SpaceX rocket begins milestone mission to space station
msnbc.msn.com | May 22nd 2012This page doesn't appear to be an article and therefore may not display well in the Article View. You may want to switch to the Full Web Page view.
If you know there should be an article here, help improve the article parser by reporting this page. Thanks!
Jump to story headline Space on msnbc.comSpaceX rocket begins milestone mission to space station
First commercial flight to orbital outpost lifts off, three days after initial launch abort
By Clara Moskowitz Assistant managing editor updated 1 hour 58 minutes ago CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A private space capsule called Dragon soared into the predawn sky Tuesday, riding a pillar of flame like its beastly namesake on a history-making trip to the International Space Station.
The unmanned capsule, built by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk's SpaceX venture, is the first non-governmental spacecraft to launch to the space station, ushering in a new era of partnership between the public and private spaceflight programs.
"I think this is an example of American entrepreneurship at its best," Alan Lindenmoyer, manager of NASA's commercial crew and cargo program, said in a briefing before the launch. About 100 VIP guests were on hand to witness liftoff, NASA officials said.
Hawthorne, Calif.-based SpaceX, known more formally as Space Exploration Technologies Corp., launched its Dragon capsule at 3:44 a.m. ET Tuesday from a pad here at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. It blasted off atop SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, a 157-foot (48-meter) booster powered by nine Merlin rocket engines. The space station was flying 249 miles above the North Atlantic Ocean as the rocket lifted off, NASA officials said. [Launch Photos: SpaceX's Dragon Blasts Off for Space Station]
The Falcon 9 rocket's second stage is also reportedly carrying ashes from 308 people, including actor James Doohan, who played Scotty on the 1960s television series "Star Trek," and Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper. The ashes were flown under a deal with the memorial spaceflight company Celestis.
The SpaceX launch vehicle is named after the Millennium Falcon of "Star Wars," while the capsule got its moniker from the Peter, Paul and Mary song, "Puff, the Magic Dragon."
Tuesday marked only the second-ever launch of a Dragon capsule, and the third flight for the Falcon 9 rocket. It was the second attempt to launch the space station-bound test flight, after a launch try on Saturday was thwarted by a faulty rocket engine valve. Repairs were made over the weekend, and the SpaceX team counted down smoothly to Tuesday's liftoff.
"One thing that they are very good at is being able to work through launch abort and treat those problems and be prepared to go again in a very short time," Mike Horkachuck, NASA project executive for SpaceX, said Monday.
How the test flight will unfold
Tuesday's launch could be the last test flight for SpaceX under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program, which is supporting the development of private-sector replacements for the cargo-delivery services of the retired space shuttles. SpaceX has a $1.6 billion contract to fly at least 12 unmanned missions to the space station through 2015.
Musk founded SpaceX in 2002 with the goal of boosting commercial access to space and aiming for deep-space exploration, including missions to Mars. Success was never certain or assured, Musk had repeatedly said.
After Tuesday's launch, Musk said the mission's uncertainty has eased up.
"Falcon flew perfectly!!" Musk wrote in a Twitter post from Falcon 9's mission control room in Hawthorne. "Dragon in orbit, comm locked and solar arrays active!! Feels like a giant weight just came off my back."
The spacecraft is due to spend its first day on orbit catching up with the 240-mile-high (390-kilometer-high) space station, where it will rendezvous Thursday and perform a flyby to within 1.5 miles (2.5 kilometers) to check its navigation systems. [Quiz: How Well Do You Know SpaceX's Dragon?]
On Friday, the capsule is slated to perform a series of maneuvers to approach the station, with crew members onboard the outpost issuing commands to Dragon. If the spacecraft passes a set of "go/no-go" checks at Mission Control in Houston, NASA will give the go-ahead for the vehicle to approach the space station. From inside, astronauts Don Pettit and Andre Kuipers will use the lab's robotic arm to grab Dragon and berth it to the station's Harmony node.
The hatches between the two spacecraft would be opened early Saturday, so the crew can enter Dragon and unpack its deliveries.
Dragon is due to spend about a week and a half attached to the outpost. On May 31, the capsule will be packed with completed science experiments and other equipment, unberthed, and sent back toward Earth. The vehicle is equipped with a heat shield to withstand the fires of re-entry, and is due to splash down and be recovered by ship in the Pacific Ocean.
If this test flight is not completely successful, another demonstration mission would be scheduled later this year.
Giant leap for private spaceflight
Dragon is an unmanned version of a capsule ultimately intended to carry people as well.
Another company, Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va., also has a NASA contract to deliver cargo to the space station, and plans to launch its first test flight later this year.
The program is part of a larger effort by NASA to outsource low-Earth orbit transportation to the private sector, allowing the space agency to focus on a new spacecraft and heavy-lift rocket to visit asteroids, the moon and Mars.
The plan has been criticized by some lawmakers and members of the public, who worry that commercial vehicles aren't as safe or reliable as NASA's in-house spacecraft.
"It's really easy to criticize, and it's very difficult to solve a problem and actually do something," said SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell. "So I tend to focus on the business and getting our jobs done and not focus on those that want to criticize."
NASA officials and leaders of the commercial space sector say the time is right for space to transition from an exclusively government regime to an arena open to private companies.
"I kind of see that transition as being inevitable," said Phil McAlister, NASA's director of commercial spaceflight development. "I believe it is going to happen at some point. If it's not today and this mission falls short of expectations, it is going to happen eventually."
You can follow Space.com assistant managing editor Clara Moskowitz on Twitter @ClaraMoskowitz.Follow Space.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
• Gallery: SpaceX's 1st Mission to Space Station - How It Works
• Now Boarding: The Top 10 Private Spaceships
• SpaceX to Space Station: Complete Coverage
© 2012 Space.com. All rights reserved. More from Space.com.
Advertise| AdChoicesVideo: NASA coverage of SpaceX rocket launch
Explainer: Ten high-profile players in the commercial space race
-
When NASA's space shuttle fleet retires in 2011, the space agency will have to rely on Russian spacecraft and the private sector to taxi cargo and humans to and from the International Space Station, even as it turns its focus to the technologies required to send humans beyond low-Earth orbit.
President Barack Obama views the policy as a boost to the nascent commercial spaceflight industry, where competition is already heating up to supply the taxi services. Some companies are also talking about offering out-of-this-world rides for researchers as well as tourists with deep pockets and a serious case of star lust. Click ahead to check out 10 of the top players in the race to commercialize space.
-
Space Exploration Technologies
PayPal co-founder Elon Musk has already signed up NASA as a marquee account for his high-flying venture, Space Exploration Technologies, also known as SpaceX. The government has a $1.6 billion contract with the Hawthorne, Calif., company to provide unmanned cargo deliveries to the International Space Station starting in 2011 with its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule.
This image shows the successful test launch of the Falcon 9 rocket on June 4. The rocket will eventually carry the Dragon to orbit. If all goes according to plan, astronauts may get a lift as well, starting in 2013. SpaceX has also secured contracts to launch next-generation satellites for the telecommunications company Iridium.
-
Orbital Sciences
Another NASA contract — this one worth a reported $1.9 billion — is in the bag at Virginia-based Orbital Sciences, which is planning to supply the International Space Station with its unmanned Cygnus spacecraft, shown here in an artist's rendering. A newly-developed Taurus 2 rocket will ferry the cargo ship to space. If the opportunity presents itself, the company may advance plans to ferry humans to orbit as well.
-
Boeing
Boeing, the aerospace giant, has unveiled plans to flesh out designs and build a new capsule-based spaceship called the CST-100, which will take cargo and passengers to the International Space Station. The development push comes thanks to an $18 million NASA grant.
The Apollo-like capsule will carry a crew of seven and be designed to launch on a variety of rockets, including the Atlas and Delta rockets operated by the Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture known as the United Launch Alliance, as well as SpaceX's Falcon. Extra seats may be made available for paying passengers through a marketing arrangement with Space Adventures.
-
Masten Space Systems
While big NASA contracts have already gone to big names in the commercial space industry, lesser-known Masten Space Systems is in the race to pick up taxi fares to the International Space Station as well.
The company won a $1 million lunar challenge prize with the Xoie spacecraft shown here. It is now working on a next-generation vehicle based on the vertical-takeoff-and-landing design to ferry cargo. NASA funding will go toward four test flights of the spacecraft, called Xaero.
-
Sierra Nevada Corporation
The reusable Dream Chaser space plane, under development by Sierra Nevada Corp. subsidiary SpaceDev , has a look and feel reminiscent of a mini-space shuttle. Like NASA spacecraft, a rocket lifts the space plane up — and at the end of its mission, the plane lands on a runway.
In fact, the transportation system is based on NASA technology, and the company recently received $20 million from the space agency to continue the plane's development. A full-scale mockup of the plane is shown in this file photo from its unveiling in 2006.
-
Bigelow Aerospace
Entrepreneur Robert Bigelow padded his bank account by building a hotel chain, Budget Suites of America. His latest pioneering venture, Bigelow Aerospace, is aimed at building affordable habitats in space.
Two prototype inflatable capsules have already been launched, and plans are in the works to put the more expansive Sundancer space station, shown here in an artist's conception, in orbit by 2015.
In this case, the overnight guests may include national space agencies as well as private-sector researchers and thrill-seeking tourists. Other players in the commercial space sector would taxi guests to and from the puffy digs.
-
Blue Origin
Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, who amassed a fortune selling the printed word online, has few words to share about Blue Origin, his commercial space venture to fly a vertical launch and landing rocket to suborbital space.
This much is known: A demonstration vehicle called Goddard, shown here in a file photo, successfully took off and landed in 2006 from the company's private spaceport in west Texas. It's not yet known when the company's commercial vehicle will be ready for a public unveiling.
A bit more info: NASA recently awarded the company $3.7 million of a $50 million pie that it says is for the "development of system concepts, key technologies, and capabilities that could ultimately be used in commercial crew human space transportation systems." Blue Origin is concentrating on the development of a launch escape system that could push a NASA capsule to safety in case of emergency.
-
Virgin Galactic
Space enthusiasts with $200,000 to burn can book a ticket to ride to outer space with Virgin Galactic on the SpaceShipTwo spacecraft. The plane, meant for tourism as well as research, will haul six passengers and two pilots on suborbital flights that pop into outer space for a few minutes before returning to Earth.
The aircraft was designed by aerospace engineer Burt Rutan and colleagues at Scaled Composites. Test flights of the spacecraft, which launches from the WhiteKnightTwo mothership, are under way. Ticketholders will get their opportunity to ride once all systems are a go.
-
Armadillo Aerospace
Would-be space tourists who balk at the price tag for a ride on Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo might consider another option in the offing: $102,000 for a seat on Texas-based Armadillo Aerospace's vertical takeoff and landing vehicle.
The spacecraft, shown in this artist's conception, will rocket passengers into outer space for about five minutes of weightlessness and 360-degree views. Tickets can be booked through Space Adventures, the same company that has arranged rides to the International Space Station for the super-wealthy.
-
XCOR Aerospace
Yet another option for the space tourist is a $95,000 trip up to the inky blackness at the edge of space in XCOR's Lynx rocketship. The spacecraft, which has room for just one pilot and one passenger riding shotgun, takes off horizontally from a runway and climbs steeply to 200,000 feet, where views abound of planet Earth and the stars. Advance reservations for the hour-long trip can be booked through space tourism company RocketShipTours. An artist's rendering of the rocketship is seen here.
Photos: Month in Space: April 2012
-
-
-
Whirlwind on Mars
A dust devil the size of a terrestrial tornado towers above the Martian surface on a springtime afternoon in Amazonis Planitia. The picture was captured on March 14 by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and released by the space agency on April 4. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona) Share Back to slideshow navigation -
Zeroing in on alien planets
An image from the European Southern Observatory's Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array, or ALMA, shows the dust ring around the bright star Fomalhaut in orange. The underlying blue picture is an earlier view obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope. The new ALMA image, released on April 12, has led astronomers to conclude that the dust ring is held in place by two exoplanets. One planet is within the ring, and the other is outside the ring. Astronomers think the planets are bigger than Mars but no larger than several times the size of Earth. (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO/NASA/ESA) Share Back to slideshow navigation -
Liftoff from India
India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle C-19 blasts off on April 26, lofting the country's first radar imaging satellite RISAT-1 into orbit from the Satish Dhawan space center at Sriharikota, north of the southern Indian city of Chennai. The remote sensing satellite is equipped with a synthetic aperture radar that can look through clouds and capture Earth imagery day and night. (Reuters) Share Back to slideshow navigation -
Tracking Discovery
Sixth-graders visiting the U.S. Capitol from the Stratford Academy in Macon, Ga., watch the final voyage of the space shuttle Discovery as it soars above Washington on April 17. Discovery, the world's most traveled spaceship, was retired from service last year and is now an attraction at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Stephen F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va., next to Dulles International Airport. (J. Scott Applewhite / AP) Share Back to slideshow navigation -
Last landing
The space shuttle Discovery makes its final landing on the back of a modified Boeing 747 jet at Washington's Dulles International Airport on April 17. After landing, Discovery was towed to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, next to the airport. (Paul J. Richards / AFP - Getty Images) Share Back to slideshow navigation -
Nose to nose
The space shuttles Enterprise, left, and Discovery sit nose-to-nose at the beginning of a transfer ceremony at the Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center on April 19. Enterprise, which had been on exhibit for years at the museum in Virginia, was replaced by Discovery. (Carolyn Russo / Smithsonian Institution) Share Back to slideshow navigation -
Space strummer
NASA astronaut Dan Burbank, commander of the International Space Station, strums the strings of his guitar on April 14 during some weekend leisure time. (ESA/NASA) Share Back to slideshow navigation -
Fireball over Nevada
A meteor blazes over Reno, Nev., at around 8 a.m. PDT on April 22. Reports of the fireball came in from as far north as Sacramento, Calif. and as far east as North Las Vegas, Nev. Bill Cooke of the Meteoroid Environments Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center estimated that the object was about the size of a minivan, weighed in at around 154,300 pounds and at the time of disintegration released energy equivalent to a 5-kiloton explosion of TNT. (Lisa Warren / NASA/JPL via AP) Share Back to slideshow navigation -
Tarantula in space
A Hubble Space Telescope composite image shows a stellar breeding ground in 30 Doradus, located in the heart of the Tarantula Nebula, 170,000 light-years away in a satellite galaxy known as the Large Magellanic Cloud. The telescope imaged 30 separate fields with its Wide Field Camera 3 and Advanced Camera for Surveys during October 2011 to produce this picture. The image was released April 17 in honor of Hubble's 22nd anniversary. (NASA/European Southern Observatory/Space Telescope Science Institute/Hubble Space Telescope) Share Back to slideshow navigation -
UFO Galaxy
NGC 2683 is a spiral galaxy seen almost edge-on, giving it the shape of a science-fiction spaceship. That's the reason it was nicknamed the "UFO Galaxy." It's 35 million light-years away in the northern constellation Lynx. This picture of the galaxy, captured by the Hubble Space Telescope, was released March 26 as the European Hubble team's Picture of the Week. (ESA / NASA) Share Back to slideshow navigation -
Norwegian lights
Thorbjørn Haagensen took this picture of the northern lights on April 3 from Hillesøy, close to Tromsø in northern Norway. The winter season is prime time for auroral displays, but with the onset of spring, the northern lights begin to pale up north. "Beginning in the middle of May, the midnight sun brings sunshine all night long," Haagensen said. (Thorbjørn Haagensen) Share Back to slideshow navigation
Discuss:
| Trending | Views |
|---|---|
| Loading popular content ... | |
| Popular stories currently unavailable |
- Popular videos currently unavailable
Original Page: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47514404/ns/technology_and_science-space/
Shared from Pocket
Victor Cuvo, Attorney at Law
No comments:
Post a Comment