Space NASA 21st Century Missions

[bdpopeye]

United Launch Alliance's Atlas V AEHF-4 rocket launches October 17, 2018 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. This was the fourth communications satellite in the Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) series for the U.S. Air Force. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Dalton Williams)

 

[bdpopeye]

HI RES

A United Launch Alliance NROL-61 spacecraft aboard an Atlas V rocket launches from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., July 28, 2016. Before any spacecraft can launch from Cape Canaveral AFS, a combined team of military, government civilians and contractors from across the 45th Space Wing provide the mission assurance to ensure a safe and successful liftoff for range customers. (United Launch Alliance courtesy photo)

 

[bdpopeye]

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Aug. 11, 2018) NASA launches the Parker Solar Probe from Space Launch Complex 37 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. U.S. Naval Research Laboratory’s (NRL) Wide-Field Imager for Solar Probe (WISPR) will provide the only images of the Sun’s emissions and coronal mass ejections for the Parker Solar Probe mission. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Devin Bowser/Released)

 

[Bombardier]

Awesome photos mate

 

[bdpopeye]

'Dream Chaser' Cargo Plane For Space Gets Nod Of Approval From NASA

The Dream Chaser is a go!

NASA has greenlighted the full-scale production of the commercial space cargo plane that will deliver supply to the International Space Station.

Dream Chaser Cargo Plane Gets The Go-Ahead

Sierra Nevada Corporation announced that it has completed its Commercial Resupply Services 2 contract called Integrated Review 4 and, therefore, has been cleared to assemble the Dream Chaser. The cargo plane is scheduled to have its first mission in 2020.SNC is one of the three private companies alongside SpaceX and Orbital ATK to win the CRS-2 contract from NASA in January 2016.

"NASA's acknowledgment that SNC has completed this critical milestone and its approval of full production of the first Dream Chaser spacecraft is a major indication we are on the right path toward increasing vital science return for the industry," the program director of the company, John Curry, stated.

"IR4 was a series of reviews, documentation, and data deliverables that are the culmination of many years of design work, analysis, and development testing," explained SNC co-owner and chief executive Faith Ozmen. "This comprehensive review approved moving the Dream Chaser program into the production phase so we can get Dream Chaser to market as a critical space station resupply spacecraft as soon as possible."

Delivering Cargo To The ISS

The Dream Chaser was initially designed for the Commercial Crew Program that aimed to fly astronauts from U.S. grounds to the ISS. However, NASA instead favored the designs from Boeing and SpaceX, awarding each with multibillion-dollar contracts. SpaceX's Crew Dragon and Boeing's CST-100 Starliner are scheduled to launch next year.

SNC redesigned the Dream Chaser into a cargo plane, adding foldable wings. It can carry up to 5,500 kilograms of cargo to the ISS and then 1,850 kilograms of cargo back to Earth in a runway landing.

The Dream Chaser is the only cargo plane among the three chosen by NASA that can make runway landings and, therefore, theoretically land at any large-scale commercial airports anywhere in the world.

The cargo plane can also collect up to 3,400 kg of waste from the ISS and burn it in the atmosphere.

 

[Bombardier]

Roll on 2020 great news

 

[AAR Galileo]

The Dream Chaser remind me old Dassault Hermes from the end of the mid 70's. It was an European project (Spain, Germany, France,...) to be build in 1992 and launched by the Ariane V but in 1991 Germany exit the program (they had budgetary priorities after the reunification) and it was abandoned.
The NASA HL-20 in the 80's was inspired from Hermes . Then , the HL-42 from the HL-20 and finally the Dream Chaser from the HL-42.

Europe should have big regrets to not have conduct this program to the end.

Dassault is currently working on a new system the VEHRA (VéHicule Hypersonique RéUtilisable AéRoporté). With 3 +1 versions Light, Medium and Heavy + manned systems with passengers. Launched from an airbus A330/A350

The ESA had choose the Space Rider as a demonstrator with a first flight in 2021 on a Vega rocket https://esamultimedia.esa.int/docs/space_transportation/Space_Rider_factsheet_HiRes_ok.pdf

The Soviet worked a time on the Spiral (Mig-105) and the BOR mini shuttle. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-105

 

[bdpopeye]

SSSHHH!!! This is a military mission. Not exactly NASA..but close enough!

​

Team Vandenberg supported the successful launch of a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket carrying a National Reconnaissance Office payload from Space Launch Complex-6 here, Saturday, Jan. 19, at 11:10 am PST. (U.S. Air Force photo by Michael Peterson)

 

[bdpopeye]

SpaceX uses NASA facilities so....BLAST OFF!

SpaceX's Falcon Heavy Arabsat 6A rocket launch



SpaceX's Falcon Heavy Arabsat 6A lifts off from Space Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., April 12, 2019. This flight marks the second launch of the Falcon Heavy rocket; the most powerful space vehicle flying today. (U.S. Air Force photo by 2nd Lieutenant Alex Preisser)



SpaceX's Falcon Heavy Arabsat 6A rocket leaves the Earth's atmosphere after launching from Space Launch Complex 39A on April 12, 2019 at Kennedy Space Center, Fla. This marks the second launch of the Falcon Heavy rocket; the most powerful space vehicle flying today. (U.S. Air Force photo by 2nd Lieutenant Alex Preisser)



Two reusable rocket boosters land after the successful launch of SpaceX's Falcon Heavy Arabsat 6A on April 12, 2019 at Kennedy Space Center, Fla. This marks the second launch of the Falcon Heavy rocket; the most powerful space vehicle flying today. (U.S. Air Force photo by James Rainier)

 

[OldCode]

Like the Dream Chaser, it looks like Steve Austin's M2-F2 from the 6 Million Dollar Man. Some ideas need to be resurfaced as technology improves!

 

[bdpopeye]

A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket carrying a Cygnus resupply spacecraft is seen during sunrise on Pad-0A, Tuesday, April 16, 2019, at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Northrop Grumman’s 11th contracted cargo resupply mission with NASA to the International Space Station will deliver about 7,600 pounds of science and research, crew supplies and vehicle hardware to the orbital laboratory and its crew.

Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls



A US rocket has been launched from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia's Eastern Shore, carrying cargo with the space agency's re-supply mission for the International Space Station (ISS).

The Antares rocket built by Northrop Grumman lifted off on Wednesday evening, carrying the Cygnus cargo spacecraft to the ISS. It lifted off at 4:46pm ET (2:16am IST).

The spacecraft successfully separated from the rocket about nine minutes after the blast off, flying on its way to the space station, according to NASA's live broadcast.

The spacecraft is expected to dock with the space station early Friday morning 5:30am ET (3pm IST)

The spacecraft carried about 7,600 pounds (3,450 kg) of supplies and scientific experiments to the station. Some instruments it transports will examine astronauts' health in microgravity.

A Canada-made instrument will perform on-orbit detection and quantification of cell surface molecules on a per cell and assess soluble molecule concentration in a liquid sample such as blood, saliva, or urine, thus sparing sample freezing and storing, according to NASA.

 

[BravoZulu]

NASA Orion spacecraft's launch abort system successfully launches

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[bdpopeye]

U.S. Army astronaut Lt. Col. Anne McClain exits the Soyuz MS-11 spacecraft minutes after she, Canadian Space Agency astronaut David Saint-Jacques, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, land back on Earth June 24 (U.S. Eastern time). McClain returns after 204 days in space where she served as a member of the Expedition 58 and 59 crew onboard the International Space Station. (NASA photo by Bill Ingalls)



U.S. Army Lt. Col. Anne McClain runs through rehearsal procedures in the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft May 20, 2018, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome Integration Facility, Kazakhstan. (Courtesy: NASA/Victor Zelentsov)

 

[bdpopeye]

Integration teams carefully guide Webb's suspended telescope section into place above its Spacecraft Element just prior to integration. (Photo/NASA)



The fully assembled James Webb Space Telescope with its sunshield and unitized pallet structures (UPSs) that fold up around the telescope for launch, are seen partially deployed to an open configuration to enable telescope installation. (Photo/NASA)

​

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, post-integration, inside Northrop Grumman's cleanroom facilities in Redondo Beach, California. (Photo/NASA)

Reaching a major milestone, engineers have successfully connected the two halves of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope for the first time at Northrop Grumman's facilities in Redondo Beach, California. Once it reaches space, NASA's most powerful and complex space telescope will explore the cosmos using infrared light, from planets and moons within our solar system to the most ancient and distant galaxies.

 

[bdpopeye]

Friday's All-Woman Spacewalk: The Basics...full story



HI-RES



HI-RES

NASA astronaut Christina Koch worked while tethered near the Port 6 truss segment of the International Space Station to replace older hydrogen-nickel batteries with newer, more powerful lithium-ion batteries, during the October 11, 2019, spacewalk. Fellow NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan (out of frame) assisted Koch during the six-hour and 45-minute spacewalk.

Friday’s all-woman spacewalk is generating public interest we normally don’t get for a spacewalk. Here are the basics on the spacewalk itself, how to watch and how to participate in the conversation.

Why is this spacewalk significant?



HI-RES

Although it's the 221st spacewalk performed in support of space station assembly, it's the first to be conducted entirely by women, NASA astronauts Jessica Meir (at left above) and Christina Koch (at right above). It’s the first spacewalk for Meir; she’ll become the 15th woman overall and 14th U.S. woman to spacewalk.

What's the importance of an all-woman spacewalk?

The first all-woman spacewalk is a milestone worth noting and celebrating as the agency looks forward to putting the first woman and next man on the Moon by 2024 with NASA’s Artemis lunar exploration program. Our achievements provide inspiration to students around the world, proving that hard work can lead you to great heights, and all students should be able to see themselves in those achievements.

When asked in an interview about the importance of conducting her mission and this spacewalk, Koch said, “In the end, I do think it’s important, and I think it’s important because of the historical nature of what we’re doing. In the past women haven’t always been at the table. It’s wonderful to be contributing to the space program at a time when all contributions are being accepted, when everyone has a role. That can lead in turn to increased chance for success. There are a lot of people who derive motivation from inspiring stories of people who look like them, and I think it’s an important story to tell.”

 

[bdpopeye]

Photo released by NASA on Oct. 22, 2019, shows NASA astronaut Jessica Meir taking an out-of-this-world 'space-selfie' of herself during her first space walk.



Photo released by NASA on Oct. 22, 2019, shows astronauts Christina Koch taking an out-of-this-world "space-selfie." She and fellow NASA astronaut Jessica Meir ventured into the vacuum of space for seven hours and 17 minutes to swap a failed battery charge-discharge unit (BCDU) with a spare during the first all-woman spacewalk. (Photo/NASA)

 

[bdpopeye]

The crescent Moon is seen above the Northrop Grumman Antares rocket at launch Pad-0A, Friday, Nov. 1, 2019, at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Va.



Spectators watch as Northrop Grumman's Antares rocket lifts off the launch pad at NASA Wallops Flight facility in Wallops Island, Va., Saturday, Nov. 2, 2019. The rocket is carrying a Cygnus spacecraft carrying supplies to the International Space Station. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

 

[bdpopeye]

NASA scientists opened an untouched rock and soil sample from the Moon returned to Earth on Apollo 17, marking the first time in more than 40 years a pristine sample of rock and regolith from the Apollo era has been opened. It sets the stage for scientists to practice techniques to study future samples collected on Artemis missions. (Photo/Agencies)





The sample, opened Nov. 5, in the Lunar Curation Laboratory at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, was collected on the Moon by Apollo 17 astronauts Gene Cernan and Jack Schmitt, who drove a 4-centimeter-wide tube into the surface of the Moon to collect it and another sample scheduled to be opened in January. The sample was opened as part of NASA’s Apollo Next-Generation Sample Analysis (ANGSA) initiative, which is leveraging advanced technologies to study Apollo samples using new tools that were not available when the samples were originally returned to Earth.

 

[droopy]

The black lady i think is the one from this clip.

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[bdpopeye]

Rather than open a seperate thread for SpaceX I'll post photos and info about them in this thread. Spacex and NASA are in cahoots anyway.

This SpaceX video grab image shows SpaceX's first operational Starlink during launch on a reused Falcon 9 on November 11, 2019 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The private SpaceX company on Monday launched a second set of mini-satellites as it builds a huge constellation of the small orbiting devices aimed at greatly expanding internet access around the globe. A Falcon-9 rocket launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, placed 60 mini-satellites in orbit, joining 60 others launched in May. (Photo/Agencies)