Congratulations to SpaceX on a spectacular launch of the Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Dragon capsule for the COTS-2/3 cargo delivery demonstration mission. Dragon is safely in orbit, its solar array wings are deployed, and, right this minute there is a Dragon flying around the world, headed toward a rendezvous … Continue reading
Category Archives: International Space Station
Rocket Plumbing
SpaceX have inspected the engine that gave the anomalous chamber pressure reading, and have found a faulty valve. They plan to have it replaced in time for the next launch attempt on Tuesday at 3:44 am.
Not This Time
Well, the Falcon 9 countdown went down to zero, the engine ignition sequence started, but was aborted by the computer controlling the launch because of a sensor reading that the chamber pressure on number five engine was abnormally high. The Falcon launch sequence is designed to hold the rocket on … Continue reading
T Minus 10 Minutes to the SpaceX COTS 2/3 Dragon Launch
Rob here – been a loooong time since I have posted at Out of the Cradle – but today I couldn’t stay away. In the very early days of OotC I live-blogged several of the first launch attempts of Space Exploration Technologies’ Falcon One rocket. SpaceX have come a long … Continue reading
Space Shuttle Launch #NASATweetUps, Past and Present
Space Shuttle Atlantis is poised to launch to the International Space Station, and NASA is hosting a Twitter meet-up, or tweet-up, at the launch. If you’re one of the 150 lucky invitees attending the shuttle launch as guests of NASA, I can tell you from personal experience that you are … Continue reading
The Dawn of a New American Enterprise
The space program announcement on Monday was, in my view, status quo shattering. It engages a lot of risk, but if you look carefully at what it says (as opposed to what the mass media says it says), you will see that it unlocks an enormous realm of opportunity. In … Continue reading
Tweeting the STS-129 Launch
Hey there folks, Rob the many-Moons-ago OotC founder here. (Sorry, Ken, Lunar Library pun very definitely intended ::vbg::) I still check in on the place regularly, and I have to say I’ve been really impressed with what Ken’s been doing. Someone at NASA must have been as well: Recently, we … Continue reading
Best of the Moon 2007
Howdy everyone, and welcome to the Best of the Moon 2007! Each year we stop and take a look at the best additions to the Lunar Library over the course of the year. 2007 has been an unusual one for the Lunar Library, not least because your friendly Librarian was … Continue reading
Carnival of Space #18
Image by R.A. Smith from “The Exploration of the Moon” Hear ye! Hear ye! Step right up ladies and gentlemen and prepare to be shocked and amazed at the wonders of the universe that await you here at the Carnival of Space. I’m Ken Murphy, custodian of the Lunar Library … Continue reading
In space, no-one can hear you sing in the shower
…because there isn’t a shower. “Sweat doesn’t fall of you. The water just accumulates until it gets too big and agitated and falls off like a sphere of water. It then floats around until it hits something. It takes a lot of water to fall off.” Imagine huge water balls … Continue reading
Atlantis leaves ISS with a new solar array wing
Good to see that construction on the ISS is continuing, although not without some hiccups. There was a problem with the command and control computers in the Russian segment – all six crashed simultaneously, a failure that must have really gotten the attention of everybody on board, and everybody in … Continue reading
ISDC News Wrap-up
Howdy everyone! I’m almost done convalescing after co-chairing the ISDC, and have done a little scouting around the web to see the news that came out of it. Much of which I only got to see bits and pieces of whilst patrolling the conference making sure that everything was going … Continue reading
International Space Development Conference – Online Registration Closes Soon!
Howdy everyone! Regular visitors to the Lunar Library know that yours truly is one of the co-chairs for the International Space Development Conference coming up over the Memorial Day weekend here in Dallas. This is the largest citizen space conference in the world, and gathers together leaders in industry, academia, … Continue reading
Falcon 1 second demo flight now targeted for March 19-22
From Elon: The launch window is now March 19th to 22nd (California time). During extended ground testing in late February, one of our second stage thrust vector control boards indicated a problem. Although our analysis showed substantial margin for flight, we decided nonetheless to increase the robustness of certain of … Continue reading
Another delay for Falcon 1
Elon Musk has posted another update on the SpaceX website. The planned static firing test did not go ahead, and the rocket has been returned to the hangar for a stage de-mate and inspection. Elon didn’t go into what has necessitated that move. The flow-on effect is that the static … Continue reading
“We are not just working up here, we are living up here.”
ABCNews has a short interview with the current crew of the International Space Station. It’s not mentioned in the interview, but there’s a strong perception out there that the ISS is a waste of time and money, that it’s a platform without a purpose. There’s no doubt that it’s a … Continue reading
A win-win business case for COTS?
(Via Clark at HobbySpace RLV and Space Transport News) An analysis of NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program by aerospace engineering and consulting firm Spaceworks Engineering, shows a potential $6.5 to $7 billion market for COTS services, with the government saving as much as $8 billion over the same period … Continue reading
Second Falcon 1 set to launch on Jan 21
Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX to most of us, has announced that it plans to launch its second Falcon 1 rocket on the 21st of this month. The rocket is on the pad, and the launch team have already taken it through a ‘wet dress rehearsal’ where they fuel it … Continue reading
Discovery launches on complex mission to ISS
NASA press release: NASA’S SHUTTLE DISCOVERY BEGINS MISSION TO THE SPACE STATION CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The space shuttle Discovery and its seven-member crew lifted off Saturday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at 8:47 p.m. EST on one of the most complex missions ever to the International Space Station. Shortly … Continue reading
Orion CEV mock-up rolled out for media
In this artist’s concept, the Orion CEV docked to a lunar lander, is depicted orbiting the moon. Credit: Lockheed-Martian Associated Press reporter recounts his experiences as he tries out Lockheed-Martian’s mock-up of their Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle, (CEV). Fresh off of receiving an $8 billion contract to build it, Lockheed-Martian … Continue reading
Astronaut collapses at “Welcome Home” celebration
Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, an astronaut on the STS-115 mission, collapsed twice Friday, a day after she returned to Earth in the shuttle Atlantis, and officials attributed her wobbles to the adjustment from 12 days at zero gravity. Wobbly and light-headed, Stefanyshyn-Piper collapsed while speaking publicly at a welcome-home ceremony. Fellow crew … Continue reading
Blogging from the ISS, Anousheh tells of her ride to orbit
You really want to take the time to read this. It is an inexpressibly cool story, made even more so by the knowledge that a) it is true, and b) the author is writing it floating in zero gravity far above the Earth on the International Space Station. As I … Continue reading
Shuttle Atlantis home from orbit
Atlantis is home safely. Or, I should say, her crew is home safely. For the shuttle herself, I don’t think that being tucked up in a warm hangar at Kennedy Space Center counts as being ‘home’. If you’ll allow me a little poetic license, I believe that her home is … Continue reading
Ansari, Expedition-14 crew arrive at the International Space Station
Anousheh Ansari, X-Prize backer and private astronaut, has arrived at the ISS, along with the station’s new crew. In downlink video of the hatch opening, she could be seen smiling broadly, and wearing an X-Prize cap. You can read about her adventures in near-real time: she is blogging from the … Continue reading
Shuttle landing delayed by mystery object
Space shuttle Atlantis’ landing has been delayed by at least a day, to give mission managers time to investigate an object seen floating close by that may have fallen off the shuttle. The object was spotted on footage from a payload bay camera, floating between the Shuttle and Earth in … Continue reading