Space and astronomy news
The Cygnus commercial cargo ship ‘Janice Voss’ built by Orbital Sciences finished it’s month-long resupply mission and bid farewell to the International Space Station (ISS) this morning, Friday, Aug. 15, after station astronauts released the vessel from the snares of the Canadarm2 robotic arm at 6:40 a.m. EDT. The on time release and departure took …
It took two weeks to get there, but all indications is it was worth the wait. The final automated transfer vehicle of the European Space Agency successfully docked with the International Space Station today (Aug. 12) at 9:30 a.m. EDT (1:30 p.m. UTC) — right on time. The cargo vehicle has about seven tons of …
Continue reading “Europe’s Last ATV Cargo Ship Docks Safely At Space Station”
We’ve got vertigo watching this video, but in a good way! This is a sped-up view of Earth from the International Space Station from the Cupola, a wraparound window that is usually used for cargo ship berthings and Earth observations. In the video you can see a solar array from the space station gliding by …
Continue reading “Video: A Dizzying, Whirly View Of The Earth From Space!”
Following a nearly three day journey, an Orbital Sciences Corp. Cygnus commercial cargo freighter carrying a ton and a half of science experiments and supplies for the six person crew was successfully installed onto the International Space Station at 8:53 a.m. EDT this morning, July 16, after a flawless arrival and being firmly grasped by …
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 …
Continue reading “Cygnus Cargo Craft Closing In for Space Station Berthing on July 16 – Watch Live”
In a thrilling demonstration of space robotics, today the Dextre “hand” replaced a malfunctioning camera on the station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm. And the Canadian Space Agency gleefully tweeted every step of the way, throwing in jokes to describe what was happening above our heads on the International Space Station. “Dextre’s job is to reduce the risk …
Continue reading “Space Robot Fixes Itself, Takes Selfie As Funny Livetweet Happens On The Ground”
SpaceX-3 Dragon commercial cargo freighter was detached from the ISS at 8 AM EDT on May 18, 2014 and released by station crew at 9:26 AM for splashdown in the Pacific Ocean with science samples and cargo. Credit: NASA Story updated[/caption] The 30 day flight of the SpaceX-3 Dragon commercial cargo freighter loaded with a …
Continue reading “Return of the SpaceX-3 Dragon to Earth Caps Super Science Mission for NASA”
To close out their final week aboard the International Space Station, three of the six Expedition 39 crew members are completing their unloading tasks inside the docked commercial SpaceX Dragon cargo freighter and other duties while teams at Mission Control in Houston conduct delicate robotics work outside with dazzling maneuvers of the Dextre robot to …
Continue reading “Dangling Dextre Digs out Docked Dragon Depot prior to Station Departure”
A few days ago, the Pew Research Center published an article about space exploration support starting with this sentence: “Many Americans are optimistic about the future of space travel, but they don’t necessarily want to pay for it.” The article’s impetus was this recent Pew Research/Smithsonian study called “U.S. Views of Technology and the Future” …
Blastoff of SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on April 18, 2014. Credit: Alan Walters/AmericaSpace Story updated[/caption] The powerful SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that launched successfully on a cargo delivery run for NASA bound for the Space Station on Friday, April 18, from Cape Canaveral, Fla, also had a …