OrbitalHub

NASA dixit:

“The SpaceX CRS-7 Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station carrying a Dragon spacecraft on the seventh commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station. Liftoff was at 10:21 a.m. EST. After liftoff, an anomaly occurred.”

SpaceX:

“Following a nominal liftoff, Falcon 9 experienced a problem shortly before first stage shutdown, resulting in loss of mission. Preliminary analysis suggests the vehicle experienced an overpressure event in the upper stage liquid oxygen tank approximately 139 seconds into flight. Telemetry indicates first stage flight was nominal and that Dragon remained healthy for some period of time following separation. Our teams are reviewing data to determine root cause and we will be able to provide more information following a thorough fault tree analysis.”

NASA Administrator Statement on the Loss of SpaceX CRS-7

“We are disappointed in the loss of the latest SpaceX cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station. However, the astronauts are safe aboard the station and have sufficient supplies for the next several months. We will work closely with SpaceX to understand what happened, fix the problem and return to flight. The commercial cargo program was designed to accommodate loss of cargo vehicles. We will continue operation of the station in a safe and effective way as we continue to use it as our test bed for preparing for longer duration missions farther into the solar system.

A Progress vehicle is ready to launch July 3, followed in August by a Japanese HTV flight. Orbital ATK, our other commercial cargo partner, is moving ahead with plans for its next launch later this year.

SpaceX has demonstrated extraordinary capabilities in its first six cargo resupply missions to the station, and we know they can replicate that success. We will work with and support SpaceX to assess what happened, understand the specifics of the failure and correct it to move forward. This is a reminder that spaceflight is an incredible challenge, but we learn from each success and each setback. Today\’s launch attempt will not deter us from our ambitious human spaceflight program.”

Video credits: NASA

 

NASA dixit:

“At 6:20 a.m. June 11, NASA’s Terry Virts and Flight Engineers Samantha Cristoforetti of ESA (European Space Agency) and Anton Shkaplerov of Roscosmos undocked their Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft from the International Space Station to return back to Earth and land in Kazakhstan at 9:43 a.m. (7:43 p.m. Kazakh time). Their return wraps up 199 days in space, during which they traveled more than 84 million miles since their launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Nov. 24. Their return date was delayed four weeks to allow Roscosmos to investigate the cause of the loss of the un-piloted Progress 59 cargo ship in late April.”

Credit: NASA/Roscosmos

 


 

NASA dixit:

“Russian flight controllers are continuing to troubleshoot issues with the ISS Progress 59 cargo craft that was launched at 3:09 a.m. EDT (1:09 p.m.local time in Baikonur) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The spacecraft made another pass over Russian ground stations and continued to experience telemetry problems regarding the deployment of navigational antennas and the pressurization of the manifolds in the propulsion system. Flight controllers also confirmed that the vehicle had entered into a slow spin and have issued commands to attempt to control it.”

Credit: NASA/Roscosmos

SpaceX dixit:

“After six successful missions to the International Space Station, including five official resupply missions for NASA, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft are set to liftoff from Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, for their sixth official Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) mission to the orbiting lab. Liftoff is targeted for Monday April 13, 2015, at 4:33pm EDT. If all goes as planned, Dragon will arrive at the station approximately two days after liftoff. Dragon is expected to return to Earth approximately five weeks later for a parachute-assisted splashdown off the coast of southern California. Dragon is the only operational spacecraft capable of returning a significant amount of supplies back to Earth, including experiments.”

Credits: SpaceX

 


 

NASA dixit:

“After launching earlier in the day in their Soyuz TMA-16M spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Expedition 43 Flight Engineer Scott Kelly of NASA, Soyuz Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Mikhail Kornienko of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) docked at the International Space Station on March 27 U.S. time (March 28 Kazakh time) following a four-orbit, six-hour rendezvous.”

Credit: NASA / Roscosmos

 


 

NASA dixit:

“Outside the International Space Station, Expedition 42 Commander Barry Wilmore and Flight Engineer Terry Virts of NASA conducted a spacewalk Feb. 21 to begin rigging cables and other equipment as the precursor to the installation of new docking ports to which U.S. commercial crew vehicles will link up to in the years ahead. The docking ports, called International Docking Adapters, will be delivered to the station later this year on SpaceX Dragon cargo vehicles for attachment to Pressurized Mating Adapters 2 and 3. The spacewalk was the 185th in support of space station assembly and maintenance, the second in Wilmore’s career and the first for Virts.”

“Working outside the International Space Station for the second time in four days, Expedition 42 Commander Barry Wilmore and Flight Engineer Terry Virts of NASA […] completed the deployment of the final cables to provide power and data for the new docking adapters that will begin arriving at the station later this year.”

“Outside the International Space Station, Expedition 42 Commander Barry Wilmore and Flight Engineer Terry Virts of NASA conducted their third spacewalk […] to install antennas and communications gear that will be used to provide rendezvous and navigational information to visiting vehicles approaching the complex in the future, including the new U.S. commercial crew vehicles. Wilmore and Virts installed about 400 feet of cable along the truss of the station as part of the new Common Communications for Visiting Vehicles (C2V2) system.”

Credit: NASA