OrbitalHub

NASA dixit:

“Carrying more than 3,000 pounds of food, supplies, spare parts and experiments, Orbital Sciences Corporation’s Cygnus cargo ship arrived at the International Space Station July 16, where it was grappled by Expedition 40 Commander Steve Swanson backed up by European Space Agency Flight Engineer Alexander Gerst. The pair operated the Canadarm2 robotic arm from the station’s cupola to snag Cygnus before robotic ground controllers admission control in Houston initiated its installation onto the Earth-facing port of the Harmony module where it would be bolted in place for a month-long stay. Cygnus was launched July 13 atop Orbital’s Antares rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s Launch Pad 0A at Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia for the second contracted commercial resupply flight for the U.S. firm.”

Credit: NASA

 

NASA dixit:

“NASA marks the 45th anniversary of the first moon landing this month while it takes the steps needed for America’s next giant leap to send astronauts to Mars. Mission Video shown is as aired in July 1969 depicting the Apollo 11 astronauts conducting several tasks during extravehicular activity (EVA) operations on the surface of the moon as well as pre-lauch preparations and post launch activities and celebrations.”

Credit: NASA

 


 

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