Category: Space
-
NASA’s Orion has begun it’s EFT-1 mission
Following a smooth countdown the United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavies three main engine’s came to life today to lift the Orion capsule to orbit. 18 minutes later the upper stage completed its first firing and left the Orion capsule in the desired orbit. Over the next two orbits Orion will follow the flight profile…
-
Ariane 5 launch scrubbed
The second launch scheduled today was unable to lift off due to the weather conditions over the launch pad in Kourou, French Guiana. A new launch date and time will be decided once the weather conditions have been evaluated. The Ariane 5 ECA was due to launch the DirecTV 14 and GSAT 16 satellites
-
Orion’s maiden voyage delayed 24 hours
Today’s launch of the Orion spacecraft had to be scrubbed due to a technical issue with the Delta IV Heavy. During the countdown today there were several attempts made to lift off but various factors stopped that from happening. Two of the attempts were aborted due to higher than expected wind gusts during the final…
-
T-1 day and counting to NASA’s Orion EFT-1
Tomorrow the first Orion mission should be under way, however the future for Orion and it’s carrier rocket Space Launch System (SLS) is not guaranteed. The first flight for SLS is still four years away maybe sooner if they can finish the rocket faster but given the number of delays already it seems more likely…
-
Japanese H-2A rocket lifts off carrying Hayabusa 2
This evening a Japanese H-2A rocket lifted off with the Hayabusa 2 Asteroid Sample Return mission. Following the success of the previous Hayabusa mission this mission is designed to go one step further and return an actual sample back to Earth. Once in orbit the second spacecraft and upper stage will coast for 90 minutes…
-
T-2 days and counting to NASA’s Orion EFT-1
The first orbital flight of the Orion spacecraft will allow NASA and it’s contractor Lockheed Martin to verify the design of the vehicle in space itself, for this flight there will be no crew members however there will be a vast amount of instrumentation and sensors on board to provide as much data as possible…
-
T-3 days and counting to NASA’s Orion EFT-1
Officially known as the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) the vehicle was announced in May 2011. The design of the vehicle is derived from the cancelled Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle which was to be a part of the Constellation program announced by President Bush in 2004, that program was eventually cancelled by President Obama and the…
-
T-4 days and counting to NASA’s Orion EFT-1
A few days from now the first flight of NASA’s new crewed space vehicle Orion is scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral. The mission called Exploration Flight Test 1 (EFT-1) will not be a crewed test flight and is designed to test out the Orion systems and heat shield. For this mission the capsule will…
-
Station crew returns to six
Following a picture perfect launch earlier today and successful docking this evening the station crew is back to six members after the hatches between the Soyuz and Station were opened. Terry Virts of NASA, Anton Shkaplerov of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) and Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency, who will spend the…