Boeing CST-100 Update... Less than a month after its launch abort engine was successfully tested in California, the Crew Space Transportation (CST)-100 spacecraft achieved another milestone when it safely landed in the middle of Delmar Dry Lake Bed in Nevada during a parachute test on April 3. The CST-100 boilerplate capsule used in the test was released from a helicopter 11,000 feet above the ground, with the capsule being guided to a smooth landing after its three main parachutes flawlessly deployed moments later.

Assuming its development process isn't severely hampered by a lack of (NASA) funding, the CST-100 will hopefully launch aboard an Atlas V rocket and send cargo to the International Space Station (ISS) within a few years. In terms of ferrying astronauts to the ISS, the timeline is more uncertain...as it will be up to our Legislature in Washington, D.C. to decide whether or not NASA gives Boeing and other commercial space companies such as Sierra Nevada Corp the resources they need to make up for the capability that was lost after the space shuttle was retired. We'll see.


Boeing

NASA / Jim Grossmann

Discovery poses with an old friend... On display with space shuttle Discovery inside the Vehicle Assembly Building right now is the Astrovan. Between 1984 and 2011, the Astrovan transported 252 astronauts from their crew quarters at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida to a flight-ready Discovery sitting out on her pad at KSC's Launch Complex (LC)-39. There's no reason to think that NASA won't continue tradition and have future crew members use this historic land vehicle for their minutes-long road trip to a Space Launch System rocket waiting out on its pad at LC-39...or even a commercially-made vehicle like SpaceX's Falcon 9 that would welcome the astronauts and their venerable transport at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 40 in Florida. It's exciting to ponder about where future crew members riding in the Astrovan will be headed once they soar off into space.


NASA / Jim Grossmann


NASA / Jim Grossmann

Image of the Day... Check out this awesome NASA poster touting its Commercial Crew Program. I wish Congress would just relax and let SpaceX, Boeing, the Orbital Sciences Corporation and NASA's other partners in the private sector do their thang (yes, I had to spell it that way) without worrying about funding. How can one who's even a slight space aficionado not be excited for the launch of Dragon C2 at the end of this month? I'm eager as heck to see SpaceX's baby get grappled by the International Space Station's robotic arm on arrival day (which is targeted for May 3 if Dragon launches on April 30 as scheduled). You can bet I'll make this Blog slow to load up by posting tons of pictures of a commercially-made vehicle safely berthed at a giant government-made orbital complex that is the space shuttle's legacy. That is all.


NASA - Kennedy Space Center Graphics Department / Greg Lee

ATK

Space Launch System Update... NASA is already making progress on preparing for the flight tests that will take place in 2017 and 2021, respectively.

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SLS Avionics Test Paves Way for Full-Scale Booster Firing (Press Release - April 2)

NASA has successfully tested the solid rocket booster avionics for the first two test flights of the Space Launch System, America's next heavy-lift launch vehicle. This avionics system includes electrical components for the SLS' solid rocket boosters, which provide propulsion to augment the core stage main engines of the rocket. The first qualification test of the five-segment SLS booster is slated for spring 2013.

The test dubbed Flight Control Test 1, FCT-1, included heritage thrust vector control (TVC) actuators -- electro-hydraulic mechanisms previously used on the space shuttle that direct the booster propulsion system -- with a new SLS booster avionics subsystem. ATK of Brigham City, Utah, the SLS booster prime contractor for the first two test flights, conducted the test at its Promontory, Utah, test facility.

The test successfully demonstrated the new avionics subsystem's interface and control of the heritage shuttle Thrust Vector Control system and performed an SLS launch simulation. In addition to the new avionics subsystem, the test included new electronic ground support equipment which monitored and coordinated activities between the test facilities, avionics subsystem and TVC system. The test is one in a series of tests to reduce risk and demonstrate the avionics subsystem design early in the development life cycle.

"We were pleased to see how the avionics system functioned outside the lab," said Todd May, Space Launch System program manager at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. "This test provides an insightful first look at how the booster thrust vector control system will operate and interface with flight hardware."

The booster avionics design has incorporated lean manufacturing and continuous improvement principles. For example, the design includes a common, ruggedized chassis design, 14 common programmable circuit cards and standardized cable designs.

Two additional tests are planned for the avionics and controls system.

The Space Launch System will provide an entirely new heavy-lift launch capability for human exploration beyond Earth orbit and will take crew and cargo farther into space than ever before.

Source: NASA.Gov

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ATK

NASA / Don Pettit

Edoardo Amaldi docks with the ISS... Above and below are spectacular photos of the Automated Transfer Vehicle before and after it docked with the International Space Station (ISS) two days ago. Edoardo Amaldi will stay at the orbital outpost till late August, when it will re-enter and burn up in Earth's atmosphere after providing thousands of pounds of food and cargo to the crew aboard the ISS.


NASA


NASA


NASA

NASA / Kim Shiflett

Endeavour: Retirement Update #3... A little more than a week since the left Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) pod was re-installed onto Endeavour at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the shuttle's right OMS pod was reattached to the vehicle today. This milestone comes a week after technicians inside Orbiter Processing Facility-2 (where Endeavour currently resides) began removing Main Propulsion System (MPS) tanks from the payload bay of the youngest spaceplane in NASA's retired fleet. The three main Auxiliary Power Units were removed from the orbiter on the same day the MPS tanks were uninstalled.


NASA / Dimitri Gerondidakis

The last major items that make up Endeavour's transition and retirement operation include the removal of additional MPS components from her engine compartment (for future use on NASA's Space Launch System), the installation of three Replica Shuttle Main Engines, the closing of her twin payload bay doors for the final time, and of course, the permanent powering-down of Endeavour's electrical systems. She is set to head to the California Science Center in downtown Los Angeles this September.


NASA / Kim Shiflett


NASA / Kim Shiflett


NASA / Kim Shiflett

NASA / Dimitri Gerondidakis

Endeavour: Retirement Update #2... Last Wednesday, technicians inside Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF)-2 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida began removing Main Propulsion System tanks from the mid-body of Endeavour. After the tanks were lifted via crane from the payload bay of the shuttle, they will be secured and placed in storage for future use on NASA's next heavy-lift vehicle, the Space Launch System. Endeavour herself, meanwhile, continues to undergo transition and retirement processing inside OPF-2. By the end of next month, she and Atlantis will be the only orbiters left at KSC...as Discovery is less than a month away from being transported to her final home at the Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia.


NASA / Dimitri Gerondidakis


NASA / Dimitri Gerondidakis


NASA / Dimitri Gerondidakis

ESA / CNES / Arianespace / Optique Video du CSG

Edoardo Amaldi is Station-Bound... At 9:34 PM, Pacific Daylight Time yesterday, an Ariane 5 rocket carrying the European Space Agency's (ESA) third and newest Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) blasted off from ESA's launch site in Kourou, French Guiana. Named after a late Italian physicist, Edoardo Amaldi will dock with the International Space Station (ISS) next Wednesday (March 28)...bringing to the outpost more than 4,800 pounds of fresh food, clothing and other cargo. Also, the ATV will transfer 1,900 pounds of propellant (out of 12,000 pounds of fuel the spacecraft has stored aboard) to the ISS’ onboard tanks that will allow it to re-boost to a higher orbit, as well as conduct collision avoidance maneuvers in case a piece of space junk poses a threat to the station. Edoardo Amaldi will also transfer 220 pounds of oxygen and air to the ISS, and replenish the outpost with 75 gallons of potable water.

Edoardo Amaldi is scheduled to undock from the ISS in late August, and will re-enter and burn up in Earth's atmosphere as designed shortly thereafter.


ESA - S. Corvaja, 2012

NASA / Dimitri Gerondidakis

Endeavour: Retirement Update... Last Monday, the left Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) pod for Endeavour was prepared for re-installation onto the vehicle inside Orbiter Processing Facility-2 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The pod's final attachment to Endeavour took place yesterday. Once the starboard OMS pod is reattached to the winged spaceship, the last major items to be installed onto Endeavour next should be her three Replica Shuttle Main Engines and the twin OMS nozzles. However, just like her sister ship Discovery—who will have her two OMS thrusters re-attached after she arrives at the Udvar-Hazy Center (Discovery's final home) in Virginia next month—Endeavour probably won't have her OMS engines back till after she arrives at her final port of call, the California Science Center in downtown Los Angeles, in mid-September.


NASA / Dimitri Gerondidakis


NASA / Dimitri Gerondidakis


NASA / Dimitri Gerondidakis

NASA

Orion Update... Earlier today, the crew module barrel section for the Orion EFT-1 spacecraft arrived at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Louisiana. The barrel section, which is 12.2 feet in diameter, will be attached to the EFT-1 vehicle prior to workers shipping the capsule to NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida this May. Once it arrives in Florida, final assembly work will be done on Orion at KSC's Operations and Checkout Building (as per the agreement that Lockheed Martin made with NASA when Lockheed won the Orion contract in 2006). Once construction is complete, 2013 will see Orion undergoing a multitude of post-assembly and pre-launch tests before it is mated to its Delta IV Heavy rocket for its much-anticipated test flight in 2014.


NASA


NASA