Pad workers have begun to evaluate what is being described as substantial heat damage to Pad 39B, following the launch of Ares I-X. Meanwhile, the damage to Ares I-X’s First Stage was the result of splashing down at high speed and at an angle, due to only “one and a half” of its three main [...]
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Arianespace have launched their six mission of the year via the latest flight of the Ariane 5 ECA launch vehicle. The workhorse is carrying the NSS 12 and THOR-6 telecommunication satellites into orbit from the European Spaceport in in French Guiana. Lift-off was on schedule at the start of a 100 minute launch window that opened at [...]
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Managers at the STS-129 Agency Flight Readiness Review (FRR) have been discussing an issue relating to an attach point between the aft Reaction Control System and OMS Pod, which may be around 20 flights beyond their predicted fatigue lifespan. Due to potential structural integrity problems via localized acoustics during Main Engine Ignition a forward plan [...]
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Ares I-X has launched on the second attempt at 11:30am Eastern, and although the First Stage and the Upper Stage Simulator (USS) appeared to recontact after separation (later confirmed that no recontact took place) - managers are claiming the flight to be a success. Sources also claim one of the FS’ parachutes failed, with the booster splashing down with two working [...]
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Ares I-X has seen its opening launch attempt scrubbed, following unacceptable weather conditions over the Pad. A few small gaps in the weather failed to coincide with the continuously realigned T-0s, which was also interrupted by a cargo ship entering the Eastern Range.
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Last week’s Space Shuttle Program (SSP) Flight Readiness Review (FRR) has approved the installation of a special minicam pointing out of window 4 on Atlantis’ flight deck. The camera will film the forward portion of the External Tank (ET) during flight, in order to capture the behavior of the LO2 Ice Frost Ramps (IFRs) during [...]
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Space Shuttle Program (SSP) manager John Shannon expects STS-129 to enjoy a three day launch window, as Atlantis finds some elbow room between two satellite launches from the Cape. Meanwhile, as Endeavour receives her three Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSMEs) ahead of the 2010-opening STS-130 flight, her External Tank (ET-134) has arrived at the Kennedy [...]
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The first – and possibly the last – Ares rocket is set to launch on October 27, following clearance by the Agency Flight Test Readiness Review (FTRR) on Friday. Ares I-X will launch on a two and a half minute powered flight at 8am local time next Tuesday, pending acceptable weather conditions. Engineers will also be tested [...]
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As engineers continue to prepare Shuttle Atlantis for her NET (No Earlier Than) November 16 launch, negotiations to secure a longer launch window for STS-129 (the launch window is currently one day long) are underway between NASA and the Department of Defense. Meanwhile, the SSP Flight Readiness Reviews (FRRs) has concluded with a recommendation to [...]
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NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden has asked for a “Special Team” at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) to evaluate the Heavy Lift alternatives – including DIRECT’s Jupiter launch vehicle – as a “top priority”. The team has been asked to create a report on their findings in time for Thanksgiving, in an apparent reaction to [...]
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A floodlit Ares I-X departed the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) in the early hours of Tuesday, ahead of test launch of a new system that is under real threat of being cancelled in the coming months. However, Ares I-X – set to launch on October 27 from the slightly modified Pad 39B – is still [...]
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Atlantis has been reduced to just one launch attempt – on November 16 – after STS-129 lost the battle for the Eastern Range to two satellite launches from Cape Canaveral. A second launch attempt on November 17 is being negotiated, prior to standing down for a Delta IV launch. The previous opening launch attempt on [...]
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After nearly 52 years of venerable service to the United States and the world’s space endeavors, the veteran Atlas rocket vehicle has embarked on its 600th mission Sunday, launching the USAF Defense Meteorological Satellite Program F18 (DMSP F18) satellite from Vandenberg AFB on the newest member of the Atlas rocket family: the Atlas V.
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Atlantis is enjoying a relatively smooth pad flow, with only three issues being worked, as engineers prepare the shuttle for the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT) next week. Flight rationale has also been produced for Atlantis’ SSMEs (Space Shuttle Main Engines), following small leaks on both Endeavour and Discovery engine nozzles during the previous two [...]
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Engineers have replaced the faulty GN2 accumulator on Ares I-X’s Thrust Vector Control (TVC), ahead of rollout to Pad 39B, currently set to take place on Tuesday or Wednesday morning – pending successful retests on the replaced hardware over the weekend. Meanwhile, documentation has outlined the extensive - and ongoing - work that has been undertaken to [...]
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From an official standpoint, STS-129 is continuing to target a November 12, though Shuttle manager John Shannon noted on Thursday that Atlantis will likely aim for a window between November 17-19 – due to an Eastern Range conflict with an Atlas V launch. Meanwhile, engineers are evaluating the shuttle and pad’s electrical systems, following “multiple [...]
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The STS-129 stack has completed rollout from the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) to Pad 39A Wednesday, ahead of the Flight Readiness Review (FRR) season – which begins with the MOD FRR on Thursday – that will clear the vehicle to launch on November 12. The STS-128 In Flight Anomaly (IFA) review will make up a [...]
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Shuttle managers have begun evaluations into STS-335, the LON (Launch On Need) mission in support of STS-133 – currently the final flight on the shuttle manifest. The rescue flight would carry a MPLM (Multi-Purpose Logistics Module) to replenish the Station for hosting the STS-133 crew for up to several months. Meanwhile, managers are also favoring [...]
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International Space Station Expedition 20 Commander Gennady Padalka, Flight Engineer Michael Barratt and spaceflight participant Guy Laliberte have landed safely in their Soyuz TMA-14 on the steppes of Kazakhstan Sunday morning. The trio left the ISS just a few hours prior to landing, leaving a Station that is now busily working through its Expedition 21 [...]
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Following the multiple Intertank foam debris liberations from Endeavour’s STS-127 External Tank (ET-131) in July, engineers at the Kennedy Space Center and the Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) in Louisiana undertook an ambitious campaign of Non Destructive Evaluations and Pull Tests on downrange tanks to ensure that these kinds of liberations would not occur again. Those [...]
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