USA MAN Space Program

[Doz]

SpaceX Cargo Run to Space Station is a Go for May 7

After several delays to its launch dates, SpaceX said Wednesday that it will launch the first privately funded spacecraft on a mission to rendezvous with the International Space Station on May 7.

In what will be the second demonstration launch for SpaceX in NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program, a Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Dragon capsule with cargo for the ISS is scheduled to lift off from Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 9:38 a.m. Eastern time. Once in orbit, the automated Dragon capsule will berth with the ISS if it passes a systems check.

"NASA and the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station have approved SpaceX's request to set May 7 as the target launch date for the upcoming COTS 2 mission," a SpaceX spokesperson said.

The unmanned test flight was originally scheduled for April 30, then pushed back to May 3 before NASA and SpaceX settled on a date a few days later in May. SpaceX, run by PayPal and Tesla Motors co-founder Elon Musk (pictured), plans to conduct manned flights to ISS by 2015 as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program.

Crew aboard the ISS will use the space station's robotic arm to dock the capsule, which will be carrying about 1,150 pounds of cargo for delivery to the orbiting lab. Then the SpaceX Dragon is supposed to take on a 1,455-pound payload to bring back to Earth.

Since ending its storied space shuttle program last year, NASA and other international space programs have relied on the Russian space agency to ferry crew to the orbiting space lab. Seeking alternatives, NASA has been working with private companies like Hawthorne, Calif.-based SpaceX to develop commercial spaceflight for manned missions and space exploration ventures conducted by robotic probes.

SpaceX has both COTS and CCDev contracts with NASA to develop an astronaut ferry service to the ISS. The company conducted its first COTS Demo Flight 1 mission a little more than a year ago, launching a Dragon C1 capsule atop a Falcon 9 rocket on Dec. 8, 2010, inserting the Dragon C1 into orbit, and recovering the capsule to become the first privately funded company to successfully complete the orbital insertion and recovery of a spacecraft.

Musk, who serves as the company's chief executive, co-founded SpaceX with Tom Mueller in 2002. SpaceX received its first contract with NASA in 2006. SpaceX has conducted several successful launches of its Falcon 1 and Falcon 9 space boosters, including missions to insert satellites into orbit around Earth.

NASA's COTS and CCDev programs are not the only initiatives in a race to develop privately funded means of space travel. Earlier this week, noted commercial spaceflight advocates Peter Diamandis said Eric Anderson introduced Planetary Resources, a Bellvue, Wash.-based company pursuing the ambitious goal of mining asteroids for water, precious metals, and other resources.

Planetary Resources plans to launch its first spacecraft within 24 months, a fleet of telescopes that will search for near-Earth asteroids with the right makeup and location to serve as targets for prospecting operations. A few years later, co-founders Diamandis and Anderson say they'll send another wave of robotic prospecting probes to likely targets, and finally, send a fleet of spacecraft capable of extracting material from asteroids to 20 or more space rocks.


Source info = http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2403555,00.asp

[Doz]

The private spaceflight company SpaceX will likely postpone the planned launch of its Dragon capsule to the International Space Station next week, officials announced May 2.

SpaceX was targeting the launch for Monday, May 7, but now will likely shift to a later date, possibly May 10. The unmanned Dragon spacecraft is due to lift off atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

"At this time, a May 7th launch appears unlikely," SpaceX spokeswoman Kirstin Brost Grantham wrote in a statement. "SpaceX is continuing to work through the software assurance process with NASA. We will issue a statement as soon as a new launch target is set."

The Dragon mission will be be the very first visit of a privately built spacecraft to the International Space Station. During the test flight, the spacecraft will carry food, supplies and scientific equipment for the astronauts living on the orbiting outpost.

The flight was previously delayed from an April 30 launch date to allow more time for tests of Dragon's flight software. The new delay is also meant to allow for further checkouts.

SpaceX conducted a test firing of its Falcon 9 booster engines April 30. The test went successfully on its second try, after a first attempt that same day was stalled by an apparent computer glitch.

SpaceX has a $1.6 billion contract with NASA to fly 12 cargo-delivery missions to the space station with Dragon. The capsule is scheduled to be the first spacecraft to fly under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program, which has funded the development of private vehicles to fill the gap in cargo services left by the space shuttle retirement.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/...#ixzz1tq5oGE16

[Doz]

Company Building Mini-Shuttle To Launch From Space Coast

Sierra Nevada Hopes To Use Former Shuttle Workers In Private Sector Launch

COCOA BEACH, Fla. -- A company building a miniature space shuttle announced big plans for the Space Coast on Friday.The company, called Sierra Nevada, is already getting tens of millions of tax dollars to build the shuttle, and executives said they want former shuttle workers to help launch it.It will take about five years to build the miniature, which is about one-fifth the size of the original shuttle.Sierra Nevada released the first pictures on Friday of a prototype mini-space shuttle.Within a few months of production, the vehicle is set to make practice landing tests after being dropped from an airplane. When and if the company builds a space-worthy version, it will launch from the Space Coast."We'll need many of the same kinds of people, experiences, facilities that the shuttle needed," said Mark Sirangelo, of Sierra Nevada.The company wants to build a small fleet of mini-shuttles, employing several hundred former shuttle workers and making a small dent in the 8,000 laid off when NASA's shuttle was retired.At a kickoff event on Friday, state and local officials, including the lieutenant governor, promised to help make it happen."My personal hope is that we will be able to close an incentive package," said Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll.The Air Force has launched two unmanned mini-shuttles. One of them is in space right now on a secret mission.The Sierra Nevada version would carry seven astronauts and launch on top of an Atlas rocket, like the Air Force version. It could take private researchers into space and could fix or move satellites. But its main job would be to work for NASA, hauling astronauts to the space station for slightly less than the $65 million a seat we pay the Russians."We believe that the U.S. should fly U.S. astronauts on a U.S. vehicle built here, and we believe we want to take the 'Help Wanted' signs out of Russia and move them back to Florida," Sirangelo said.American taxpayers are investing $140 million in Sierra Nevada's mini-shuttle, part of initiative to turn over low-earth orbit spaceflight to the private sector.

Read more: http://www.wesh.com/news/31011626/de...#ixzz1twelgq4F

[Doz]

Space Oddity by Chris Hadfield

[Doz]

http://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/

Space Shuttle Atlantis Exhibit June 29th 2013 is OPEN to the Public




Here is a beautiful video of the Shuttle Atlantis Exhibit




Media Preview of Space Shuttle Atlantis at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex 6-25-13