OrbitalHub

 


 

NASA dixit:

“Orbital Sciences Corporation’s Antares rocket and Cygnus cargo craft launched from Wallops Flight Facility on the Orbital-2 mission — the company’s second operational resupply mission to the International Space Station, under its Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA. The Cygnus spacecraft, which is carrying almost 3,300 pounds of supplies — including a host of experiments, is targeted to rendezvous with the ISS on July 16.”

Credit: NASA/Orbital Sciences

NASA dixit:

“NASA’s first spacecraft dedicated to studying carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere was successfully launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. OCO-2 will be collecting a great number of high-resolution measurements, which will provide a greater spatial distribution of CO2 over the entire globe, in short, a bigger, clearer, more complete picture of global CO2. These measurements will be combined with data from the ground-based network to provide scientists with the information that they need to better understand the processes that regulate atmospheric CO2 and its role in the carbon cycle.”

Credit: NASA

 

NASA dixit:

“[…] the four spacecraft fly in a tetrahedron formation. This complex arrangement enables scientists to gather data about magnetic reconnection in 3D.

On its journey, MMS will observe a little-understood, but universal phenomenon called magnetic reconnection, responsible for dramatic re-shaping of the magnetic environment near Earth, often sending intense amounts of energy and fast-moving particles off in a new direction. Not only is this a fundamental physical process that occurs throughout the universe, it is also one of the drivers of space weather events at Earth. Truly understanding the process requires four identical spacecraft to track how such reconnection events move across and through any given space.”

Credit: NASA

Read more about the MMS mission…

SpaceX dixit:

“Video of Falcon 9 Reusable (F9R) during a 1000m test flight at our rocket development facility in McGregor, TX. This flight was our first test of a set of steerable fins that provide control of the rocket during the fly back portion of return. The fins deploy approximately a minute and 15 seconds into the flight, and return to their original position just prior to landing. The F9R testing program is the next step towards reusability following completion of the Grasshopper program last year. Early flights of F9R will take off with legs fixed in the down position, however we will soon transition to liftoff with legs stowed against the side of the rocket with leg extension just before landing. Future test flights of F9R at our New Mexico facility will include higher altitudes, allow us to prove unpowered guidance and to prove out landing cases that are more flight-like.”

Credit: SpaceX

 

SpaceX dixit:

“SpaceX has completed qualification testing for the SuperDraco thruster, an engine that will power the Dragon spacecraft’s launch escape system and enable the vehicle to land propulsively on Earth or another planet with pinpoint accuracy.

The SuperDraco is an advanced version of the Draco engines currently used by SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft to maneuver in orbit and during re-entry. SuperDracos will be used on the crew version of the Dragon spacecraft as part of the vehicle’s launch escape system; they will also enable propulsive landing on land. Each SuperDraco produces 16,000 pounds of thrust and can be restarted multiple times if necessary. In addition, the engines have the ability to deep throttle, providing astronauts with precise control and enormous power.

The qualification testing program took place over the last month at SpaceX’s Rocket Development Facility in McGregor, Texas. The program included testing across a variety of conditions including multiple starts, extended firing durations and extreme off-nominal propellant flow and temperatures.”

Credit: SpaceX

NASA dixit:

“A month after delivering more than 2.5 tons of supplies and experiments to the International Space Station, the SpaceX Dragon cargo craft departed the orbital outpost May 18 and headed for a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Pacific Ocean near Baja, California. Dragon’s departure marked the end of the third commercial resupply flight for SpaceX to the station.”

Credit: NASA