASA’s completed Orion EFT 1 crew module loaded on wheeled transporter during move to the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHFS) on Sept. 11, 2014, at the Kennedy Space Center, FL. Credit: Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com
Tracks in the snow mark Expedition 41's landing from the space station Nov. 9, 2014. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
Check out that landing mark! A Soyuz spacecraft carrying three people touched down safely in remote Kazakhstan late Sunday (EDT) and went for a brief sleigh ride in the snow, as you can see from the drag marks on the landscape.
The flawless landing included the Expedition 40/41 crew members of Reid Wiseman (NASA), Alexander Gerst (European Space Agency) and Maxim Suraev (Roscosmos), who spent 165 days in space, mainly living on the International Space Station. Check out some more landing pictures and video below.
Alexander Gerst, an astronaut from the European Space Agency, does a fist pump shortly after the safe Expedition 41 landing Nov. 9, 2014. Credit: ESA–S. Corvaja, 2014
