Cygnus Archives

August 27, 2015December 23, 2015 by Ken Kremer

Orbital ATK on the Rebound With Antares Return to Flight in 2016

Two RD-181 integrated with the Orbital ATK Antares first stage air frame at the Wallops Island, Virginia Horizontal Integration Facility (HIF). Return to flight launch is expected sometime during Spring 2016. Credit: NASA/ Terry Zaperach

Orbital ATK is on the rebound with return to flight of their Antares rocket slated in early 2016 following the catastrophic launch failure that doomed the last Antares in October 2014 on a resupply mission for NASA to the International Space Station (ISS).

Engineers are making “excellent progress” assembling a modified version of Antares that is currently on track to blast off as soon as March 2016 with the company’s Cygnus resupply ship and resume critical deliveries of research experiments and life sustaining provisions to the multinational crews serving aboard the orbiting outpost.

“We are on track for the next Antares launch in early 2016,” said David Thompson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Orbital ATK in a progress update.

Resuming Antares launches is a key part of the company’s multipronged effort to fulfil their delivery commitments to NASA under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract.

“The focus all along has been to do everything we can to fulfill our commitments to delivering cargo to the space station for NASA,” Thompson stated.

“After the Antares launch failure last October … our team has been sharply focused on fulfilling that commitment.”

Pre-launch seaside panorama of Orbital Sciences Corporation Antares rocket at the NASA's Wallops Flight Facility launch pad on Oct 26 - 2 days before the ??Orb-3? launch failure on Oct 28, 2014. Credit: Ken Kremer - kenkremer.com — Pre-launch seaside panorama of Orbital Sciences Corporation Antares rocket at the NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility launch pad on Oct 26 – 2 days before the Orb-3 launch failure on Oct 28, 2014. Credit: Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com

The key milestone was to successfully re-engine Antares with a new type of first stage engine that completely eliminates use of the original AJ26 engines that were refurbished 40 year leftovers – the NK-33 from Russia’s abandoned manned moon landing program.

After the launch failure, Orbital managers decided to ditch the trouble plagued AJ-26 and “re-engineered” the vehicle with the new RD-181 Russian-built engines that were derived from the RD-191.

Soviet 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 Wallaps. These engines powered the successful Antares liftoff on Jan. 9, 2014 at NASA Wallops, Virginia bound for the ISS. Credit: Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com

Orbital ATK holds a Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract from NASA worth $1.9 Billion to deliver 20,000 kilograms of research experiments, crew provisions, spare parts and hardware spread out over eight Cygnus cargo delivery flights to the ISS.

NASA has recently supplemented the CRS contract with three additional Cygnus resupply deliveries in 2017 and 2018.

However, the Cygnus missions were put on hold when the third operational Antares/Cygnus flight was destroyed in a raging inferno about 15 seconds after liftoff on the Orb-3 mission from launch pad 0A at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia’s eastern shore.

Until Antares flights can safely resume, Orbital ATK has contracted with rocket maker United Launch Alliance (ULA) to launch a Cygnus cargo freighter atop an Atlas V rocket for the first time, in early December – as I reported here.

The Antares rocket is being upgraded with the new RD-181 main engines powering the modified first stage core structure that replace the troublesome AJ26 engines whose failure caused the Antares Orb-3 launch explosion on Oct. 28, 2014.

Orbital Sciences Antares rocket explodes moments after blastoff from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, VA, on Oct. 28, 2014, at 6:22 p.m. Credit: Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com

“We are making excellent progress in resuming our cargo delivery service to the International Space Station for NASA under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract,” said company officials.

Orbital ATK engineering teams have been working diligently on “integrating and testing the new RD-181 main engines.”

After engineers finished acceptance testing and certification of the RD-181, the first dual engine set was shipped to Orbital’s Wallops Island integration facility. They arrived in mid-July. A second set is due to arrive in the fall.

“The RD-181 engine provides extra thrust and higher specific impulse, significantly increasing the payload capacity of the Antares rocket. This state-of-the-art propulsion system is a direct adaptation of the RD-191 engine, which completed an extensive qualification and certification program in 2013, accumulating more than 37,000 seconds of total run time,” said Scott Lehr, President of Orbital ATK’s Flight Systems Group, in a statement.

Engineers and technicians have now “integrated the two RD-181 engines with a newly designed and built thrust frame adapter and modified first stage airframe.”

Then they will add new propellant feed lines and first stage avionics systems.

Then comes the moment of truth. A “hot fire” test on the launch pad will be conducted by either the end of 2015 or early 2016 “to verify the vehicle’s operational performance and compatibility of the MARS launch complex.”

“Significant progress has been made in the manufacture and test of the modified hardware components, avionics and software needed to support the new engines,” said Mike Pinkston, Vice President and General Manager of Orbital ATK’s Antares Program.

“We are solidly on track to resume flying Antares in 2016.”

Antares rocket raised at NASA Wallops launch pad 0A bound for the ISS on Sept 18, 2013. Credit: Ken Kremer (kenkremer.com)

Simultaneously, teams have been working hard to repair the Wallops launch pad which was damaged when the doomed Antares plummeted back to Earth and exploded in a hellish inferno witnessed by thousands of spectators and media including myself.

Repairs are expected to be completed by early 2016 to support a launch tentatively planned for as soon as March 2016.

SpaceX, NASA’s other commercial cargo company under contract to ship supplies to the ISS also suffered a launch failure of with their Falcon 9/Dragon cargo delivery rocket on June 28, 2015.

NASA is working with both forms to restart the critical ISS resupply train as soon as can safely be accomplished.

Be sure to read Ken’s earlier eyewitness reports about last October’s Antares failure at NASA Wallops and ongoing reporting about Orbital ATK’s recovery efforts – all here at Universe Today.

Stay tuned here for Ken’s continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news.

Ken Kremer

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Learn more about Orbital ATK, SpaceX, Boeing, ULA, Space Taxis, Mars rovers, Orion, SLS, Antares, NASA missions and more at Ken’s upcoming outreach events:

Aug 29-31: “MUOS-4 launch, Orion, Commercial crew, Curiosity explores Mars, Antares and more,” Kennedy Space Center Quality Inn, Titusville, FL, evenings

November 5, 2014December 23, 2015 by Ken Kremer

Soviet Era Engines Likely Caused Antares Catastrophic Rocket Failure

NASA WALLOPS FLIGHT FACILITY, VA – Investigators probing last week’s catastrophic failure of an Antares commercial rocket moments after liftoff, are pointing the finger at the rocket’s Soviet-era built engines as the probable cause of the huge explosion that destroyed the booster and its NASA payload in a raging fireball after liftoff from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, VA, according to Orbital Sciences managers.

The Orbital Sciences privately developed Antares rocket was doomed by a sudden mid-air explosion some 15 seconds after liftoff from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, VA, at 6:22 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, October 28.

Antares’ first stage is powered by a pair of refurbished Aerojet Rocketdyne AJ26 engines originally manufactured some 40 years ago in the then Soviet Union and originally designated as the NK-33. Overall this was the 5th Antares launch using the AJ26 engines.

See my exclusive photos above and below showing the AJ26 engines with their original NK-33 stencil, during prelaunch processing and mating to the first stage inside Orbital’s Horizontal Integration Facility (HIF) at NASA Wallops.

The NK-33 was originally designed and manufactured in the 1960s by the Kuznetsov Design Bureau for the Soviet Union’s planned N1 rocket to propel cosmonauts to the moon during the space race with NASA’s hugely successful Apollo Moon Landing program.

First stage propulsion system at base of Orbital Sciences Antares rocket appears to explode moments after blastoff from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, VA, on Oct. 28, 2014, at 6:22 p.m. Credit: Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com — First stage propulsion system at base of Orbital Sciences’ Antares rocket appears to explode moments after blastoff from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, VA, on Oct. 28, 2014, at 6:22 p.m. Credit: Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com

Rocket developer Orbital Sciences Corp. said today, Nov. 5, that the launch mishap was probably due to “a failure in one of the two Aerojet Rocketdyne AJ26 stage one main engines.”

Engineers assisting Orbital’s Accident Investigation Board (AIB) say that failure in the AJ26 turbopump is the likely cause. The AIB is chaired by David Steffy, Chief Engineer of Orbital’s Advanced Programs Group.

“While the work of the AIB continues, preliminary evidence and analysis conducted to date points to a probable turbopump-related failure in one of the two Aerojet Rocketdyne AJ26 stage one main engines,” Orbital said in a statement.

“As a result, the use of these engines for the Antares vehicle likely will be discontinued,” said Orbital.

“We will likely discontinue the use of AJ26 rocket engines that had been used on the first five Antares launch vehicles unless and until those engines can be conclusively shown to be flight worthy,” noted David Thompson, Orbital’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, during an investor conference call.

Orbital’s options for the way forward will be outlined in a separate story.

Side view of two AJ26 first stage engines at the base of an Antares rocket during exclusive visit by Ken Kremer/Universe Today. These engines powered the successful Antares liftoff on Jan. 9, 2014 at NASA Wallops, Virginia. Credit: Ken Kremer - kenkremer.com — Side view of two AJ26 first stage engines at the base of an Antares rocket during exclusive visit by Ken Kremer/Universe Today. These engines powered the successful Antares liftoff on Jan. 9, 2014, at NASA Wallops, Virginia. Credit: Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com

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.

An extensive engine analysis, recheck and test stand firings by Aerojet Rocketdyne and Orbital Sciences engineers was conducted to clear this new pair of engines for flight.

Aerojet Rocketdyne purchased approximately 40 NK-33 engines in the mid-1990s and ‘Americanized’ them with multiple modifications including a gimbal steering mechanism.

AJ26 engine failure was immediately suspected, though by no means certain, based on an inspection of numerous photos and videos from myself and many others that clearly showed a violent explosion emanating from the base of the two stage rocket.

Up close view of two AJ26 first stage engines at the base of an Antares rocket during exclusive visit by Universe Today. These engines powered the successful Antares liftoff on Jan. 9, 2014 at NASA Wallops, Virginia. Credit: Ken Kremer - kenkremer.com — Up close view of two AJ26 first stage engines at the base of an Antares rocket during exclusive visit by Universe Today. These engines powered the successful Antares liftoff on Jan. 9, 2014, at NASA Wallops, Virginia. Credit: Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com

The remainder of the first stage and Antares entire upper stage was clearly intact at the moment of the explosion in all the imagery.

Antares was carrying the unmanned Cygnus cargo freighter on a mission dubbed Orb-3 to resupply the six person crew living aboard the International Space Station (ISS) with science experiments and needed equipment.

The AIB is making rapid progress in assessing the accident’s cause based on an analysis of the rocket’s telemetry as well as the substantial amounts of debris collected from the rocket and the Cygnus cargo freighter at the Wallops launch site.

A preliminary review of telemetry and video data has been conducted and substantial debris from the Antares rocket and its Cygnus payload has been collected and examined.

Antares rocket begins rollout atop transporter erector to Launch Pad 0A at NASA Wallops Island Facility, VA., on Sept. 13, 2013. Credit: Ken Kremer (kenkremer.com)

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 doomed mission was bound for the International Space Station (ISS) on a flight to bring up some 5000 pounds of (2200 kg) of science experiments, research instruments, crew provisions, spare parts, spacewalk and computer equipment and gear on a critical resupply mission in the Cygnus resupply ship.

Antares rocket stand erect, reflecting off the calm waters the night before their first night launch from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, VA, targeted for Oct. 27 at 6:45 p.m. Credit: Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com — Antares rocket stands erect, reflecting off the calm waters the night before the first night launch planned from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, VA, on Oct. 28, which ended in disaster. Credit: Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com

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.

I was an eyewitness to the awful devastation suffered by the 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.

I was interviewed by NBC News and you can watch the entire story and see my Antares explosion photos featured at NBC Nightly News on Oct. 29 here.

Watch the Antares launch disaster unfold into a raging inferno in this dramatic sequence of my photos shot on site here.

Check out my raw video of the launch here.

Read my first hand account here.

Watch my interview at Universe Today’s Weekly Space Hangout on Oct 31, 2014, here.

Watch here for Ken’s onsite reporting direct from NASA Wallops.

Stay tuned here for Ken’s continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news.

Ken Kremer

Orbital Sciences Antares rocket explodes violently and is consumed in a gigantic 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.com — Orbital Sciences’ Antares rocket explodes violently and is consumed in a gigantic 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.com

August 20, 2014December 23, 2015 by Elizabeth Howell

Watch A ‘Swan’ Fly Free From Its Trap In A Space Robotic Arm

Space Station robotic arm releases Cygnus after detachment from the ISS Harmony node. Credit: NASA TV

What does it look like when a cargo ship goes flying away from the International Space Station? This timelapse gives you a sense of what to expect. Here, you can see the handiwork of the (off-camera) Expedition 40 crew as they use the robotic Canadarm2 to let go of the Cygnus spacecraft.

“Great feeling to release a captured swan back into the wild last week,” wrote Alexander Gerst, an astronaut with the European Space Agency, on Twitter with the video.

Cygnus (Latin for “swan”, and a northern constellation) is a commercial spacecraft manufactured by Orbital Sciences Corp., and is one of two regular private visitors to the space station. The other one is Dragon, which is manufactured by SpaceX. Both companies have agreements with NASA to run periodic cargo flights to the station so that the astronauts can receive fresh equipment, food and personal items.

Both spacecraft are designed to be captured and released by Canadarm2, which the astronauts operate. When the Canadarm2 captures the spacecraft, it is referred to as a “berthing” (as opposed to a docking, when a spacecraft directly latches on to the station.)

Cygnus made a (planned) fiery re-entry Sunday that the astronauts captured on camera from their orbiting perch. Besides the inherent spectacular value of looking at the pictures, they could also be useful to help plan the eventual de-orbiting of the space station.

August 7, 2014March 1, 2017 by Fraser Cain

Are All the Stars Really Dead?

Have you ever heard that meme, “When looking at stars, you’re actually looking into the past. Many of the stars we see at night have already died.” Is this true?

While you’re flipping through your Pinterest collection of cat-based inspirational posters, you might come across the saying, “When looking at stars, you’re actually looking into the past. Many of the stars we see at night have already died. Like your dreams.”

Aww, that’s mean and sad. But is it true, Squidward? Are all these beautiful stars in our night sky long gone? Like our dreams?

Light travels at about 300,000 km/s, which is incredibly fast. Stars are so far away, even light from the closest stars will take years to get to us travelling at that speed. Most of the stars we see with the naked eye are actually pretty close. The brightest in the night sky is Sirius in the constellation Canis Major. It’s only about 8.6 light years away.

Which means if you crashed a whole bunch of spaceships into it tomorrow, we here on Earth wouldn’t see it happen for almost a decade. Long after people had stopped wondering where you’d picked up all those spaceships, and why had you decided to crash them into a star instead of trading for gold pressed latinum, the spice Melange, or magical space cheese.

One of the most distant naked eye stars is Deneb in the constellation Cygnus, which is almost 3,000 light years away. The light we’re seeing from Deneb started its journey towards us when ancient Rome was just a few hamlets and not even on the map for real estate speculators.

This might seem like a really long time for those of us without immortal robot bodies, but a few thousand years is negligible to the age of a typical star, which is on the order of billions of years. So, Deneb, barring removal for an interstellar bypass, is probably still there.

There are a few stars that could possibly explode in the near future, such as the red giant star Betelgeuse in the constellation of Orion.

It’s about 650 light years away, if it had exploded a couple centuries ago, we still wouldn’t know. There are a few galaxies that can be seen with the naked eye, such as Andromeda, which is about 2.5 million light years away. Given that Andromeda has somewhere between 200 and 400 billion stars, it is almost certain that some of them have exploded in the last 2 and a half million years. But the vast majority of them have are still there, twinkling away.

So it is possible that you could look up in the night sky and see a “dead” star, but almost all of the stars you see are perfectly active main-sequence stars, and will be for quite some time. Telescopes allow us to see much further out into space, billions of light years away. Given that a star like our Sun has a lifetime of about 10 billion years, many stars in most of the distant galaxies we observe died long ago.

This cluster is 27,000 light-years away and lies farther than the center of our galaxy in the constellation Sagittarius. Credit: NASA/ESA/I. King, Univ. of Calif., Berkeley/Wikisky.org

But don’t be sad, we’re not running out of stars. Because of this huge passage of time, it means many new stars have been born, and we just aren’t able to see them yet. There are some stars even in the most distant galaxies that are still around.

Smaller stars live longer than larger stars, and red dwarf stars can live for trillions of years. So when you look at the Hubble Ultra Deep Field, the most distant galaxies are around 13 billion years old, and the smaller stars in those galaxies are still shining. So don’t worry. Those stars are still there, and so are your dreams.

What do you think? If you go get a closeup look and see which stars were still around, where would you go look first? Tell us in the comments below.

And if you like what you see, come check out our Patreon page and find out how you can get these videos early while helping us bring you more great content!

July 11, 2014December 23, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

Timelapse: Watch the Antares Rocket Go Vertical on the Launch Pad

The Orbital Sciences Corporation Antares rocket, with the Cygnus spacecraft aboard, stands vertically at Launch Pad-0A after successfully being raised into position Thursday, July 10, 2014, at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani.

Now standing at attention, ready for duty! At about 3:30 p.m. on July 10, Orbital Sciences’ Antares rocket was raised to its vertical position at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s Launch Pad 0A at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

Antares is carrying the Cygnus spacecraft loaded with 3,293 pounds (1,494 kg) of supplies for the International Space Station. The craft is scheduled to launch ~~Saturday, July 12 at 1:14 p.m. EDT~~. 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.

If you live in the Eastern seaboard area, you might be able to see the launch. Find out how in our detailed article about the launch. This is the second flight to the ISS for the Antares/Cygnus duo.

April 1, 2014December 23, 2015 by Bob King

Possible Nova Pops in Cygnus

A newly-discovered star of magnitude +10.9 has flared to life in the constellation Cygnus the Swan. Koichi Nishiyama and Fujio Kabashima, both of Japan, made their discovery yesterday March 31 with a 105mm f/4 camera lens and electronic camera. They quickly confirmed the observation with additional photos taken with a 0.40-m (16-inch) reflector. Nothing was seen down to magnitude +13.4 in photos taken the on the 27th, but when they checked through images made on March 30 the star present at +12.4. Good news – it’s getting brighter!

This more detailed map, showing stars to mag. 10.5, will help you pinpoint the star. Stellarium — *This more detailed map, showing stars to mag. 10.5, will help you pinpoint the star. Its coordinates are R.A. 20h 21m 42, declination +31 o3′. Stellarium*

While the possible nova will need confirmation, nova lovers may want to begin observing the star as soon as possible. Novae can brighten quickly, sometimes by several magnitudes in just a day. These maps should help you hone in on the star which rises around midnight and becomes well placed for viewing around 1:30-2 a.m. local time in the eastern sky. At the moment, it will require a 4-inch or larger telescope to see, but I’m crossing my fingers we’ll see it brighten further.

Novae occur in close binary systems where one star is a tiny but extremely compact white dwarf star. The dwarf pulls material into a disk around itself, some of which is funneled to the surface and ignites in a nova explosion. Credit: NASA

To see a nova is to witness a cataclysm. Astronomers – mostly amateurs – discover about 10 a year in our Milky Way galaxy. Many more would be seen were it not for dust clouds and distance. All involve close binary stars where a tiny but extremely dense white dwarf star steals gas from its companion. The gas ultimately funnels down to the 150,000 degree surface of the dwarf where it’s compacted by gravity and heated to high temperature until it ignites in an explosive fireball. If you’ve ever wondered what a million nuclear warheads would look like detonated all at once, cast your gaze at a nova.

Novae can rise in brightness from 7 to 16 magnitudes, the equivalent of 50,000 to 100,000 times brighter than the sun, in just a few days. Meanwhile the gas they expel in the blast travels away from the binary at up to 2,000 miles per second.

One of the key diagnostics for nova identification is the appearance of deep red light in its spectrum called hydrogen alpha or H-alpha. Italian astronomer obtained this spectrum of the possible nova on April 1. Credit: Gianluca Masi — Emission of deep red light called hydrogen alpha or H-alpha is often diagnostic of a nova. When in the fireball phase, the star is hidden by a fiery cloud of rosy hydrogen gas and expanding debris cloud. Italian astronomer obtained this spectrum of the possible nova on April 1 showing H-alpha emission. Credit: Gianluca Masi

Nishiyama and Kabashima are on something of a hot streak. If confirmed, this would be their third nova discovery in a month! On March 8, they discovered Nova Cephei 2014 at magnitude 11.7 (it’s currently around 12th magnitude) and 10th magnitude Nova Scorpii 2014 (now at around 12.5) on March 26. Impressive.

Photo showing the possible nova in Cygnus. The star is described as being tinted red. Credit: Gianluca Masi

Charts for the two older discoveries are available on the AAVSO website. Type in either Nova Cep 2014 or TCP J17154683-3128303 (for Nova Scorpii) in the Star finder box and click Create a finder chart. I’ll update this article as soon as a chart for the new object is posted.

** UPDATE April 2, 2014: This star has been confirmed as a nova. You can print out a chart by going to the AAVSO website and following the instructions above using Nova Cyg 2014 for the star name. On April 2.4 UT, I observed the nova at magnitude 11.o.

October 24, 2013December 23, 2015 by Elizabeth Howell

Space Trucks! A Pictorial History Of These Mighty Machines

A view of Orbital Sciences' Cygnus spacecraft while it was being released from the International Space Station on Oct. 22. Credit: NASA/Karen Nyberg

Cargo resupply ships are vital for space exploration. These days they bring food, experiments and equipment to astronauts on the International Space Station. And in recent years, it hasn’t just been government agencies sending these things up; SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft and (just this week) Orbital Sciences’ Cygnus spacecraft brought up cargo of their own to station in recent months.

NASA just published a brief timeline of (real-life) cargo spacecraft, so we thought we’d adapt that information in pictorial form. Here are some of the prominent members of that elite group. Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comments.

Dragon in orbit during the CRS-2 mission. Credit: NASA/CSA/Chris Hadfield — SpaceX’s Dragon in orbit during the CRS-2 mission. It was the first commercial spacecraft to resupply the space station, and since 2012 has completed resupply missions. Credit: NASA/CSA/Chris Hadfield

Thrust — Space shuttle Discovery heads to space after lifting off from Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to begin its final flight to the International Space Station on the STS-133 mission. The shuttle was NASA’s main human spacecraft between 1981 and 2011. Credit: NASA

Progress 51 on final approach to the International Space Station. The stuck antenna is visible below the crosshairs. Credit: NASA TV (screencap) — Progress 51 on final approach to the International Space Station. The Russians have been flying versions of this cargo spacecraft since 1978. Credit: NASA TV (screencap)

JAXA's H-II Transfer Vehicle during a mission in July 2012. The first demonstration flight took place in 2009. Credit: NASA — JAXA’s H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) during a mission in July 2012. The first demonstration flight took place in 2009. Credit: NASA

The ATV Johannes Kepler docked at the International Space Station. Credit: NASA — The ATV Johannes Kepler docked at the International Space Station. Versions of this spacecraft have flown since 2008. Credit: NASA

A line drawing of the TKS (Transportnyi Korabl’ Snabzheniia, or Transport Supply Spacecraft). It was intended to send crew and cargo together in one flight, but delays and a change in program priorities never allowed it to achieve that. According to NASA, versions of TKS (under the Cosmos designation) flew to the Salyut 6 and Salyut 7 space station. The cargo part of the spacecraft was also used for Russian base modules in the Mir space station and International Space Station. Credit: NASA/Wikimedia Commons

April 16, 2013December 23, 2015 by David Dickinson

How to Spot the Antares Launch from NASA Wallops on Wednesday

Sighting prospects for the US Eastern Seaboard during the ascent of Antares. (Credit: The Orbital Sciences Corporation).

A space launch marking a new era is departing from the Virginia coast this Wednesday evening, and if you live anywhere along a wide area of the US Eastern seaboard, you’ll have a great opportunity to witness the launch with your own eyes. Here’s all the information you’ll need to see it, plus some tips for capturing it with your camera.

Orbital Sciences’ Antares rocket will launch from Pad 0A at NASA’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport based on Wallops Island, Virginia. This will mark not only the first launch of Antares, but the first orbital launch of a liquid-fueled rocket from Wallops. The launch window runs from 5:00 to 8:00 PM EDT (21:00-24:00 UT).

There were some concerns when a technical anomaly shutdown a “Wet Dress Rehearsal” test this weekend at T-16 minutes, but Orbital Sciences has stated that the problems have been resolved and the launch is pressing ahead as planned.

Space shots are a familiar sight to the residents of the Florida Space Coast, but will provide a unique show for residents of the U.S. central Atlantic region. The launch of Antares from Wallops will be visible for hundreds of miles and be over 10° above the horizon for an arc spanning from Wilmington, North Carolina to Washington D.C. and north to the New York City tri-state area as it heads off to the southeast. Antares is a two stage rocket with a 1^st stage liquid fueled engine and a solid-fueled 2^ndstage. The primary mission for Wednesday’s Antares A-One flight will be to demonstrate the ability for the Antares rocket to place a payload into orbit. If all goes well, Orbital Sciences will join SpaceX this summer in the select club of private companies with the ability provide cargo delivery access to the International Space Station in Low Earth Orbit.

Antares heads to orbit. Artist's concept. (Credit: Orbital Sciences Corperation). — Antares heads to orbit. Artist’s concept. (Credit: Orbital Sciences Corporation).

Antares will deploy a dummy mass simulating the Cygnus module. Also onboard are the Phonesat-1a, -1b, and -1c micro-cubesats and the Dove 1 satellite.

Be sure to watch for the launch of Antares if you live in the region. Find a spot with a low uncluttered eastern horizon and watch from an elevated rooftop or hilltop location if possible. I live a hundred miles west of Cape Canaveral and I’ve followed launches all the way through Main Engine Cutoff and first stage separation with binoculars.

Be sure to also follow the launch broadcast live for any last minute delays via NASA TV or Universe Today will have a live feed as well. Antares is aiming to put the Cygnus test mass in a 250 x 300 kilometre orbit with a 51.6° inclination. This is similar to what will be necessary to head to the ISS, but this week’s launch will not be trailing the ISS in its path. This also means that the launch window can be extended over three hours rather than having to be instantaneous.

If the launch goes at the beginning of the window, the local sun angle over the launch facility will be 30° to the west. Sunset at Wallops on the evening of April 17^th occurs at 7:41PM EDT, meaning we could be in for a photogenic dusk launch of Antares if it stretches to the end of the target window.

And speaking of which, a pre-sunset launch means short daytime exposure settings for photography. Be prepared to switch over for dusk conditions if the launch extends into the end of the window. Conditions during twilight can change almost moment-to-moment. One of the most memorable launches we witnessed was the pre-dawn liftoff of STS-131 on April 5^th, 2010:

The predawn launch of STS-131 as seen from 100 miles west. (Photo by author).

Once in orbit, the launch of Antares should generate four visible objects; the test mass payload, the two clam-shell fairings, and the stage two booster. This configuration is similar to a Falcon 9/Dragon launch, minus the solar panel covers. These objects should be visible to the naked eye at magnitudes +3 to +5. The cubesat payloads are tiny and below the threshold of naked eye visibility.

Preliminary visibility for the objects will favor latitudes 0-30° north at dusk to 10-40° at dawn. Keep in mind these predictions could change as the launch window evolves. The next NORAD tracking ID in the queue is 2013-015A. Yesterday’s launch of Anik G1 from Baikonur was just cataloged today as 2013-014A plus associated hardware. The weather is forecast to be 45% “go” for tomorrow’s launch. In the event of a scrub, the next launch window for Antares is April 18-21st.

First orbit of the Cygnus test mass; shadow orientation of the Earth assumes a nominal launch at 22:00UT on April 17th. (Created by the author using Orbitron. TLEs courtesy of (name) — First orbit of the Cygnus test mass; shadow orientation of the Earth assumes a nominal launch at 22:00 UT on April 17th. (Created by the author using Orbitron. Two-Line Elements courtesy of Henry Hallam).

It’ll be exciting to follow this first flight of Antares and its first scheduled mission to the International Space Station this summer. Also watch for the first ever lunar mission to depart Wallops on August 12 with the launch of the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE).

Finally, if you’ve got a pass of the International Space Station this week, keep an eye out for Progress M-17M currently about 10 minutes ahead of the station in its orbit. The unmanned Progress vehicle just undocked yesterday from the station and will be conducting a series of experiments monitoring the interactions of its thrusters with the ionosphere before burning up on reentry over the South Pacific on April 21^st.

A pass of the ISS over UK tonite (April 16th) with Progress leading at 20:30UT. (Created by the author in Orbitron).

The ISS and more can be tracked using Heavens-Above. Also, we’ll be tweeting all of the updates and orbital action as it evolves as @Astroguyz. Let us know of those launch sightings both near and far. It’ll be interesting to see what, if any, impact launches visible to a large portion of the U.S. population will have on the public’s perception of spaceflight. Be sure to look up tomorrow night!

February 17, 2013December 23, 2015 by Ken Kremer

Canadarm Ready to Ensnare Space Dragon after March 1 Blast Off

Canadarm pictured through a winow aboard the ISS will be used to grapple the SpaceX Dragon after planned March 1 liftoff. Credit: NASA/Thomas Mashburn

Wouldn’t you love to wake up to this gorgeous view of our home planet as a big hand waves a friendly good morning ?!

Well, having survived high speed wayward Asteroids and Meteors these past few days, the human crew circling Earth aboard the International Space Station (ISS) is game to snatch a flying Space Dragon before too long.

NASA will dispatch astronaut fun to orbit in the form of the privately built SpaceX Dragon in a tad less than two weeks time that the crew will ensnare with that robotic hand from Canada and join to the ISS.

On March 1 at 10:10 AM EST, a Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) Falcon 9 rocket is slated to blast off topped by the Dragon cargo vehicle on what will be only the 2nd commercial resupply mission ever to the ISS.

The flight, dubbed CRS-2, will lift off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida carrying about 1,200 pounds of vital supplies and science experiments for the six man international crew living aboard the million pound orbiting outpost.

SpaceX, Dragon spacecraft stands inside a processing hangar at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Teams had just installed the spacecraft's solar array fairings. Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett — SpaceX Dragon spacecraft stands inside processing hangar at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Teams had just installed the spacecraft’s solar array fairings. Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

The ISS would plummet from the sky like a flaming, exploding meteor and disintegrate without periodic and critical cargo and fueling resupply flights from the ISS partner nations.

There will be some heightened anticipation for the March 1 SpaceX launch following the premature shutdown of a 1st stage Merlin engine during the last Falcon 9 launch in 2012.

The solar powered Dragon capsule will rendezvous with the ISS a day later on March 2, when NASA astronauts Kevin Ford and Tom Marshburn will reach out with the Canadian built robotic marvel, grab the Dragon by the proverbial “tail” and attach it to the Earth-facing port of the station’s Harmony module.

The Dragon will remain docked to the ISS for about three weeks while the crew unloads all manner of supplies including food, water, clothing, spare parts and gear and new science experiments.

Then the astronauts will replace all that cargo load with numerous critical experiment samples they have stored during ongoing research activities, as well as no longer needed equipment and trash totaling about 2300 pounds, for the return trip to Earth and a Pacific Ocean splashdown set for March 25 – as things stand now.

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket before May 2012 blast off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida on historic maiden private commercial launch to the ISS. Credit: Ken Kremer/www.kenkremer.com

SpaceX is under contract to NASA to deliver about 44,000 pounds of cargo to the ISS during a dozen flights over the next few years at a cost of about $1.6 Billion.

SpaceX comprises one half of NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services program to replace the cargo up mass capability the US lost following the retirement of NASA’s space shuttle orbiters in 2011.

SpaceX also won a NASA contract to develop a manned version of the Dragon capsule and aims for the first crewed test flight in about 2 to 3 years – sometime during 2015 depending on the funding available from NASA.

The US is now totally dependent on the Russians to loft American astronauts to the ISS on their Soyuz capsules for at least the next 3 to 5 years directly as a result of the shuttle shutdown.

Along with SpaceX, Orbital Sciences Corp also won a $1.9 Billion cargo resupply contract from NASA to deliver some 44,000 pounds of cargo to the ISS using the firm’s new Antares rocket and Cygnus capsule – launching 8 times from a newly constructed pad at NASA’s Wallops Island Facility in Virginia.

The maiden launch of Orbital’s Antares/Cygnus system has repeatedly been delayed – like SpaceX before them.

NASA hopes the first Antares/Cygnus demonstration test flight will now occur in March or April. However, the Antares 1st stage hot fire test scheduled for earlier this week on Feb. 13 had to be aborted at the last second due to a technical glitch caused by a low nitrogen purge pressurization.

For the SpaceX launch, NASA has invited 50 lucky social media users to apply for credentials for the March 1 launch

Watch for my upcoming SpaceX launch reports from the Kennedy Space Center and SpaceX launch facilities.

Ken Kremer