Credit: TsENKI TV/Roscosmos

A Russian Progress supply ship packed with several tons of crew provisions and fuel lifted off Wednesday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on a two-day trip to the International Space Station.

The Progress MS-06 cargo and refueling freighter launched at 0920:13 GMT (5:20:13 a.m. EDT), or 3:20 p.m. local time at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The unpiloted cargo craft rode into orbit on a Soyuz-2.1a rocket, a modernized version of Russias venerable booster.

The Soyuz blasted off from Launch Pad No. 31 at Baikonur on a nearly nine-minute journey into orbit, soaring through overcast skies before deploying the Progress MS-06 spacecraft from its third stage. Moments after separating from the rocket, the supply ship extended its power-generating solar panels and navigation antennas, setting up for a series of thruster firings to approach the space station Friday.

If the radar-guided automated rendezvous goes according to plan, the Progress MS-06 cargo freighter is scheduled to dock with the space stations Zvezda module at 1142 GMT (7:42 a.m. EDT) Friday.

The Soyuz-2.1a rocket featuresredesigned third stage propellant tanks and a digital flight control computer, upgrades introduced to Russias workhorse launcher over the last decade.

Designated Progress 67P in the space stations sequence of crew and cargo vehicles, the Russian resupply mission will reach the research outpost nearly halfway through the visit of a SpaceX Dragon capsule that delivered nearly 6,000 pounds (2,700 kilograms) of experiments and equipment June 5.

The Progress MS-06 spaceship carries around 6,039 pounds (2.7 metric tons) of cargo and supplies to the International Space Station, according to NASA.

The supplies include 3,069 pounds (1,392 kilograms) of dry cargo inside the ships pressurized compartment, 1,940 pounds (880 kilograms) of fuel to refill the stations propulsion system, 926 pounds (420 kilograms) of potable water, and 104 pounds (47 kilograms) of high-pressure oxygen and air to replenish the research labs breathable atmosphere, a NASA spokesperson said.

Four small satellites launched inside the Progress MS-06 spacecrafts cabin for release by cosmonauts on a spacewalk later this year.

The Progress MS-06 supply ship will remain at the space station until December, when it will undock with a load of trash and re-enter the atmosphere for a destructive plunge over the South Pacific Ocean.

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Robotic Russian resupply freighter on the way to space station - Spaceflight Now

As much as we want to travel outside our planet and explore the deep realms of space, theres one big problem that has been hindering our progress: speed. Or more specifically, the need for extreme speed.

With our current technologies, the farthest our astronauts can travel to is Mars. Such trip typically takes two to three years to be completed from Earth to Mars, and back to Earth. For our astronauts, that means two to three years of exposure to harmful cosmic radiation and the hazards of microgravity. And that simply isnt acceptable. By funding a New Jersey-based spaceflight company called Princeton Satellite Systems, NASA is hoping that can soon change.

Princeton Satellite Systems is said to be developing a miniature version of a fusion reactor that weighs just 11 tons, measures less than 5 feet (1.5 meters) in diameter, is only 13 26 feet (4 8 meters) long, and is capable of generating around 1 kilowatt of power per 2.2 pounds (1 Kilogram) of mass.

Fusion reactors work by fusing or combining two hydrogen nuclei to form helium, meaning, they make use of the same chemical reaction that stars, including our Sun, constantly undergo to generate enormous amounts of energy. Unfortunately, as powerful as fusion reactors are envisioned to be, no one has yet figured out how to build one that generates more energy than what is required to produce that energy, considering that extremely high temperatures and pressures are needed for fusion of atoms to take place. Additionally, the fusion reactors being developed are quite big, which make them impractical to bring into space.

This is what will differentiate the work being done by Princeton Satellite Systems. Instead of building the usual large fusion reactors that aim to produce hundreds of megawatts of power, they are opting to build miniaturized versions that are designed to generate only about a dozen megawatts of power. Its not just easier to build, in a manner of speaking; it will cost way less too. Just imagine, a large fusion reactor will cost $20 billion; a mini version, on the other hand, will only cost $20 million.

As described in an article by Space.com, Princeton Satellite Systems mini fusion reactor will involve heating a mix of deuterium and helium 3 using low-frequency radio waves, confining the plasma generated within magnetic fields, then directing it out of the engines nozzle to create a powerful thrust.

According to Princeton Satellite Systems president Michael Paluszek, the thrust generated can provide speeds of up to 25,000 kilometers per second (or 55.9 million miles per hour). At such velocities, space travel can significantly be shortened. For instance, a trip to Mars will be reduced to just a 310-day trip. That means less exposure to deadly radiation, and less supplies needed for the trip too. If used for a robotic mission to Pluto, it will only take four years instead of nine years, which is how long it took NASAs New Horizons mission. Paluszek even says that a 10-megawatt fusion rocket could be used to deflect asteroids that can potentially cause widespread damage to our planet.

Princeton Satellite Systems initiative doesnt come without its challenges, of course. For starters, helium 3 is quite rare, which means theres an additional step needed for the reaction to work, that is, produce helium 3 first either via nuclear reactors, or space mining. Theres also the matter of the reactor producing deadly neutron radiation. Even if the amount is minimal, it will still require some kind of shielding, which means more additional work. Theres also the need to use multiple reactors because apparently, radio waves cant penetrate too deep into plasma.

Everything else considered, the researchers are aiming to demonstrate a working prototype by 2019 or 2020. Were quite sure NASA and all other space and astronomy enthusiasts are hoping that Princeton Satellite Systems will deliver on their intent to help fast-track space missions to Mars and other target destinations.

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Could Teeny Fusion Rockets Propel The Future Of Spaceflight? - Wall Street Pit

Jun.13.2017 / 10:24 AM ET

Science writer Charles Q. Choi is a contributor to Space.com. His work also appears in such publications as Scientific American, The New York Times and National Geographic.

Fusion-powered rockets the size of only a few refrigerators could one day help propel spacecraft at high speeds to nearby planets or even other stars, a NASA-funded spaceflight company says.

Another use for such fusion rockets is to deflect asteroids that might strike Earth and to build manned bases on the moon and Mars, the researchers say.

Rockets fly by hurling materials known as propellants away from them. Conventional rockets that rely on chemical reactions are not very efficient when it comes to how much thrust they generate, given the amount of propellant they carry, which has led rocket scientists to explore a variety of alternatives over the years.

An option now used in spacecraft is the ion drive, which generates thrust by using electricity to accelerate electrically charged ion propellants. Ion drives are far more efficient than chemical rockets but are limited by the amount of electricity they can harvest via solar panels or generate using radioactive materials.

Related: Superfast Spacecraft Propulsion Concepts

Instead of chemical rockets or ion drives, scientists have also suggested using fusion rockets propelled by the same nuclear reactions that power stars. These rockets would not only be efficient but also generate vast amounts of electricity.

However, so far, no one has built a fusion reactor that generates more energy than it consumes. Moreover, the fusion reactors that are under development are huge, making them difficult to hoist into space.

But now, researchers funded by NASA are developing small fusion rockets.

"It's technology that enables really interesting robotic and human missions to Mars and Pluto, and it is also potentially a way of getting into interstellar space," said Michael Paluszek, president of Princeton Satellite Systems in Plainsboro, New Jersey.

The large fusion reactors under development today, such as the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), usually strive to generate hundreds of megawatts of power. In contrast, Paluszek and his colleagues at Princeton Satellite Systems are designing reactors meant to produce only a dozen megawatts or so. This humbler goal results in a smaller, lighter reactor that is easier to build and launch into space "for practical robotic and human missions," Paluszek said.

In addition, these small fusion reactors are much cheaper than larger devices. Paluszek noted that, whereas modern fusion experiments might cost $20 billion, a prototype fusion rocket the researchers plan to develop should cost just $20 million. So far, they have received three NASA grants to fund the project, he said.

The aim for the fusion drives is to get about 1 kilowatt of power per 2.2 lbs. (1 kilogram) of mass. A 10-megawatt fusion rocket would, therefore, weigh about 11 tons (10 metric tons).

"It would probably be 1.5 meters [4.9 feet] in diameter and 4 to 8 meters [13 to 26 feet] long," Paluszek said.

Related: Will This 'Impossible' Motor Take People to Other Planets?

Nuclear fusion requires extremely high temperatures and pressures to force atoms to fuse, a process that converts some of the mass of the atoms into energy. The fusion reactors that Princeton Satellite Systems is developing uses low-frequency radio waves to heat a mix of deuterium and helium-3, and magnetic fields to confine the resulting plasma in a ring. (Deuterium is made of hydrogen atoms that each have an extra neutron; helium-3 is made of helium atoms, each of which is missing a neutron; and plasma is the state of matter found in stars, lightning bolts, and neon lights.)

As this plasma rotates in a ring, some of it can spiral out and get directed from the fusion rocket's nozzle for thrust. "We can get very high exhaust velocities of up to about 25,000 kilometers per second [55.9 million mph]," Paluszek said.

The large amounts of thrust this fusion rocket may deliver compared to its mass could enable very fast spacecraft. For instance, whereas round-trip crewed missions to Mars are estimated to take more than two years using current technology, the researchers estimated that six 5-megawatt fusion rockets could accomplish such missions in 310 days. This extra speed would reduce the risks of radiation that astronauts might experience from the sun or deep space, as well as dramatically cut the amount of food, water, and other supplies they would need to bring with them.

Related: Warp Speed Won't Get Us to the Stars, but This Just Might

In addition, the fusion reactors could also help generate ample electricity for scientific instruments and communications devices. For instance, whereas NASA's New Horizons mission took more than nine years to get to Pluto and had little more than 200 watts of power to work with once it arrived, broadcasting about 1,000 bits of data back per second, a 1-megawatt fusion rocket could get a robotic mission to Pluto in four years, supply 500 kilowatts of power and broadcast more than 1 million bits of data back per second, Paluszek said. Such a mission could also carry a lander to Pluto and power it by beaming down energy, he added.

"With the amount of power fusion rockets can provide, you can think of science that can't be done now with other technologies, such as powering a lander to drill through the ice on Jupiter's moon Europa," Paluszek said.

A 10-megawatt fusion rocket could also deflect an asteroid about 525 feet (160 m) in diameter coming at Earth, spending about 200 days to travel there and 23 days nudging it off course, Paluszek said. Fusion rockets could even enable an interstellar voyage to the nearest star system, Alpha Centauri, although the trip might take 500 to 700 years, he said. (Alpha Centauri lies about 4.3 light-years from the sun.)

Related: Gallery: Visions of Interstellar Starship Travel

Previous research suggested this kind of fusion rocket in the 1960s, but the designs proposed for them would not stably confine the plasmas, Paluszek said. About 10 years ago, reactor designer Sam Cohen figured out a magnetic-field design "that could make stable plasmas," Paluszek explained.

One drawback of the kind of nuclear reactor that Princeton Satellite Systems is developing is that radio waves do not penetrate deeply into plasma. "We're limited to something like 1 meter [3.3 feet] in diameter," Paluszek said. To generate large amounts of power with this strategy, the researchers have to rely on multiple reactors.

Another pitfall is that, while this fusion reactor generates less deadly neutron radiation than most fusion reactors under development, it still does produce some neutrons, as well as X-rays. "Radiation shielding is key," Paluszek said.

In addition, helium-3 is rare on Earth. Still, it is possible to generate helium-3 using nuclear reactors, Paluszek said.

Princeton Satellite Systems is not alone in pursuing small fusion reactors. For instance, Paluszek noted that Helion Energy in Redmond, Washington, also intends to fuse deuterium and helium-3, while Tri Alpha Energy in Foothill Ranch, California, aims to fuse boron and protons.

"Fusion can enable new and exciting science missions that are too expensive and difficult to do with today's technology," Paluszek said.

The researchers have not yet demonstrated fusion with their device, but aim to do so by 2019 to 2020. Paluszek detailed his company's research June 3 at The Dawn of Private Space Science Symposium in New York.

Follow Charles Q. Choi on Twitter @cqchoi. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook, and Google+. Original articleSpace.com.

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Are These Little Rockets the Future of Spaceflight? | NBC News - NBCNews.com

Jason Rhian

June 14th, 2017

NASA, Orbital ATK and Lockheed Martin are preparing to conduct the QM-1 static test fire of the Orion spacecrafts Launch Abort Motor at 1 p.m. MDT June 15 at Promontory, Utah. Photo Credit: Orbital ATK

PROMONTORY, Utah On Thursday, June 15, 2017,NASA, Orbital ATK and Lockheed Martinare slated to carry out the first of three qualification ground tests (QM-1) of the Launch Abort Motor being developed for use on the space agencys Orion spacecraft.

The test will last for a mere five seconds and will test out several of the motors performance aspects. Photo Credit: Orbital ATK

The vertical ground test firing is slated to take place at 1 p.m. MDT (19:00 GMT) at Orbital ATKs test facility locatednear Promontory, Utah.

In the event of an emergency either at the launch pad or during ascent, Orion is fitted with a Launch Abort System or LAS that would pull Orions Command Module away from the vehicles Service Module as well as the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket it is attached to.

The 17-foot (5.2-meter) tall Launch Abort Motor set to be tested is the main motor in the escape system and has a diameter of about three feet (1 meter). It has a manifold that has four nozzles and turns the flow of the flames to create a pulling motion.

Thursdays test is scheduled to last for only about five seconds. But,it will be an impressive five seconds with themotor reaching400,000 pounds (1,800 kilonewtons) of thrust in just one-eighth of a second, sending plumes some100 feet (100 meters) into the desert sky.

During an actual abort scenario, either on the launch pad or up to 300,000 feet (91,000 meters) in altitude during the vehicles climb toward orbit, the motor would pull the Orion spacecrafts Command Module away from whatever event would require a hasty retreat away from the launch vehicle and spacecraft.

For this test, the abort motor was fitted onto a specially-designed vertical test stand with the nozzles pointed skyward. When activated, the plumes of fire and smoke will shoot into the sky.

The motor is currently on the test stand, which has temporary thermal panels between the motors four legs tobetter regulatethermal conditioning, which was initiated Sunday, June 11. The panels will be removed a few hours before thetest. Once this has occurred, Orbital ATKs engineers will erect the heat shield acoustic array above the motor and perform final instrument checks for the test firing, according to a statement provided to SpaceFlight Insider by Orbital ATK.

This is the first static fire test that validates the ballistic performance of the abort motor operational propellant grain design, Steve Sara, Orbital ATKs Launch Abort Motor program director told SpaceFlight Insider. It also verifies the motor performance under the high temperature design limits as well as design changes since the development test performed in 2008.

If everything continues to go as NASA and its family of contractors plan, SLS will conduct its maiden flight from Kennedy Space Centers Launch Complex 39B in 2019. It will send an Orion spacecraft on a circumlunar journey designed as a shakedown flight beforesending crews aloft on the rocket in 2023.

NASA looked into the possibility of having a crew fly on the 2019 inaugural flight of SLS, as part of a directive from NASAs Acting Administrator Robert Lightfoot. The space agency, however, opted to maintain the current path it wason as there were too many logistical and technological elements that would not support a human flight under that timeline.

An Orion spacecraft has already conducted one uncrewed flight, atop a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket on Exploration Flight Test 1 in December of 2014.

Those wishing to watch the test can go to a public viewing sitealong State Road 83 North (about 20 miles west of Corinne, Utah).

Video courtesy of Wired

Updated at2 p.m. EDT to clarify the maximum altitude the Launch Abort Motor can be used during ascent.

Tagged: Launch Abort Motor Lead Stories Lockheed-Martin NASA Orbital ATK Orion Promontory Space Launch System

Jason Rhian spent several years honing his skills with internships at NASA, the National Space Society and other organizations. He has provided content for outlets such as: Aviation Week & Space Technology, Space.com, The Mars Society and Universe Today.

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Orbital ATK poised to test Orion Launch Abort Motor - SpaceFlight Insider

Artists concept of the XS-1 spaceplane before releasing its expendable upper stage. Credit: Boeing

A reusable suborbital spaceplane the size of a business jet being developed by Boeing and the Defense Departments research and development arm could be launching and landing at Cape Canaveral in 2020, officials said after the defense contractor won a competition last month to design and test the vehicle.

Designed for rapid reusability, the XS-1 spaceplane will take off vertically like a rocket without a crew deploy an upper stage after traveling beyond the edge of space, then return to landing on a runway for inspections and reuse.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, selected Boeing to finish designing the spaceplane last month. Boeing beat competitors Northrop Grumman and Masten Space Systems to win the $146 million contract.

Boeing and DARPA are developing the spaceplane in a cost-sharing public-private partnership arrangement, but Boeing did not disclose how much it is spending on the program.

When operational after a series of suborbital and orbital test flights, the XS-1 and its expendable upper stage could place satellites weighing up to 3,000 pounds (1,360 kilograms) into low Earth orbit several hundred miles above the planet.

The XS-1 would be neither a traditional airplane nor a conventional launch vehicle but rather a combination of the two, with the goal of lowering launch costs by a factor of ten and replacing todays frustratingly long wait time with launch on demand, said Jess Sponable, DARPA program manager, in a press release. Were very pleased with Boeings progress on the XS-1 through Phase 1 of the program and look forward to continuing our close collaboration in this newly funded progression to Phases 2 and 3 fabrication and flight.

The Defense Department envisions the Experimental Spaceplane, or XS-1, program as an option for rapid call-up to replace a lost military or commercial satellite, available to launch within days instead of the months or years needed today.

An end goal for the XS-1 program is to launch 10 times in 10 days, with recurring operating costs as little as $5 million per flight, including the disposable upper stage, according to DARPA.

Boeing calls its XS-1 test vehicle the Phantom Express, a winged craft the size of a business jet that will launch to the edge of space and release an expendable upper stage, which would fire to inject the missions payload into orbit. The reusable first stage would turn around and fly back to the launch site.

Rick Weiss, a DARPA spokesperson, said Cape Canaveral will be the base for Phantom Express test flights and launch operations. He did not say which launch pad the spaceplane will use.

The spacecraft booster would return to land at one of two runways on Floridas Space Coast: Kennedy Space Centers Shuttle Landing Facility, a three-mile-long landing strip, or the Skid Strip at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Phantom Express is designed to disrupt and transform the satellite launch process as we know it today, creating a new, on-demand space-launch capability that can be achieved more affordably and with less risk, said Darryl Davis, president of Boeing Phantom Works.

Boeing officials said the Phantom Express would employ operation and maintenance principles similar to modern aircraft.

The U.S. Air Forces X-37B space plane, similar in appearance to the XS-1 but different in function, is also built by Boeing.

The Phantom Express booster stage would be powered by a single Aerojet Rocketdyne AR-22 engine, a version of the space shuttle main engine, burning liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants.

Boeing originally partnered with Blue Origin, the space company founded by Amazon.coms Jeff Bezos, as an engine provider for the XS-1 program, but later switched to an Aerojet Rocketdyne engine, according to Cheryl Sampson, a Boeing spokesperson.

We conducted trade studies with Blue Origin in the first phase of the program, Sampson wrote in an email to Spaceflight Now. Boeing selected the Aerojet Rocketdyne engine for this next phase as it offers a flight proven, reusable engine to meet the DARPA mission requirements.

Aerojet Rocketdyne said it will provide two engines for the XS-1 program with legacy shuttle flight experience to demonstrate reusability, a wide operating range and rapid turnarounds.

The engines will be designated as AR-22 engines, Aerojet Rocketdyne said in a press release. Technicians at NASAs Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, where Aerojet Rocketdyne assembles and tests rocket engines, will create the AR-22 engines from parts left over from early versions of the shuttle main engine, the company said.

As one of the worlds most reliable rocket engines, the SSME is a smart choice to power the XS-1 launch vehicle, said Eileen Drake, Aerojet Rocketdyne CEO and president. This engine has a demonstrated track record of solid performance and proven reusability.

The Phantom Express booster stage will have advanced, lightweight composite cryogenic tanks to hold the super-cold propellants feeding the AR-22 engine. Hybrid metallic-composite wings and control surfaces on the spaceplane will be fitted with third-generation thermal protection to withstand the rigors of hypersonic flight and re-entry temperatures of more than 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit (1,100 degrees Celsius), according to DARPA and Boeing.

Other technologies on the spaceplane launch system would include an autonomous range safety destruct mechanism and other components designed for autonomous flight, including some developed for DARPAs Airborne Launch Assist Space Access, or ALASA, program, officials said.

The ALASA program intended to launch small 100-pound (45-kilogram) satellites on a lightweight rocket fired from the belly of an F-15 fighter jet. DARPA canceled the program, which it also developed with Boeing, in 2015 after running into problems testing the rockets mix of nitrous oxide and acetylene fuel, a monopropellant cocktail that would have eliminated the need for the launcher to carry an oxidizer.

Phase 2 of the XS-1 program will encompass the design, construction and testing of a technology demonstration vehicle through 2019, DARPA said. The AR-22 engine will be test-fired on the ground 10 times in 10 days to verify it is ready for flight tests.

Phase 3 objectives include 12 to 15 flight tests, currently scheduled for 2020, DARPA said in a statement. After multiple shakedown flights to reduce risk, the XS-1 would aim to fly 10 times over 10 consecutive days, at first without payloads and at speeds as fast as Mach 5.

Then test flights will reach speeds as fast as Mach 10, DARPA said, and deliver a demonstration payload into low Earth orbit with a mass between 900 pounds (408 kilograms) and 3,000 pounds (1,360 kilograms).

Weiss said DARPA currently envisions a liquid-fueled upper stage for the XS-1 program, and artists concepts show the upper stage riding on top of the spaceplanes fuselage. The DARPA spokesman said the agency is open to other types of upper stages, which would be provided by Boeing.

DARPA said it will release selected data from the XS-1 tests to other commercial launch providers interested in adopting the programs reusable, rapid-turnaround concepts.

Were delighted to see this truly futuristic capability coming closer to reality, said Brad Tousley, director of DARPAs Tactical Technology Office, which oversees XS-1. Demonstration of aircraft-like, on-demand, and routine access to space is important for meeting critical Defense Department needs and could help open the door to a range of next-generation commercial opportunities.

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Boeing, DARPA to base XS-1 spaceplane at Cape Canaveral - Spaceflight Now

Heather Smith

June 14th, 2017

Dynetics, Inc. is to build the universal stage adapter for NASAs SLS rocket. Image Credit: NASA

NASA has announced that the applied science and information technology company Dynetics, Inc. of Huntsville, Alabama, has been awarded a $221.7 million prime contract to develop and build a universal stage adapter (USA) for the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.

The adapter will serve to connect NASAs Orion spacecraft to the exploration upper stage (EUS) of the Block 1B Crew variant of the SLS while also providing additional cargo space for the rocket. The partnership is with the Glenn Research Center in Ohio.

Dynetics will design, develop, test, evaluate, produce, and deliver the first universal stage adapter for the second integrated mission Exploration Mission-2 (EM-2) of the SLS and Orion. The mission will be the first test flight with crew aboard NASAs new deep space exploration systems. The SLS will have three different launch blocks. USA and EUS will be placed on top of the SLS core stage and solid rocket boosters for the Block 1B and other future configurations.

We are extremely proud to be selected as the prime contractor for the NASA Space Launch Systems Universal Stage Adapter. This contract will build on Dynetics expertise in the space industry which includes developing low-cost, full-scale advanced booster cryogenic liquid oxygen demonstration tank and manufacturing, designing and testing propulsion components and systems for the SLS core and upper stages, said Robert Wright, Dynetics program manager.

An artists rendering of NASAs Space Launch System (SLS) evolution: SLS Block 1 Crew, Block 1B Crew, Block 1B Cargo, and Block 2 Cargo. Image Credit: NASA

Dynetics will also coordinate their plans with RUAG Space USA, ZIN Technologies, Dynamics Concepts, Inc., Craig Technologies, Tuskegee University and Paragon Tec. Wright said that the partnerships will bring vast levels of experience and knowledge together while developing flight hardware for deep space missions.

The contract performance period will be 11 years, which includes a four-year base period that begins on August 1, allowing NASA to order up to six additional adaptors for missions beyond EM-2.

Other payloads such as habitats, deep-space exploration spacecraft, and CubeSats can be housed inside the USA.

The adapter will stand 32.4 feet (9.9 meters) tall and will measure 27.6 feet (8.4 meters) in diameter at its largest point. It will provide environmental control to payloads during ground operations, launch, and ascent while also accommodating the electrical and communications between the EUS and Orion. The maximum payload internal volume area will be up to 10,100 cubic feet (286 m3).

The focus of the EM-2 mission surrounds the EUS and four RL-10 engines that will propel Orion into a trans-lunar injection, which is a higher elliptical orbit around Earth. Another orbit will take place between 500 and 19,000 nautical miles (926 km to 35,188 km) above Earth. Once the orbits are completed, the EUS will separate from the Orion spacecraft, and the payload(s) selected for the mission in the USA will be released. The payloads will then fly on their own and conduct their individual missions.

After the USA is assembled and tested, it will be delivered to Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The USA will travel by barge from Decatur, Alabama, down the Tennessee River and Tombigbee Waterway to the Gulf of Mexico and then towardsouth Florida to Kennedy Space Center.

Dynetics is also the subcontractor for manufacturing and transportation for the SLS core stage pathfinder vehicle.

According to Dynetics, the SLS Block 1B rocket with the adapter is scheduled to launch sometime in the early 2020s.

An expanded view of the 70-metric-ton Block 1B Crew showing the Universal Stage Adapter position on NASAs Space Launch System (SLS). Image Credit: NASA

Tagged: Dynetics NASA Orion Space Launch System The Range

Heather Smith's fascination for space exploration started at the tender age of twelve while she was on a sixth-grade field trip in Kenner, Louisiana, walking through a mock-up of the International Space Station and seeing the space potty (her terminology has progressed considerably since that time) she realized at this point that her future lay in the stars. Smith has come to realize that very few people have noticed how much spaceflight technology has improved their lives. She has since dedicated herself to correcting this problem. Inspired by such classic literature as Anne Franks Diary, she has honed her writing skills and has signed on as The Spaceflight Groups coordinator for the organizations social media efforts.

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Dynetics to build SLS universal stage adapter - SpaceFlight Insider

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The Private Sector Is More Involved Than Ever In Spaceflight. Is ... Forbes Is NASA becoming obsolete now that we have increasing private sector involvement in space? This question was originally answered on Quora by C Stuart ... and more »

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The Private Sector Is More Involved Than Ever In Spaceflight. Is ... - Forbes

Paul Knightly

June 13th, 2017

A new study suggests that the cancer risk on a Mars mission due to galactic cosmic radiation could be double what existing models suggest. Image Credit: NASA

A new study by researchers at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) suggests the cancer risk for astronauts on a mission to Mars could be higher than expected. The results of the study were published in the May issue of Scientific Reports and show the risk is effectively doubled compared with previous models.

The study builds off of previous research that has suggested prolonged exposure to galactic cosmic radiation can cause cancer, cataracts, circulatory diseases, acute radiation illness, and effects to the central nervous system. While protons are primarily responsible for the absorbed radiation doses in the study, significant contributions were also noted from heavier ions, low energy protons and helium particles, and neutrons.

Exploring Mars will require missions of 900 days or longer and includes more than one year in deep space where exposures to all energies of galactic cosmic ray heavy ions are unavoidable, Francis Cucinotta, the lead author of the study explained in a press release by UNLV. Current levels of radiation shielding would, at best, modestly decrease the exposure risks.

Cucinotta has a background in studying the effects of the radiation environment of space.

Current radiation risk models assume DNA mutation and damage are the primary cause of cancer, which assumes all cells are impacted by cosmic rays over a short period of time. The new study examined how cancer risk is affected by how healthy, bystander cells are impacted by cells heavily damaged by cosmic rays. The results indicated at least a two-fold increase in cancer rates compared to current risk models.

Galactic cosmic ray exposure can devastate a cells nucleus and cause mutations that can result in cancers, Cucinotta said. We learned the damaged cells send signals to the surrounding, unaffected cells and likely modify the tissues microenvironments. Those signals seem to inspire the healthy cells to mutate, thereby causing additional tumors or cancers.

Cucinotta saidthe studys findings underline the need for more research into the effects of cosmic ray exposures under Mars mission constraints. Much of the existing body of research has focused on cosmic ray exposure on long duration missions within Earths geomagnetic sphere, such as extended flights on the International Space Station.

Cucinotta also said this raises a moral question of sending astronauts to Mars with such a high cancer risk.

Waving or increasing acceptable risk levels raises serious ethical flags[] if the true nature of the risks [is] not scientifically understood, Cucinotta said.

Tagged: cancer Cosmic Rays human spaceflight Mars The Range University of Nevada

Paul is currently a graduate student in Space and Planetary Sciences at the University of Akransas in Fayetteville. He grew up in the Kansas City area and developed an interest in space at a young age at the start of the twin Mars Exploration Rover missions in 2003. He began his studies in aerospace engineering before switching over to geology at Wichita State University where he earned a Bachelor of Science in 2013. After working as an environmental geologist for a civil engineering firm, he began his graduate studies in 2016 and is actively working towards a PhD that will focus on the surficial processes of Mars. He also participated in a 2-week simluation at The Mars Society's Mars Desert Research Station in 2014 and remains involved in analogue mission studies today. Paul has been interested in science outreach and communication over the years which in the past included maintaining a personal blog on space exploration from high school through his undergraduate career and in recent years he has given talks at schools and other organizations over the topics of geology and space. He is excited to bring his experience as a geologist and scientist to the Spaceflight Insider team writing primarily on space science topics.

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Study suggests increased cancer risk on Mars missions - SpaceFlight Insider

Derek Richardson

June 12th, 2017

The re-entry of the second Cygnus spacecraft in 2014. Photo Credit: NASA

Burning up in a blaze of glory, Orbital ATKsOA-7 Cygnus cargo ship re-entered Earths atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean on June 11, 2017, ending its nearly two-month-long flight.

The spacecraft, which spent some six weeks attached to the International Space Station, delivered more than 7,300 pounds (3,300 kilograms) of supplies to the outpost and, after unberthing last week, performed a fire experiment.

The S.S. John Glenn, as it was named, launched to the station atop an Atlas V rocket on April 18, 2017. After a four-day trek to the outpost, it was berthed by the then Expedition 51 crew.

Once attached, the crew began transferring the cargo, which included various experiments and hardware, such as a new plant growth facility, biology samples, and more. There were also more than 30 CubeSats inside for future deployment from the Kibo module airlock.

After being loaded with trash and unneeded equipment, the spacecraft was detached from the outpost at 9:10 a.m. EDT (13:10 GMT) on June 4. The unberthing came more than a month earlier than originally planned. The schedule for the current Expedition 52 crew opened up when the launch of the CRS-11 Dragon capsule was by postponed by several days.

According to Spaceflight101, station managers on the ground seized the opportunity to have the crew detach the OA-7 spacecraft in early June because crew operations for the rest of the month and into July were expected to be fairly busywith experiments to conduct as well as cargo and crew crafts coming and going.

Cygnus did not immediately de-orbit, however, as it had a fire experiment called SAFFIRE-III to perform. The experiment occurred remotelyas to not endanger the space station crew.

The SAFFIRE experiments are the largest flame studies conducted in space. They are designed to better understand flame propagation on various materials in a bid to design safer spacecraft.

For this experiment, a cotton-fiberglass sample, identical to the one forSAFFIRE-I in 2016, was set ablaze. For this run, however, two fans were set atdifferent speeds to measure how airflow can influence flame propagation in zero gravity.

The experiment was performed only hours after departing the space station, at 5:17 p.m. EDT (21:17 GMT). Over the next several days, video and other data from the study were downlinked.

Three more SAFFIRE experiments are being developed to follow up on the results from the first three. According to NASA, the series will focus on the creation and spread of toxic combustion gases.

In the days before Cygnus deorbit burn, two pairs of Lemur-2 CubeSats were deployed. These Spire Global satellites will join its larger constellation of ship-tracking and remote sensing satellites. The four are expected to remain in orbit for at least two years.

Cygnus performed three orbit-lowering maneuvers on June 10 to set itself up for its deorbit the following day. Then, at 12:37 p.m. EDT (16:37 GMT), a final 5.5-minute deorbit burn was performed by its BT-4 engine, setting it up for re-entry over the Pacific Ocean and away from major shipping lanes.

Although its mission was almost accomplished, the spacecraft had one more experiment on board called RED-Data2.The study consisted of three soccer-ball-sized capsules designed to survive re-entry, but they are not recoverable.

RED-Data2 has two objectives. The first is totrack vehicle parameters including its location, acceleration, temperature, pressure, etc to allow for a full digital reconstruction of Cygnus atmospheric breakup. This will help engineers better understand how large objects break apart during re-entry. The second is to test new heat shield material.

There are three capsules, each with a different material: a lightweight Conformal Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator called C-PICA, aConformal Silicone Impregnated Refractory Ceramic Ablatorcalled C-SIRCA, anda modification to the Avcoat shield that will be used by Orion.

With the OA-7 mission completed, Orbital ATK is now shifting its focus toward the OA-8E mission, which is currently targeting launch atop an Antares rocket in September.

Cygnus is unberthed and readied for release on June 4, 2017. Photo Credit: NASA

Tagged: Cygnus International Space Station Lead Stories OA-7 Orbital ATK SAFFIRE-III

Derek Richardson has a degree in mass media, with an emphasis in contemporary journalism, from Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. While at Washburn, he was the managing editor of the student run newspaper, the Washburn Review. He also has a blog about the International Space Station, called Orbital Velocity. He met with members of the SpaceFlight Insider team during the flight of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 551 rocket with the MUOS-4 satellite. Richardson joined our team shortly thereafter. His passion for space ignited when he watched Space Shuttle Discovery launch into space Oct. 29, 1998. Today, this fervor has accelerated toward orbit and shows no signs of slowing down. After dabbling in math and engineering courses in college, he soon realized his true calling was communicating to others about space. Since joining SpaceFlight Insider in 2015, Richardson has worked to increase the quality of our content, eventually becoming our managing editor.

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OA-7 Cygnus re-enters Earth's atmosphere after 2-month mission - SpaceFlight Insider

Curt Godwin

June 12th, 2017

The Soyuz 2.1a, set to launch Progress MS-06, can be seen rolling out to the pad. Photo Credit: Roscosmos

Progress MS-06, Russias first supply delivery to the International Space Station (ISS) in nearly four months, is closing in on its targeted launch date of June 14, 2017.

The uncrewed missionis set to lift off at 5:20 a.m. EDT (09:20 GMT) from Site 31/6 at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and will deliver approximately 5,400 pounds (2,450 kilograms) of cargo to the orbiting outpost.

Russias Progress freighter is an uncrewed variant of the crewed Soyuz vehicleand is capable of fully autonomous flightand will automatically dock with the Russian segment of the ISS once it arrives. However, unlike the Soyuz, no part of Progress is designed to survive re-entry at the end of its mission.

The Soyuz 2.1a israised to the vertical position after rolling out to the pad. Photo Credit: Roscosmos

Among the supplies and consumables, Progress MS-06 will be carrying some 1,554 pounds (705 kilograms) of propellant, 110 pounds (50 kilograms) of oxygen, and 926 pounds (420 kilograms) of water.

Upon reaching orbit, the cargo craftwill embark on a two-day, 34-orbit rendezvous profile with the space station and is expected to spend about sixmonths attached to the outpost. Docking with the Zvezda service module is expected to take place at 7:42 a.m.EDT (11:42 GMT) on June 16.

The spacecraft will make use of the same upgraded avionics and navigation hardware flown on Soyuz MS-04.Outfitted with a more modern suite of digital communications and radar systems, the MS series will be able to maintain communications with Russian mission control in Moscow through nearly 70 percent of an orbit. It will do this by utilizing the Luch-5 relay satellites rather than relying on ground stations over Russian territory.

Additionally, the Kurs-NA docking system has received a substantial upgrade, providing greater efficiency during docking sequences.

Progress MS-06 or 67P, as it is classified by NASA will launch atop a Soyuz 2.1a rocket,which is an upgraded version of the venerable Russian launcher thathas seen decades of successful use.

The Soyuz family has been a workhorse of the Soviet and Russian space programs since 1966, tallyingmore than 1,700 launches in the past 50 years. The launcher family has seen flights from Russian/Soviet launch sites as well as from Arianespacesfacilities in French Guiana in South America. This particular variant is capable of lofting more than 15,480pounds (7,020kilograms) to a low-Earthorbit.

Composed of a core surrounded by four strap-onliquid-fueled boosters, the first stage of the rocket is an iconic design immediately recognizable by its distinctive lookof the four boosters as they taper to meet the core stage.

Making use of slightly different versions of the same family of Russian-designed and manufactured engines, the core sports a single RD-108A, while each booster utilizes an RD-107A. Both engine typesare powered by a single turbopump assembly feeding liquid oxygen (LOX) and highly refined kerosene (RG-1) into four independent combustion chambers.

Although both the RD-107A and RD-108A are based on the same design, their outputis somewhat different. The boosters each provide 188,500 pounds-force (838.5 kilonewtons) of sea-level thrust totaling 754,000 pounds-force (3,354 kilonewtons) of supplemental powerduring their two minutes of operation; the core stage provides a bit less at 178,100 pounds-force (792.5 kilonewtons).

The Soyuzs second stage, also known as the Blok-I, is powered by the Russian-made RD-0110. Like its larger RD-107A/108A cousins, the RD-0110 has four combustion chambers into which is fed LOX and RG-1 from a single turbopump system. The smaller RD-0110 provides nearly 67,000 pounds-force (298 kilonewtons) of vacuum thrust and has been in production for more than 57 years.

Finally, the upper stage for the Progress MS-06 launch will be the Russian Fregat. It is powered by a lone S5.92 engine burning a mixture of nitrogen tetroxide and unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine. It produces 4,460 pounds-force (19.85 kilonewtons) of vacuum thrust and is responsible for placing the spacecraft into a proper orbit.

The launch will be covered live on NASA TV.

The Progress MS-06 spacecraft beforebeing encapsulated in its protective payload fairing. Photo Credit: Energia

Tagged: Baikonur Cosmodrome International Space Station Lead Stories Progress MS-06 Roscosmos Soyuz-2

Curt Godwin has been a fan of space exploration for as long as he can remember, keeping his eyes to the skies from an early age. Initially majoring in Nuclear Engineering, Curt later decided that computers would be a more interesting - and safer - career field. He's worked in education technology for more than 20 years, and has been published in industry and peer journals, and is a respected authority on wireless network engineering. Throughout this period of his life, he maintained his love for all things space and has written about his experiences at a variety of NASA events, both on his personal blog and as a freelance media representative.

Originally posted here:

Progress MS-06 spacecraft set for supply run to ISS - SpaceFlight Insider

June 12, 2017 by Chris Bergin

ATerrier-Improved Malemute sounding rocket is set to provide people on the mid-Atlantic coast with a luminescent cloud light show. However, several attempts have been scrubbed, including one on Monday night. The sounding rocket set for launch from Wallops Flight Research Facility will help NASA test a new system that supports science studies of the ionosphere and aurora. Sounding Rocket Launch:

The launch has been delayed a few times, first due to unacceptable weather and the most recent on Sunday night due to a boat in the range. Mondays attempt was also scrubbed due to cloud cover over the ground stations tasked with observing the deployment of the payload.

The Terrier-Malemute launch vehicle which will launch this mission is a high-performance two-stage vehicle used for payloads weighing less than 400 pounds.

The first stage booster consists of a Terrier MK 12 Mod 1 rocket motor with four 340 square inch fin panels arranged in a cruciform configuration. The Terrier booster has an overall diameter of 18 inches.

For a payload weight of 200 pounds, the longitudinal acceleration during the boost phase is 26gs. The second stage propulsion unit is a Thiokol Malemute TU-758 rocket motor which is designed especially for high altitude research rocket applications. The external diameter of the Malemute is 16 inches.

The average thrust is 9,604 pounds. The maximum thrust level is approximately 14,200 pounds which results in a maximum longitudinal acceleration during second stage burning of 32gs for a 200 pound payload.

Liftoff weight of the Terrier-Malemute launch vehicle, less payload, is approximately 3260 pounds. This vehicle is usually rail launched and can be accommodated at most established launch ranges.

However, Wallops is its usual launch site a spaceport that is best known for its launches of Orbital ATK rockets, with the next scheduled to be the launch of the Antares rocket with the OA-8 Cygnus spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS). The previous Cygnus was launched from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V.

During the flight of a two-stage Terrier-Improved Malemute sounding rocket, 10 canisters about the size of a soft drink can will be deployed in the air, 6 to 12 miles away from the 670-pound main payload.

The canisters will deploy between 4 and 5.5 minutes after launch forming blue-green and red artificial clouds. These clouds, or vapor tracers, allow scientists on the ground to visually track particle motions in space.

The development of the multi-canister ampoule ejection system will allow scientists to gather information over a much larger area than previously allowed when deploying the tracers just from the main payload.

Ground cameras will be stationed at Wallops and in Duck, North Carolina, to view the vapor tracers.

Clear skies are required at one of the two ground stations for this test.

The vapor tracers are formed through the interaction of barium, strontium and cupric-oxide. The tracers will be released at altitudes 96 to 124 miles high and pose no hazard to residents along the mid-Atlantic coast.

The blue-green and red vapor tracers may be visible from New York to North Carolina and westward to Charlottesville, Virginia.These clouds, or vapor tracers, allow scientists on the ground to visually track particle motions in space.

The total flight time for the mission is expected to be about 8 minutes. The payload will land in the Atlantic Ocean about 90 miles from Wallops Island and will not be recovered.

(Images via NASA).

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Weather frustrates Wallops launch of sounding rocket with light show - NASASpaceflight.com

The Soyuz-2.1a rocket arrives at Launch Pad No. 1 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Sunday. Credit: Roscosmos

Russian launch crews stood up a Soyuz rocket Sunday on its launch mount in Kazakhstan for a scheduled liftoff Wednesday with approximately 5,500 pounds (2,500 kilograms) of supplies, experiments, fuel and several small satellites to be released by spacewalking cosmonauts at the International Space Station later this year.

The Soyuz-2.1a rocket emerged from an assembly building at the Baikonur Cosmodrome around sunrise Sunday, then trekked on a specialized train car to Launch Pad No. 31 at the historic space base, where technicians hydraulically hoisted the booster vertical. Access platforms raised into position around the Soyuz rocket for final launch preparations.

The launcher is topped with the Progress MS-06 supply ship, an unpiloted logistics freighter heading on a two-day voyage to the International Space Station.

Liftoff is set for 0920:13 GMT (5:20:13 a.m. EDT) Wednesday, or 3:20 p.m. local time at Baikonur.

The modernized Soyuz-2.1a booster, featuring redesigned third stage propellant tanks and a digital flight control computer, will deliver the Progress MS-06 spaceship to orbit less than nine minutes later. Immediately after separating from the Soyuz third stage, the resupply craft will extend its power-generating solar arrays and navigation antennas, kicking off a series of thruster burns to rendezvous with the space station.

Docking with the space stations Zvezda service module is scheduled for 1142 GMT (7:42 a.m. EDT) Friday after a radar-guided automated final approach.

Designated Progress 67P in the space stations sequence of crew and cargo vehicles, the upcoming Russian resupply mission will reach the research outpost nearly halfway through the visit of a SpaceX Dragon capsule that delivered nearly 6,000 pounds (2,700 kilograms) of experiments and equipment June 5.

The Progress MS-06 spaceship will carry around 2.5 metric tons (5,500 pounds) of cargo and supplies to the space station, according to a statement released by Roscosmos, the Russian space agency.

The supplies include dry cargo inside the ships pressurized compartment, fuel to refill the stations propulsion system, potable water, and high-pressure gases to replenish the research labs breathable atmosphere, Roscosmos said.

Four small satellites are set to launch inside the Progress MS-06 spacecrafts cabin for release by cosmonauts on a spacewalk later this year.

The Progress MS-06 supply ship will remain at the space station until December, when it will undock with a load of trash and re-enter the atmosphere for a destructive plunge over the South Pacific Ocean.

More photos of Sundays Soyuz rocket rollout are posted below.

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Soyuz booster rolls out for launch with space station cargo freighter - Spaceflight Now

File photo of the damaged strongback tower at Complex 40 shortly after the Sept. 1 Falcon 9 rocket explosion. Credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now

Construction crews at Cape Canaverals Complex 40 launch pad are busily repairing and upgrading the facility after a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket exploded there last year, with the pads return to service scheduled before the end of the summer, clearing the way for final preparations for the triple-core Falcon Heavys maiden flight late this year.

Once pad 40 is ready for launches again, SpaceX will have two active pads in Florida to help the company ramp up its launch rate. All of SpaceXs Falcon 9 flights from Florida since a rocket explosion at pad 40 on Sept. 1 have taken off from pad 39A, an Apollo- and shuttle-era launch complex at NASAs Kennedy Space Center.

The resumption of launches from pad 40 will allow SpaceX to complete modifications of nearby pad 39A for the Falcon Heavy. Officials rushed pad 39A into service earlier this year for Falcon 9 flights last years explosion left pad 40 unusable.

Investigators traced the rocket explosion, which occurred during fueling before a pre-launch hold-down firing, to a high-pressure helium tank on the Falcon 9s second stage.

Falcon 9 rocket flights resumed in January from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, and launches from pad 39A began Feb. 19 with a space station resupply mission.

The state of Florida is contributing $5 million through Space Florida, an economic development agency focused on the aerospace industry, to help pay for upgrades at pad 40. The money was approved at a Space Florida board meeting June 1 to go toward an improved flame trench and enhanced acoustic suppression capability at pad 40, Dale Ketcham, Space Floridas chief of strategic alliances, wrote in an email to Spaceflight Now.

SpaceX is expected to outfit pad 40 for a higher launch rate once the facility is back in service, using lessons learned at pad 39A, which can support launches in as little as every two weeks in its current configuration.

Once pad 40 is operational, SpaceX plans to relocate all of its East Coast launches there while construction crews return to pad 39A to ready it for the inaugural test flight of the Falcon Heavy rocket, a triple-body booster that will lift off on the power more than 5 million pounds of thrust from 27 Merlin 1D engines.

The heavy-lifter is made of three Falcon 9 first stage boosters bolted together, plus a single-engine upper stage. SpaceX says it can loft 63.8 metric tons (140,660 pounds) of payload to low Earth orbit, a regime several hundred miles above Earth, or 26.7 metric tons (58,860 pounds) to geostationary transfer orbit, a popular higher-altitude destination for commercial communications satellites.

Those figures assume SpaceX disposes of the Falcon Heavys boosters, but officials plan to land two of the side-mounted stages at Cape Canaveral following the maiden flight. The center core will land on a recovery platform downrange in the Atlantic Ocean.

The recovery maneuvers require the Falcon Heavy to keep a reserve of kerosene and liquid oxygen propellants, reducing the weight of satellites it can carry into orbit.

SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk tweeted Thursday that the three Falcon Heavy first stage boosters should be shipped to Florida in two or three months, with the maiden flight approximately one month later. If that schedule materializes, launch could happen as soon as September.

But that is likely a best case scenario, assuming preparations to configure pad 39A for the Falcon Heavy go perfectly.

The two side boosters on the first Falcon Heavy rocket will be reused Falcon 9 first stages, according to SpaceX.

A series of countdown rehearsals are also on tap, and the Falcon Heavys 27 main engines will be test-fired at pad 39A before SpaceX clears the rocket for liftoff, providing an opportunity for engineers to tune the launcher and ground systems.

Meanwhile, SpaceXs rapid-fire launch cadence continues with a flight next Saturday, June 17, with Bulgarias first communications satellite. The launch from pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center at 2:10 p.m. EDT (1810 GMT) will use a previously-flown Falcon 9 first stage booster recovered after a liftoff from California in January.

SpaceX will attempt to recover the first stage again on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.

A batch of 10 next-generation Iridium communications satellites will blast off on another Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base on June 25 at 4:24:59 p.m. EDT (2024:59 GMT), followed on July 1 by a Falcon 9 launch from Florida at 7:35 p.m. EDT (2335 GMT) with the Intelsat 35e broadband relay craft.

Both of those missions will fly with entirely new launch vehicles.

Email the author.

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.

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SpaceX aims to restore damaged launch pad to service by end of summer - Spaceflight Now

Jason Rhian

June 11th, 2017

Much publicity has been given to efforts to make Kennedy Space Center a Multi-User Spaceport but what does that mean exactly and how do commercial companies stand to benefit from this new policy? Photo Credit: NASA

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. Anyone who spends time in or around Floridas Space Coast has heard one phrase repeatedly use in the past few years Multi-User Spaceport. What does that mean? To find out, SFI spoke with two NASA representatives intimately aware with the agencys efforts to expand the diverse array of organizations operating out of the center.

What does this mean for the space agency? How do private space companys stand to gain by becoming a member of this new effort? To find out, SpaceFlight Insider spoke to Kennedy Space Centers Director of the Center Planning and Development Directorate, Tom Engler andPhilip Meade, the Chief ofthe Spaceport Management Integration Division.

SFI: In terms of the SLS,we saw the X-37B coming in, weve seen race cars out there, weve seen motorcycles, the Global Flyer, and now the Air Force is using the Shuttle Landing Facility. SpaceX is using 39A, which of course is where Apollo 11 launched from, and youve got the OPFs, which Boeing had basically taken over. So theres a lot more participants, more people in the mix out at Kennedy now, but its still your property. So SpaceX has launched commercial missions off of 39A. How does that work in terms of your normal operations. I mean, are you working with SpaceX now, even though these missions really have nothing to do with NASA?

Meade: So the real answer is that theres a new normal. The normal has changed. And becoming a multi-user spaceport is not just something we woke up one day and said, Look, were a spaceport. It was an intentional strategy that the center undertook to become a multi-user spaceport. Associated with that is developing all of the processes, all of the procedures, policies, all the different operational capabilities required to be a multi-user spaceport, because doing the type of work that we do out hereyou know, its large.

It has the ability to impact other users of the spaceport very easily, so theres a strong need to have that core integration and management function of the spaceport. And so when you ask how does our new normal account for that, the new normal is really that we are the manager, operator, the integrator of the spaceport.

So we have that as a new core role for us, so rather than just being purely programs that are NASA programs that operate out herethey manage and integrate within themselveswe now have to have, in addition to that, an overarching layer of spaceport management and integration, which is my organization, to make sure that youre coordinating among all of the different users, and making sure that they get their services that they need.

SFI: One of the hardest questions Im going to have is Why? Why is NASA doing this, because again, this really has nothing to do with NASA. So what is the benefit for the agency, and I guess in the larger scheme, the American taxpayer?

Dr. Phillip T. Meade spoke at length with SpaceFlight Insider, explaining how both commercial companies and NASA were working to diversify the space agencys Kennedy Space Center. Photo Credit: Jason Rhian / SpaceFlight Insider

Meade:I think the real benefitand Tom is a great salesman of this as well, so you can probably get his take on this, toobut it really is about the American public, it is about the American taxpayer. If you look at the space policy thats been created, theres a strong encouragement for us to help and encourage and grow the ability for America to compete and to excel within the global space market. And so weve been encouraged by the federal government to make the maximum use or maximum availability of our assets for supporting commercial space.

SFI: Would you say that the concept there is that if you have a single product and no one needs that product anymore, youre in more jeopardy, but whereas if a facility like Kennedy has a diverse array of individuals both collaborating and working there, its more stable and productive and more likely to survive changes in the future?

Engler:I think theres a little bit of that in there, and I think that by utilizing some resources that we probably would demolished or let go, we do keep those around for potential future use by NASA if in the future we want to share those; or if a partner thats using them goes away and we find theyre suddenly available and we have a programmatic need for them, so there is that piece of it. But we believeand this is kind of a philosophical stancewe believe its in the nations best interests to have a healthy space capability, healthy access to space.

Thats not just NASA, but the commercial capability, so our ability to put satellites up thereour ability to continue to push the technological boundaries to do innovation and develop new technologies and new capabilities to bring high-paying jobs into the economy through these different companiesI feel like thats a very valuable thing for America, and so having a healthy space industry in the United States and being a true competitor and leader within the global space market, we believe is the best interests of the United States as a whole, and obviously the American taxpayer.

SFI: Boeing of course is benefitingfrom this. Space Florida is another winner, if you want to say that, SpaceX, of coursetheyre all benefitingfrom these really high-end facilities that you support for launch and other operations.How do you see the response to that, and is there an ROI (return on investment) on that?

Engler:So I think from our perspectiveand Phil hit the nail on the headour leadership, from the President in 2010 on down to Center Director and Deputy Center Director at the time set the vision for us, to become that multi-user spaceport. And so, by doing so, we created an environment that allowed multiple companies to be successful here.

You hit the nail on the head with a couple of them. What wed kind of like to highlight with that is, as a center, we have four companies here, doing human spaceflight activities, separate and distinct. In the context of human spaceflight, theres only been three countries that ever flew to space: the United States, China, and Russia. Now at Kennedy we have four companiesSpaceX, Blue Origin, Lockheed-Martin with Orion, and Boeing with CST-100performing human spaceflight operations and development and capability here at Kennedy Space Center.

The creation of the environment weve developed here, weve made an environment that has allowed these companies to come in here and be successful, and that makes America a better spacefaring nation than it probably ever has been before.

SFI:youve got United Launch Alliance

Engler:We do, and we supply services to them through the Spaceport Integration Services Division. The ability to support these launches and having the infrastructure here that really minimized their investment into the development of a spaceport is a win-win for everybody. So we have people that come incompanies that come in, use the capabilities, and pay for pieces of that capability as theyre using it, so it helps us from a cost perspective, and having that capability already there prevents them from having to develop a massive, expensive capability to do things like develop and deliver GN2 [gaseous nitrogen] as an example, or helium.

Having the ability to supply that to all the launch pads is a tremendous enabler for these companies. And so ULA, SpaceX, SLS, and now Blue [Origin] are all going to take advantage of all the infrastructure we have here and the talents weve developed over the last 50-plus years as an entity that launches rockets to space, so theres so many benefits to both sides to having these companies here, so its really a win-win for everybody having them here.

Its been a great benefit to the center, and Id like to thinkand the feedback Im gettingis that its been a benefit to these companies as well, so all in all its been a very positive relationship, and I think it will just continue to grow and get better as we go on.

Meade:If you look at the space industry, a basic analysis of the industry tells you that theres a huge barrier to entry to launch, and its not just because of the technology involved in the rocket, its the infrastructure. We help to shorten both the time required for that buildup of the ground infrastructure as well as the costs associated with that for these companies, so they can get to market faster and become profitable faster and also not have to sink so much in up front on developing a lot of this infrastructure.

SpaceX is just one of the organizations that has benefited from NASAs Multi-User Spaceport initiative. Photo Credit: SpaceX

SFI:The last question we have for this portion of the interview is, can you tell us a little bit about the coordination involved when youve got DoD and these commercial companies all working out of KSC? What are the differences between the Shuttle era and the Apollo era before that and now, when weve got Falcon 9s and Falcon Heavies ready to lift off from 39A?

Meade:Theres two answers to this question. The world had changedand Ill probably talk about that secondbut if you talk about the way things were done under Shuttle, and if you talk about using a traditional flight termination system with the Air Force Range, then things have not changed that significantly than how they were done with Shuttle.

We have a very tight partnership with the 45th Space Wing, we coordinate with them a lot. We participate in their meetings, were part of their scheduling process, as theyre part of our scheduling process. All of the range infrastructure capabilities are constantly coordinated between the two groups, between Kennedy Space Center and the 45th Space Wing. All of that still happens the way it always has.

The big differentiator, the big change thats occurred is a lot of these commercial companies are going to automated flight termination systems. And when you go to an AFTS, now all of a sudden, a lot of the range infrastructure, a lot of the range coordination and scheduling that was required previously you no longer have.

Theres still range assets that they use, theres still a significant role, an important role that the Air Force plays in launches from Kennedy Space Center, but the huge bottleneck that used to be therefrom only one user at a time could actually operate on the range, and youd have to block off multiple days, and there was a two-day turnaround time between when one user of the range could use it and the next user couldwere entering into a time period where you honestly could have two different companies launch a rocket on the same day from Kennedy Space Center.

I honestly believe theres nothing thats stopping us from doing that today, assuming that other resources like the pipeline and other things like that are deconflicted. So one of the things that Toms working really hard on is a small-class launcher capability here at Kennedy Space Center

SFI: 39C?

Thomas O. Engler serves as the director of the Center Planning and Development Directorate at NASAs John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Photo Credit: Jason Rhian / SpaceFlight Insider

Engler:39C or 48/49, thats part of our Notice of Availabilitythat we have two launch sites available if a private investor wanted to come in and build a small rocket launch pad, 48 and 49 are perfect locations for that. And that would allow a company to come in and do their own launches from there or allow it to become a multi-user small launcher pad. It creates diversity and allows companies to be a little more flexible from a launch perspective than they would be with just 39C. It opens up a lot of possibilities with the development of an additional small-launcher pad launch site.

Meade: Theres no reason a rocket couldnt launch from 48 and on the same day, SpaceX could launch from [39]A.

SFI: You think we could see thattwo launches on a single day?

Meade: Yes.

Engler: I agree with Phil. Its just a matter of deconflicting time frames and ensuring that when one launch happens that theres enough of a separation between launches that one launch doesnt endanger people on the other launch pad during their prep work.

SFI:Have you seenhave there been any bites toward your call for 48 or 49?

Engler:Weve had several expressions of interest, yeah.

SFI:Thank you. Moving on to the OPFs. One of the OPFs is currently used for Starliner and the other two are used by Boeing for the X-37B. Can you provide our readers with some of the details about how diversification is helping NASA achieve its objectives?

Engler:So if you look at it from the perspective of the fact that we have two companies here supporting commercial crew directly. So SpaceX and Boeing are developing capabilities to fly humans to space from the United States for the first time since the end of the Shuttle program. That directly supports NASA.

Indirectly, you get the support of those companies to the overall evolution of commercial space in general, so if you ever hear Mr. Bigelow speak from Bigelow Aerospace, the thing thats limiting him right now from launching his capabilities to orbit is reliable transportation for crew at a commercial level to orbit.

So the development of commercial crew and having that capability here will be that enabler for that next evolution of commercial space, which would be to potentially privately-held space stations and probably further development that I cant even begin to imagine, or if I did, it would probably sound crazy if I tried to imagine it. Over time, theres space mining, theres all these things that are floating out there that depend on reliably, easily getting people to space.

SFI: I dont think a lot of our readers are going to think youre crazy, I think a lot of our readers are like, Why arent we already doing this?

Engler: Well, its a great question, and were doing a lot of work to make that happen here at Kennedy. And, again, having created that environment here, having created the partnerships, having four separate companies doing human spaceflight here ought to excite your readers to the point where theyI mean it excites us to no end, the sea change thats occurred here. Weve all said thatits going to sound immodestbut we have become the epicenter of human spaceflight in the world here at Kennedy Space Center.

By having these companies be here, creating that environment for them and allowing them to work and do the things they need to do here to develop those capabilitiesit really speaks a lot to how far Kennedy has come since 2010 and the inception of the multi-user spaceport concept.

Boeings CST-100 Starliner spacecraft is being developed and produced at Orbiter Processing Facility 3, something made possible by KSCs Multi-User Spaceport initiative. Image Credit: Boeing

Meade: As early as the Vision for Space Exploration, when it came out, the plan from a NASA and U.S. Government perspective was [to] turn over low-Earth orbit to commercial industry so that NASA can then go and focus on putting footprints on other worlds.

SFI: Moon, Mars, and Beyond.

Meade:Exactly. So thats a big part of what were leveraging and dependent on from the Boeings and the SpaceXes, is to be able to, through the commercial crew program, take our astronauts up to the International Space Station, be able to make access to low-Earth orbit a little more routine, and free us up to then focus on trips to Mars and developing the SLS and that architecture. It is definitely helping us achieve our goals.

SFI: NASAs giving up all these assets, so theyre not theirs anymore. Thats technically correct, but what kind of access does NASA have to 39A, to the OPFs, now that theyre not technically their property anymore? Whats that like?

Meade: So Im going to correct you just a little bit

SFI: Please do!

Meade:Technically it is our property, so we havent given over any title to land or property at Kennedy Space Center. What weve done is Toms group has developed leases and these other mechanisms that we have at our disposal to basically rent out or lease property. Now its long-term leases in most cases because we need to help to be able to help these companies close a business case.

Its long-term leases, but its still NASA property. And so with that, we still retain ownership, long-term, and the secondarily it also means that we retain some of the responsibilities from a protection of life safety standpoint and from an overall spaceport management integration perspective. We do have the ability to enter these facilities. We would not do so just willy-nilly.

You know, its like youre a landlord, you dont just walk into someones house

SFI: Youd contact them first

Meade:We have good coordination with them, and we have individuals in my organization that are assigned to directly work with each partner that we have, and they have a good relationship. They help them get what they need, and theyre the ones that are the boots on the ground, typically, if we have to gain entry in or go in and do something. On Pad A for example, we still have a lot of facilities and systems that are required by Pad B, and so theres an awful lot of interchange between NASA and SpaceX in terms of going in and working on those systems, but we coordinate with them and schedule around them because we dont want to interfere with their ops schedule and what theyre doing.

If there were a fire, for example, our fire [department] would still have the ability to go into their facility and put out the fire. EMS, same thing: if theres some sort of medical emergency, and so we do have that ability, and we still retain that. A bit part of our goal, and a lot of what Tom and I have been working on over the past few years is trying to create this environment that Tom was talking about where its very much conducive to commercial entities wanting to come here and work and do business.

Which means that we treat them with the appropriate amount of respect and respect their operations, respect their schedules, respect their business cases, and actually partner with them in achieving their goals rather thanwere not trying to be this government overlord thats trying to mandate or have a heavy thumb on stuff.

A lot of the processes that I talked about earlierwe radically changed the safety requirements and came up with three different categories of safety requirements depending on what type of facility youre in to try and minimize the amount of oversight that we would have; minimize our need to intrude on their operation or be involved in it; and minimize their requirement to actually have to come to us and ask permission for much. We try to give them the maximum autonomy possible.

SFI: I think that answers the first of my general questions, which was how have these agreements changed from when it was McDonnell-Douglas out here, Lockheed, Rockwell, and so on?

Engler:At the time, those were more contracts than agreements, so the big change for us is having these companies on center as partners, us providing services to them, and sometimes them providing services to us. Having these companies out here has created an environment where were able to utilize our on-site contractors and civil service staff to help support them when they need it, and when they dont, were off doing other things, so its a different environment from that standpoint because weve gone from a contracting relationship to a partnership relationship, which is where we are with these companies.

Engler and Meade noted the close working relationship that the agency has with all of the partners operating out of KSC. Photo Credit: NASA

Meade: In some cases, its literally flipped. Whereas McDonnell-Douglas, for example, if you go back that far, they worked for us. So we were the customer and they worked for us. Nownot so much with the partnership agreements, per se, but through the services agreementswe work for the commercial entities. So we actually act as a subcontractor to them in many cases. SpaceX, for example, may choose to buy propellants from us for a launch. We become a service provider to them and we subcontract to them for those propellants for that launch.

SFI: So I imagine that actually could be used to offset NASAs expenses here at Kennedy.

Engler: Well, really what it does is it allows them to buy into a service that we already have here, it doesnt necessarily offset costs. They pay for what they use and it doesnt necessarily save us any monies, per se, but it does allow them to work and have ready access to those propellants.

We have Air Liquide outside the gate here providing GN2 is big enabler for these guys because they dont have to create that capability on their own, so weve got that in partnership with Air Liquide. Under that contractual relationship, they supply the propellants, and so they pay for what they use, which is a nice thing. We dont underwrite them, and when theyre using electricity from FP&L [Florida Power & Light], they paying the bills for that, and water from Cocoa Water, and all that kind of stuff, so its just the capabilities we provide, Phils group manages that interaction with them to ensure we give them services at the time that they need it.

SFI: How might NASA use the SLF [Shuttle Landing Facility] in the future?

Meade:Theres plans to use SLF. Its built into the agreement with Space Florida that we still have the ability to land our NASA aircraft out there. Weve got a Guppy coming in next week, weve got a NASA Guppy thats coming in, bringing in something for the Orion service module.

Its still an asset we have at our disposal, to be able to bring things in. You know, once we start launching our astronauts, Im sure theyll be using that runway to land their T-38s. Its still a capability that we have. None of our current vehicles plan on reentering from space and landing there, its more of an aircraft capability for us at this point.

SFI: Can you give our readers a little more about the future, to bring more companies in and the diversification that we might see out here? Some sneak peeks, if you will.

Engler: So what Id point to is a Notice of Availability that we have that has opened up a number of different development categories for companies, so anywhere from clean energy to research and technology and research and development to launch and landing to payload processing and vehicle processing. So those sites are all available, theyre all on the master plan, you can go to the KSC Master Plan website. Itll show you the development map that we have, and so basically every development category thats on that master plan site is available for development.

The Notice of Availability is open, its almost done with its first year, and weve had a number of responses to that already. Its open for two years, total, and well have another one that follows that. It allows companies to come in and propose to building at KSC, so when you look at the ability to foster development between what we have and then what Space Florida has at the SLF, theres a lot of development that still can occur here to continue to diversify Kennedy Space Center to enhance the multi-user spaceport that weve created.

To see us do more and more activities hereits really exciting to look at what might be here a year from now that isnt here now. And then see that keeping on growing and moving forward and continuing to do the basics of getting Americans to space and getting the world to space through Kennedy Space Center, its a really exciting time to be here. And its only going to get better!

Meade:Yeah, if you look at our long-term vision, its really about what we call creating an ecosystem. We want to have a healthy ecosystem out here for all the different pieces, parts, components to doing spaceflight. We want to have manufacturing out here, we want to have lab services out here right on hand, we want to have people actually launching the rockets, we want to have people developing payloads.

Really, its about the whole supply chain. And so when you ask, What are we thinking about in the future? if you look at the economics for how that ecosystem has to develop, it has to start with [?] launcher. Weve got those, were starting to launch. Were now starting to push down that supply chain, so Toms out there beating the bushes trying to push further down that supply chain to get those people to come down here and create those R&D capabilities and other further-down parts of that supply chain.

SFI: That brings up a very good question. Youve got all these components, but now youve got right outside your gate Exploration Park. OneWebtheyre building satellites out here. Were you guys involved with that, or was that just something that happened because of the assets that you havewould you say thats an outgrowth of the multi-user spaceport concept?

Meade: Id say thats certainly part of it. And obviously having that here at Kennedy is a nice addition to the Kennedy Space Center, its another manufacturing capability. Not on a scale like Blue [Origin], but from a satellite perspective, its as big. Blues development site is in Exploration Park as well, and its part of what were trying to do here at Kennedy.

Again, weve made that land available to Space Florida as part of the Exploration Park ecosystem out there, and obviously its now borne fruit between Blue and Space Florida and OneLab. Building on that over time, we fully expect to see more of those kinds of capabilities being built here by private companies that want to take advantage of the environment that we have developed here at Kennedy as a multi-user spaceport.

Tagged: Kennedy Space Center Lead Stories Multi-User Spaceport NASA Phil Meade Tom Engler

Jason Rhian spent several years honing his skills with internships at NASA, the National Space Society and other organizations. He has provided content for outlets such as: Aviation Week & Space Technology, Space.com, The Mars Society and Universe Today.

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Insider Q & A: From concept to reality KSC as a Multi-User Spaceport - SpaceFlight Insider

Lloyd Campbell

June 11th, 2017

The 70-meter antenna at the Madrid Deep Space Network Complex (MDSCC) in Spain. Photo Credit: NASA

The NASA Deep Space Network (DSN) comprises three sites across the globe which provide telecommunications with interplanetary spacecraft located throughout the Solar System and beyond.

The complexes, located in California, Spain, and Australia, are spaced roughly equidistant from each other, approximately 120 degrees apart in longitude from the neighboring site. This spacing allows continuous communications with any spacecraft while the Earth rotates. All of the sites are located in a semi-mountainous terrain which helps shield them from unwanted radio interference.

Each site contains a minimum of four large antennas ranging from 26 meters up to 70 meters in diameter and is capable of providing continuous radio communications with several spacecraft at the same time. A single processing center at each complex contains all the equipment needed to operate the antennas, receive and process data, as well as send commands to the spacecraft for course corrections, instrument control, and so on.

The large parabolic dishes at each site, as well as the sensitive systems that detect and amplify the signals, allow technicians here on Earth to receive very faint signals from spacecraft millions of miles away.

The antennas pick up not only the faint signals from spacecraft millions of miles away but also receive a lot of background radio noise. Background radio noise, or static, is emitted by almost all objects in the universe; therefore, just in the Solar System, you have the Sun, the eight planets and their associated moons, numerous dwarf planets, and other celestial objects (e.g., comets, asteroids, etc.) all producing static.

In order to clean up the transmission that the antenna receives, each site uses special techniques to distinguish the spacecraft telecommunication from the background noise. Once complete, the data is sent to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) where further processing takes place. Once JPL completes its work, the data is sent on to the mission team for each spacecraft.

In order to receive theweak spacecraft signals from far away, large antennasare needed. Each DSN site has one 70-meter (230-foot) diameter antenna capable of tracking and communicating with a spacecraft that has traveled millions, even billions, of miles from Earth. Voyager 1, launched in 1977, is currently over 12 billion miles (over 20 billion kilometers) from Earth and is still being tracked by the DSN 70-meter antenna.

Originally built as a 64-meter (210-foot) antenna, the Goldstone Observatory antenna was expanded to 70 meters to allow it to track Voyager 2 during its encounter with Neptune.

In addition to the mammoth 70-meter antenna, each of the three DSN complexes has multiple 34-meter (111-foot) diameter antennas.

Two types of 34-meter antennas are used: the first is a high-efficiency antenna, whereas the second type is a waveguide antenna. The waveguide antenna has five additional mirrors that reflect the radio signal to an equipment room below. The advantages of this design are that the sensitive electronics are stored in a climate controlled room right at the antenna site instead of outdoors. Also, maintenance and upgrades are much easier to perform with this design.

Last of all is the 26-meter (85-foot) antenna which is used for tracking spacecraft in orbit around Earth up to 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) above the surface. Originally built to support the Apollo missions, they utilize a special mount that allows them point lower on the horizon than the larger antenna.

Spacecraft that are millions, even billions, of miles from Earth cant send their signals to a specific point that far away. The radio waves disperse over a wider field and, by the time they reach Earth, one antenna receives only a part of that faint signal.

In order to gather in the entire signal, the DSN engineers came up with antenna arraying where multiple antennas at different complexes work together as a single antenna.

The first use of arraying by the DSN was employed for theVoyager 1, Voyager 2, and Pioneer 11spacecraft. Experimental arrays were also used when the two Voyager probes zoomed past Jupiter in 1979 and again when Pioneer 11 encountered Saturn that same year.

Utilizing what they had learned, the DSN engineers developed better techniques to increase the sensitivity of their arrays, and by the time Voyager 1 and Voyager 2had encountered Saturn in 1980 and 1981, respectively, all three of the complexes used arraying extensively to receive data from the speeding spacecraft.

When Voyager 2 flew by Neptune in 1989, the DSN engineers had honed their techniques such that they were able to combine their own array of antennas at their Goldstone site with 27 antennas at the Very Large Array (VLA) in New Mexico.

The 64-meter antenna diagram. Image Credit: NASA

The predecessor of the DSN was built in January 1958 by JPL for the U.S. Army to provide them with required telecommunication facilities for their then soon-to-be-launched Explorer 1 satellite.

At 10:48 p.m. EST on Jan. 31 (03:48 GMT on Feb. 1), 1958,Explorer 1 became the first successfully deployed U.S. satellite, and the portable tracking stations that were deployed by JPL in Nigeria, Singapore, and California received telemetry data which assisted mission controllers to track the spacecraft.

At the time, all three branches of the armed forces had their own space-exploration programs, and, in October 1958, NASA was formed to combine all of their programs into one civilian organization. Two months later, JPL was transferred to NASA, and one of their first designated projects was to develop robotic spacecraft to perform lunar and planetary exploration.

NASA soon proposed the concept of the Deep Space Network a dedicated communications facility that would support all deep space missions. Designed to be independent of the robotic missions it supported, the DSN would design and build the network and provide its services to the individual missions.

The network benefits were two-fold: each mission and the DSN would be focused on their equipment only, and it eliminated each robotic mission from developing their own communications systems.

While originally designated for only use with robotic missions, the DSN also played a part in the historic Apollo missions to the Moon.

Manned missions had their own dedicated communications network named the Manned Space Flight Network (MSFN) for receiving and sending of lunar communications and telemetry data. The MSFN sites were designed by the DSN, and both networks had sites that were located in proximity to each other.

Throughout the Apollo missions, DSN antennas were used for all of the television broadcasts from the surface of the Moon. Neil Armstrongs historic words Thats one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind were actually received by a 64-meter wide DSN antenna, named the Mars antenna, located at the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex (GDSCC) in California.

During the Apollo 13 emergency, the DSN complexes all played an important role in maintaining constant communication with the crew.

While the television images of men on the Moon were historic, many unmanned missions beamed memorable images and data back to the DSN.

Years before the two Voyager probes took us on a tour of the Solar System, Mariner 4 sent back the first ever close-up pictures of Mars during its flyby in 1964. Mariner 9 became the first spacecraft to orbit another planet when it went into orbit around Mars in 1971. It sent back the first detailed images of the Martian moons Phobos and Deimos.

Canberra (Australia) Deep Space Network Complex (CDSCC). Photo Credit: NASA

Viking 1 and Viking 2 traveled to Mars in 1975, arriving at the planet in 1976. They released landers which soft-landed and sent back the first pictures from the surface of the Red Planet.

Since then, numerous orbiters, landers, and rovers have sent back extraordinary images of the Martian surface. Opportunity, a rover which landed in January 2004 on a 90-day mission, is still performing and returning images and data from the surface 13 years later. The Curiosity rover is nearing its fifth anniversary of roaming the Martian surface as it moves about the Gale crater.

NASA is keeping the DSN facilities very busy with a number of active missions still ongoing. With better designs increasing the reliability of the spacecraft and rovers, its becoming almost commonplace for missions to be extended beyond their initial timelines. For example, Cassini, a mission to Saturn and its rings, was originally scheduled for a 4-year mission and, after two extensions,will finish up its 13-year mission this year.

In that nine-year span, NASA has launched many additional missions, all of which require communications time with the DSN. In all, there are 35 active missions requiring the DSN for communications today. With more spacecraft being built that are expected to transmit even heavier data streams, along with more missions being extended, that number of active missions can be expected to increase.

While the DSN has been spectacularly reliable in the past, a few issues have cropped up recently, including one where the Cassini spacecraft was supposed to make a course correction. However, when the time came to transmit the course correction commands to Cassini, there was a problem with the communications link, so Cassini never got its instructions and missed the course correction. The problem, it turned out to be, was with the DSN and not the spacecraft.

While new antennas, equipment, and infrastructure have been put in place since the original complexes were built, some of the equipment, like the 70-meter dish, are over half century old.

Like other areas of NASA, the DSN has been asked to do more with less. The problem in the future for them will be how to maintain necessary communications while still maintaining and upgrading their equipment to support the increasing demands being made on them, all within a shrinking budget.

If you would like to see which spacecraft the Deep Space Networkis communicating with at any given time, then go to the NASA website: DSNNow

Tagged: Deep Space Network Jet Propulsion Laboratory NASA The Range

Lloyd Campbells first interest in space began when he was a very young boy in the 1960s with NASAs Gemini and Apollo programs. That passion continued in the early 1970s with our continued exploration of our Moon, and was renewed by the Shuttle Program. Having attended the launch of Space Shuttle Discovery on its final two missions, STS-131, and STS-133, he began to do more social networking on space and that developed into writing more in-depth articles. Since then hes attended the launch of the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover, the agencys new crew-rated Orion spacecraft on Exploration Flight Test 1, and multiple other uncrewed launches. In addition to writing, Lloyd has also been doing more photography of launches and aviation. He enjoys all aspects of space exploration, both human, and robotic, but his primary passions lie with human exploration and the vehicles, rockets, and other technologies that allow humanity to explore space.

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Deep Space Network providing communications for over 50 years - SpaceFlight Insider

Indias new GSLV Mk.3 launcher delivered to orbit the GSAT 19 communications satellite Monday, and these photos show the rocket lifting off from a launch pad on the eastern Indian coastline powered by two side-mounted solid rocket boosters.

The GSLV Mk.3 took offat 1158 GMT (7:58 a.m. EDT) Monday from the Satish Dhawan Space Center, a spaceport on Indias east coast around 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Chennai.

The 142-foot-tall (43-meter) rocket soared into mostly clear skies over Sriharikota, where launch occurred at 5:28 p.m. local time, on 2.2 million pounds of thrust from solid rocket boosters. A liquid-fueled core stage and cryogenic upper stage later fired to propel the GSAT 19 communications satellite into geostationary transfer orbit.

Mondays flight was the maiden orbital test launch of the GSLV Mk.3, which completed a suborbital demo mission in December 2014 without a functional upper stage. The GSLV Mk.3 is Indias most powerful rocket to date, doubling the capability of Indias GSLV Mk.2 launcher to lift up to 8,800 pounds (4 metric tons) into geostationary transfer orbit, the drop-off point for most communications satellites.

Read our full story for details on the mission.

These photos show the GSLV Mk.3 rollout out to the Second Launch Pad at Sriharikota, followed by Mondays liftoff.

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Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.

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Photos: India's GSLV Mk.3 debuts with on-target test flight - Spaceflight Now

Artist's illustration of a fusion-driven rocket powering a spacecraft to Mars. The company Princeton Satellite Systems is working to develop small fusion drives that could make such missions a reality.

Fusion-powered rockets that are only the size of a few refrigerators could one day help propel spacecraft at high speeds to nearby planets or even other stars, a NASA-funded spaceflight company says.

Another use for such fusion rockets is to deflect asteroids that might strike Earth and to build manned bases on the moon and Mars, the researchers say.

Rockets fly by hurling materials known as propellants away from them. Conventional rockets that rely on chemical reactions are not very efficient when it comes to how much thrust they generate, given the amount of propellant they carry, which has led rocket scientists to explore a variety of alternatives over the years. [Superfast Spacecraft Propulsion Concepts (Images)]

An option now used in spacecraft is the ion drive, which generates thrust by using electricity to accelerate electrically charged ion propellants. Ion drives are far more efficient than chemical rockets, but are limited by the amount of electricity they can harvest via solar panels or generate using radioactive materials.

Instead of chemical rockets or ion drives, scientists have also suggested using fusion rockets propelled by the same nuclear reactions that power stars. These rockets would not only be efficient, but also generate vast amounts of electricity.

However, so far, no one has built a fusion reactor that generates more energy than it consumes. Moreover, the fusion reactors that are under development are huge, making them difficult to hoist into space.

But now, researchers funded by NASA are developing small fusion rockets.

"It's technology that enables really interesting robotic and human missions to Mars and Pluto, and it is also potentially a way of getting into interstellar space," said Michael Paluszek, president of Princeton Satellite Systems in Plainsboro, New Jersey.

The large fusion reactors under development today, such as the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), usually strive to generate hundreds of megawatts of power. In contrast, Paluszek and his colleagues at Princeton Satellite Systems are designing reactors meant to produce only a dozen megawatts or so. This humbler goal results in a smaller, lighter reactor that is easier to build and launch into space "for practical robotic and human missions," Paluszek said.

In addition, these small fusion reactors are much cheaper than larger devices. Paluszek noted that, whereas modern fusion experiments might cost $20 billion, a prototype fusion rocket the researchers plan to develop should cost just $20 million. So far, they have received three NASA grants to fund the project, he said.

The aim for the fusion drives is to get about 1 kilowatt of power per 2.2 lbs. (1 kilogram) of mass. A 10-megawatt fusion rocket would therefore weigh about 11 tons (10 metric tons).

"It would probably be 1.5 meters [4.9 feet] in diameter and 4 to 8 meters [13 to 26 feet] long," Paluszek said.

Nuclear fusion requires extremely high temperatures and pressures to force atoms to fuse, a process that converts some of the mass of the atoms into energy. The fusion reactors that Princeton Satellite Systems is developing uses low-frequency radio waves to heat a mix of deuterium and helium-3, and magnetic fields to confine the resulting plasma in a ring. (Deuterium is made of hydrogen atoms that each have an extra neutron; helium-3 is made of helium atoms, each of which is missing a neutron; and plasma is the state of matter found in stars, lightning bolts and neon lights.)

As this plasma rotates in a ring, some of it can spiral out and get directed from the fusion rocket's nozzle for thrust. "We can get very high exhaust velocities of up to about 25,000 kilometers per second [55.9 million mph]," Paluszek said.

The large amounts of thrust this fusion rocket may deliver compared to its mass could enable very fast spacecraft. For instance, whereas round-trip crewed missions to Mars are estimated to take more than two years using current technology, the researchers estimated that six 5-megawatt fusion rockets could accomplish such missions in 310 days. This extra speed would reduce the risks of radiation that astronauts might experience from the sun or deep space, as well as dramatically cut the amount of food, water and other supplies they would need to bring with them.

In addition, the fusion reactors could also help generate ample electricity for scientific instruments and communications devices. For instance, whereas NASA's New Horizons mission took more than nine years to get to Pluto and had little more than 200 watts of power to work with once it arrived, broadcasting about 1,000 bits of data back per second, a 1-megawatt fusion rocket could get a robotic mission to Pluto in four years, supply 2 million watts of power and broadcast more than 1 million bits of data back per second, Paluszek said. Such a mission could also carry a lander to Pluto and power it by beaming down energy, he added.

"With the amount of power fusion rockets can provide, you can think of science that can't be done now with other technologies, such as powering a lander to drill through the ice on Jupiter's moon Europa," Paluszek said.

A 10-megawatt fusion rocket could also deflect an asteroid about 525 feet (160 m) in diameter coming at Earth, spending about 200 days to travel there and 23 days nudging it off course, Paluszek said. Fusion rockets could even enable an interstellar voyage to the nearest star system, Alpha Centauri, although the trip might take 500 to 700 years, he said. (Alpha Centauri lies about 4.3 light-years from the sun.) [Gallery: Visions of Interstellar Starship Travel]

Previous research suggested this kind of fusion rocket in the 1960s, but the designs proposed for them would not stably confine the plasmas, Paluszek said. About 10 years ago, reactor designer Sam Cohen figured out a magnetic-field design "that could make stable plasmas," Paluszek explained.

One drawback of the kind of nuclear reactor that Princeton Satellite Systems is developing is that radio waves do not penetrate deeply into plasma. "We're limited to something like 10 meters [33 feet] in diameter," Paluszek said. To generate large amounts of power with this strategy, the researchers have to rely on multiple reactors.

Another pitfall is that, while this fusion reactor generates less deadly neutron radiation than most fusion reactors under development, it still does produce some neutrons, as well as X-rays. "Radiation shielding is key," Paluszek said.

In addition, helium-3 is rare on Earth. Still, it is possible to generate helium-3 using nuclear reactors, Paluszek said.

Princeton Satellite Systems is not alone in pursuing small fusion reactors. For instance, Paluszek noted that Helion Energy in Redmond, Washington, also intends to fuse deuterium and helium-3, while Tri Alpha Energy in Foothill Ranch, California, aims to fuse boron and protons.

"Fusion can enable new and exciting science missions that are too expensive and difficult to do with today's technology," Paluszek said.

The researchers have not yet demonstrated fusion with their device, but aim to do so by 2019 to 2020. Paluszek detailed his company's research June 3 at The Dawn of Private Space Science Symposium in New York.

Follow Charles Q. Choi on Twitter @cqchoi. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article Space.com.

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Will Mini Fusion Rockets Provide Spaceflight's Next Big Leap? - Space.com

Bart Leahy

June 10th, 2017

Artists impression of the asteroid Apophis approaching the Earth. Image Credit: Dan Durda FIAAA

Apophis, an asteroid the size of an aircraft carrier, will make a close approach to Earth in 2029. It will come withinapproximately 18,300 miles (29,500kilometers), less than one-tenththe distance from Earth to the Moon. A group of students from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is designing a mission to study that asteroid up close as it passes by.

The good news is, according to NASAs Center for Near Earth Objects, Apophis is not going to strike Earth in 2029, but having a rock that big and that close is too good an opportunity not to study. The student mission, called Surface Evaluation & Tomography (or SET), is designed to investigate:

Possible positions of 2004 MN4 (Apophis) on April 13, 2029. (Click to enlarge) Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

A group of 20 students is designing the SET mission as part of a space systems engineering course. The first slide in one student presentationreads: Mission Motivation: Apophis is coming!

The name Apophis comes from Egyptian mythology and is the god of chaos and evil. Appropriately enough, Set is the god sent to thwart him. A rock the size of Apophis would, indeed, bring a lot of chaos were it to crash into Earth.

The engineering class is being led by Professor of planetary sciences Richard Binzel, along with David Miller, the Jerome C. Hunsaker Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics,who recently returned to MIT after serving as chief technologist for NASA. Binzel, who also led a student project to build an instrument for OSIRIS-REx, and Miller challenged their students to build a major science robotics mission combining planetary defense with scientific learning.

The students proposed design would operate using primarily proven, off-the-shelf hardware, including the spacecraft bus (Orbital ATK LEOStar3, which flew on Dawn and Deep Space 1) solar panels, and instruments. The instruments would include heritage hardware from New Horizons (LORRI), OSIRIS-REx (RALPH), Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (SHARAD), and Lucy (TES).

Earlier in the semester, the students performed a System Requirements Review (SRR) and Preliminary Design Review, leading up to their high-powered Critical Design Review, which was attended by officials from NASA Headquarters as well as engineers from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

To reach Apophis in time for rendezvous, a spacecraft would have to launch in August 2026. The objective of the orbital mission is to get closeenough to Apophisto conduct measurements before, during, and after the 2029 event.

The student-designed mission is the first significant attempt to study Apophis from space, in part because asteroid defense is not precisely NASAs responsibility. Millersays,That kind of falls between the cracks at NASA.

The SET mission, like the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft that will orbit the asteroid Bennu later this decade, could teach scientists more about the construction of asteroids, which were some of the early building blocks of the Solar System. New information could lead to a deeper understanding of the formation of the Solar Systemand planets in other star systems.

The primary importance of the SET mission would be to improve human knowledge about close-approaching asteroids with the hope of learning how to defend against them. The bad news is that this exciting, student-driven study is not being funded by NASA or any other space agency yet.

Binzel hopes Project Apophis will serve as a kickstarter, with the goal being to encourage NASA Centers and major contractors to consider their own response, perhaps basing formal funding proposals closely following the student design. Apophis is coming so close that Earths gravity is going to tug and redirect its path. The Earth is going to give it a big thunk.

When asked if there were plans to submit SET as a formal proposal to NASA, student team member Alissa Earle told Spaceflight Insider:Right now we are mostly focused on getting the idea out there to get the scientific community thinking about how to take advantage of this once per 1,000-year opportunity. Whether it ultimately ends up looking like the SET Mission or something completely different, the most important thing is that we find a way to effectively watch and learn from this natural experiment.

Even if the mission does not become a reality, this mission-design experience has been a useful learning experience for Earle and the rest of her MIT classmates: For me, it was really interesting to see the starting steps of how missions get designed and to work with the engineering students. We all wanted to design a really great mission but the scientists and engineers approached the problem from different directions. This class offered a great opportunity to [] see how a mission goes from a vague idea (we should send a spacecraft to study Apophis) to a mission design (like the SET Mission).

Tagged: Apophis Asteroids Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT planetary defense The Range

Bart Leahy is a freelance technical writer living in Orlando, Florida. Leahy's diverse career has included work for The Walt Disney Company, NASA, the Department of Defense, Nissan, a number of commercial space companies, small businesses, nonprofits, as well as the Science Cheerleaders.

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MIT students studying mission to asteroid Apophis - SpaceFlight Insider

Jim Sharkey

June 9th, 2017

From left to right: NASA Associate Administrator of the Space Technology Mission Directorate Steve Jurczyk, Benjamin Fried of teamCU-E3, Kyle Doyle of teamCislunar Explorers, Wesley Faler of Team Miles, and NASA Ames Research Center Director Eugene Tu. Photo Credit: Dominic Hart / NASA

On Thursday, June 8, NASA announced the three winning teams of the semi-final round of the space agencys Cube Quest Challenge. In addition to winning $20,000 each in prize money, the three teams have also secured spots to launch their spacecraft on Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1) the first flight of NASAs Space Launch System (SLS) with the Orion spacecraft.

The CubeSats will be placed in the Orion Stage Adapter, the ring that connects the spacecraft to the SLS rocket, and deployed after Orion separates from SLS and begins its journey into deep space. The adapteris capable of carrying a total of 13 CubeSats. Once deployed, they will compete in deep space for a share of a $5 million prize in the final stage of the Cube Quest Challenge.

The three teams are the following:

We are delighted in the profound achievements of these teams, said Steve Jurczyk, STMD associate administrator. Each team has pushed the boundaries of technology and innovation. Now, its time to take this competition into space and may the best CubeSat win.

According to NASA, the final phase of the Cube Quest Challenge comprises two portions: the Deep Space Derby and the Lunar Derby. In the Deep Space Derby, teams must demonstrate communications from a range of at least 2.5 million miles (four million kilometers), which is more than 10 times the distance from the Earth to the Moon. The Lunar Derby requires teams to achieve a lunar orbit and compete for near-Earth communications and longevity achievements. Prizes will be awarded for orbiting the Moon, communicating the fastest and farthest, and surviving the longest.

EM-1 is currently scheduled to launch in late 2019. The Deep Space and Lunar derbies will conclude one year after the CubeSats are deployed.

Opening our first SLS test flight beyond the Moon to citizen inventors and the scientific community creates a rare opportunity for these small spacecraft to reach deep space, said Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for NASAs Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. These CubeSat-class payloads are expanding our ability to explore by demonstrating affordable and innovative capabilities relevant to future deep space missions.

The Cube Quest Challenge is part of NASAs Centennial Challenges program. The challenge is managed at NASAs Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California.

SLS secondary payloads infographic. Image Credit: NASA

Tagged: Cube Quest Challenge EM-1 NASA Space Launch System The Range

Jim Sharkey is a lab assistant, writer and general science enthusiast who grew up in Enid, Oklahoma, the hometown of Skylab and Shuttle astronaut Owen K. Garriott. As a young Star Trek fan he participated in the letter-writing campaign which resulted in the space shuttle prototype being named Enterprise. While his academic studies have ranged from psychology and archaeology to biology, he has never lost his passion for space exploration. Jim began blogging about science, science fiction and futurism in 2004. Jim resides in the San Francisco Bay area and has attended NASA Socials for the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover landing and the NASA LADEE lunar orbiter launch.

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3 CubeSats win rides on 1st flight of NASA's SLS - SpaceFlight Insider - SpaceFlight Insider

HYDERABAD: ISRO is in the process of further improving the capability of its GSLV-Mk III so that it can use this heaviest rocket for human space flight mission once government approval comes, a top scientist said here.

GSLV-Mk III is really the vehicle that will be the workhorse in the coming years for primarily launching geo-synchronous missions and also very heavy spacecraft in near-earth missions, K Kasturirangan, former chief of ISRO, told PTI.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) earlier this week successfully launched from the Sriharikota spaceport, the first developmental flight of GSLV-MK III, capable of launching four-ton class satellites.

"ISRO is in the process of further improving the capability of this vehicle. It could go up to a ten-ton kind of capability," said Kasturirangan.

It was during his tenure as ISRO Chairman the GSLV-Mk III was configured and the programme secured approval by the Space Commission in the early part of the previous decade.

"So, this will be a level of vehicle which India will use for most of the requirements of geo-synchronous missions. It can take to up to four tons and, hopefully with improvements in some of the areas, one can go even beyond four tons," he said.

"With this we want to build our communication satellites. So, it's very tailored for future communication satellites to be launched by India. We will not have to depend on any other foreign launch agency," according to him.

Kasturirangan said ISRO is trying to do a "man-rating sort of thing" (or human rating), which is a certification of a spacecraft or launch vehicle as worthy of transporting humans.

So as and when there is a need and the country takes a decision on going for human space flight, it would have an "autonomous ability" to access the space through this vehicle in those missions, he said

"Certainly, it's a very elegantly-configured system (GSLV-Mk III). I am sure this will certainly serve us for a long time to come in the context of a variety of missions and also make us much more self-reliant in respect to accessing space," he said.

On opportunities for ISRO to tap into the market of launching four-ton class satellites from foreign customers, Kasturirangan said: "I am sure India will be one of the important contenders for taking some share of the market. India can provide a competitive market for that kind of launches with GSLV Mk III".

But he was quick to add that New Delhi would have competitors from (launch vehicle providers in) France, (some other parts of) Europe, the United States, China and Russia.

"There are contenders...many of them are established over the years. At this stage, we have to explore the market and slowly get into it," Kasturirangan said.

He, however, added that foreign customers find working with Indians for launch services a "very good experience" given their culture and attitude, which are appreciated by many countries.

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ISRO readying GSLV-Mk III for human space flight: Kasturirangan - Economic Times