Credit: William Harwood/CBS News

Nine Merlin engines ignited and throttled up to nearly 2 million pounds of thrust Sunday during a brief hold-down firing of SpaceXs Falcon 9 rocket, sending a plume of smoke out of the flame trench at Kennedy Space Centers historic launch pad 39A as the company preps for a space station cargo mission next weekend.

The Merlin 1D engines on the rockets first stage were programmed to fire for about three-and-a-half seconds, reaching full power with around 1.7 million pounds of thrust as the Falcon 9 booster remained affixed to the seaside launch complex.

Onlookers at Kennedy Space Center reported visible venting of super-chilled liquid oxygen vapors from the rocket leading up to the static fire test, then a white cloud of rocket exhaust rushing out of the north side of the launch pad as the Merlin engines ignited at 4:30 p.m. EST (2130 GMT).

SpaceX confirmed a few minutes later that the static fire was successfully completed, and engineers are reviewing data collected during the test.

Sensors in each engine were to measure many performance parameters during the brief ignition at the launch pad. Hold-down restraints kept the rocket on the ground.

The hotfire test marked the first time a rocket ignited at pad 39A since July 8, 2011, when the final space shuttle mission blasted off there. The launch complex sat dormant for three years until SpaceX signed a 20-year lease to take over the pad in 2014.

The milestone static fire test is a major step leading to SpaceXs first-ever launch from pad 39A scheduled for next Saturday, Feb. 18, with a Dragon supply ship carrying 5,266 pounds (2,389 kilograms) of equipment and experiments to the International Space Station.

If the rocket takes off Feb. 18, the Dragon spacecraft will reach the research lab in orbit Feb. 20.

It will be SpaceXs first resupply launch to the space station since last July, before a Falcon 9 rocket exploded on the Complex 40 launch pad at nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

The explosion grounded the Falcon 9 rocket for the rest of 2016, and left Complex 40 with significant damage requiring repairs.

Preparations at pad 39A took on a feverish pace in the months since the Sept. 1 explosion at pad 40, which sits on Air Force property a few miles south of pad 39A.

The crucial static fire test doubled as a check of the rockets readiness for flight and the function of the launch pads fueling, telemetry and water deluge systems, all of which were overhauled by SpaceX in recent months.

With the test completed, ground crews will lower the rocket and attach the Dragon cargo freighter for launch next weekend.

Hans Koenigsmann, SpaceXs vice president of flight reliability, said Wednesday that testing of the new ground systems at 39A was nearly complete, allowing managers to move ahead with rollout of the rocket.

This is a huge pad, Koenigsmann said. The runs from the LOX (liquid oxygen) farm and the fuel farm down to the launch head are huge. The transporter-erector is huge. Its like one-and-a-half million pounds of steel, and (it has) so much technology because this thing controls all the interfaces (with the rocket).

The transporter-erector will carry rockets from the hangar up the incline to the pad, then lift the vehicles vertical. The rocket carrier was observed vertical at pad 39A in the last few weeks during testing.

There was nothing in particular that gave us a hard time, Koenigsmann told reporters Wednesday during the Federal Aviation Administrations 20th Annual Commercial Space Transportation Conference in Washington. Its more like this whole thing was a huge effort, and at the end of it you want to test and test things again to make sure that theyre ready to go.

SpaceX resumed launches Jan. 14 with a successful Falcon 9 mission from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, but the companys return-to-flight in Florida has been paced by the construction at pad 39A.

NASA launched 12 Saturn 5 rockets from pad 39A during the Apollo moon program including Apollo 11 and 82 shuttle flights departed from the seaside launch complex.

But NASA decided it no longer needed pad 39A after the shuttles retirement. Nearby launch pad 39B, previously built for Apollo and shuttle flights, will be home to NASAs Space Launch System, a government-owned heavy-lift rocket that will launch astronaut crews on deep space expeditions.

The concrete foundation of pad 39A dates back to the Apollo era of the 1960s, while the 347-foot-tall (106-meter) fixed service structure and lightning tower were emplaced before the first shuttle launch.

It gives me a little bit of chills when I walk out there and see stuff thats left over from Apollo, Koenigsmann said.

Since SpaceX took over, changes to pad 39A have included the construction of the new rocket hangar outside the south gate to the facility, where space shuttles and Saturn 5 moon rockets arrived on top of tracked crawler-transporters after rollout from the nearby Vehicle Assembly Building.

The hangar can accommodate five Falcon 9 rocket cores at a time, according to SpaceX.

Other additions include the installation of RP-1 kerosene fuel tanks and the construction of the massive transporter-erector, which is sized to accommodate SpaceXs powerful triple-body Falcon Heavy rocket when it debuts later this year.

The transporter-erector is big enough to do Falcon Heavy. We can launch Falcon 9 with it in the center, of course, but the Falcon Heavy drives the size of it, Koenigsmann said. You can see Its bigger than the one we used to have.

The facilitys water system has also been refurbished to provide acoustic and heat protection to the pad deck during liftoffs, and the water tower at the northeast perimeter of the pad has been repainted, now emblazoned with the SpaceX logo.

Later this year, SpaceX plans to add an access arm to pad 39As fixed service structure for astronaut crews to board a human-rated version of the Dragon spacecraft beginning in 2018. SpaceX and Boeing have contracts with NASA to develop commercial spaceships to rotate crews between Earth and the space station.

SpaceX officials intend to base crewed launches and Falcon Heavy missions from pad 39A, and flights for the U.S. military and some commercial missions will be launched from pad 40 a few miles to the south.

Pad 40 should be ready for launches again in a few months after ground teams finish clean-up and repairs following the explosion of a Falcon 9 booster there in September.

SpaceX said the construction crew working at pad 39A will move over to pad 40 in the coming weeks. A firm timetable for pad 40s availability for launches will be better known once repairs begin, but the facility could be ready by the middle of the year, officials said.

SpaceX aims to launch once every two weeks after pad 39A is inaugurated later this month, continuing with the deployment of an EchoStar communications satellite in early March, then the launch of an SES telecom payload aboard a previously-flown first stage booster later in March.

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Fire returns to flame trench at Apollo-era launch pad in Florida - Spaceflight Now

Curt Godwin

February 13th, 2017

During final integration at the Spaceport for Flight VA235, Telkom 3S is positioned atop the Ariane 5s core cryogenic stage (photos at left and center), followed by placement of the payload fairing containing SKY Brasil-1 and the SYLDA dispenser system (photo at right). Photo(s) Credit: Arianespace

With its Launch Readiness Review complete, Arianespace continues to make preparations to launch itsfirst Ariane 5 rocket of 2017. The delivery into space of two communication satellites,SKY Brasil-1 and Telkom 3S, is scheduled for the beginning of an 86-minute launch window that opens at 4:39 p.m. EST (21:39 GMT) on Feb. 14, 2017.

Archive photo of Ariane flight VA233. Photo Credit: Stephane Corvaja / ESA

The mission, designated VA235, is being flown todeliver the two satellites to geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO). The European heavy-lift vehicle is notable in its capability to deliver multiple, large satellites into orbit, allowing customers to share launch costs.

The 13,228-pound (6,000-kilogram) AT&T/DirecTV SKY Brasil-1 spacecraft will supply digital entertainment services to Brazil via DirecTVs Latin America subsidiary.

Sharing the ride to GTO inside the fairing will be the 7,826-pound (3,550-kilogram) Telkom 3S digital services satellite.

The state-owned Telkom Indonesia satellite will provide telecommunications and high-definition television services throughout the island nation.

Riding in the lower bay of the two-position SYLDApayload carrier is the Telkom 3S satellite. The third Telkom satellite to be launched by Arianespace, it was built on the Thales Alenia Space Spacebus 4000B2 platform and is outfitted with 24 C-band, eightextended C-band, and 10 Ku-band transponders.

Telkom 3S will ultimately be positioned at 118 degrees Eastand will provide a multitude of digital services to customers in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Southeast Asia. The medium-class satellite has twin solar arrays, providing the necessary6.3 kilowatts of payload power, and has an expected on-orbit lifetime of 15 years.

The other satellite, SKY Brasil-1, will sit in SYLDAs top position. Alternately known as Intelsat 32e, the satellite was built on the Airbus Defense and Space Eurostar E3000 spacecraft architecture, a widely used and flexible satellite bus.

Using its60 Ku-band transponders, the satellite will provide servicesto Brazil and areas of the North Atlantic Ocean. After settlinginto its orbital slot at 43.1 degrees West, SKY Brasil-1 is expected to deliver digitalcontent for at least 19 years.

Arianespaces reliable Ariane 5 rocketwill be delivering the satellite duoto GTO. It is configured in its ECA arrangement for flight VA235. The heavy-lift rocket has been a mainstay of the multinational launch providerand offers a high degree of precisionwith its ability to place payloads into orbit with near meter-level accuracy.

Like NASAs now-retired Space Shuttle, the Ariane 5 makes use ofsolid-fueled boosters to supplement the mainliquid-fueled engine.

A pair of P241 solid rocket boosters will provide a combined 3.18 million pounds (14,160 kilonewtons) of thrust at liftoff. Each will burn for approximately 130 seconds, providing roughly 92 percent of the Ariane 5s liftoff thrust. Once their propellant is consumed, they will separate and fall into the Atlantic Ocean.

Supplying the remaining eightpercent of liftoff power is the core stages Vulcain 2 cryogenic engine. Burning a mixture of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, the hydrolox powerplant provides 220,000 pounds (960 kilonewtons) of sea-level thrust. That increases to 310,000 pounds (1,390 kilonewtons) as it climbs into the vacuum of space.

The second stage is outfitted with a single HM7B cryogenic engine. Itsupplies 15,000 pounds (67 kilonewtons) of vacuum thrustand can operate for 945 seconds.

The mission will be broadcast live via Arianespaceswebsite. Coverage will begin 15 minutes beforethe scheduled liftoff.

An artists rendering of the SKY Brasil-1 digital television satellite, set to launch aboard an Ariane 5. Image Credit: Arianespace

Tagged: Ariane 5 ArianeSpace Guiana Space Centre Lead Stories Sky Brasil-1 Telkom 3S VA235

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.

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Arianespace preps 2 satellites for launch atop workhorse Ariane 5 ... - SpaceFlight Insider

The pathfinder vehicle stands atop Complex 46, enclosed by the mobile gantry. Credit: Ben Cooper/Spaceflight Now

CAPE CANAVERAL Three inert Peacekeeper missile stages have been stacked at Cape Canaverals Complex 46 pad, demonstrating the techniques that will be used to assemble a Minotaur 4 rocket to launch an experimental space surveillance satellite this summer.

Decommissioned Peacekeeper missiles form the basis for Minotaur 4 rockets, operated by Orbital ATK, and will deliver the majority of power to launch a small spacecraft, called SensorSat, into Earth orbit.

Launch is tentatively planned for July 15 at roughly 1 a.m. EDT (0500 GMT).

Known as the Operationally Responsive Space-5 mission, or ORS-5, it will be the first Minotaur launch from Cape Canaveral.

Officials say the Cape was chosen as the launch site because it is best suited to fly the special five-stage Minotaur 4 into the desired equatorial orbit.

The payload will circle the planet in low-Earth orbit to scan the valuable region of space 22,300 miles high the geosynchronous orbital belt to spot debris and warn against collisions.

Geosynchronous orbit is where communications satellites, weather observatories and key reconnaissance platforms reside because that altitude allows the craft to fly continuously above the same part of the globe.

Many of the details about ORS-5 remain classified. But SensorSat will test technologies and reduce the risk for future space situational awareness missions.

The launch pad hosting this mission is Complex 46, a former Trident missile test site built in the 1980s for the U.S. Navy, then converted to spaceflight users in the 1990s and employed by Lockheed Martin to launch two Athena boosters including NASAs Lunar Prospector.

Space Florida, an arm of the state, now oversees the complex for commercial customers. It will be the first launch from the pad, which is on the easternmost tip of the Cape, in 18 years.

Five previous Minotaur 4 rockets have launched from Kodiak Island in Alaska and Vandenberg Air Force Base in California since 2010.

The entire Minotaur family has conducted 25 missions since 2000, all successfully. Cape Canaveral will join Kodiak Island, Vandenberg and Wallops Island in Virginia as sites that have hosted launches.

Mission planners selected the Cape to launch SensorSat due to the plane change required en route to achieve the targeted 375-mile-high circular orbit at 0 degrees inclination. A Wallops-based launch could not reach such an orbit with Minotaur 4, officials said.

The successful pathfinder operations at Complex 46 were completed Sunday and punctuated with a photo op for the news media. The inert stages will be destacked beginning Monday.

The real rocket for ORS-5 will be stacked beginning about three weeks before launch. That will be followed by a week-and-a-half of pre-flight testing.

Minotaur 4 will blast off on 500,000 pounds of thrust, propelling the 193,000-pound, 78-foot-tall rocket on a half-hour trip to orbit.

After the three Peacekeeper motors burn, two commercial upper stages deliver the final pushes to reach orbital velocity and then change planes to obtain the correct inclination for ORS-5.

See earlier ORS-5 coverage.

Our Minotaur archive.

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Teams practice for Cape Canaveral's first launch of Minotaur 4 ... - Spaceflight Now

Paul Knightly

February 11th, 2017

Artists depiction of NASAs Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) above the Red Planet. Image Credit: James Vaughan / SpaceFlight Insider

As scientists and engineers from around the world have gathered this week to discuss potential landing sites for NASAs Mars 2020 rover, a key piece of hardware has been central in aiding their efforts. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) arrived at Mars in 2006 and has been capturing high-resolution imagery and data about the Martian surface in the 11 years since. This data is now being used to aid in landing-site selection efforts for the Mars 2020 rover and other future missions.

While the meeting this week discussing potential landing sites for the Mars 2020 rover focused on eight candidate landing sites, MRO data has also been used to evaluate the landing sites for past robotic missions, including Phoenix and Curiosity. The data is even being used to evaluate some 45 potential exploration zones for future crewed missions.

From the point of view of evaluating potential landing sites, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is the perfect spacecraft for getting all the information needed, said the workshops co-chair, Matt Golombek of NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). You just cant overstate the importance of MRO for landing-site selection.

The high-resolution of data returned by the MRO enables engineers and scientists to evaluate the safety of candidate landing sites. Stereoscopic 3-D images can reveal whether slopes are too steep and help to develop terrain models that can aid in future rover operations. MRO data can also reveal the distribution of mineral deposits that are important to achieving mission objectives. These terrain and mineral models are already being used by the Curiosity and Opportunity rover teams to help plan driving routes for those rovers by guiding them to interesting targets while staying out of potentially dangerous situations.

Missions on the surface of Mars give you the close-up view, but what you see depends on where you land. MRO searches the globe for the best sites, said MRO Deputy Project Scientist Leslie Tamppari of JPL.

These eight places on Mars are potential landing sites under consideration as the destination for the Mars 2020 rover mission. Image & Caption Credit: NASA

MRO also serves as a communications relay for present surface missions in tandem with other orbiting spacecraft. Scientists and engineers plan to utilize these communications relay capabilities to support the Mars 2020 rover. This month, it will reach and surpass the milestone of 6,000 relay sessions for Mars surface missions.

While MRO data is important to characterizing potential landing sites, the orbiter has done much more than just assisting with Martian surface operations. MRO has acquired more than 224,000 images and millions of other observations of Mars during its nearly 50,000 orbits of the planet. This large volume of data returned will surpass 300 terabyteslater this month, which is more data than has been returned from any past or present interplanetary mission combined. For perspective, that is more data than would be contained in four months of non-stop high-definition video.

Whether it is looking at the surface, the subsurface or the atmosphere of the planet, MRO has viewed Mars from orbit with unprecedented spatial resolution, and that produces huge volumes of data, said MRO Project Scientist Rich Zurek of JPL.These data are a treasure trove for the whole Mars scientific community to study as we seek to answer a broad range of questions about the evolving habitability, geology and climate of Mars.

Among the other discoveries made possible by data returned by MRO are the following:

The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on the orbiter took the four images used in this animated sequence, showing the same site over the time period from March 31, 2007, to April 2, 2012. The earliest of the four observations is the one in which the impact blast zone looks darkest. The space-rock impact that created this blast zone occurred sometime between September 2005 and February 2006, as bracketed by observations made with the Mars Orbiter Camera on NASAs Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft. The location is between two large volcanoes, named Ascraeus Mons and Pavonis Mons, in a dusty area of the Tharsis region of Mars. During the period from 2007 to 2012, winds blowing through the pass between the volcanoes darkened some regions and brightened others, probably by removing and depositing dust. The view covers an area about 1.0 mile (1.6 km) across, at 7 North latitude, 248 East longitude. North is toward the top. GIF & Caption Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

Tagged: Jet Propulsion Laboratory Mars 2020 Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter NASA The Range

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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MRO data utilized for Mars 2020 landing-site selection - SpaceFlight Insider

Her Majestys government plans to make 10 million of commercial spaceflight funding available to projects that will launch people and satellites into space from the United Kingdom. It is also introducing new legislation to regulate commercial spaceflight by 2020.

In a recent announcement about the plans, universities and science minister Jo Johnson says:

Spaceflight offers the UK the opportunity to build on our strengths in science, research and innovation. It provides opportunities to expand into new markets, creating highly-skilled jobs and boosting local economies across the country.

The UK government is inviting businesses developing spaceports and technology for operating commercial spaceflights to apply for funding assistance. Image is of United Kingdom seen from Sentinel-3A satellite Credit: ESA

Commercial spaceflight market 25 billion

Johnson says the commercial spaceflight market is estimated to be worth around 25 billion over the next 20 years and the governments ambition is for the UK to have 10 percent of the market by 2030.

Businesses developing spaceports and technology for operating commercial spaceflights are invited to submit proposals to access the funding.

In its call for proposals, the government says the aim is to make the UK the first country in Europe where operators can launch, horizontally or vertically, small satellites into orbit or sub-orbital flights for science and tourism.

Johnson says a dedicated Spaceflight Bill is also due to be published within the next few weeks.

Small satellite market growing

The global market for small satellites is developing rapidly. Clusters of hundreds of microsatellites are due to be launched over the next decade to provide telecommunications and enhanced imaging for a range of applications.

Plans at organizational, national and regional level are already forming to create the technology and low-cost services for putting these satellites into space.

For instance, 16 space agencies and universities from nine Asian countries including Japan recently formed an Asian microsatellite consortium.

Human spaceflight

Meanwhile, innovative companies are also working on affordable ways to put people into sub-orbital space whether for the purposes of scientific research, tourism, or high-speed travel.

One example is Virgin Galactic (VG), who recently carried out their first successful glide test of the VSS Unity, their first spaceship to be built in-house.

Eric Stallmer, president of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation says the flight, which was completed at Mojave Air & Spaceport in California in the United States, brings VG one step closer to their goal of making access to space frequent and safe.

The government has set up a webpage for news, announcements, and guidance on commercial spaceflight in the UK.

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Commercial spaceflight sector receiving 10m UK government boost - Market Business News

Jason Rhian

February 10th, 2017

Orion spacecraft at NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Photo Credit: Jason Rhian / SpaceFlight Insider

HOUSTON, Texas A model of NASAs Orion spacecraft is prominently placed within theSpace Vehicle Mockup Facility at NASAs Johnson Space Center. We sat down with Rick Mastracchio, a four-time spaceflight veteran with more than 227 days on orbit about how the Astronaut Office at JSC is working to make the agencys new Orion spacecraft more self-sufficient than those that preceded it.

NASAs Orion Assistant Manager for Integration, Annette Hasbrook, also spoke with SpaceFlight Insider about how NASA is developing not just technology, but protocols that are considered critical to send crews farther into space than has ever been attempted before. Photo Credit: Marisa Rhian / SpaceFlight Insider

At present, NASA is working to have Orion conduct its second flight in late 2018 (the spacecrafts first mission, Exploration Flight Test 1, launched on Dec. 5, 2014). The upcoming flight, Exploration Mission 1, will be the first for NASAs new super-heavy-lift rocket, the Space Launch System.

NASA and its family of contractors arent content with reinventing the wheel, they are looking to develop new, more self-sufficient systems which should be able to handle problems that crews have not had to face in more than four decades.

We havent left low-Earth orbit since 1972, the last Apollo mission, so thats a big change, Mastracchio told SpaceFlight Insider. Some of the changes that I foresee is that were going to have probably a much smarter vehicle than what we had on Space Shuttle or Soyuz, or on the Space Station in terms of it will be more autonomous.

Autonomous was one word that was repeatedly used to describe how Mission Control, also located at JSC, and the crew will need to be as missions travel farther and farther away from our home world.

Mastracchio noted that, as these missions get underway, the Mission Controls role will decrease as crews venture to possible destinations such as Earths moon, an asteroid, and Mars.

Mastracchio and Hasbrook spoke with SpaceFlight Insider for the better part of an hour. They informed SFI regarding contingency scenarios that were under development as well as about how astronauts are being trained to broaden their already diverse array of talents to support deep space missions and more.

Upcoming SLS/Orion flights include the first integrated flight of the launch vehicle and spacecraft, EM-1, as well as the first crewed flight (Exploration Mission 2) and the Asteroid Redirect Mission, which, according to Jeff Foust at Space News, if funded, could fly in late 2021.

Some of their comments are contained in the video presentation below.

Video courtesy of SpaceFlight Insider

Tagged: Annette Hasbrook Astronaut Office Johnson Space Center Lead Stories NASA Orion

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 Exclusive: JSC's Astronaut Office innovating a path forward ... - SpaceFlight Insider

An aerial view of launch pad 39A from late 2015. Credit: NASA

SpaceX engineers are preparing to mount a Falcon 9 rocket at Kennedy Space Centers historic launch pad 39A for the first time this week as the company declares the modified facility ready to support a new era of commercial space missions.

The two-stage rocket, without its payload, could roll out of SpaceXs hangar at the southern perimeter of pad 39A and up the ramp to the launch mount as soon as Thursday.

SpaceX aims to fill the rocket with super-chilled kerosene and liquid oxygen propellants Friday if everything goes according to plan for a hotfire test of the Falcon 9s first stage engines. The nine Merlin 1D powerplants will fire and power up to 1.7 million pounds of thrust for several seconds, sending a plume of exhaust out of pad 39As redesigned flame trench.

Sensors in each engine will measure many performance parameters during the brief ignition at the launch pad. Hold-down restraints will keep the rocket on the ground.

SpaceX is prepping the rocket for a launch targeted for around 10:01 a.m. EST (1501 GMT) on Feb. 18 with a Dragon cargo craft flying to the International Space Station. The commercial supply ship is slated to carry 5,266 pounds (2,389 kilograms) of equipment and experiments to the orbiting laboratory.

The crucial static fire test will double as a check of the rockets readiness for flight and the function of the launch pads fueling, telemetry and water deluge systems, all of which were overhauled by SpaceX in recent months.

Once the test is complete, ground crews will lower the rocket and attach the Dragon cargo freighter for launch next weekend.

Hans Koenigsmann, SpaceXs vice president of flight reliability, said Wednesday that testing of the new ground systems at 39A was nearly complete, allowing managers to move ahead with rollout of the rocket.

This is a huge pad, Koenigsmann said. The runs from the LOX (liquid oxygen) farm and the fuel farm down to the launch head are huge. The transporter-erector is huge. Its like one-and-a-half million pounds of steel, and (it has) so much technology because this thing controls all the interfaces (with the rocket).

The transporter-erector will carry rockets from the hangar up the incline to the pad, then lift the vehicles vertical. The rocket carrier was observed vertical at pad 39A in the last few weeks, and on Wednesday it was seen moving back toward the hangar, where the Falcon 9 rocket sits awaiting the static fire.

There was nothingin particular that gave us a hard time, Koenigsmann told reporters Wednesday during the Federal Aviation Administrations 20thAnnualCommercial SpaceTransportationConference in Washington. Its more like this whole thing was a huge effort, and at the end of it you want to test and test things again to make sure that theyre ready to go.

The last time a rocket stood at pad 39A was in July 2011, when the space shuttle Atlantis lifted off on the final flight of NASAs iconic winged spaceships. SpaceX signed a 20-year lease for the launch complex from NASA in 2014, and preparations at pad 39A took on a feverish pace last year after the companys other launch facility at Cape Canaveral sustained major damage when a rocket exploded.

SpaceX resumed launches Jan. 14 with a successful Falcon 9 mission from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, but the companys return-to-flight in Florida has been paced by the construction at pad 39A.

NASA launched 12 Saturn 5 rockets from pad 39A during the Apollo moon program including Apollo 11 and 82 shuttle flights departed from the seaside launch complex.

But NASA decided it no longer needed pad 39A after the shuttles retirement. Nearby launch pad 39B, previously built for Apollo and shuttle flights, will be home to NASAs Space Launch System, a government-owned heavy-lift rocket that will launch astronaut crews on deep space expeditions.

The concrete foundation of pad 39A dates back to the Apollo era of the 1960s, while the 347-foot-tall (106-meter) fixed service structure and lightning tower were emplaced before the first shuttle launch.

It gives me a little bit of chills when I walk out there and see stuff thats left over from Apollo, Koenigsmann said.

Since SpaceX took over, changes to pad 39A have included the construction of the new rocket hangar outside the south gate to the facility, where space shuttles and Saturn 5 moon rockets arrived on top of tracked crawler-transporters after rollout from the nearby Vehicle Assembly Building.

The hangar can accommodate five Falcon 9 rocket cores at a time, according to SpaceX.

Other additions include the installation of RP-1 kerosene fuel tanks and the construction of the massive transporter-erector, which is sized to accommodate SpaceXs powerful triple-body Falcon Heavy rocket when it debuts later this year.

The transporter-erector is big enough to do Falcon Heavy. We can launch Falcon 9 with it in the center, of course, but the Falcon Heavy drives the size of it, Koenigsmann said. You can see Its bigger than the one we used to have.

The facilitys water system has also been refurbished to provide acoustic and heat protection to the pad deck during liftoffs, and the water tower at the northeast perimeter of the pad has been repainted, now emblazoned with the SpaceX logo.

Later this year, SpaceX plans to add an access arm to pad 39As fixed service structure for astronaut crews to board a human-rated version of the Dragon spacecraft beginning in 2018. SpaceX and Boeing have contracts with NASA to develop commercial spaceships to rotate crews between Earth and the space station.

SpaceX officials intend to base crewed launches and Falcon Heavy missions from pad 39A, and flights for the U.S. military and some commercial missions will be launched from pad 40 a few miles to the south.

Pad 40, which lies on U.S. Air Force property, should be ready for launches again in a few months after ground teams finish clean-up and repairs following the catastrophic explosion of a Falcon 9 booster there in September.

The rocket was destroyed during the final countdown before a static fire test Sept. 1, along with an Israeli-owned communications satellite.

SpaceX said the construction crew working at pad 39A will move over to pad 40 in the coming weeks. A firm timetable for pad 40s availability for launches will be better known once repairs begin, but the facility could be ready by the middle of the year, officials said.

SpaceX aims to launch once every two weeks after pad 39A is inaugurated later this month, continuing with the deployment of an EchoStar communications satellite in early March, then the launch of an SES telecom payload aboard a previously-flown first stage booster later in March.

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SpaceX readies rocket for tests at historic pad 39A - Spaceflight Now

Jason Rhian

February 7th, 2017

Debris, as well as fence and building damage, was seen at NASAs Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans after a tornado touched down at 11:25 a.m. CST on Feb. 7, 2017. Photo Credit: Steven Seipel / MAF / NASA

NASAs Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) was the site of a confirmed tornado strike at 11:25 a.m. CST (12:25 p.m. EST / 17:25 GMT). So far, only minor injuries have been reported, and NASA is accounting for all of its personnel and contractors as well as assessing thedamage caused by the storm.

Meanwhile, officials are continuing to monitor the weather and the agencys emergency response team is assessing just how much damage the storm inflicted on the nearly 80-year-old facility.

Photo Credit: Steven Seipel / MAF / NASA

Images appearing on the Space Alabama website show cars on their roof in one of the parking lots at the MAF.NASASpaceFlight.com has an image that appears to show the tornado touching down, with transformers arcing.

Michoud is where NASA is manufacturing the space agencys massive new super-heavy-lift rocket, the Space Launch System. The MAF, which is located near New Orleans, spans an impressive832 acres (3.37 square kilometers).

Photo Credit: Steven Seipel / MAF / NASA

As of this writing, it is unclear what, if any, damage might have been done to the rockets that are currently under development (the first of these is being prepared for Exploration Mission 1, currently slated to take place in late 2018). NASA has prioritized the assessment to Bldg 103so that the environmental controls of the Space Launch System and Orion can be maintained.

The MAF was used during World War II for the construction of C-76 cargo planes. During the Korean War, it was used to construct engines for Sherman and Patton tanks. Then, in 1961, NASA took over control of the facility.

During the Space Shuttle Program, the MAF was where the large, rust-colored External Tanks that the orbiter used on its 135 missions were produced.

Photo Credit: NASA

UPDATE: According to an internal NASA memo an estimated 40 to 50 percent of the buildings at Michoud received some level of damage, with five buildings receiving severe damage. Building 350, which houses the USDA National Finance Center, had the largest amount of damage. Power was restored to Michouds substation last night (Feb. 7, morning of Feb. 8).

NASA issued the following statement via a press release issued on Feb. 8:

Michoud remains closed to all but security and emergency operations crews. Temporary flight restrictions are in place over the area to ensure recovery and operations crews can complete their work without interference from other drones or low-flying aircraft. All Michoud personnel are accounted for, and no new injuries have been reported.

The entire NASA family pulls together during good times and bad, and the teams at the Michoud Assembly Facility are working diligently to recover from the severe weather that swept through New Orleans Tuesday and damaged the facility, said acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot. We are thankful for the safety of all the NASA employees and workers of onsite tenant organizations, and we are inspired by the resilience of Michoud as we continue to assess the facilitys status.

Video courtesy of NASA

Tagged: Lead Stories Michoud Assembly Facility NASA Orion 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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Tornado damages NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility - SpaceFlight Insider

To call it a space race at this stage would be odd, not to mention misleading. What we're seeing now is more like a sprint, or a dash, where all the competitors are holding hands to the finish.

First, both the Europeans and Americans are keen on human spaceflight. And they know they can't do it alone - nations are pooling resources as much with each other as they are with commercial space enterprises. So much is clear. And as a result it will be a European Service Module that propels NASA's Orion spacecraft beyond the moon and back in 2018.

But there are further plans to build a second module for another mission, possibly in 2021, that will carry astronauts. If this happens, and no other mob trumps it, the mission will be the first to take humans beyond low orbit since 1972. The mission will be powered by European hardware. It will provide water, thermal control and atmosphere for a crew of up to four astronauts.

Next week, the European Space Agency and Airbus Defence and Space sign off on an agreement with NASA, and they will get things started.

The community, even in Europe, has embraced a public-private approach to space.

"Involving the commercial sector and their new fresh ideas, of course it's a good idea," says David Parker, ESA's head of Human Spaceflight and Robotic Exploration. "There are fantastic entrepreneurs out there who may provide a telecommunications service around the moon so that everybody can have the telecommunications for their lunar lander or their astronauts."

Modern launch pad

Then there's SpaceX, one of the commercial providers that has been delivering supplies to the International Space Station. It plans to inaugurate a revamped, fourth launch facility - a modified NASA launch complex in Florida known as "39A" - also next week.

ESA's David Parker used to head the UK Space Agency. The UK has long focused on the commercial benefits of space

NASA's Space Shuttles launched from 39A (before they were grounded). They were the last of America's human space capability.

Activating 39A may well help SpaceX clear a current backlog of about 70 flights.

It's also another step in NASA's plans to have SpaceX and Airbus competitor, Boeing, ferry astronauts to the International Space Stationby the end of 2017. The SpaceX rocket, Falcon 9, which carries a Dragon capsule, launches from 39A. Boeing has its CST-100 spacecraft.

All this commercial enterprise will, however, come at a cost.

"Of course it will be a commercial service, but bringing that kind of entrepreneurial spirit, I don't think it's a bad thing," says Parker.

For science and riches

Historically, says Parker, people have explored for various reasons. During the gold rushes of the Wild West and Australia, for instance, some will have gone for the riches and others for the pure exploration, the science.

But space is such an untapped resource, there's so much we don't know,what it is, how it "functions," or how much it's worth. So are we really prepared to let this rejuvenated age of entrepreneurial space exploration develop on a "wait-and-see" basis? Just look at the internet if you're wondering where that kind of attitude may lead us.

That said, skeptics like me may have to endure a few entrepreneurs earning bucket loads in the short-term, and hang on for the long-term benefits for the rest of humanity.

Economics Minister Brigitte Zypries shares a mobile moment with astronaut Matthias Maurer and ESA chief Jan Wrner

"When we understand the other 90 percent of the physics, imagine what relevance that might have to everyday life," says Parker. "Just as you rely on a mobile telephone today, you don't think about electromagnetic wave theory, do you? But fundamental physics is built into your phone."

Equal opportunities?

So finally what about our investment in people as we take this next step? We talk about "manned" missions to the moon. But does that include women? Germany's Economics Minister Brigitte Zypries, whose department is responsible for space activity, certainly hopes so.

"A lot of women are interested," says Zypries. "About 900 women applied through the initiative, "Die Astronautin [The astronauts]." They're working with ESA and we'll find out soon who's among the final 10 candidates. So, first, let's select one or two of them. But we also have to make sure women continue to be interested in technical professions, and we can only encourage them by saying, 'Get stuck in, you can do it.'"

David Parker can do little but agree. And he sees the number of opportunities for people getting to space, wherever or whatever they are, as commercial and public human spaceflight takes off.

"With the Americans building not one, not two, but three new space vehicles that will take astronauts into space, up to the space station, and also beyond as we look to heading back to the moon and onto Mars, the opportunities are going to increase," says Parker. "And there will be different ways for people to get up into space, maybe even commercially. The more people that experience going to space the better."

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Is 2017 the year human spaceflight returns? - Deutsche Welle

Bart Leahy

February 8th, 2017

SpaceX Falcon 9 lifts off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Stations Space Launch Complex 40 with NASAs CRS-6 mission to the International Space Station on April 14, 2015. Photo Credit: SpaceX

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. The launch of aSpaceXFalcon 9 rocket with NASAsCargo Resupply Services10 (CRS-10) mission is now targeted forFeb. 18. The launch of the cargo variant of SpaceXs Dragon spacecraft is expected to mark the rebirth ofone of KSCs most iconic launch sites LC-39A.

Some 4,473 pounds (2,029 kilograms) of pressurized and 2,154 pounds (977 kilograms) of unpressurized cargo will be aboard the CRS-10 Dragon capsule bound forthe International Space Station (ISS). It will take to the skies during an instantaneous (one second long) launch window.

While any number of factors could have caused the launch to be set for this date, a report appearing on Universe Today suggestsit was due to the mission having not receivedits Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) license.

Previously, on Jan. 30, the NewSpace companydecidedto change the order of its launch manifest to move CRS-10 before to the launch of the EchoStar 23 communications satellite.

A SpaceX statement stated: This schedule change allows time for additional testing of ground systems ahead of the CRS-10 Mission The launch vehicles, Dragon, and the EchoStar satellite are all healthy and prepared for launch.

This will be thefirst launch from LC-39A since the final Space Shuttle mission, STS-135, in July 2011. In 2014, the NewSpace firm signed a 20-year lease on the complex. Since then, it has been modifying it to be able to process and launch Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets.

Changes to LC-39A include the addition of a horizontal integration facility (HIF), a rail system to carry rockets from the HIF to the pad, and a Transporter Erector (TE) attached to the top of the pad.

CRS-10 will also mark SpaceXs first launch from the East Coast since the Sept. 1, 2016,launch pad explosionat Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station just south of Kennedy Space Center. That accident saw the complete loss of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle, the $195 million Amos 6 satellite, and the destruction of much of the launch service equipment at SLC-40.

SpaceFlight Insider reached out to both NASA and SpaceX in order to confirm the new launch date. SpaceX responded with the following: Our current guidance is NET mid-February. Before that, it was NET February [].

On Feb. 8, 2017, the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) held a teleconference, during which it was stated that the launch would take place on Friday, Feb. 17. Shortly thereafter, SpaceX issued a tweet stating that they were targeting Feb. 18.

Tagged: CRS-10 Falcon 9 Launch Complex 39A Lead Stories SpaceX

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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First SpaceX flight from Launch Complex 39A slated for Feb. 18 - SpaceFlight Insider

The International Space Station (ISS), photographed by an astronaut aboard the space shuttle Endeavour on Feb. 10, 2010. Astronauts who flew on ISS and space shuttle missions experienced changes in brain volume, a new study has found.

It appears that spaceflight really goes to astronauts' heads.

Doctors and scientists have long known that exposure to a weightless environment causes muscles to atrophy, bones to weaken and vision to deteriorate, among other effects. Now, a new study has determined that spaceflight also causes some parts of the brain to expand and others to contract. [The Human Body in Space: 6 Wild Facts]

"We found large regions of gray-matter volume decreases, which could be related to redistribution of cerebrospinal fluid in space," study principal investigator Rachael Seidler, a professor of kinesiology and psychology at the University of Michigan, said in a statement.

"Gravity is not available to pull fluids down in the body, resulting in so-called puffy face in space," Seidler added. "This may result in a shift of brain position or compression."

Seidler and her team studied magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of 26 astronauts 12 who flew on two-week-long space shuttle missions, and 14 others who lived aboard the International Space Station (ISS) for five to six months.

These MRI scans are the first images ever to show how spaceflight changes brain structure in humans. Blue shows areas of gray-matter volume decrease, likely reflecting shifting of cerebrospinal fluid. Orange shows regions of gray-matter volume increase, in the regions that control movement of the legs.

The brain regions that expanded are associated with the control of leg movement and the processing of sensory information from the lower body, team members said. Therefore, the MRIs are likely capturing the brain learning a new skill how to move in microgravity and doing so around the clock, Seidler said.

"It's interesting, because even if you love something, you won't practice more than an hour a day," she said. "In space, it's an extreme example of neuroplasticity in the brain, because you're in a microgravity environment 24 hours a day."

It's unclear how long these changes last after astronauts come back to Earth, or how the shifts may affect cognitive ability, the researchers said. Seidler and her team are currently conducting another long-term study to look into these questions.

The new study was published in December 2016 in the journal Nature Microgravity. The lead author is Vincent Koppelmans, of the University of Michigan's School of Kinesiology.

Follow Mike Wall on Twitter@michaeldwallandGoogle+.Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebookor Google+. Originally published onSpace.com.

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Spaceflight Changes the Shape of Astronauts' Brains - Space.com

Curt Godwin

February 9th, 2017

An artists representation of a Europa Lander on the surface of the Jovian moon. Image credit: NASA

Members of a NASA Science Definition Team (SDT) recently completed a report on the science value for a proposed Europa landerand gave design recommendations for the notional explorer. The search for evidence life on the icy moon is near the top of the list.

Scientists believe Europa has an active subsurface ocean, warmed by tidal heating, and enriched by compounds created from the constant bombardment of the icy crust by charged particles streaming from Jupiter. (Click to enlarge) Image credit: NASA

Though Europa is much further from the Sun than is Earth more than 483 millionmiles (777 million kilometers), compared to 93 million miles (150 million kilometers) for Earth scientists have long hypothesized that the icy moon harbors a liquid water ocean beneath its frozen crust.

The presence of liquid water is considered to be an essential ingredient for the evolution of living organisms, and Europa may have twice as muchwater beneath its crust than all of Earths oceans combined.

This liquid environmentmay be enrichedwith chemical compounds created by the bombardment of Europas surface by particles streaming from Jupiters intense magnetic fields, thereby providingan energy source upon which organisms could thrive.

With the ocean likely being in contact with a rocky surface deep within the moon, the three key ingredients water, energy, and organic compounds upon which life is built may be in abundance on the Jovian satellite.

The fundamental goal of the mission would be to look for the direct evidence of life on Europa.

The SDT was given the responsibilityto develop a series of criteria to be used to determine if life had, indeed, been found. To this end, the teammade recommendationson the type and quantity of science instruments to be carried on the lander to accomplish this task.

However, looking for life wont be the landers soleobjective.

Scientists and engineers expect there will be subsequent missions to Europa, so the lander will be designed to gather as much dataabout the icy moon, and its subsurface ocean, as possible. This information will greatly benefit future missions to Europa, perhaps leading to an exploration of the moons subsurface ocean.

Though the destination may bethe same, the Europa Lander is an entirely separate mission from the larger mission to the Jovian system. Popularlycalled the Europa Clipper, the orbiterwill carry out a detailed exploration of its namesake moon as it orbits Jupiter once every 45 days.

Data gathered from that mission, tentatively scheduled for the early 2020s, will help scientists and engineers fine-tune the mission for the lander. The radiation-hardened orbiter will make a pass of Europaevery two weeks, many of which will be close flybys of the moon.

The lander, though, is still very much in its early design phase. NASA will hold two town hall meetings to discuss the SDTs reportand will assess the feedback from thescience community.

Video courtesy of NASA / JPL

Tagged: Europa Europa Clipper Europa Lander Jupiter NASA The Range

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.

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Goals for NASA's proposed Europa Lander begin to crystallize - SpaceFlight Insider

The International Space Station (ISS), photographed by an astronaut aboard the space shuttle Endeavour on Feb. 10, 2010. Astronauts who flew on ISS and space shuttle missions experienced changes in brain volume, a new study has found.

NASA

It appears that spaceflight really goes to astronauts heads.

Doctors and scientists have long known that exposure to a weightless environment causes muscles to atrophy, bones to weaken andvision to deteriorate, among other effects. Now, a new study has determined that spaceflight also causes some parts of the brain to expand and others to contract. [The Human Body in Space: 6 Wild Facts]

We found large regions of gray-matter volume decreases, which could be related to redistribution of cerebrospinal fluid in space, study principal investigator Rachael Seidler, a professor of kinesiology and psychology at the University of Michigan,said in a statement.

Gravity is not available to pull fluids down in the body, resulting in so-called puffy face in space, Seidler added. This may result in a shift of brain position or compression.

Seidler and her team studied magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of 26 astronauts -- 12 who flew on two-week-long space shuttle missions, and 14 others who lived aboard the International Space Station (ISS) for five to six months.

These MRI scans are the first images ever to show how spaceflight changes brain structure in humans. Blue shows areas of gray-matter volume decrease, likely reflecting shifting of cerebrospinal fluid. Orange shows regions of gray-matter volume increase, in the regions that control movement of the legs.

Koppelmans et al./Nature Microgravity

The brains of all 26 astronauts changed shape as a result of their off-Earth stints, and the magnitude of these changes was greater in the ISS crewmembers.

The brain regions that expanded are associated with the control of leg movement and the processing of sensory information from the lower body, team members said. Therefore, the MRIs are likely capturing the brain learning a new skill -- how to move inmicrogravity-- and doing so around the clock, Seidler said.

Its interesting, because even if you love something, you wont practice more than an hour a day, she said. In space, its an extreme example of neuroplasticity in the brain, because youre in a microgravity environment 24 hours a day.

Its unclear how long these changes last after astronauts come back to Earth, or how the shifts may affect cognitive ability, the researchers said. Seidler and her team are currently conducting another long-term study to look into these questions.

The new study was published in December 2016 in the journalNature Microgravity. The lead author is Vincent Koppelmans, of the University of Michigans School of Kinesiology.

Follow Mike Wall on Twitter@michaeldwallandGoogle+. Follow us@Spacedotcom,FacebookorGoogle+. Originally published onSpace.com.

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Spaceflight changes the shape of astronauts' brains - CBS News

Employees and flight hardware for NASAs Space Launch System and Orion spaceship were mostly spared after a strong tornado struck the agencys Michoud plant in New Orleans on Tuesday, but crews planned to begin repairs immediately to plug holes in buildings housing parts and tools to build the new mega-rocket.

The tornado hit Michoud in East New Orleans around 11:25 a.m. CST (12:25 p.m. EST; 1725 GMT) Tuesday, NASA said, overturning cars, shattering windows and ripping roofs and siding off buildings at the sprawling 832-acre campus.

NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center, which manages the Michoud Assembly Facility, said in a statement Tuesday night that officials have accounted for all 3,500 employees who work at the site. Five of the workers sustained minor injuries, NASA said.

Our hearts go out to our employees and the people in New Orleans who have suffered from this serious storm, said Keith Hefner, director of Michoud, in a statement. The safety of our team is always our main concern, and we are pleased to report that weve identified only minor injuries.

Todd May, director of Marshall, told Spaceflight Now in an email that parts for the Space Launch System and Orion capsule dodged damage, along with a giant one-of-a-kind vertical weld tool needed to fuse together tanks for the SLS core stage.

But some of of the hardware is now indirectly exposed to the elements, May said, and workers on Wednesday would immediately start plugging the holes to shore up the cavernous structure named Building 103 housing the components and tools.

Michoud will be closed to all but emergency personnel Wednesday, NASA said, while crews continue damage assessments and try to restore power.

At this time, emergency personnel have identified damage to building numbers 103, 350 and additional structures, NASA said late Tuesday. Building 103, Michouds main manufacturing building, has roof damage in several areas. Approximately 200 parked cars were damaged, and there was damage to roads and other areas near Michoud.

The Pegasus barge parked at Michoud also weathered the storm with no damage, NASA said. The vessel was used to transport external tanks for the space shuttle built at Michoud to NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and the agency intends to repurpose the barge to ship SLS core stages between Louisiana, a test site at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, and the Florida launch base.

The SLS core stage, powered by four shuttle-era RS-25 main engines, will be sprayed with orange foam insulation like the shuttle tank and has the same 27.6-foot (8.4-meter) diameter.

NASA plans the first test launch of the huge rocket, which will tower 321 feet (98 meters) tall in its basic configuration, by November 2018 on an uncrewed demonstration flight to lunar orbit and back with an Orion capsule.

When it flies, the SLS will be the most powerful rocket in existence.

The test flight will be followed by a mission to the moons distance with up to four astronauts in some time between 2021 and 2023 aboard the following SLS and Orion launch.

NASA envisions future SLS flights will send astronauts to habitats constructed in deep space, and eventually to Mars in the 2030s.

Welding of the Orion crew module is also based at Michoud, with final outfitting and flight preps at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The Michoud facility, located near the Mississippi River a few miles downstream for downtown New Orleans, was originally a World War II facility building boats, airplanes and tank engines.NASA took over the complex in 1961 for assembly of the huge first stage for the Saturn 5 moon rocket, then Michoud became home for construction of the space shuttles external tank for more than three decades.

Michoud last sustained major storm damage when Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the Gulf Coast in 2005. Parts of the main factory buildings roof were peeled away, and concrete particles and rainfall fell into the external tank integration bay. One of tanks damaged, named ET-122, was eventually repaired and flew on the final launch of the shuttle Endeavour in 2011.

Michoud has a comprehensive emergency plan that we activated today to ensure the safety of our people and to secure our facilities, Hefner said in a statement after the tornado. I am proud of our dedicated team onsite who are successfully implementing that plan.

Email the author.

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.

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Tornado strikes NASA's Michoud plant in New Orleans - Spaceflight Now

Laurel Kornfeld

February 8th, 2017

Every discovered planet in the Solar System under 10,000 km in diameter, to scale. The geophysical definition of a planet includes ~110 known planets in the Solar System. Image Credit: Emily Lakdawalla / The Planetary Society

Six scientists who work on NASAs New Horizons mission propose a geophysical planet definition in a new article published in the journal Lunar and Planetary Science.

Their proposal addresses several issues they view as problematic regarding the 2006 International Astronomical Union (IAU) planet definition, which is considered a dynamical one because it places primacy on an objects location.

Among its problems are the fact that it recognizes only objects orbiting the Sun as planets, precluding the nearly 2,000 exoplanets orbiting other stars discovered over the last 20 years, as well as rogue planets, which float freely in space without orbiting any star.

The IAUs third criterion for planet status that an object hascleared its orbit also precludes all Solar System planets because all have small objects frequently enter their paths, the authors note. Also, the further an object is from the Sun, the larger an orbit it has to clear, meaning objects would have to get larger and larger to be considered planets the further from the Sun they orbit.

[E]ven an Earth-sized object in the Kuiper Belt would not clear its zone, the scientists note in the article.

As an alternative, the New Horizons scientists outline a definition centered on the physics of individual worlds and their intrinsic properties.

A planet is a sub-stellar mass body that has never undergone nuclear fusion and that has sufficient self-gravitation to assume a spheroidal shape adequately described by a triaxial ellipsoid regardless of its orbital parameters, they state. For teachers of elementary school children, this can be paraphrased as round objects in space that are smaller than stars.

Our geophysical definition is directly based on the physics of the world itself rather than the physics of its interactions with external objects, the scientists note.

Classification of brown dwarfs intermediate objects bigger than the largest planets but less massive than the smallest stars is left to the future, when more will be known about these enigmatic objects.

Pluto-Charon (false color) size comparison. Image Credit: NASA / JHUAPL / SwRI

The authors maintain that to much of the public, the term planet conveys a historic importance that inherently makes an object more interesting.

Additionally, the geophysical definition already predominates in common usage, not just among the public but also in the planetary science community.

To support this notion, the authors cite peer-reviewed articles that use the term planet for Saturns moon Titan and dwarf planets Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, and Eris.

A new suggestion within the proposal calls for identifying spherical moons of planets as moon planets.

Noting the eight planets recognized by the IAU are all modified by adjectives, such as terrestrial, gas giant, and ice giant, they propose the same recognition for dwarf planets and moon planets.

Interestingly, spherical moons were considered secondary planets by many 19th century astronomers. Stern, who coined the term dwarf planet, intended it to designate a subclass of planets.

While their proposal results in the Solar System having a minimum of 110 planets, this should not be viewed as a problem because teaching students should center on giving them an understanding of the Solar Systems natural organization rather than asking them to memorize a list of objects, the authors state.

In their many discussions of the issue with members of the public, the New Horizons scientists point out that most people, including policymakers, resonate intuitively with the geophysical definition.

Planetary scientists, who often deal with the geology of other worlds, are also more aligned with the geophysical definition, they added.

No statement was made as to whether the group intends to present its definition to the IAU at a future General Assembly.

The writers include mission Geology and Geophysics Imaging team member Kirby Runyon of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland; Principal Investigator Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute of Boulder, Colorado; Geology and Geophysics Imaging team member Tod Lauer of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory in Tucson, Arizona; Co-investigator Will Grundy of the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona; Co-investigator Michael Summers of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, and Co-investigator Kelsi Singer, also of the Southwest Research Institute.

Tagged: International Astronomical Union NASA New Horizons Pluto Solar System The Range

Laurel Kornfeld is an amateur astronomer and freelance writer from Highland Park, NJ, who enjoys writing about astronomy and planetary science. She studied journalism at Douglass College, Rutgers University, and earned a Graduate Certificate of Science from Swinburne Universitys Astronomy Online program. Her writings have been published online in The Atlantic, Astronomy magazines guest blog section, the UK Space Conference, the 2009 IAU General Assembly newspaper, The Space Reporter, and newsletters of various astronomy clubs. She is a member of the Cranford, NJ-based Amateur Astronomers, Inc. Especially interested in the outer solar system, Laurel gave a brief presentation at the 2008 Great Planet Debate held at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab in Laurel, MD.

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Six New Horizons scientists propose geophysical planet definition - SpaceFlight Insider

Bart Leahy

February 6th, 2017

Commercial Crew Program: CGI rendition of a SpaceX Crewed Dragon spacecraft in orbit above Earth. Image Credit: Nathan Koga / SpaceFlight Insider

The Wall Street Journalstatedin a recent report that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has expressed newconcerns about the safety of SpaceXsFalcon 9 launch vehicle in a preliminary report to the U.S. Congress. The early version of the GAO document, which has not yet been posted online, reportedcracks in the turbopump blades of the Merlin engine, among other faults.

NASA considers these types of cracks to be major threats to Falcon 9s safety and that the blades might need to be redesigned before the agency allows astronauts to ride on the rocket. The agency considers the turbopump blades, which direct propellants toward the Merlin combustion chamber, as presenting an unacceptable risk for crewed flights.

The Journal reported a SpaceX spokesman as saying, We have qualified our engines to be robust to these types of cracks but are modifying the design to avoid them altogether. The pending changes will be part of the final design for the Falcon 9. He added that SpaceX is working in partnership with NASA to qualify engines for manned spaceflight.

This preliminary report is becoming public two weeks after SpaceXs launch on January 14, the first successful launch since a Falcon 9 exploded during fueling on September 1, 2016. The next launch, scheduled to be the companys first from Kennedy Space Centers Launch Complex 39A, has been delayed until mid-February, at the earliest.

The Journal also reports:

Industry officials have known about problems with cracked blades on Falcon 9 versions for many months or even years. But cracks continued to be found during tests as recently as September 2016, Robert Lightfoot, NASAs acting administrator, confirmed in an interview with The Wall Street Journal earlier this week.

Mr. Lightfoot said were talking to [SpaceX] about turbo machinery, adding that he thinks we know how to fix them. In the interview, Mr. Lightfoot said he didnt know if the solution would require a potentially time-consuming switch to bigger turbopumps.

GAO likely will reportthat both companies willshift their first crewed flights under NASAs Commercial Crew Transportation Capability program to 2018.

The GAO is looking into issues with Boeings CST-100 Starliner spacecraft. For Boeing, officials close to the investigation told the Journal that GAO investigators raised questions about Boeings reliability tests of their parachute systems.

In addition to the turbopump blades, the Journal reported that GAO has cited SpaceXs frequent modifications of Falcon 9 designs as a potential source of delays in obtaining NASA certification for the vehicle.

Spaceflight Insider has reached out to SpaceXbut has not received a response yet.

AsSpaceflight Insiderreported onJan. 30, SpaceX has rescheduled their launch of the EchoStar communications satellite to late February, after the next cargo launch to the International Space Station (ISS) in mid-February.

This schedule change allows time for additional testing of ground systems ahead of the CRS-10 Mission, SpaceX said in a statement. The launch vehicles, Dragon, and the EchoStar satellite are all healthy and prepared for launch.

Tagged: Boeing CST-100 Starliner Commercial Crew Program Falcon 9 Lead Stories SpaceX

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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Preliminary GAO report calls commercial crew vehicles into question - SpaceFlight Insider

Artists concept of the NanoRacks airlock attached to the space stations Tranquility module. Credit: NanoRacks

A commercial airlock built in partnership by NanoRacks and Boeing will be connected to the International Space Station in 2019, the companies announced Monday, after the proposed project won preliminary approval from NASA managers.

NanoRacks plans to deploy small commercial satellites and CubeSats from the airlock, reducing the workload currently occupying time on the smaller equipment airlock inside the Japanese Kibo laboratory module. Only half of the Kibo airlocks capacity is allocated to NASA and commercial clients the rest goes to Japan.

This partnership is an important step in the commercial transition well see on the ISS in coming years, said Mark Mulqueen, Boeings ISS program manager. Utilizing a commercial airlock to keep up with the demand of deployment will significantly streamline our process.

NanoRacks has arranged for the launch of more than 375 payloads to the space station since 2009, including more than 100 CubeSats released from a deployer mounted on the end of the Japanese robotic arm outside Kibo for commercial customers, universities and NASA.

Houston-based NanoRacks also has an external platform outside Kibo, where scientists can test sensors, electronics and other equipment in the harsh environment of space.

The privately-funded commercial airlock will launch inside the unpressurized trunk of a SpaceX Dragon cargo craft, then attach to a port on the stations Tranquility module with the Canadian-built robotic arm.

Another commercial module is already to connected to Tranquility.

The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, or BEAM, launched to the station in April 2016 under a NASA-funded contract. Developed and built by Bigelow Aerospace, the soft-sided module expanded to full size in late May after bolted on to the Tranquility module.

BEAM is on a two-year demonstration to test the performance of an expandable module in space, but Bigelow and NASA are in discussions to extend the modules presence on the station longer.

NASA and NanoRacks signed a Space Act Agreement for the airlock project last year. The space agency announced Monday that it has committed to install the airlock on the station once NanoRacks completes pre-agreed financial and technical milestones outlined in the agreement.

We want to utilize the space station to expose the commercial sector to new and novel uses of space, ultimately creating a new economy in low Earth orbit for scientific research, technology development and human and cargo transportation, said Sam Scimemi, director of the ISS division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. We hope this new airlock will allow a diverse community to experiment and develop opportunities in space for the commercial sector.

The new airlock will triple the number of small satellites that can be deployed in a single cycle, according to Boeing.

Astronauts inside the station will also be able to assemble payloads from components delivered to the complex in bags, then put them through the NanoRacks airlock, which can handle larger packages than the sizes supported by the current Kibo passageway.

Boeing is providing the passive common berthing mechanism, a connecting ring to install the new port on the Tranquility module, plus unspecified engineering services required for developing and manufacturing of the airlock, according to NanoRacks.

We are very pleased to have Boeing joining with us to develop the airlock module, said Jeffrey Manber, CEO of NanoRacks. This is a huge step for NASA and the U.S. space program, to leverage the commercial marketplace for low Earth orbit, on Space Station and beyond, and NanoRacks is proud to be taking the lead in this prestigious venture.

Boeing is also NASAs lead contractor for the entire space station, providing engineering support for all of the labs U.S. modules.

NanoRacks said the airlock could be detached from the ISS and placed on another platform in orbit.

The NanoRacks airlock module is the next logical step in the successful line of NanoRacks commercial payload facilities, said Brock Howe, head of the airlock project at NanoRacks. This airlock module will provide a broad range of capabilities to our payload customers and expand greatly on the commercial utilization of the station and I look forward to leading the team at NanoRacks on this next venture.

The airlock module will be assembled and tested by NanoRacks, which is also responsible for the design, safety, operations, quality assurance, mockups and crew training, the company said in a statement.

ATA Engineering of San Diego will lead structural and thermal analysis and testing services for the airlock project.

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NASA okays commercial airlock for space station - Spaceflight Now

Jim Sharkey

February 7th, 2017

The selected payload for the Mars 2020 rover. Image Credit: NASA

In a report issued on Jan. 30, 2017, NASAs Office of Inspector General (OIG) voiced concerns about issues that could delay the planned July 2020 launch of the space agencys next Mars rover. An optimal 20-day window for a journey from Earth to Mars occurs once every 26 months. Missing the 2020 launch date would result in increased costs while waiting for the next launch opportunity.

A chart of NASA Tech Readiness Levels (TRL). Image Credit: NASA

The Mars 2020 rover is planned tocarry seven science instruments to further scientific knowledge about Mars. Specifically, the rover will search for signs of past life, cache rock samples for possible return to Earth by a future mission and demonstrate technologies that will support NASAs goal of sending humans to Mars in the 2030s.

The new rover will use a significant amount of heritage technology developed for NASAs Mars Science LaboratoryCuriosity rover in order to reduce mission costs and risks. Despite these cost and time-saving measures, an audit conducted by the OIG found several risks that could negatively impact the projects schedule.

The OIG audit found the greatest risk to the Mars 2020 missions schedule is the projects Sample and Caching Subsystem (Sampling System), which is being developed tocollect core samples of Martian rocks and regolith and place them on the Martian surface for retrieval by a future robotic or human mission.

During the missions preliminary design review, three of the Sampling Systems critical technologies were below technology readiness level (TRL) 6, which means the prototype had not yet demonstrated the capability to perform all required functions.

The OIG auditors were particularly concerned about the immaturity of these critical technologies because, according to Mars 2020 project managers, the Sampling System is the rovers most complex new component and delays could eat into the projects reserve schedule and, in the worst case scenario, cause the launch to be delayed. As of December 2016, the project was tracking the risk that the Sampling System might not be ready for testing and integration in May 2019.

The audit also found that the mission also appears to not be on track to have 90 percent of its engineering drawings completed by the February 2017 critical design review (CDR). The CDR is when a project demonstrates its design is mature enough to proceed with full-scale fabrication, assembly, integration, and testing.

The audit detailed a number of other challenges facing Mars 2020 project managers including late delivery of the actuators responsible for moving and controlling parts and instruments on the rover, eliminating as a cost-saving measure an engineering model of the Mars Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE), designed to test the feasibility of producing oxygen on Mars.

Additionally, managers need to ensure the rover doesnt exceed its designed mass limit of 2,315 pounds (1,050 kilograms) and address funding issues faced by foreign partners, which may affect their ability to deliver components on time.

The Mars 2020 rover is currently scheduled to launch in July 2020 atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 booster from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Station in Florida.

Video courtesy of NASA OIG

Tagged: Lead Stories Mars Mars 2020 MOXIE NASA's Office of Inspector General Sampling System

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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Audit of NASA's Mars 2020 rover mission warns of potential delays - SpaceFlight Insider

Artists concept of how the tether for Japans KITE experiment would have appeared when deployed from the HTV supply ship. Credit: JAXA

Japans HTV supply ship fell to Earth on Sunday more than a week after leaving the International Space Station, burning up in the atmosphere after officials gave up on an experiment looking into ways to remove space junk from orbit.

The barrel-shaped spacecraft, measuring 30 feet (9.2 meters) long and 14 feet (4.4 meters) wide, departed the space station Jan. 27 after deliveringmore than 9,000 pounds (about 4.1 metric tons) of supplies, experiments and six lithium-ion batteries to begin a refresh of the research labs electrical system.

The mission launched from Japan on Dec. 9 aboard an H-2B rocket.

Astronauts replaced the cargo with trash inside the HTVs pressurized cabin, and the stations robotics system placed nine no-longer-needed batteries into the logistics crafts external cargo bay before the departure.

The mission was Japans sixth HTV resupply mission nicknamed Kounotori 6, using the Japanese word for white stork.

Shortly after leaving the space station, the HTV was supposed to release an electrodynamic tether measuring nearly a half-mile (700 meters) long for a research experiment to gauge such a devices effectiveness at helping clear low Earth orbit of space junk.

But the experiment encountered problems, Japanese scientists said, and the tether was never unreeled.

One of four bolts holding the end mass a structure fixed to the end of the tether to the HTVs main body apparently did not release as planned Jan. 28, according to a statement by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

JAXA said telemetry data from the spacecraft indicated one of the bolts did not disengage after an initial release command, but data showed the bolt disconnected a few minutes later after further commands.

A couple of hours later, an attempt to extend the tether did not work. JAXA said ground controllers tried to unfurl it multiple times without success.

The Kounotori Integrated Tether Experiment, or KITE, was intended to study the behavior of a tether made of strands of aluminum and stainless steel wire, similar to devices that could remove space debris from orbit in the future.

Space debris experts say electrodynamic tethers like the one carried on Kounotori 6, which had a thin coating of lubricant to encourage electric conductivity, could offer a way to de-orbit derelict rocket stages and aging satellites without expending precious propellants.

The interaction between an electrodynamic tether and the Earths magnetic field should generate enough energy to change an objects orbit, eventually allowing it to burn up in the atmosphere.

Electrodynamic tethers have been tested in space before on two space shuttle missions in the 1990s. The tethers extended from the shuttles payload bay never reached their intended length one tether jammed and another broke but engineers gathered useful data to apply to future missions.

Once the tether aboard Kounotori 6 fully deployed, the rendezvous sensors and a camera on the HTV were designed to track the motion of the tether and its end mass. A field emission cathode was supposed to generate an electrical current to run through the tether to check its interaction with Earths magnetic field.

Despite the tether snag, JAXA said the cathode released electrons as designed, allowing experimenters to verify the performance of that piece of the tether demonstration.

Ground controllers only had about a week to conduct the tether experiment before the HTVs scheduled re-entry Sunday.

JAXA confirmed the spacecraft plunged back into the atmosphere and burned up over the ocean around 1506 GMT (10:06 a.m. EST) Sunday.

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Japanese cargo ship ends mission after space debris experiment flounders - Spaceflight Now

Derek Richardson

February 6th, 2017

The Falcon 9 first stage recovered during the April 2016 CRS-8 mission is being test fired at SpaceXs rocket development facility in McGregor, Texas. Photo Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX recently tested the previously-flown Falcon 9 first stage assigned to send the SES-10 communications satellite into space. That mission will mark the first time the company has re-flown one of its recovered boosters.

The stage was tested in late January 2017 at SpaceXs rocket development and test facility in McGregor, Texas, by completing a static test fire in which all nine Merlin 1D engines were fired at once for a few seconds. The company tests all its Falcon 9 boosters here before shipping each to their designated launch areas, currently either Florida or California.

SpaceX successfully lands a Falcon 9 first stage on a drone ship at sea for the first time. This booster propelled the CRS-8 mission toward space in April 2016. Photo Credit: SpaceX

The SES-10 mission is currently looking to launch no earlier than early March 2017, after the CRS-10 Dragon capsule and EchoStar 23 communications satellite are launched on Feb. 14 and Feb. 28, respectively.

This particular stage was recovered in April 2016 after lofting the CRS-8 mission to the International Space Station. After propelling the second stage and payload out of Earths atmosphere, the first stage made a propulsive landing on the deck of SpaceXs Of Course I Still Love You drone ship some 190 miles (300 kilometers) east of Cape Canaveral, Florida, in the Atlantic Ocean.

It was the first successful at-sea landing by a Falcon 9 booster and the second overall to be recovered.

Over the last few years, SpaceX has been actively working to propulsively land the first stage of its Falcon 9 rockets in order to inspect and eventually reuse them. The first successful landing occurred during the Orbcomm OG2 mission in December 2015. Since then, six more boosters were recovered both on land and at sea.

In May 2016, the company successfully landed a stage after a high-energy geostationary transfer orbit mission. SpaceX said that booster, which sent the JCSAT-14 communications satellite to space, went through the harshest conditions it expects a recovered stage to go through.

The California-based company decided to use the JCSAT-14 booster as itslife leader and has since put it through numerous inspections and stress tests. Additionally, the stage was put through least seven full-duration test firings at McGregor. One of those firings can be seen in the video below.

The JCSAT-14 booster will not fly again.

According to Spaceflight Now, the booster that will be used for SES-10 will only be put through the standard preflight testing. This means the next step will be for it to be shipped to Cape Canaveral and integrated for launch.

SpaceX is taking the information it is learning from recovered boosters and modifying the design of the Falcon 9 to make full and rapid reusability easier. This new Falcon 9 Block 5 is expected to fly no earlier than late 2017.

Video courtesy of SpaceX

Tagged: Cape Canaveral CRS-8 Falcon 9 Lead Stories McGregor SES-10 SpaceX

Derek Richardson is a student studying mass media with an emphasis in contemporary journalism at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. He is currently the managing editor of the student run newspaper, the Washburn Review. He also writes a blog, called Orbital Velocity, about the space station. His passion for space ignited when he watched space shuttle Discovery leap to space on Oct. 29, 1998. He saw his first in-person launch on July 8, 2011 when the space shuttle launched for the final time. 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 that his true calling was communicating to others about space exploration and spreading that passion.

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First SpaceX Falcon 9 scheduled to be re-flown tested at McGregor - SpaceFlight Insider