OrbitalHub

March 22, 2009

Taurus Launch Vehicle

Posted by dj

Taurus is a four-stage, inertially guided, all solid fuel, ground launched vehicle, designed and built by Orbital Sciences Corporation. In a typical mission, Taurus can inject a 1,350 kg payload in low Earth orbit (LEO).

Taurus is well suited for LEO missions to a wide range of altitudes. Different orbital profiles can be attained through launches from more than one launch site. An additional fifth stage can boost the performance of the launch vehicle, making possible high energy and geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) missions.

The Constellation Program

Posted by dj

Constellation Program is NASA’s new generation space transportation system. It is designed to cover a wide range of space missions, such as delivering supplies and human crews to the International Space Station (ISS) and traveling beyond low Earth orbit (LEO). The goal of the program is to establish a permanent human presence on the Moon and then go to Mars and other destinations.

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March 17, 2009

GOCE Launch

Posted by dj

This afternoon, the Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) satellite, developed by the European Space Agency (ESA), was injected into a near-Sun-synchronous, low Earth orbit. The launch was provided by Eurokot. A Rockot launch vehicle lifted off from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in northern Russia.

STS-119 Space Shuttle Discovery Launch

Posted by dj

The crew members of the STS-119 mission are Air Force Col. Lee Archambault as commander, Navy Cmdr. Tony Antonelli as the pilot, and NASA astronauts Joseph Acaba, John Phillips, Steve Swanson, Richard Arnold and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata as mission specialists.

STS-119 is the 28th shuttle mission to the International Space Station. Discovery also will carry the S6 truss segment to the orbital outpost.

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March 12, 2009

GOCE Ready For Launch

Posted by dj

Credits: ESA – S. Corvaja

ESA is about to launch a satellite capable of measuring very small variations in the Earth’s gravitational field. Determining the variations in the Earth’s gravitational field will improve our knowledge of ocean circulation, and will also help to make advances in geodesy and surveying.

The satellite is called Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE). GOCE is the most advanced gravity space mission to date. Scientists will build a detailed map of Earth’s gravity using data collected by GOCE.

Remember Phoenix

Posted by dj

In 2002, an instrument on the Mars Odyssey spacecraft detected hydrogen under the Martian surface. This was regarded as clear evidence that there is subsurface water ice on Mars.

In 2003, NASA decided to revive a mission that was cancelled in 2001 due to the fact that a previous mission, the Mars Polar Lander, was lost in 1999. The revived mission was named Phoenix.