Progress M-14M launch:

Progress M-14M/46P was the first launch to the ISS in 2012, following its Wednesday, 11:06 PM GMT launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

For this year, ISS managers are hoping will see better successes for Russian rockets than 2011 did. Progress M-14M was only the second Progress to launch to the ISS since the failure of Progress M-12M/44P last August.

While one successful Progress and two successful Soyuz spacecraft have launched to the ISS since that failure, the 23rd December failure of the Meridian satellite atop a Soyuz 2-1b booster raised further questions about quality control of Soyuz rockets, as much as the Soyuz 2-1b uses an RD-0124 third stage engine, while the Soyuz-U to be used on the launch uses the older RD-0110 on its third stage.

Both engines are believed to have been the cause of the failure of their respective boosters to reach orbit last year.

Progress M-14M kicks off the year of logistics resupplies to the ISS by delivering its standard load of propellants, oxygen, spare parts, experiments, water, food, clothing, and other crew provisions to the orbiting Expedition 30 crew.

This year is set to be a very challenging year for ISS logistics, due to the aforementioned problems with Russian rockets, last year’s retirement of the Space Shuttle, and the need to demonstrate and bring online a commercial resupply capability for the station, the schedules for which continue to slip to the right.

Following launch at 11:06 PM GMT and a two-day free-flight, Progress M-14M dock to the ISS at the recently vacated Docking Compartment-1 (DC-1) “Pirs” Nadir port on Saturday 28th January at 12:09 AM GMT (Friday 27th US time).

Progress M-14M will remain docked to the ISS for around three months until 24th April, whereupon it will undock to make way for Progress M-15M/47P, set to launch the following day on 25th April.

Progress M-16M/48P, Progress M-17M/49P and Progress M-18M/50P are also set to launch to the ISS this year on 25th July, 23rd October and 26th December, respectively, for a total of five Progress launches in 2012. The next vehicle to launch and dock to the ISS after Progress M-14M however will be Europe’s Automated Transfer Vehicle-3 (ATV-3), currently set for launch on 9th March for a docking ten days later on 19th March.

Progress M-13M satellite deploy and de-orbit:

In order to clear the way for Progress M-14M to dock to the ISS at the DC-1 port on Friday, Progress M-13M/45P was undocked from DC-1 on Monday, having been docked there since 2nd November following its 30th October launch atop the first Soyuz booster since the August failure.

Following undocking and two separation burns, instead of de-orbiting into the Pacific Ocean, Progress M-13M instead performed another two burns to raise its orbital height from the roughly 400km mean altitude of the ISS up to 500km.

This was done in order to facilitate the deployment of the Chibis-M microsatellite from Progress M-13M. Chibis-M is a free-flying small Russian satellite which is designed to study lightning and plasma in Earth’s atmosphere for 3.5 years.

Eventually, Chibis-M will succumb to atmospheric resistance and resulting altitude decay, and re-enter Earth’s atmosphere. The deployment at 500km as opposed to 400km will buy Chibis-M some extra time on-orbit due to the lesser atmospheric resistance at that altitude, however the specific re-entry period will depend on Solar activity, which can “swell” Earth’s atmosphere in active periods.

While designed to operate for 3.5 years, the expected on-orbit lifetime of Chibis-M is anywhere from 4 to 11 years, depending on Solar activity, which is likely to increase in coming years due to the Solar Maximum.

The earliest that Chibis-M could reach the ISS’ altitude of approximately 400km is three years after deployment, which would be January 2015. This date, however, depends on Solar activity. The risks associated with having Chibis-M “drop” onto the ISS’ orbit have been analysed by both Russian and US trajectory experts.

Once Progress M-13M trash loading operations were completed, the crew of the ISS prepared Chibis-M, which launched aboard Progress M-13M inside its pressurised cargo compartment, for deployment. Chibis-M still resided inside the cargo compartment of Progress M-13M when it undocked, but it was mounted in alignment with the open hatchway of the compartment so that it could be deployed via springs through the open hatchway leading to space.

Due to the need for an open hatch of the Progress M-13M cargo compartment during and following undocking, after mounting of Chibis-M in the correct location and closure of the hatch on the ISS side, the Progress M-13M cargo compartment was depressurised to vacuum by the ISS crew, an unusual procedure which meant that all trash to be disposed of in the compartment needed to be certified for vacuum.

One orbit after deploying Chibis-M, Progress M-13M performed a de-orbit burn for a re-entry and splashdown over the Pacific Ocean, completing its successful mission.

(Images via Roscosmos and NASA)

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Following an official green light from NASA managers, the approved the combination of the Dragon C2/C3 (D2/D3) Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) missions was set to launch from Cape Canaveral on February 7 – as much as the potential for a further slip was referenced during the launch date announcement.

Dragon will only arrive at the ISS if all of the requirements under the initial C2 demo objectives receive the joint approval from SpaceX controllers and NASA controllers – the latter located at the Mission Control Center (MCC) in Houston. Any major problems during the C2 flight phase will end the mission.

The first commercial spacecraft to attempt a docking at the ISS will also conduct a series of check-out procedures that will test and prove its systems in advance of the rendezvous with the station.

The primary objectives for the flight include a fly-by of the space station at a distance of approximately two miles to validate the operation of sensors and flight systems necessary for a safe rendezvous and approach.

The spacecraft also will demonstrate the capability to abort the rendezvous, if required. Crewmembers on the ISS will also have a level of manual control via the COTS UHF Communication Unit (CUCU), which includes orders to abort the approach.

All three crewmembers on the ISS have previously been hands-on the hardware associated with the CUCU during a visit to SpaceX back in September. Dragon also requires two trained crewmembers to berth it, with Dan Burbank and recent arrival Don Pettit tasked with the docking.

Dragon will perform the final approach to the ISS ahead of the station crew grappling the vehicle with the Station’s robotic arm.

The capsule will be berthed – by the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) to the Earth-facing side of the Harmony node.

At the end of the mission, the crew will reverse the process, detaching Dragon from the station for its return to Earth and splashdown in the Pacific off the coast of California.

If the rendezvous and attachment to the station are not successful, SpaceX will complete a third demonstration flight in order to achieve these objectives as originally planned.

Next up in preparation for the launch was the Wet Dress Rehearsal (WDR) for the Falcon 9 at Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral, which was expected to take place last week, or early this week. However, that has been postponed, along with the launch date.

The specific reason for the delay has not been revealed, as much as the slip is is expected to be only a matter of weeks.

It is not known if the due diligence checks are related to the launch vehicle. However, the mission profile had passed through the ISS Post Qual Review board before Christmas, allowing SpaceX to enter the final steps toward launch.

“In preparation for the upcoming launch, SpaceX continues to conduct extensive testing and analysis. We believe that there are a few areas that will benefit from additional work and will optimize the safety and success of this mission,” noted SpaceX in a press release on Monday.

“We are now working with NASA to establish a new target launch date, but note that we will continue to test and review data. We will launch when the vehicle is ready.”

Click here for other Dragon News Articles: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/tag/dragon/

The comment about launching only when the vehicle is ready is an absolute standard throughout the launch industry, yet the language of the SpaceX release matches the recent heritage of NASA managers tasked with providing a green light for a Space Shuttle launch.

The post-RTF era for the Shuttle earned a large amount of respect for NASA, as Flight Readiness Reviews (FRRs – L2 Link to Presentations) and Mission Management Team (MMT – L2 Link to Presentations) meetings often slipped a launch or delayed the target date late into the flow, avoiding the obvious strain of “schedule pressure” – something which can cause a negative outcome.

One such example of only launching when the vehicle is ready from the Shuttle era was seen ahead of STS-133, via deputy Space Shuttle Program (SSP) manager LeRoy Cain, when he made an internal address to his teams relating to the cracked stringer troubleshooting and mitigation on ET-137. (L2 Link to Presentations).

“If there is a way to make that launch period at the end of all of our work, where we have a very thoughtful and complete assessment of where we think we are as it relates to the risk associated with these anomalies, and we can do something within this launch period, then we will,” noted Mr Cain in November, 2010.

“If we can’t – then we won’t, and we are not going to do anything until we are ready to go fly safely.”

This alignment from a relatively new commercial company to the due diligence of seasoned shuttle managers should impress, as much as SpaceX are clearly fully aware of what they class as a sense of responsibility.

That responsibility is not only to re-establish the domestic cargo supply line to the orbital outpost for the first time since STS-135, but also to lay the foundations of the ultimate Low Earth Orbit goal of transporting US astronauts back to the ISS via an American launch vehicle and spacecraft.

“After the last Shuttle flight we were struck with an enormous sense of responsibility,” noted SpaceX communications director Kirstin Brost Grantham to NASASpaceFlight.com. 

“For 30 years the Space Shuttle provided our country’s only means of carrying astronauts to low-Earth orbit. We are determined to get that capability for our country back just as soon as possible.”

SpaceX are currently part of the CCDev2 (NASA’s Commercial Crew Development) process, which is aiming to re-establish domestic crew transport to the ISS by 2015-2017.

(Images via SpaceX, NASA and L2).

Please note: Clickable links with (L2) references point directly to cited L2 content. Such content is only available to L2 members (please ensure you are logged in). All other clickable links point to NSF articles and open content.

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The first upgrades needed to support the Dragon spacecraft, scheduled to visit the station for the first time on the combined COTS-2/3 (C2/C3) mission in February, were to the COTS UHF Communication Unit (CUCU) and its associated Crew Command Panel (CCP).

The CUCU, delivered to the ISS on STS-129 in November 2009, is an avionics box that plugs into the ISS in order to allow communication between the station, through its antennas, and the SpaceX Dragon, by converting and relaying signals between the two spacecraft.

The CCP allows the ISS crew to interact with Dragon, by issuing commands to Dragon via the CUCU in response to crew inputs to the panel, such as rendezvous abort, Dragon strobe light on/off, and other commands.

Having been aboard the ISS for over two years, during which time the Dragon spacecraft software has changed from its original version, both the CUCU and CCP needed software updates in order to support Dragon’s inaugural arrival at the station in February.

Beginning in late November 2011, a new software version, called R3.2, was loaded into the CUCU. The updates were to the Remote Input/Output (RIO) control modules, the radio, and the 1553 card on both of the CUCU’s two redundant strings of electronics, called 1a and 1b.

Following the CUCU update, a remote checkout of the CUCU was performed, with tests involving performing transmit and receive tests between Earth and both of the CUCU’s redundant strings. Only a minor command line issue was discovered, which was resolved after cycling the circuit breaker for the RIO-A, which verified CUCU command capability.

The subsequent CCP update, which was firmware of version R3.2 for both of the two CCPs aboard the ISS – Primary and Backup – was originally scheduled to be performed soon after the CUCU update, however was delayed due to issues with test communication links between the ISS and NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC) in California.

The firmware upgrade was eventually performed on 4th January 2012, which was followed by successful testing by SpaceX Mission Control (MCC-X) in Hawthorne, California. As such, both the CUCU and the CCP are now ready to support the Dragon flight in February.

MDM upgrade:

The next ISS upgrade in support of Dragon’s visit was to the station’s Multiplexer/Demultiplexer (MDM) computers. MDMs are part of the ISS Command & Data Handling (CDH) system that controls all aspects of the ISS and its sub-systems.

As their name implies, MDMs perform multiplexing and demultiplexing functions, which essentially means that they send and receive multiple signals and data streams between the ground and the ISS, or ISS laptops and ISS systems, or ISS systems and other systems.

This essentially allows all the ISS systems to talk to each other and be commanded by both the ground and the ISS crew. While it’s commonly referred to that the ISS crew use laptops to control the station, in fact the laptops control the MDMs, which in turn control the station.

The MDMs consist of processor cards which allow them to perform their various functions, and it is one type of these cards which were the subject of the upgrades. Specifically, the new cards were called Enhanced Processor & Integrated Communications (EPIC) cards, which feature faster processors, increased memory, and an Ethernet port for data output.

The EPIC upgrades are needed to support the new commercial resupply vehicles, since the cards control communications between the ISS and Visiting Vehicles (VVs), the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS), which is used to capture VVs, and Common Berthing Mechanism (CBM) ports, to which VVs berth.

Additionally, the EPIC upgrades will allow the ISS to support the operation of more experiments at any given time, thus increasing station utilisation in the post-Shuttle era. Under non-EPIC cards the ISS could support 12 simultaneous experiments, bit with the new EPIC cards the ISS is able to support over 25 simultaneous experiments.

The EPIC cards also updated the station’s software, since the cards were pre-loaded with new versions of software to replace the station’s old version of X2_R9. Specifically, six EPIC cards launched aboard Progress M-11M/43P in October were loaded with CCS R10 and GNC R9 software, and four cards delivered aboard Soyuz TMA-03M/29S in December were loaded with CCS R10 and PEP R10 software.

Overall, the EPIC card transition updated the ISS software from X2_R9 to X2_R10, which is essentially the same as the previous version, but upgraded to run on the faster EPIC card – no new functionality will be added.

Click here for ISS Articles: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/tag/iss/

EPIC transition:

The EPIC transition was originally scheduled to occur in August 2011, but was delayed when problems were discovered with several EPIC cards, which L2 information shows was that “some of the cards are more susceptible to noise than the others which could result in a power supply shut down”. As a result, additional testing was needed.

At the same time, the launch failure of the Progress M-12M/44P spacecraft on 24th August and subsequent knock-on effect of reduced ISS crew, which meant that less time was available for EPIC transition work due to research commitments, pushed the EPIC transition into late December/early January.

In total, five MDMs were upgraded – three Command & Control (C&C) MDMs, and two Guidance, Navigation & Control (GNC) MDMs. The EPIC upgrades were performed in such an order as to allow for certain MDMs to be transitioned to EPIC cards while others remained on non-EPIC cards for a few days, in order to allow for full testing and problem resolution before transitioning all five MDMs to EPIC cards.

The transition was a two-man job, with US astronaut Don Pettit performing full tests of the EPIC cards to verify their functionality, prior to handing them to ISS Commander Dan Burbank for installation into the MDMs, located within the Avionics racks in the US Destiny laboratory.

The complex operations began on 28th December, with the old non-EPIC card being removed from the C&C-1 MDM and replaced with the new EPIC card, thus transitioning C&C-1 to EPIC. Following verification of correct operation, the 29th December saw the C&C-2 MDM transitioned to EPIC using the same process.

On the 30th December, the upgraded C&C-1 EPIC MDM was switched to Primary C&C MDM, and the C&C-2 EPIC MDM became Backup C&C MDM. The only remaining non-EPIC C&C MDM, C&C-3, was put into Standby mode, available as a “back-out” option should problems have arisen in the new EPIC Primary & Backup C&C MDMs.

Next, on 3rd January, an EPIC card was installed in the GNC-2 MDM, following which it was transitioned to Primary GNC MDM, while the non-EPIC GNC-1 MDM became Backup. Finally, on 5th January, after two “dwell days” to iron out any issues, the last of the three C&C MDMs, C&C-3, was transitioned to EPIC, as was the last of the two GNC MDMs, GNC-1.

An EPIC software patch for the station’s Portable Computer System (PCS) laptops was then uploaded, marking the successful completion of the transition of the three C&C and two GNC MDMs to EPIC cards, and the updating of ISS software from X2_R9 to X2_R10.

Future hardware & software upgrades:

Although, as detailed above, the EPIC cards will enable support for commercial cargo vehicles and additional payloads, the actual support will come from additional hardware and software upgrades over the coming weeks.

In order to be able to support the commercial cargo vehicles, the ISS must yet undergo another software upgrade, this time from its current X2_R10 to the new X2_R11, which will, amongst other things, update the ISS Mobile Servicing System (MSS) software to version 7.1, which will give the SSRMS software the updates required to support robotics activities associated with commercial cargo vehicles.

Source information shows that the X2_R11 transition will occur in two parts, the first part from 15th to 17th January, and the second part from 29th January to 1st February, a schedule which should give the ISS the software required to support the inaugural Dragon visit six days prior its currently planned launch on 7th February.

Although not a requirement for support of commercial cargo vehicles, a further hardware and software upgrade will be needed in order to allow the ISS to support additional payloads. This will consist of upgrading two payload MDMs with EPIC cards, and then performing another ISS software update, called X2_PEP_R10.

Click here for Dragon Articles: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/tag/dragon/

This upgrade, which also includes a software update for the Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM), will add Ethernet support for the C&C and Payload MDMs, which will provide a faster path for data being downlinked from the ISS to Earth. Source information shows that this transition will occur No Earlier Than (NET) February.

(Images: NASA, SpaceX, L2)

(NSF and L2 are providing full transition level coverage, available no where else on the internet, from Orion and SLS to ISS and COTS/CRS/CCDEV, to European and Russian vehicles).

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ISS cargo deliveries:

The year 2011 was a highly successful year in terms of cargo flights to the ISS, with January’s launch of Japan’s H-II Transfer Vehicle-2 (HTV-2), February’s launch of Europe’s Automated Transfer Vehicle-2 (ATV-2), and the successful launches of Space Shuttle missions STS-133, STS-134 and STS-135, as well as numerous Russian Progress flights.

The delivery and installation of the Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM) to the ISS on STS-133 in February increased the amount of stowage space available on the station for cargo, which paved the way for STS-135 to deliver a massive stockpile of crew provisions to the station on the final Shuttle mission in July.

The stockpile of crew provisions from STS-135 will enable the station to make it to mid-2012 without any additional deliveries of cargo, and make it to 2013 when supplemented with deliveries of cargo from Europe’s ATV and Japan’s HTV. Thus, successful commercial and non-commercial resupply flights to the ISS are essential in order to maintain a crewed presence on the station throughout 2012.

The late-addition of STS-135 to the Shuttle’s manifest in order to shore up ISS’ supplies is already being seen as an excellent decision, given the delays of commercial resupply flights to the ISS and recent failures of Russian rockets.

Non-commercial cargo vehicles:

This year’s non-commercial cargo vehicle flights to the ISS will see two large deliveries made to the station by both Europe and Japan.

Europe’s ATV-3 spacecraft, named “Edoardo Amaldi”, is currently set to launch to the ISS atop an Ariane V rocket from the Kourou space center in French Guiana, on 9th March, and arrive at the ISS for a docking to the Service Module (AM) Aft port ten days later on 19th March. It is scheduled to undock from the ISS on 27th August.

ATV-3 will carry more “dry” cargo (i.e. internal items) than ATV-2 carried to the station in 2011, due to numerous internal structural modifications that have been made that will allow ATV to carry additional internal payload.

This will mean that less “wet” cargo (i.e. propellants) will be carried by ATV-3, however this will not be of big impact to the ISS since ATV-2 performed four “big boosts” of the ISS in 2011 that boosted the station’s altitude to a mean of around 400km, meaning less reboosts will be needed in future, and thus less requirements for propellants. (L2 Link)

The next large non-commercial delivery of ISS cargo will be via Japan’s HTV-3 spacecraft, currently scheduled to launch on 26th June atop an H-IIB rocket from the Tanegashima space center in Japan, arriving at the ISS five days later for a 1st July rendezvous, capture and berthing.

HTV-3 will depart the ISS on 15th August. The HTV-3 mission was originally scheduled for the first quarter of 2012, but was pushed back to mid-2012 due to delays in hardware processing caused by the Japanese earthquake in 2011.

In additional to bringing a large volume of internal cargo to the station, HTV-3 will also carry two external payloads for the ISS – the Space Communication and Navigation (SCaN) testbed, which will be attached to ExPrESS Logistics Carrier-3 (ELC-3), and the Multi-mission Consolidated Equipment (MCE), a payload for the Japanese Exposed Facility (JEF). (L2 Link)

Five Russian Progress flights to the station are also planned in 2012 – Progress M-14M on 25th January, M-15M on 25th April, M-16M on 25th July, M-17M on 23rd October, and M-18M on 26th December. (L2 Link)

Progress flights, however, will be of particular interest to the ISS Program over the course of 2012 due to the multiple failures of Russian launch vehicles in 2011, including two third stages of Soyuz rockets – a Soyuz-U with Progress M-12M/44P on 24th August, and a Soyuz 2-1b with the Meridian satellite on 23rd December.

However, the Progress M-12M third stage failure was attributed to a problem in the RD-0110 engine, while the third stage failure of Meridian used a newer RD-0124 engine.

If any further Soyuz rockets fail in 2012, it will not only have implications for Progress cargo flights, but also Soyuz crewed flights, which could lead to a de-crewing of the station since the ISS partners now depend on the Soyuz for crewed access to the station.

As such, successful launches of both Progress and Soyuz spacecraft are vital for a continued crewed presence on the ISS throughout 2012.

Commercial cargo vehicles:

This year will also mark the first of two long-awaited commercial cargo vehicles visit the station – SpaceX’s Dragon, and Orbital’s Cygnus.

The first commercial spacecraft to attempt to reach the ISS will be SpaceX’s Dragon, which is currently scheduled to launch on the combined COTS-2/3 (C2/C3) mission atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex-40 (LC-40) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) on 7th February.

Preliminary timelines show that COTS-2 objectives (rendezvous and communication tests) will be performed the day following launch, with COTS-3 objectives (rendezvous, capture & berthing) being performed two days after launch on 9th February. These timelines, however, are not confirmed at this time.
Following a two week stay at the ISS, during which some non-critical supplies will be transferred to the ISS, Dragon will be unberthed from the ISS on 23rd February, for a re-entry and splashdown off the coast of California. (L2 Link)

While Dragon was originally scheduled to reach the station in 2011, ongoing setbacks from the Progress M-12M launch failure and subsequent ISS crew impacts, ISS hardware and software upgrades, Dragon software testing, and Dragon flight review processes delayed the flight into 2012.

With the successful docking of Soyuz TMA-03M/29S to the ISS on 23rd December, which delivered US astronaut Don Pettit to the station, all crewmembers trained to capture and berth Dragon are now aboard the ISS.

ISS hardware and software upgrades, notably the Enhanced Processor & Integrated Communications (EPIC) and X2_R10 software transition, got underway aboard the ISS last week and will continue throughout this week, so far with success.

Dragon software testing and flight reviews are currently ongoing, as much a big hurdle – deployment of an ORBCOMM secondary payload – has now been removed from the C2/C3 mission so that SpaceX can concentrate on Dragon’s flight to the ISS, and not have to worry about ISS conjunction concerns from the ORBCOMM.

Assuming the C2/C3 mission is a success, SpaceX are schedule to fly at least one more Dragon to the ISS in 2012 as an operational resupply spacecraft.

The next commercial cargo craft to attempt to reach the ISS after Dragon will be Orbital’s Cygnus spacecraft, currently scheduled to launch No Earlier Than (NET) June due to ongoing delays with launch pad readiness. A hot-fire test and a test launch with a dummy payload of Cygnus’ Antares (formerly Taurus II) launch vehicle need to be performed prior to the Cygnus C1 mission.

Since ISS can make it only as far as 2013 without any commercial cargo deliveries (assuming successful deliveries of cargo by non-commercial vehicles), this means that at least one commercial resupply vehicle must successfully reach the ISS in 2012 in order to maintain a crewed presence in 2013.

The margin for failure of this year’s COTS vehicle test flights is tight, with sources noting that even with the stockpiles of supplies from STS-135, ISS will struggle to sustain a failure of any COTS vehicle to reach the station.

As such, retirement of the Space Shuttle and its large up/downmass before an operational commercial resupply capability was available has placed additional risk on the ISS, since test flights of new, and in the case of Orbital, untested launch vehicles and spacecraft are now on the critical path for sustained ISS operations.

Although the commercial vehicles in question have yet to reach the station at the start of the year in which they must become operational, the due diligence displayed thus far by both NASA and its commercial partners enables is an encouraging sign.

While the commercial resupply vehicles have been a long time coming, the end is now in sight for the COTS (Commercial Orbital Transportation Services) development program and the transition to the operational Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) program. Due to both the high risks and high payoffs involved, 2012 is likely to be the make-or-break year for COTS and CRS.

–

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Station completed as Shuttle retired:

As planned since 2004, the Space Shuttle fleet retired in 2011 after completing construction of the ISS during the STS-134 mission, which saw the addition of the long-awaited flagship science instrument for the ISS – the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-02 (AMS-02), the second AMS instrument to fly in space and the first designed for long-duration flight on the ISS.

AMS-02 is designed to detect antimatter (the opposite of matter) and dark matter (the matter we cannot see that could be causing the expansion of the universe).

When particles of matter, which make up everything on Earth around us, collide with antimatter particles, which stream toward Earth from outer space, they annihilate each other, making them extremely difficult to detect since any antimatter particles are annihilated by particles of matter in Earth’s upper atmosphere before instruments on Earth can detect them.

Thus, the only way to measure antimatter particles is to go above Earth’s upper atmosphere and into space.

AMS-02, which sits atop the ISS’ truss, uses a magnet to bend the path of charged cosmic particles that pass through it. AMS-02′s on-board instruments then analyze these particles to determine their origin and type (i.e. dark matter or antimatter). 

A magnet is necessary as it allows antimatter particles to pass through the detector without having to come into actual contact with (and thus annihilate) any particles of matter.

As of Christmas Day 2011, AMS-02 has detected ten billion cosmic particles; however, neither antimatter nor dark matter has yet been observed. Scientists are not certain of the existence of antimatter or dark matter, or how long it will take to detect them if they do exist, but it is possible that 2012 could see AMS-02 become the first instrument ever to detect the existence of antimatter and/or dark matter- a mammoth discovery that would literally shake the foundations of modern physics.

Following the completion of the US Segment of the ISS on STS-134 and a final resupply run to the ISS by STS-135, the Space Shuttle officially retired from service on 21 July 2011, marking the transition from the ISS construction phase to the new utilization phase.

In the utilization phase, a minimum of 35 hours of ISS crew time per week have been and will be devoted to scientific activities, as much as crews have been exceeding that requirement as of late.

Also, whereas in the construction era when assembly, checkout, and maintenance activities would take priority over scientific experiments, the opposite is now true, meaning more crew time is now available for science.

This long-awaited utilization era has been the dream of the ISS Program since its inception in the 1990s – a permanently crewed orbiting National Laboratory with scientific capabilities the likes of which have never been seen in space.

The transition into the utilization phase of the ISS, while beginning in 2011, will continue throughout 2012 as scientists begin to take advantage of the full range of capabilities the ISS now has to offer.

Click here for expansive ISS coverage: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/tag/iss/

Increasing utilization on ISS:

As dictated in law by the NASA Authorization Act of 2010, in September 2011 NASA selected the Centre for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), located at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Space Life Sciences Laboratory in Florida, to manage non-NASA US research on the National Lab portion of the ISS.

CASIS is an independent, not-for-profit organization tasked with increasing non-NASA research aboard the ISS by promoting the ISS’s now fully assembled facilities to potential researchers, an managing the process of getting non-NASA payloads onto the station with increased speed and decreased cost than was typically seen under NASA management.

NASA research will still be managed from the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas.

While CASIS has thus far been slow to come online, 2012 should hopefully see CASIS begin to take over the role of management of the ISS National Laboratory with greater efficiency and reduced timescales.

Meanwhile, commercial companies such as NanoRacks continue making great strides toward increasing ISS utilization on a for-profit basis, with impressive speed, efficiency, and low costs mostly achieved through the use of small experiment packages, standardized hardware, and Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) products approved for use on the station.

The fast pace and low cost of this operation has already opened up the ISS’s research facilities to groups, such as high school students, that were previously unable to afford the lengthy process of getting experiments onto station.

Experiment findings:

2011 also saw some interesting results of experiments from the station, all of which will be extremely valuable in planning future missions Beyond Earth Orbit (BEO).

In April, it was revealed that experiments conducted aboard the ISS around the 2006-2007 period, but which had only just completed the analysis stage, showed that drugs stored aboard the station for long periods of time lost some of their potency (effectiveness).

For the experiment, conducted by JSC in Houston, four boxes of drugs, each containing 35 different medications, were flown to the ISS, while four identical boxes were kept on the ground at JSC. The four boxes of drugs returned to Earth after varying amounts of time spent on the station, with the first returning after 13 days and the last returning after 28 months in space.

The results were both startling and unexpected: the longer the drugs had been in space, the more potency they had lost. All of this occurred before the expiration date of the drugs, meaning that the space environment somehow negatively affected the drugs and decreased their effectiveness.

Scientists theorize that this could be caused by a number of space-specific factors, including microgravity, radiation, vibrations, a carbon-dioxide rich atmosphere, and variations in temperature and humidity. As such, research into improved drug storage containers for spaceflight to mitigate this degradation of potency is now underway.

Such degradation of potency is a potentially serious issue for future long-duration BEO exploration since astronauts on those missions, without access to advanced medical facilities, would need to take medication for certain ailments. In this case, reduced potency in drugs caused by long-term storage in space could render the drugs useless or at best severely limited in their effectiveness in combating an illness.

Furthermore, in September, another potentially very serious condition was revealed that could have big impacts on future BEO exploration missions. Again conducted in the 2005-2006 period, this revelation was that long-term microgravity can (sometimes seriously) adversely affect astronauts’ visual acuity.

In a survey of roughly 300 astronauts, 30 percent of astronauts who had flown short-duration (about 2 week) missions on the Space Shuttle and 60 percent of astronauts who had flown long duration (about 6 month) missions on the ISS reported experiencing vision problems as a result of spaceflight.

While some astronauts noted an improvement in vision once they returned to Earth, for one astronaut the vision changes were permanent. According to the medical journal Ophthalmology, one astronaut stated that he could “only see the Earth clearly while looking through the lower portion of his progressive reading glasses.”

The disorder appears to be similar to an Earth-based condition called papilledema, which, if left unchecked, can lead to blindness.

Since the visual degradation appears to increase proportional to the amount of time an astronaut spends in space, this is obviously a concern since, while ISS missions last around 6 months, future missions to Mars could last 3 years or more.

Since no crews in this study have spent more than six months on the ISS, it is not known at this stage whether vision will continue to degrade with time spent in space or whether the degradation will eventually plateau.

Scientists theorize that the problem could be caused by increased pressure on the head and eyes by spinal fluid which is not pulled down in microgravity as it is on Earth.

The exact cause however in unknown at this time, and research is currently ongoing aboard the station, including regular inflight Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans of astronauts’ eyes and trails of new glasses which can adjust for visual impairments.

While the above two discoveries present problems for future BEO missions, the station is also teaching us solutions to other issues. In December, a new discovery from an experiment conducted by the Japanese space agency, JAXA, was announced. The discovery showed that astronaut bone loss in microgravity, long thought of as a serious problem for BEO missions, could be severely reduced simply by having astronauts take standard osteoporosis drugs.

Astronauts in microgravity typically lose 5 to 7 percent of their bone density in 6 months even when exercising for two hours per day. The study of five astronauts found that taking bisphosphonates once a week in addition to exercising significantly reduced bone density loss, with only 1 percent of bone density being lost in the femur and bone density in the hip actually showing a 3 percent increase.

Despite critics’ claims that the ISS is a useless anchor to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) for the next decade, and that there is nothing left to learn in LEO, the evidence is clear: the ISS, only 6 months into its utilization phase, is already teaching us extremely valuable information about long-duration spaceflight.

While not all ISS experiments may be particularly glamorous or exciting, the fact remains that the knowledge gleaned from these experiments is absolutely essential to our future progression in space and on Earth.

While microgravity certainly presents challenges for the future, so far ISS has not identified any showstoppers to BEO exploration, and the knowledge gained from station, both in terms of direct scientific data and engineering know-how, will pay dividends in future exploration missions.

As detailed, most of the experiments discussed in this article were performed in the 2005-2007 timeframe, when ISS was still in its construction phase and had nowhere near the scientific capabilities it has now.

Due to the amount of time it takes to conduct an experiment in space and then analyze and publish the results, the fruits of a fully assembled and operational ISS likely won’t be seen for a number of years, meaning that ISS has much more to give over the coming years than has been seen in the past.

Looking ahead to 2012:

Looking to next year, the ISS is set to enter its first full year as a fully assembled and operational space laboratory. In addition to the start of CASIS operations, a number of interesting experiments are due to be performed on ISS next year.

The first is called ISS as a Testbed for Analogue Research, or ISTAR.

ISTAR will involve using the ISS as an analogue to investigate some issues of BEO exploration, such as introducing time-delays into ISS communications similar to those experienced on BEO missions while at the same time giving the ISS crew full control of their timeline in order to decrease their dependency on ground control.

This experiment is designed to identify and iron out any problems associated with time delays and autonomous crew planning prior to undertaking BEO missions in the future.

Another noteworthy experiment is the Robotic Refueling Module (RRM), which was delivered to the ISS on STS-135 in July this year.

In 2012, RRM will be used for the first time to test satellite refueling procedures, using specially designed tools operated by the station’s Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM), “Dextre.”

While these are just two examples of high-profile experiments to be conducted on station in 2012, many hundreds more will be ongoing both inside and outside the station, some involving crew participation, some continuously proceeding in automated mode.

Collectively, the wealth of data from these experiments will leave a legacy that will outlast ISS.

(Images: L2 Content, NASA, JAXA)

(NSF and L2 are providing full transition level coverage, available no where else on the internet, from Orion and SLS to ISS and COTS/CRS/CCDEV, to European and Russian vehicles). 

(Click here: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/l2/ - to view how you can access the best space flight content on the entire internet)

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Another Russian Failure:

Marking what has been an extremely tough year for the Russian Space Agency, this latest failure adds to the loss – and expected re-entry next month – of the Fobus-Grunt spacecraft, which failed to depart Low Earth Orbit (LEO) for its primary mission to Phobos.

The Mars mission failure – adding to the apparent jinx the Russians are blighted by when it comes to missions to the Red Planet – was even more painful, given the eventful year, which included a Proton-M’s Briz-M upper stage failing to deploy Russia’s Ekspress-AM4 communications satellite in August, soon followed by the third stage of the Russian Soyuz-U rocket prematurely shutting down, resulting in Progress M-12M crashing to Earth.

The Soyuz-2-1 rocket is a descendent of the R-7 Semyorka, the world’s first intercontinental ballistic missile. The R-7 was designed by Sergei Korolev, and first flew in 1957. A modified version was used to launch the first satellite, Sputnik 1, on 4 October of that year.

The R-7 formed the basis for the Luna, Vostok, Voskhod, Molniya and Soyuz families of rockets, and to date all Soviet and Russian manned spaceflights have been launched using rockets derived from the R-7.

The Soyuz, which first flew in 1966, was a modification of the Voskhod rocket featuring an upgraded and lighter telemetry system, and more fuel efficient engines. It was initially used to launch only Soyuz spacecraft; however with the introduction of the Soyuz-U in 1973 it began to launch other satellites as well.

The Soyuz-U, which remains in service, is the most-flown orbital launch system ever developed, having made around 750 flights to date, plus around 90 more in the Soyuz-U2 configuration optimised to use synthetic propellant.

The Soyuz-2 was developed from the older Soyuz models, and features digital flight control systems and modernised engines. It first flew in 2004, and this is its twelfth launch.

Two variants are currently in service; the Soyuz-2-1a, and the Soyuz-2-1b which features an RD-0124 third stage engine which provides additional thrust. The RD-0124 was declared operational on 3 May 2011.

A third configuration, the Soyuz-2-1v, is currently under development and is expected to make its maiden flight next year. It features an NK-33 engine in place of the RD-108A used on the core stages of the other configurations, and does not include the strapon boosters used by other configurations.

The Soyuz-2 forms the basis for the Soyuz-ST rocket, which made its maiden flight from Kourou in French Guiana this year. The Soyuz-ST is optimised to fly from Kourou, and also incorporates a flight termination system and a modified telemetry system.

The launch of the Soyuz-ST carried two Galileo IOV-M1 satellites into orbit.

The core stage of the Soyuz-2, the Blok-A, is powered by a single RD-108A engine. This is augmented for the first two minutes of flight by four boosters, each of which is powered by an RD-107A engine. The Fregat Upper Stage, is powered by an S5.98M engine, which uses unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine as propellant and nitrogen tetroxide as an oxidiser.

The Fregat first flew in 2000, and has been used on Soyuz-U, Soyuz-FG, Soyuz-2 and Zenit rockets.

Soyuz 2.1b Failure/Internal Issues:

There are conflicting reports as to the cause of the failure, with the latest rumor in the Russian media claiming the fairing did not jettison. However, most reports point to a serious failure of the third stage – a claim made by one of the leading Russian reporters, Analoly Zak of RussianSpaceWeb.

“According to industry sources, the analysis of available telemetry on the fuel line pressure before the entrance to the engine’s injection system indicated a possible bulging of the combustion chamber No. 1, leading to its burn through and a catastrophic fuel leak.”

Click here for Russian Articles: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/news/russian/

The resulting incident led to the remains of the vehicle and spacecraft – which was designed to provide communication between ships, planes and coastal stations on the ground – crashing to Earth, with some reports claiming debris landed in a populated area, with one large piece crashing through the roof of a house in Siberia.  No injuries have yet been reported.

Despite the Soyuz TMA-03M post-docking media briefing opening with a request to focus questions on the successful arrival of Oleg Kononenko, André Kuipers and Don Pettit, journalists soon asked questions about the earlier failure.

Mr Popovkin initially seemed open to discuss the failure, noting the engine in question was made in 2009, and while commissions had been installed – likely relating to the fallout from other failure investigations – “not everything can be checked off blueprints”.

Mr Popovkin was surprisingly frank in his remarks about an Agency he took over from Mr Anatoly Perminov earlier this year, using words such as “crisis”, as much as such comments were passed on via an interpreter.

“This proves there’s areas of the program which are in a sort of a crisis. Even now, I can probably say the problem is with the engine, but to be more certain we will look at the telemetry. By (Saturday) will be have results which we will be able to report,”

Then came the somewhat shocking revelation that the Russian space program is – as much as it had been feared – seriously struggling with its need to modernize and optimize, likely driven by both funding shortages and demographics.

“Yes, there are problems. We need to optimize and modernize – we need to modernize the tracking system (for example),” the Roscosmos chief added. “But we’re only at a level of 33 percent (in this process). We need to modernize all the facilities because we can’t keep an eye on everything.

“It’s also the ageing of human resources, given the trouble we had in the 1990s when quite a lot of people left and nobody came to replace them – they should have come in the 90s.”

Citing the demographic imbalance, Mr Popovkin noted that they would have to trust their young workers more, while “replacing lots of leaders and heads”.

Potential ISS Impact:

These problems are extremely untimely for NASA, who have put all their eggs into one Russian basket for their ability to launch astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS).

A return to domestic crewed launch ability – via NASA’s Commercial Crew drive – could be as far away as 2017, while there is no going back on the almost stubborn insistence on ensuring the retired Shuttle fleet had their wings clipped to avoid any restart capability, leaving the United States with no choice but to continue to pay Russia hundreds of millions of dollars to buy seats on Soyuz launch vehicles.

“From today, the era of the Soyuz has started in manned spaceflight, the era of reliability,” Roscosmos proudly proclaimed, just prior to the failure of the Progress vehicle, which almost resulted in the decrewing of the $100 billion outpost.

And now this latest failure may also impact on the Station, on the day the ISS finally returned to a six member crew. This impact will depend on the actual root cause of the failure, and its commonality with the Soyuz used for TMA and Progress launches.

Not all Soyuz vehicles are alike, with different configurations and engines used on the variants. For example, the Progress resupply ships are launched by the Soyuz-U, Soyuz TMA-M is launched by the Soyuz-FG, whereas the now-lost Meridian satellite was launched by Soyuz 2-1b.

With differences – such as combustion chamber injectors and avionics – between the vehicles, some specific failures may not result in the grounding of all variants of the Soyuz.

However, if the third stage engine is confirmed to be the issue, this could have a more severe impact, given it was the third stage engine – despite using a different engine – which failed during the Progress M-12M launch, potentially pointing to a larger issue with the launch vehicle, such as plumbing and lines.

With information pointing to the failure occurring at 134 seconds into the 270 second burn of the third stage, the issue could be related to a plumbing failure, causing a fuel leak, which would have either resulted in the engine shutting down, or even exploding.

The Progress failure was later revealed as being attributed to a malfunction in the gas generator of the third stage’s RD-0110 engine, and while the RD-0124 involved with Friday’s Soyuz is a different design from the RD-0110, there are plenty of failure modes that could also impact the Soyuz-FG – such a procedure failure in launch vehicle manufacture, engine manufacture, or launch processing.

Such a common issue across the variants of the Soyuz launch vehicles would be speculation, but such failure modes could exist via fuel contamination or incorrect fuelling.

If the problem is related to flight test/design issues with the new RD-0124 engine, unrelated to the RD-0110, the crew launch Soyuz-FG and Progress carrier Soyuz-U may avoid any potential grounding, which – if long term – would have serious impacts on the ISS’ ability to remain at a six person crew.

Additional information will be added when Roscosmos reveal their telemetry findings on Saturday. Thanks to Jonathan McDowell for his additional insight used in this article.

(Images via Roscosmos, NASA and Starsem).

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Soyuz TMA-03M:

Launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Wednesday, the successful Soyuz TMA-03M docking finally puts an end to the fallout from August’s Progress M-12M launch failure, by boosting the ISS back up to six long-term crewmembers before yearend. The station had been operating at a reduced crew level since the departure of Soyuz TMA-21/26S on 16th September, caused by launch delays resulting from the August Progress failure, which led to concerns of a potential station de-crewing (later averted).

A few hours after docking, hatches between Soyuz TMA-03M and the ISS will be opened, whereupon Soyuz TMA-03M crewmembers Oleg Kononenko, André Kuipers and Don Pettit will float aboard the station to greet the already-aboard Dan Burbank, Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishin. Together, the two crews will form the full complement of Expedition 30 until 16th March 2012.

Expedition 30 objectives:

Immediately after arriving aboard the station, and following the mandatory press conference, ISS tour and safety briefing, the Soyuz TMA-03M crew will enjoy some downtime over the Holiday period as they adjust and settle in to their new home, which involves adaptation to the microgravity environment, setting up personal crew quarters, and familiarization with station equipment and procedures.

Looking toward the New Year however, the now fully staffed station crew will get ready for an extremely busy period of research and cargo deliveries aboard the station – including the arrival of the first ever commercial cargo ship at the ISS.

Research aboard the station will continue throughout all periods of activity, with station utilization increased now that the US segment of the station is officially complete following the retirement of the Space Shuttle this summer. The target is for 35 crew hours per week to be devoted to scientific activities, although this is an average figure since busy periods may see reduced hours while quiet periods may see increased hours.

In the last few months, crews have even managed to achieve 45 crew hours per week of science, a figure which could become more common with Dr. Don Pettit now aboard the ISS, who is infamous for his scientific activities aboard the station.

One of the major tasks for Expedition 30, besides research, is to transition the station to new software loads, in order to support new hardware, and the arrival of the new commercial resupply vehicles.

Click here for ISS News Articles: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/tag/iss/

The first software transition is known as X2_R10 (the current version of ISS software is X2_R9), and is required to support new Enhanced Processor & Integrated Communications (EPIC) cards, which are hardware replacements for older cards that reside in the Command & Control (C&C) and Guidance, Navigation & Control (GNC) Multiplexer/Demultiplexers (MDMs). X2_R10 will upgrade the C&C and GNC MDM software to support the new EPIC cards, with software transition and EPIC card testing running in parallel.

The EPIC card installation and X2_R10 transition was previously planned for earlier this year, but was affected by the Progress M-12M failure since, in the new utilisation era aboard the station, where research takes priority over other activities, there were not enough crew hours available to devote to troubleshooting issues, due to the reduced onboard crew.

Source information shows that the gradual hardware transition to EPIC cards (new cards will temporarily run in parallel with old cards in order to reduce risk, with all old cards gradually being replaced), plus the subsequent software transition from X2_R9 to X2_R10, will take place from 27th December through to 5th January.

Pending a successful EPIC card installation and software transition to X2_R10, the next software transition will be from X2_R10 to X2_R11, which is required to support the upcoming SpaceX C2/C3 demo flight by, amongst other things, upgrading the station’s robotic Mobile Servicing System (MSS), which will be used in the capture and berthing of Dragon to the station, to software version 7.1. Source information shows that this transition will occur in two stages from 15th January through to 1st February.

Following a successful X2_R11 transition, the next software upgrade planned aboard the station is X2_PEP_R10, an upgrade which will increase the total allowable number of active payloads on the station at any given time, and also update software for the new Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM).

This transition will occur No Earlier Than (NET) February. While X2_PEP_R10 does require X2_R11, it is not a requirement for the visit of the Dragon spacecraft.

Visiting Vehicles:

Another major objective of the Expedition 30 mission will be the successful coming and going of numerous Visiting Vehicles (VVs), including the first ever visit of a commercial VV to the ISS, which will usher in a new era for the station.

The first VV activity will occur on 25th January, when the Progress M-13M/45P spacecraft will undock from the Docking Compartment-1 (DC-1) “Pirs” Nadir docking port. A day later on 26th January, Progress M-14M/46P will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, for a docking to DC-1 Nadir on 28th January.

Following undocking, the Progress M-13M spacecraft will transfer to a 500km orbit (ISS orbits at a mean altitude of around 400km) in order to release the Chibis-M microsatellite, which will be attached to the Progress in place of the removable docking probe.

Source information shows that Progress M-13M will undock with the hatch open in order to facilitate the Chibis-M deployment, and as such all trash disposed of on Progress M-13M will need to be certified for vacuum. Following satellite deployment, Progress M-13M will perform a de-orbit burn from 500km, with no ISS conjunction issues expected (evaluations are still ongoing however).

The next milestone will be by far the biggest for Expedition 30 – the 7th February launch of SpaceX’s Dragon capsule on its combined COTS-2/3 mission. Following a two-day catch up to the station, an ISS “fly-under” will occur on 9th February, in order to accomplish all COTS-2 objectives, which include communication between Dragon and the station via the COTS UHF Communication Unit (CUCU), and initiation of a rendezvous abort. (L2 SpaceX Content link)

If all COTS-2 objectives are successfully demonstrated, Dragon will then be allowed to proceed onto COTS-3 objectives the following day on 10th February, which is a full rendezvous with capture and berthing to the ISS. During the rendezvous, which will see Dragon approach the ISS from underneath and behind, the ISS crew will begin monitoring the Dragon when it is 1000m from the ISS, and will begin taking action (i.e. actively participating in the rendezvous) once Dragon reaches 200m from the station.

There will be two hold points during the rendezvous, at both the 30m and the 10m meter mark, in order to allow all parameters to be verified as nominal and a Go/No Go decision to be given for proceeding to the capture of the Dragon by the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS), controlled from the Cupola by US astronauts Dan Burbank and Don Pettit.

Friday’s successful docking of Soyuz TMA-03M has enabled the berthing of Dragon by delivering Pettit to the station, who is the only trained US crewmember able to assist Burbank with the capture (ISS flight rules dictate that two trained crewmembers must be present on the ISS for capture and berthing of every required VV). Both Burbank and Pettit will be conducting Dragon capture proficiency training with the Robotics Onboard Trainer (ROBoT) over the coming months.

Eight separate demonstration objectives exist for Dragon to successfully prove during the C2/C3 mission, with each one needing to be successfully completed before approval is given to proceed to the next. However should an off-nominal situation occur, Dragon can perform two types of abort thruster burns – one a large change of velocity (Delta-V) in the X axis (in the axis of the ISS’ Velocity Vector), or a small Delta-V in any axis.

Should Dragon berth to the ISS successfully, hatches will be opened and the non-essential cargo inside Dragon (no essential cargo will be included since the mission is a test flight) will be transferred to the ISS, following which some of the ISS’ trash and items to be returned to Earth will be loaded into Dragon in place of the newly delivered supplies.

L2 info shows that 41 CTBE (Cargo Transfer Bag Equivalent) of cargo, including crew provisions and empty bags to facilitate trash disposal, will be delivered to the ISS on C2/C3 (Dragon has a capacity of 50 CTBE), while 16 CTBE will be returned to Earth.

Dragon will remain berthed to the ISS until 28th February, whereupon it will be released for re-entry and recovery off the coast of California.

The next major VV to visit the station will then be ESA’s Automated Transfer Vehicle-3 (ATV-3), which is currently scheduled to launch to the station atop an Ariane V on 9th March 2012.

Expedition 30 will actually end before ATV-3 docks to the ISS, since Soyuz TMA-22/28S will undock from the MRM-2 Zenith port on 16th March, marking the beginning of Expedition 31, before ATV-3 docks to the ISS at the Service Module (SM) Aft port three days later on 19th March.

This will mark the first post-Shuttle docking to SM Aft, again due to the failure of Progress M-12M in August.

Other Expedition 30 activities:

An additional task for Expedition 30 includes Russian EVA-30 by Oleg Kononenko and Anton Shkaplerov, currently scheduled for 14th February, although this is likely to move to another date in order to deconflict it with Dragon’s mission to station, thus protecting Dragon against any potential launch and subsequent ISS arrival delays.

Dragon would be unable to rendezvous with the ISS during an ongoing EVA since Dan Burbank and Don Pettit would be “locked out” in different areas of the station to protect against a Pirs airlock depressurisation failure, thus preventing Burbank and Pettit from being present in the Cupola together.

Source information also shows that ISS flight controllers are monitoring the status of two external Orbital Replacement Units (ORUs) on the ISS – an S-band Antenna Sub Assembly (SASA) and the Main Bus Switching Unit-1 (MBSU-1), both of which have been showing anomalous data readings in recent months.

While redundant hardware does exist to protect against a failure, potential unplanned EVAs by US crewmembers continue to be looked at in order to Remove & Replace (R&R) either of the ORUs. Potential use of the Special Purpose Dextrous Manipulator (SPDM) “Dextre” is also being analysed to assist in the potential R&Rs.

Any external US hardware failures on station in future (such as the August 2012 failure of the Loop B Pump Module) will be more difficult to fix, since, due to the retirement of the Space Shuttle, station crews must now perform all EVAs, which drastically reduces the time that can be spent on research. The final Space Shuttle flights did however deliver enough spare ORUs to the ISS to support future R&Rs – with spare SASAs and MBSUs are currently in good supply on the ISS, with plans for future deliveries.

Please note: Clickable links with (L2) references point directly to cited L2 content. Such content is only available to L2 members (please ensure you are logged in). All other clickable links point to NSF articles and open content.

(Images: Via L2 content, SpaceX and NASA.) (To join L2, click here: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/l2/)

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Soyuz Launch:

Soyuz TMA-03M is the third “digital” TMA-M (700 series) Soyuz to launch into space, and marks the full transition of the Soyuz to the digital era, since every Soyuz hereafter will also be of the upgraded digital variant. The upgrades consist of updated Neptun panel displays and controls, as well as lighter system components which allow for more payload (~50kg) to be launched inside the Soyuz.

Following a two-day free flight, Soyuz TMA-03M will rendezvous with the ISS on Friday (23rd December), for a 2:22 PM GMT docking at the Mini Research Module-1 (MRM-1) “Rassvet”, vacated on 22nd November by the departing Soyuz TMA-02M/27S spacecraft.

Once hatches are opened a few hours later, the current three-member Expedition 30 crew – consisting of American astronaut and ISS Commander Dan Burbank, as well as Russian cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov & Anatoly Ivanishin – will welcome the Soyuz TMA-03M crew aboard the ISS just in time for the festive holiday period.

It is tradition for crews arriving at the ISS during the holiday period to bring festive gifts for their counterparts – as was seen on 22nd December 2009, when the just-docked Soyuz TMA-17 crew entered the ISS carrying Christmas trees and wearing Santa hats. The already on-orbit Expedition 30 crewmembers have decorated the ISS for the arrival of the Soyuz TMA-03M crew.

Soyuz TMA-03M is planned to remain docked to the ISS until 16th May, whereupon it will undock and land on the steppe of Kazakhstan.

Soyuz TMA-03M crewmembers:

Soyuz TMA-03M is carrying a fairly un-typical crew, since none of the three crewmembers are military aviators, and two are from medical and research backgrounds – a shape of things to come now that the ISS has entered the utilisation era, following completion of the US segment of the station and subsequent retirement of the Space Shuttle.

All three crewmembers have visited the ISS before, and all have flown on Soyuz before, with the caveat that Don Pettit has landed but never launched on a Soyuz.

Soyuz TMA-03M is being commanded by veteran Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, who most recently flew in space during the Expedition 17 mission from April to October 2008. He flew to and returned from the ISS in the Soyuz TMA-12 spacecraft, along with fellow cosmonaut Sergey Volkov, who returned from space just one month ago aboard Soyuz TMA-02M.

Kononenko, born 21st June 1964 (currently 47 years of age), graduated as a mechanical engineer from the Zhukovsky Kharkov Aviation Institute in 1988, following which he went to work for the Russian Space Agency, Roscosmos, as an engineer, prior to being selected for cosmonaut training in 1996. He is married with one son and one daughter.

Upon arrival at the ISS, he will serve as Flight Engineer on Expedition 30, and command the ISS during Expedition 31, from 16th March to 16th May next year. Kononenko is also slated to perform at least one spacewalk during his second flight, having previously conducted two spacewalks during his six-month mission in 2008.

Flight Engineer-1 (FE-1) on Soyuz TMA-03M is European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut André Kuipers, who was born in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, on 5th October 1958 (current age 53). He has flown in space only once before during the eleven-day DELTA mission, launching aboard Soyuz TMA-4 on 19th April 2004 and returning to Earth aboard Soyuz TMA-5 on 30th April 2004. During his mission, he conducted 21 experiments aboard the ISS for the European Space Agency.

Such short missions were common in the past, since at the time the ISS was crewed by only two people in wake of the Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy, meaning that a third seat was free on each launching and landing Soyuz for an additional short-term crewmember.

Kuipers earned his medical Doctorate from the University of Amsterdam in 1987, whereupon he worked at various medical institutions, including serving as an officer in the Royal Netherlands Air Force Medical Corps, and investigating data from various life sciences missions aboard the Space Shuttle. He was selected as an ESA astronaut in 1998, and is married with three daughters and one son.

During his second space mission (named “PromISSe” in keeping with ESA tradition), which is his first long-duration flight, Kuipers will participate in multiple experiments on the ISS, utilising his medical experience in the investigation of human physiology in microgravity.

Rounding out the Soyuz TMA-03M crew as Flight Engineer-2 (FE-2) is NASA astronaut Don Pettit, infamous in the space world for his passion for, skills with, and promotion of science, especially in microgravity. Born in Silverton, Oregon, on 20th April 1955 (current age 56), Dr. Pettit earned his Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Arizona in 1983, prior to working at the Los Alamos National Laboratory until he was selected as a NASA astronaut in 1996.

Pettit has flown two previous space flights, ISS Expedition 6 from 2002 to 2003, and Space Shuttle mission STS-126 in November 2008.

His first ISS flight, Expedition 6, was not without incident. Pettit, who launched to the ISS along with fellow crewmembers Ken Bowersox and Nikolai Budarin aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour on the STS-113 mission on 23rd November 2002, was only scheduled to stay aboard the ISS for four months, returning on STS-114 in March 2003. However, during Pettit’s stay aboard the ISS, the Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy occurred, on 1st February 2003.

While the tragedy was of course a tremendous loss to the Expedition 6 crew, the subsequent grounding of the Space Shuttle fleet had left the Expedition 6 crew with no ride home. Eventually, the crew was able to return to Earth two months later than planned inside their Soyuz TMA-1 lifeboat on 4th May 2003, which at the time was an untested new TMA (200 series) variant of the Soyuz. Thus, although Pettit has previously done a re-entry in a Soyuz, this will be his first launch in a Soyuz.

Click here for ISS News Articles: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/tag/iss/

During Expedition 6, Pettit became known for his “Saturday Morning Science” projects, which he performed in his own free time, videoed, and downlinked to Earth for public release. Now that the ISS is a fully completed National Laboratory, with scientific capabilities an order of magnitude better than they were during Expedition 6, Pettit is expected to continue his microgravity scientific demonstrations during Expeditions 30 and 31.

However, with a more capable ISS comes a more maintenance-heavy ISS, and since the crews may need to conduct “Saturday Morning Maintenance” in future, Pettit has suggested that his science projects may become “Saturday Afternoon Science” this time around (a dedicated thread for coverage of Dr. Pettit’s science activities exists in the ISS Section of the NASASpaceflight Forum).

Progress M-12M failure:

Of relevance to the Soyuz TMA-03M launch was the 24th August launch failure of the Progress M-12M/44P spacecraft, caused by a premature shutdown of the uncrewed Soyuz-U booster’s third stage RD-0110 engine, due to a blocked fuel line leading to the engine’s gas generator.

As much as the issue was billed as a one off, which was subsequently confirmed by the successful 30th October flight of the Soyuz-U with Progress M-13M/45P and the 14th November flight of the crewed Soyuz-FG with Soyuz TMA-22/28S, all eyes were on the Soyuz-FG booster during launch, although the RD-0110 engine used in by the vehicle has been tested and confirmed to be free of defects. The vehicle performed without issue during ascent.

While the threat of a station de-crewing in wake of the Progress M-12M failure was alleviated by the successful 16th November docking of the Soyuz TMA-22 spacecraft, a successful Soyuz TMA-03M docking on Friday would put the ISS back up to six crewmembers for the first time since the 16th September departure of Soyuz TMA-21/26S, although ISS did enjoy a brief period of six crewmembers during the six day handover between the new Soyuz TMA-22 and outgoing Soyuz TMA-02M crews from 16th to 22nd November.

Thus, the successful launch enables the ISS to return to stable six-crew operations by yearend, nearly four months after the launch failure of Progress M-12M, which has at best highlighted the dangers of relying on one launch system for crewed access to the ISS.

(Images via Roscosmos and NASA)

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SLS Mission Ability – PART ONE:

The Roadmap – when announced – will lay out NASA’s flagship goals for the next 20 plus years. This task is under the stewardship of former Space Shuttle Program (SSP) manager John Shannon, who’s team have not released any information into their effort since it began months ago.

While the team is under no obligation to provide a running commentary to the public or media, the lack of a roadmap for SLS remains one of the main criticisms charged against the vehicle which will cost several billion dollars before it even flies.

However, while the November Human Space Exploration Community Workshop on the Global Exploration Roadmap – which is being serialized by this site – has provided some interesting mission options, the SLS Con Ops document – finalized just a few weeks prior to the workshop – reveals the actual foundation of SLS’ hardware, operations and indeed mission baselines.

Known as Exploration Systems Development (ESD) Design Reference Missions (DRM), the Con Ops document – available to download via L2 – introduces the SLS capability as one which provides multiple mission options, ahead of expanding into the current thought process for utilizing the vehicle’s unrivalled upmass capability.

“The SLS will have the largest payload lifting capacity of any launch vehicle previously manufactured in the United States: 70 metric ton (t) class evolvable to 130+ t class (ESD Requirement R-11),” noted the document in the introductory sections.

“This will allow the SLS to accommodate many mission profiles, starting with Orion missions for lunar fly-by and high lunar orbit and eventually deep space near Earth asteroid (NEA) and Mars missions that extend human presence across the solar system (requiring ~130 t).

“The SLS will also accommodate Orion-MPCV missions to low Earth orbit (LEO) for system test and checkout and as a back-up access to the International Space Station (ISS), including transport of replacement ISS modules. Other mission profiles that can be supported by the SLS include science-based missions for deep space astronomy and solar system exploration.

“The SLS payload capability will enable a new generation of planetary (such as a Europa fly-by to collect samples with return capability), Earth, and heliophysics science missions. SLS will also be capable of supporting commercial-based missions and missions supporting other Government agencies, including sending larger objects into LEO, such as commercial space stations.”

While the introduction provides little by way of additional substance into age-old adage of “Moon, Mars and Beyond” – as used by the now-defunct Constellation Program (CxP), the document goes on to provide an expansive and up-to-date overview of the DRMs, whilst adding the caveat the missions may not occur in any particular order and are not set requirements, but are used as a framework to ensure SLS capability.

“The ESD DRMs are categorized as Tactical, Strategic, Architecture, and Analysis timeframe DRMs. The Tactical Timeframe DRMs are intended to reduce overall design risk and help to preserve operations capabilities by allowing missions to be flown earlier in the design process,” the document notes.

“The Strategic DRMs build on the capabilities demonstrated in the Tactical timeframe to ensure a path to achieve the operational capabilities as laid out in the ESD Requirements. The collection of these DRMs is the architecture framework necessary for multi-destination exploration.

“The Architectural timeframe DRMs address the missions where evolved capabilities will be needed to achieve the long-term exploration objectives. These DRMs are critical in understanding the requisite system functionality, and deriving the Program-specific operations block designs that will enable an effective block delivery evolution path. Analysis DRMs are candidate DRMs that are under formal ESD consideration. Analysis will be performed on these DRMs as part of a cost/benefit assessment.

“Once ESD leadership has determined the status of an analysis DRM, the DRM will either be added to the appropriate timeframe DRMs or will be discarded. While programs will need to perform some level of analysis to support this decision-making process, the analysis that supports the evolvability design assessments is not necessary for Analysis DRMs.”

The wording of the above shows some of the challenges of formulating the definitive exploration plan – and the likely reason that as of today such a plan does not exist. NASA’s future plans continue to be hindered by a budget that lacks stability, as much as lawmakers have shown their hand in wishing to protect SLS and Orion from such budget fluctuations.

Ironically, one area of NASA funding which is being subjected to uncertainty is the commercial handover of Low Earth Orbit (LEO), not least from the commercial crew standpoint. With threats of slips – based on lower-than-expected funding and internal technical challenges – there is potential for the need of a back-up, as SLS was intended to be – per the 2010 Authorization Act – for the International Space Station.

However, with SLS’ opening mission – one which is BEO in design – not set to fly until 2017, such slips would have to be serious in nature for NASA to use a vehicle which is now designed specifically for exploration, as opposed to LEO.

Regardless, the back-up ability to transport four crew members on Orion, launched on a basic SLS, opens the DRM list.

“ISS Back-Up Crew Delivery (Analysis): The International Space Station (ISS) Back-Up Crew Delivery mission (DRM ID: LEO_Util_1A_C11A1) is flown with the SLS and the Orion-MPCV, with SLS providing any necessary ballast and launch stack spacers,” noted the presentation.

“This DRM is a single launch of up to four crew members to and from the ISS and is a back-up to the planned commercial crew capability for transportation to the ISS. This mission is flown using the Block 1 SLS without an iCPS.”

The next DRM is currently in the documented approach for SLS’ opening mission in 2017, one that involves an uncrewed test flight around the Moon, on a mission which – according to Con Ops – will last around eight days.

“BEO Uncrewed Lunar Fly-by (Tactical Timeframe): This mission uses a single Block 1 SLS launch with an iCPS and lunar Block 1 Orion-MPCV. This DRM will go beyond Earth orbit (BEO) and test critical mission events and performance in relevant environments,” the Con Ops document noted.

“It will take 3-4 days of transit time, with the Orion-MPCV trajectory taking it around the Moon performing burns as required, and then 3-4 days to return to Earth. The liftoff mass will be approximately 66 t.”

SLS-2 will carry out a similar mission, this time with a crew. Initially manifested for 2021 on the “worst case” scenario, moves have already been made by the Orion Project office to push this up to 2019, or potentially 2018. This mission will last around 14 days, with four days in Lunar orbit.

“BEO Crewed Lunar Orbit (Tactical Timeframe): This mission requires a single Block 1 SLS launch with an iCPS and Lunar Block 1 Orion-MPCV to LEO. It will take 4-5 days of transit time, 4 days in lunar orbit, and 4-5 days for return to Earth. The liftoff mass will be approximately 66 t.

“The iCPS performs the orbit raise burn and TLI (Trans-Lunar Injection) burn prior to disposal. When approaching high lunar orbit, the Orion-MPCV provides the lunar orbit insertion (LOI) burn to insert the Orion-MPCV into a high lunar orbit. The Orion-MPCV will remain in lunar orbit for several days and then perform a trans-Earth injection (TEI) burn and return to Earth.

“The lunar orbit will be selected to maintain the total delta-V for LOI and TEI maneuvers within the Orion-MPCV design capability.”

Opportunities to collect data on the hardware – most notably on Orion’s performance – will be taken via the Exploration Test Flight (EFT-1), scheduled for early 2014.

While these two missions appear to be the most solid part of the short-term mission plan for SLS and Orion, everything that follows is open for evaluation. However, the DRM content in the Con Ops provides multiple options, along with clues as to how such missions would be conducted.

One such example can be found under the DRM of a mission to Geostationary Orbit (GEO), utilizing two SLS launches, 180 days apart. Such a DRM scenario also dismisses the worst-case scenario which shows a maximum near-term flight rate of one launch per year – which would clearly be uneconomic for the HLV.

“GEO (Analysis): The GEO vicinity mission (DRM ID: CIS_GEO_1B_C11B1) requires two SLS launches, with the first carrying CPS1 and a cargo hauler. The second launch, approximately 180 days later, will contain CPS2 and the Orion-MPCV,” noted the overview.

“The mass-to-orbit for both launches will be approximately 110 t each. This would allow crew to perform servicing or deployment missions in GEO, depending on the payload inside the cargo hauler.”

Reverting back to aspirations involving the Moon, the next DRM has seen a large increase in interest over 2011, namely a mission to return humans back to the surface of the Moon.

Work appears to be making good progress on setting up a preferred flight profile for such a Lunar Surface, with one of three options set for deletion. Two of the options can be carried out prior to the evolved SLS coming on line.

“Lunar (Strategic and Architecture Timeframes): The lunar set of missions ranges in distance from lunar vicinity Lagrange Point 1 (L1), to low lunar orbit, to a lunar surface mission,” noted the ConOps.

“The first two of the three mission set, lunar vicinity and low lunar orbit (DRM IDs: CIS_LP1/LLO_1A1A_C11B1, Concept of Operations), which are in the Strategic timeframe, require one SLS launch with the Orion-MPCV and CPS to L1 or low lunar orbit (LLO). The mass-to-orbit for these two missions are approximately 90 t and 95 t, respectively.

“It should be noted that the low lunar vicinity DRM (CIS_LP1_1A_C11B1) is under ESD review for removal.”

The third option requires two SLS launches, this time around 120 days apart. However, the liftoff mass requires the use of the evolved SLS, pushing such a mission out to at least the late 2020s. See SLS configuration option latest (Block 1, 1A, 2) via L2. 

“The lunar surface mission (DRM IDs: LUN_SOR_1A1A_C11B1, ESD Concept of Operations), which is in the Architecture timeframe, requires two launches, spaced 120 days (TBR) apart, to insert the lunar lander and CPS1 and Orion-MPCV and CPS2 into LLO for a lunar orbit rendezvous (LOR) and landing on the equatorial or polar regions of the Moon. The liftoff masses will be approximately 130 t and 108 t, respectively.”

No reference is made to the fascinating proposal relating to the Exploration Gateway Platform architecture that not only returns man to the lunar surface – via the use of only one SLS launch to a reusable Lunar Lander – but provides a baseline for pathfinders towards an eventual crewed mission to Mars.

However, internal meeting notes (L2) just this month show this L2 gateway is now under official consideration, with mission options being evaluated at present.

“NASA Human Architecture Team (HAT): L2 based DRMs being developed,” noted the Strategic Analysis and Integration Division (SAID).

Such a plan revolves around a deep space platform, known as a gateway, located at Earth-Moon Lagrange (EML) point 1 or 2, after being built from pre-launched hardware, providing the host station for a reusable Lunar Lander – which would also be launched by the SLS.

The Gateway would first be constructed at the ISS, mainly using the Node 4/DHS (Docking Hub System), an orbiter external airlock, an MPLM (Multi-Purpose Logistics Module) habitat module, and an international module.

Further articles on the Gateway will be forthcoming, along with Part 2 to the ESD DRMs from the ConOps, which cover missions to Near Earth Asteroids, SLS science missions to as far out as Enceladus, and Department Of Defense (DOD) missions.

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Combined Flight Approval:

Although the language allows for this mission to slip further, should ISS partners require more review time, NASA’s announcement is a major milestone not only for SpaceX’s cargo resupply missions, but also for the new era of commercial vehicles entering the operational realm of Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

“Pending completion of final safety reviews, testing and verification, NASA also has agreed to allow SpaceX to send its Dragon spacecraft to rendezvous with the International Space Station (ISS) in a single flight,” opened NASA’s statement on the announcement, which will include some final hurdles which all vehicles travelling to the ISS require.

This includes a NASA level Demo Readiness Review (RR) and an ISS review, similar to that undertaken for Europe’s ATV and Japan’s HTV.

As noted in this site’s article earlier this week, the confirmation of an approved combination flight was made by Human Exploration and Operations (HEO) Mission Directorate Associate Administrator Bill Gersteinmaier, while it was also confirmed the mission would slip from it previous January timeframe.

“SpaceX has made incredible progress over the last several months preparing Dragon for its mission to the space station,” Mr Gerstenmaier noted. “We look forward to a successful mission, which will open up a new era in commercial cargo delivery for this international orbiting laboratory.

Click here for other Dragon News Articles: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/tag/dragon/

“There is still a significant amount of critical work to be completed before launch, but the teams have a sound plan to complete it and are prepared for unexpected challenges. As with all launches, we will adjust the launch date as needed to gain sufficient understanding of test and analysis results to ensure safety and mission success.”

The significance of the announcement coming from Mr Gerstenmaier should not be under-estimated, given his close relationship with the ISS’ other major partner, the Russians. Officials at RSC Energia and Roscosmos have been exhibiting a large degree of caution – as should be expected – over the arrival of a brand new vehicle at the orbital outpost.

As previously noted, the Russian officials had a number of concerns – some of which may require alleviating at the upcoming FRRs, which – at an ISS partner level – they will be involved with. Their latest “request” revolved around the flight profile of Dragon, one which they requested should match that undertaken by Japan’s HTV during its first flight.

Dragon’s flight profile has not been revealed in any great detail, but it is believed the vehicle was already closely following the approach milestones carried out by the JAXA vehicle, allowing for several safety decision points enroute to the rendezvous with the Space Station.

A large degree of mitigation is in-built into Dragon’s next trip into space, given it will only arrive at the ISS if all of the requirements under the initial C2 demo objectives receive the joint approval from SpaceX controllers and NASA controllers – the latter located at the Mission Control Center (MCC) in Houston. Any major problems during the C2 flight phase will end the mission.

As noted by NASA, Dragon will conduct a series of check-out procedures that will test and prove its systems in advance of the rendezvous with the station. The primary objectives for the flight include a fly-by of the space station at a distance of approximately two miles to validate the operation of sensors and flight systems necessary for a safe rendezvous and approach. The spacecraft also will demonstrate the capability to abort the rendezvous, if required.

Dragon will perform the final approach to the ISS while the station crew grapples the vehicle with the station’s robotic arm. The capsule will be berthed – by the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) to the Earth-facing side of the Harmony node.

At the end of the mission, the crew will reverse the process, detaching Dragon from the station for its return to Earth and splashdown in the Pacific off the coast of California. If the rendezvous and attachment to the station are not successful, SpaceX will complete a third demonstration flight in order to achieve these objectives as originally planned.

With budgetary concerns placing additional pressure on the long-term commercial approach for cargo flights and the eventual crew missions to the ISS, a successful mission will go some way to ease the ISS’ logistics status, which is under strain since the retirement of the Space Shuttle fleet from their NASA missions.

Such a historic docking of a commercial – non-Agency – vehicle to the ISS will mark the start of such a drive, one which enables NASA to concentrate on Beyond Earth Orbit (BEO) exploration via their Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion crew vehicle.

“SpaceX is excited to be the first commercial company in history to berth with the International Space Station. This mission will mark a historic milestone in the future of spaceflight,” said SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell. “We appreciate NASA’s continued support and their partnership in this process.”

Later in 2012, the second COTS vehicle – Orbital’s Cygnus spacecraft – will join in on ISS resupply operations. No firm launch date has been set for Cygnus’ debut trip to the ISS, following its ride into space via a Taurus II launch vehicle from the new launch facility at the Wallops Space Center.

(Images: L2 Content, NASA, SpaceX)

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