CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) A commercial cargo ship rocketed toward the International Space Station on Friday under a billion-dollar contract with NASA that could lead to astronaut rides in just a few years.

SpaceX, a private California company run by the billionaire who helped create PayPal, launched its unmanned Falcon rocket into clouds right on time. It is the third supply run by a Dragon capsule, an unparalleled accomplishment all under a year.

Launch controllers applauded and gave high-fives to one another, once the spacecraft safely reached orbit. The successful separation of the Dragon from the rocket was broadcast live on NASA TV; on-board cameras provided the unique views nine minutes into the flight.

The space station and its six-man crew were orbiting 250 miles above the Atlantic, just off the New England coast, when the Falcon soared. The Dragon spacecraft is due to arrive Saturday morning after an unusually short chase; astronauts will use a hefty robot arm to draw the Dragon in and dock it to the station.

SpaceX tucked fresh fruit into the Dragon for the station residents; the apples and other treats are straight from the orchard of an employee's family. There wasn't room in the research freezers for the usual ice cream cups.

Also on board: 640 seeds of a flowering weed used for research, mouse stems cells, protein crystals, astronaut meals and clothing, trash bags, air-purifying devices, computer parts and other gear.

SpaceX formally Space Exploration Technologies Corp. has a $1.6 billion contract with NASA for space station shipments. Its founder, Elon Musk, monitored the launch from the company's Mission Control and home office in Hawthorne.

NASA's deputy administrator, Lori Garver, said using commercial providers is more efficient for the space agency. It's part of a long-term program, she noted, that has NASA spending less money on low-Earth orbit and investing more in deep-space missions. That's one reason why the space shuttles were retired in 2011 after the station was completed.

The goal is to have SpaceX and other private firms take over the job of ferrying astronauts to and from the space station in the next few years.

SpaceX so far the leader of the pack is aiming for a manned Dragon flight by 2015.

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Private SpaceX rocket launched to space station

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Updated: Thursday, February 28 2013 3:25 PM EST2013-02-28 20:25:25 GMT

Updated: Thursday, February 28 2013 2:21 PM EST2013-02-28 19:21:43 GMT

Updated: Thursday, February 28 2013 12:56 PM EST2013-02-28 17:56:27 GMT

The International Space Station (ISS) will pass through the skies overEast Texas and the ArkLaTexseveral times over the next few nights, with some viewings lasting up to six minutes each.

According to the KSLA StormTracker 12 Weather team, the skies will be clear over the next several nights, making it easy to spot the ISS in the darkening skies. Because of its large size (about the size of a football field), the ISS reflects a great deal of sunlight, making it visible in the darkening sky. It will look like a slow-moving airplane in the sky, although the light will be steady, not blinking like an airplane.

Thursday's viewing of the International Space Station will last from 7:36 p.m. until 7:40 p.m.,trackingthe west to thesouth. However, the station will only reach a maximum height of 20 degrees above the horizon.

The ISS can be seen Friday, March 1 at 6:44 p.m. and remain visible until 6:51. The space station will move from northwest to southeast and reach a maximum height of 41 degrees above the horizon.

For more information on the International Space Station passing over the United States, click here.

Copyright 2013 KSLA. All rights reserved.

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International Space Station visible in the ETX, ArkLaTex skies

Fraternity helps member with sex change Fraternity helps member with sex change A transgender fraternity member in Boston is getting some unexpected help with his sex change. Donnie Collins is a proud member of phi alpha ta a fraternity at Emerson college. CollinsMore >> A transgender fraternity member in Boston is getting some unexpected help with his sex change.More >> Check it out! KSLA News 12 streams newscasts, weather & breaking news Check it out! KSLA News 12 streams newscasts, weather & breaking news

Updated: Thursday, February 28 2013 3:25 PM EST2013-02-28 20:25:25 GMT

Updated: Thursday, February 28 2013 2:21 PM EST2013-02-28 19:21:43 GMT

Updated: Thursday, February 28 2013 12:56 PM EST2013-02-28 17:56:27 GMT

The International Space Station (ISS) will pass through the skies overEast Texas and the ArkLaTexseveral times over the next few nights, with some viewings lasting up to six minutes each.

According to the KSLA StormTracker 12 Weather team, the skies will be clear over the next several nights, making it easy to spot the ISS in the darkening skies. Because of its large size (about the size of a football field), the ISS reflects a great deal of sunlight, making it visible in the darkening sky. It will look like a slow-moving airplane in the sky, although the light will be steady, not blinking like an airplane.

Thursday's viewing of the International Space Station will last from 7:36 p.m. until 7:40 p.m.,trackingthe west to thesouth. However, the station will only reach a maximum height of 20 degrees above the horizon.

The ISS can be seen Friday, March 1 at 6:44 p.m. and remain visible until 6:51. The space station will move from northwest to southeast and reach a maximum height of 41 degrees above the horizon.

For more information on the International Space Station passing over the United States, click here.

Copyright 2013 KSLA. All rights reserved.

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International Space Station visible in ArkLaTex skies

NASA / Kim Shiflett

This Dragon spacecraft will launch on the upcoming SpaceX CRS-2 mission. The flight will be the second commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station by SpaceX.

By Miriam KramerSpace.com

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. The weather looks promising for the planned Friday launch of a privately built robotic space capsule to the International Space Station, NASA says.

The unmanned Dragon space capsule, built by the private spaceflight company SpaceX of Hawthorne, Calif., is slated to launch toward the space station Fridayat 10:10 a.m. EST. Weather forecasts predict a 80 percent chance of favorable conditions for launch. NASA and SpaceX officials gave the scheduled mission a final "go" for launch earlier Thursday.

"The mission is the second of 12 SpaceX flights contracted by NASA to resupply the International Space Station," NASA officials said in a mission update. "It will mark the third trip by a Dragon capsule to the orbiting laboratory, following a demonstration flight in May 2012 and the first resupply mission in October 2012."

SpaceX has a $1.6 billion contract with NASA to provide 12 unmanned cargo deliveries to the space station. Another company, Orbital Sciences Corp. based in Virginia, has a $1.9 billion contract for eight mission using its own Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft.

The Dragon spacecraft is expected to deliver 1,200 pounds (544 kilograms) worth of supplies to the six international crew members on board the station. The capsule is scheduled to return to Earth with 2,300 pounds (1,043 kg) of material from the space station when it splashes down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California on March 25.

SpaceX

On Monday, Falcon 9 and Dragon underwent a successful static fire in preparation for launch to the International Space Station. Engineers ran through all countdown processes as if it were launch day, ending with all nine engines on the rocket firing for nearly two seconds.

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It's a 'go' for SpaceX launch to space station

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. The weather looks promising for the planned Friday launch of a privately built robotic space capsule to the International Space Station, NASA says.

The unmanned Dragon space capsule, built by the private spaceflight company SpaceX of Hawthorne, Calif., is slated to launch toward the space station Friday (March 1) at 10:10 a.m. EST. Weather forecasts predict an 80 percent chance of favorable conditions for launch near-perfect conditions.

"The mission is the second of 12 SpaceX flights contracted by NASA to resupply the International Space Station," NASA officials said in a mission update. "It will mark the third trip by a Dragon capsule to the orbiting laboratory, following a demonstration flight in May 2012 and the first resupply mission in October 2012."

SpaceX has a $1.6 billion contract with NASA to provide 12 unmanned cargo deliveries to the space station. Another company, Orbital Sciences Corp. based in Virginia, has a $1.9 billion contract for eight mission using its own Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft.

The Dragon spacecraft is expected to deliver 1,200 pounds worth of supplies to the six international crewmembers on board the station. The capsule is scheduled to return to Earth with 2,300 pounds of material from the space station when it splashes down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California on March 25.

SpaceX conducted a successful rocket engine test, known as a "static test fire" on Monday (Feb. 25). The rocket's 9 Merlin engines were fired for a few seconds while the rocket was held down on the launch pad.

NASA is relying on SpaceX, Orbital Sciences and other private companies to develop new private spacecraft to supply the International Space Station with cargo and ultimately ferry American astronauts into and from low-Earth orbit.

With the retirement of the space shuttle fleet in 2011, NASA has been dependent on Russia's Soyuz spacecraft to fly astronauts to the space station, and use unmanned cargo ships built by Russia, Japan and Europe to deliver supplies to the orbiting laboratory.

The space agency is also developing a new rocket and spacecraft, the Orion space capsule and its Space Launch System mega-rocket, for future deep-space exploration missions to the moon, asteroids and Mars.

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SpaceX readies for rocket launch to space station Friday

Update: This story was updated at 10:15 a.m. ET (1515 GMT) on Feb. 28.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. The weather looks promising for the planned Friday launch of a privately built robotic space capsule to the International Space Station, NASA says.

The unmanned Dragon space capsule, built by the private spaceflight company SpaceX of Hawthorne, Calif., is slated to launch toward the space station Friday (March 1) at 10:10 a.m. EST. Weather forecasts predict a 80 percent chance of favorable conditions for launch. NASA and SpaceX officials gave the scheduled mission a final "go" for launch.

"The mission is the second of 12 SpaceX flights contracted by NASA to resupply the International Space Station," NASA officials said in a mission update. "It will mark the third trip by a Dragon capsule to the orbiting laboratory, following a demonstration flight in May 2012 and the first resupply mission in October 2012."

SpaceX has a $1.6 billion contract with NASA to provide 12 unmanned cargo deliveries to the space station. Another company, Orbital Sciences Corp. based in Virginia, has a $1.9 billion contract for eight mission using its own Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft.

The Dragon spacecraft is expected to deliver 1,200 pounds (544 kilograms) worth of supplies to the six international crewmembers on board the station. The capsule is scheduled to return to Earth with 2,300 pounds (1,043 kg) of material from the space station when it splashes down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California on March 25.

SpaceX conducted asuccessful rocket engine test, known as a "static test fire" on Monday (Feb. 25). The rocket's 9 Merlin engines were fired for a few seconds while the rocket was held down on the launch pad.

NASA is relying on SpaceX, Orbital Sciences and other private companies to develop new private spacecraft to supply the International Space Station with cargo and ultimately ferry American astronauts into and from low-Earth orbit.

With the retirement of the space shuttle fleet in 2011, NASA has been dependent on Russia's Soyuz spacecraft to fly astronauts to the space station, and use unmanned cargo ships built by Russia, Japan and Europe to deliver supplies to the orbiting laboratory.

The space agency is also developing a new rocket and spacecraft, the Orion space capsule and its Space Launch System mega-rocket, for future deep-space exploration missions to the moon, asteroids and Mars.

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Weather Pristine for Private Rocket Launch to Space Station Friday

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) The International Space Station is about to get another commercial shipment.

The California company known as SpaceX is set to launch its unmanned Falcon rocket on Friday morning, hoisting a Dragon capsule containing more than a ton of food, tools, computer hardware and science experiments.

There won't be any ice cream, though, for the six-man station crew. The freezers going up are filled with mouse stem cells, protein crystals and other research items. On the previous Dragon delivery in October, chocolate-vanilla swirl was tucked inside.

SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said snacks straight from the orchard of an employee's father are on board and not just apples.

"It's a little bit healthier, I think, than the one that NASA sent last time," she told reporters on the eve of the flight.

Forecasters put the odds of good weather at 80 percent. Launch time is 10:10 a.m.

This will be the third space station visit for SpaceX, or more formally Space Exploration Technologies Corp., the creation of Elon Musk of PayPal and Tesla electric carmaker fame.

NASA is paying the company to supply the orbiting lab; the contract is worth $1.6 billion for 12 delivery runs.

If launched Friday, the Dragon should arrive at the space station on Saturday morning. Astronauts will use the station's robot arm to grab the Dragon and attach it to the orbiting complex.

A variety of plant life is going up, including 640 seeds of mouse-ear cress, a small flowering weed used in research. Other experiments involve paint; high school students want to see how it will adhere and dry in space.

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SpaceX on verge of 3rd supply run to space station

Rare #39;Sun That Didn #39;t Set #39; Seen From Space Station | Time-Lapse Video
When the ISS orbital track runs along the #39;terminator #39; (shadow line), astronauts can witness a rare unsetting Sun. Images snapped during one orbit on January 6th, 2013 were compiled to create this video. Credit: "The Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth. eol.jsc.nasa.gov Music: John Serrie

By: VideoFromSpace

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Rare 'Sun That Didn't Set' Seen From Space Station | Time-Lapse Video - Video

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket completed a two-second ignition of its first stage while being held down onto its Florida launch pad on Monday, in preparation for Friday's launch to the International Space Station. This view of the test was taken by a remote video camera, which makes it difficult to see the flare of the rocket.

By Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News

SpaceX said it completed a successful test of the engines on its Falcon 9 rocket on Monday, in preparation for Friday's planned cargo launch to the International Space Station.

The California-based rocket company's unmanned Dragon capsule is due to deliver about 1,200 pounds (550 kilograms) of supplies to the space station and bring back 2,300 pounds (1,050 kilograms) of cargo, including scientific samples and space station hardware.

Monday's static-fire test was aimed at checking the performance of the Falcon 9 first stage's nine engines before they're called upon to loft the second stage and the Dragon capsule toward orbit on Friday. The rocket was held down onto its launch pad at Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida for the engine firing, which came at the end of a dress rehearsal for Friday's countdown.

"SpaceX engineers ran through all countdown processes as though it were launch day," the company said in a statement issued after the 1:30 p.m. ET firing. "All nine engines fired at full power for two seconds, while the Falcon 9 was held down to the pad. SpaceX will now conduct a thorough review of all data and continue preparations for Friday's targeted launch."

In a Twitter update, SpaceX's billionaire founder, Elon Musk, reported that the static-fire test looked good: "Engines generated 433 tons of thrust, parameters nominal."

SpaceX said the first opportunity for launch will come at 10:10 a.m. ET on Friday. This is the third Dragon to be sent to the space station, and the second flight under the terms of a $1.6 billion, 12-flight cargo resupply contract with NASA.

Another company, Virginia-based Orbital Sciences Corp., has a separate $1.9 billion contract to deliver supplies to the space station but has not yet begun flying its Antares rocket and Cygnus cargo capsule. On Friday, Orbital completed a successful static-fire test of Antares' engines in preparation for the rocket's first flight, which is expected to take place later this year.

NASA's contracts with SpaceX and Orbital are meant to help fill the gap left by the retirement of the space shuttle fleet in 2011. Russian, European and Japanese unmanned spacecraft are also used to send supplies to the space station, but Russia's Soyuz capsule is the only spacecraft currently cleared to transport astronauts to and from orbit. NASA is providing more than $1 billion to SpaceX, the Boeing Co. and Sierra Nevada Corp. to support the development of new crew-capable spacecraft for low Earth orbit.

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SpaceX tests rocket for space station launch

SpaceX's Dragon Spacecraft With Solar Array Fairings in Hangar

The Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, Dragon spacecraft with solar array fairings attached, stands inside a processing hangar at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The spacecraft will launch on the upcoming SpaceX CRS-2 mission. Image released Jan. 15, 2013.

Both SpaceX (left) and NASA have designed mission patches for the second Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) flight to the International Space Station.

A truck pulls the first stage of the Falcon 9 Rocket inside the SpaceX Falcon Hangar at Launch Complex 40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. This image was released Nov. 9, 2012.

Inside the SpaceX Falcon Hangar at Launch Complex 40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket is placed in a workstand for prelaunch processing. Image released Nov. 12, 2012.

A truck arrives at the processing hangar used by Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. This image was released Jan. 12, 2013.

Workers inspect a solar array fairing at the processing hangar used by Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. This image was released Jan. 12, 2013.

Workers prepare solar array fairings at the processing hangar used by Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. This image was released Jan. 12, 2013.

Workers guide a solar array fairing into place inside the processing hangar used by Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. This image was released Jan. 12, 2013.

Workers guide a solar array fairing into place inside the processing hangar used by Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. This image was released Jan. 12, 2013.

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SpaceX Primes Dragon Capsule for Space Station Mission (Photos)

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Jerry Linenger dons a mask during his mission on Mir in 1997. Credit: NASA

Sixteen years ago, a fire on the Russian space station Mir erupted after a cosmonaut routinely ignited a perchlorate canister that produced oxygen to supplement the space stations air supply. Jerry Linenger, an American astronaut aboard Mir at that time, wrote about the incident that occurred on February 24, 1997 in his memoir Off the Planet:

As the fire spewed with angry intensity, sparks resembling an entire box of sparklers ignited simultaneously extended a foot or so beyond the flames furthest edge. Beyond the sparks, I saw what appeared to be melting wax splattering on the bulkhead opposite the blaze. But it was not melting max. It was molten metal. The fire was so hot that it was melting metal.

Linenger famously had some trouble donning gas masks, which kept malfunctioning, but he and the rest of the crew managed to put out the blaze before it spun out of control. The cause was traced to a fault in the canister.

Mir itself was deorbited in 2001, but the fire safety lessons are still vivid in everyones mind today.

Outside view of the Mir space station. Credit: NASA

NASA fire expert David Urban told Universe Today that a fire is among the most catastrophic situations that a crew can face.

You cant go outside, youre in a very small volume, and your escape options are limited. Your survival options are limited. That space can tolerate a much smaller fire than you can tolerate in our home. Thepressure cant escape easily, and the heat stays there, and the toxic products are there as well.

Urban, who ischief of the combustion and reacting systems branch of the research and technologydirectorateof theNASA Glenn Research Center, said NASA and Russia have learned several things from the incident that they have implemented on the International Space Station today:

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Fire! How the Mir Incident Changed Space Station Safety

China aims to establish a large manned space station within the next decade, officials have said, and the latest reports suggest that this outpost could host not only Chinese astronauts, but European spaceflyers as well.

A plan is afoot for China and Europe to cooperate on the venture, which might see the European Space Agency (ESA) building technologies, including a rendezvous and docking system, for the station, in exchange for opportunities for its astronauts to visit the facility.

China plans to have the space station running by 2020. Both the station and China's manned spacecraft Shenzhou could use ESA's International Berthing and Docking Mechanism (IBDM), because of a problem with the Russian system the Chinese have been using until now.

China's Shenzhou and Tiangong-1 space laboratory, a test module already in orbit, use a modified version of Russia's Androgynous Peripheral Attach System (APAS). APAS was developed for the 1975 Apollo Soyuz Test Project and is used on the International Space Station (ISS). [HowChina'sFirstSpaceStation Will Work (Infographic)]

Bouncing off

An unmanned Shenzhou spacecraft docked with Tiangong-1 for the first time in November 2011, and the docking mechanism didn't work exactly as planned, some say.

"It was originally bouncing off," Bob Chesson, an ESA human spaceflight advisor, told SPACE.com. "Essentially they have to ram this [Shenzhou] thing in and they are very worried that if you assemble a station like that, you basically will have all sorts of structure fracture mechanics problems, that type of thing."

The Shenzhou spacecraft is not heavy enough to activate the APAS docking system correctly, Chesson said, so it had to be rammed forcefully to make a connection.

Chesson traveled to Beijing with ESA's director-general Jean-Jacques Dordain and talked with the China Manned Space Engineering Office.

"Our director general has made some noises that he wants us to get involved with [the Chinese space station program]," Chesson said. "The Chinese, we had them over and showed them [the IBDM] and they were very interested because they are using the modified APAS system."

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Europe May Work With China on Space Station

A private rocket has flexed its muscles in a key pre-launch test, firing up in preparation for lofting the next commercial cargo mission toward the International Space Station this Friday (March 1).

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocketsuccessfully executed a "static fire test" at around 1:30 p.m. EST (1830 GMT) today (Feb. 25), igniting its engines for a few seconds but staying earthbound at its launchpad at Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

"During the static fire test today, SpaceX engineers ran through all countdown processes as though it were launch day," company officials said in a statement. "All nine engines fired at full power for two seconds, while the Falcon 9 was held down to the pad. SpaceX will now conduct a thorough review of all data and continue preparations for Friday's targeted launch."

The Falcon 9 is slated to blast SpaceX's robotic Dragon capsule toward the space station Friday on the company's second contracted cargo run for NASA. Dragon will carry about 1,200 pounds (544 kilograms) of supplies and scientific experiments to the orbiting lab, then return to Earth on March 25 with 2,300 pounds (1,043 kg) of experiment samples and equipment, NASA officials have said. [How SpaceX's Dragon Space Capsule Works (Infographic)]

California-based SpaceX holds a $1.6 billion deal with NASA to make 12 such resupply flights with Dragon and the Falcon 9. Dragon first reached the space station on a historic demonstration mission last May, and the company then flew its initial contracted cargo flight in October.

NASA also inked a $1.9 billion deal with Virginia-based Orbital Sciences Corp. for eight cargo flights using the company's Antares rocket and unmanned Cygnus capsule. Orbital plans to fly a demonstration mission to the station later this year and successfully test fired the first stage if the Antares rocket last week, officials have said.

The two contracts are part of a NASA effort to encourage American private spaceshipsto fill the cargo- and crew-carrying void left by the retirement of the space shuttle fleet in July 2011.

The space agency hopes at least one commercial vehicle is able to carry astronauts to and from low-Earth orbit by 2017.

SpaceX is in the running to win a NASA crew contract with a manned version of Dragon. The other major contenders are Boeing, which is developing its own capsule called the CST-100, and Sierra Nevada Corp., which is building a space plane called Dream Chaser.

Until one or more of these manned spaceships is operational, NASA will rely on Russian Soyuz spacecraft to fly its astronauts, at a cost of about $60 million per seat.

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SpaceX Fires Up Private Rocket Friday Launch to Space Station

Feb. 25, 2013 The second International Space Station Commercial Resupply Services flight by Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) is set for liftoff at 10:10 a.m. EST on March 1 from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

Carried by a Falcon 9 rocket, the Dragon spacecraft will ferry 1,268 pounds of supplies for the space station crew and for experiments being conducted aboard the orbiting laboratory.

The Falcon 9 and Dragon were manufactured at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif., and arrived at the Florida launch site by truck. The rocket, topped with the spacecraft, stands 157-feet tall.

The two-stage rocket uses nine engines to power the first stage, generating 855,000 pounds of thrust at sea level, rising to nearly 1,000,000 pounds of thrust as Falcon 9 climbs out of Earth's atmosphere. One engine powers the second stage to complete the climb to space. The 14.4-foot-tall Dragon spacecraft is capable of carrying more than 7,000 pounds of cargo split between pressurized and unpressurized sections.

On March 2, Expedition 34 Commander Kevin Ford and Flight Engineer Tom Marshburn of NASA are scheduled use the station's robot arm to grapple Dragon following its rendezvous with the orbiting outpost. Ground commands will be sent to attach the spacecraft to the Earth-facing port of the station's Harmony module where it will remain for a few weeks while astronauts unload cargo. The crew then will load more than 2,600 pounds of experiment samples and equipment for return to Earth.

Dragon is scheduled for a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California on March 25.

This SpaceX flight is the second of at least 12 missions to the space station that the company will fly for NASA under the Commercial Resupply Services contract.

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Second SpaceX space station resupply flight ready to go

A private rocket has flexed its muscles in a key pre-launch test, firing up in preparation for lofting the next commercial cargo mission toward the International Space Station this Friday (March 1).

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocketsuccessfully executed a "static fire test" at around 1:30 p.m. EST (1830 GMT) today (Feb. 25), igniting its engines for a few seconds but staying earthbound at its launchpad at Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

"During the static fire test today, SpaceX engineers ran through all countdown processes as though it were launch day," company officials said in a statement. "All nine engines fired at full power for two seconds, while the Falcon 9 was held down to the pad. SpaceX will now conduct a thorough review of all data and continue preparations for Friday's targeted launch."

The Falcon 9 is slated to blast SpaceX's robotic Dragon capsule toward the space station Friday on the company's second contracted cargo run for NASA. Dragon will carry about 1,200 pounds (544 kilograms) of supplies and scientific experiments to the orbiting lab, then return to Earth on March 25 with 2,300 pounds (1,043 kg) of experiment samples and equipment, NASA officials have said. [How SpaceX's Dragon Space Capsule Works (Infographic)]

California-based SpaceX holds a $1.6 billion deal with NASA to make 12 such resupply flights with Dragon and the Falcon 9. Dragon first reached the space station on a historic demonstration mission last May, and the company then flew its initial contracted cargo flight in October.

NASA also inked a $1.9 billion deal with Virginia-based Orbital Sciences Corp. for eight cargo flights using the company's Antares rocket and unmanned Cygnus capsule. Orbital plans to fly a demonstration mission to the station later this year and successfully test fired the first stage if the Antares rocket last week, officials have said.

The two contracts are part of a NASA effort to encourage American private spaceshipsto fill the cargo- and crew-carrying void left by the retirement of the space shuttle fleet in July 2011.

The space agency hopes at least one commercial vehicle is able to carry astronauts to and from low-Earth orbit by 2017.

SpaceX is in the running to win a NASA crew contract with a manned version of Dragon. The other major contenders are Boeing, which is developing its own capsule called the CST-100, and Sierra Nevada Corp., which is building a space plane called Dream Chaser.

Until one or more of these manned spaceships is operational, NASA will rely on Russian Soyuz spacecraft to fly its astronauts, at a cost of about $60 million per seat.

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SpaceX Fires Up Private Rocket for Friday Launch to Space Station

The second of NASA's contracted cargo flights to resupply the International Space Station (ISS) is set to launch later this week, and like most spaceflights, it has its own mission patch.

In fact, it has two.

The dual designs underscore the commercial nature of the unmanned mission, which uses a rocket and a spacecraft built and operated by Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, under a contract with NASA. SpaceX is headed by Elon Musk, co-founder of PayPal and Tesla Motors.

Both the Hawthorne, Calif.-based company and NASA have designed their own emblems to represent the flight, which is scheduled to launch on Friday (March 1) at 10:10 a.m. EST (1510 GMT) from Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. [HowSpaceX's Capsule Works (Infographic)]

The mission will deliver 1,268 pounds (575 kilograms) of crew supplies and science equipment to the space station packed aboard SpaceX's third Dragon capsule to visit the orbiting laboratory. The gumdrop-shaped freighter will ride to orbit atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

Almost a month later, on March 25, the Dragon will return to a parachute-assisted ocean splashdown, repacked with 2,668 pounds of science experiment results and no-longer-needed hardware.

The mission will be the second to launch under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) program, which in 2008 awarded a $1.6 billion contract to SpaceX to fly 12 Dragon cargo capsules to and from the station. The Virginia-based firm Orbital Sciences was also contracted by the space agency for cargo delivery flights using its Cygnus craft.

In addition to the Dragon mission's two patches, the flight also goes by two names: Commercial Resupply Services-2 (CRS-2) and SpaceX 2 (SpX-2).

Two for one

NASA's patch for SpX-2 the mission designation that appears on the agency's emblem centers on SpaceX's Dragon as it nears a rendezvous with the space station from below. On the insignia, the sun shines brightly in the distance as it rises over Earth's horizon.

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SpaceX's Next Space Station Resupply Flight Gets Mission Patches

Peter Gabriel hears his song played from the International Space Station
British singer Peter Gabriel got a brief serenade from a member of the International Space Station crew on Wednesday during a visit to Mission Control in Houston. Canadian Chris Hadfield, Expedition 34 #39;s flight engineer, strummed a few chords of Gabriel #39;s hit "In Your Eyes" during a nearly 12-minute chat with Gabriel and his family.

By: MrDernekci

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Peter Gabriel hears his song played from the International Space Station - Video

fastbacks space station #5
a fastbacks song about space station in outer space in a far away galaxy from the long lost album new mansions in sound by the fastbacks band long live the fastbacks music keep the awesome female rebel singer voice alive forever and ever i salute you^-^ !!! keep the memory of good music alive forever the voice shall never die it shall live on forever.

By: patrick davies

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fastbacks space station #5 - Video

Published: Feb. 22, 2013 at 1:51 PM

MOSCOW, Feb. 22 (UPI) -- The engines of a Russian space freighter docked with the International Space Station were fired to readjust the station's orbit Friday, officials said.

"The space freighter's engines were started as scheduled, at 14:34 Moscow time [5:34 a.m. EST]. As a result of the maneuver, the ISS orbit was raised by approximately 1 kilometer," a Roscosmos spokesman told RIA Novosti.

After the readjustment the space station's mean orbital altitude stood at 254.6 miles, the space agency said.

Adjustments to the station's orbit are carried out regularly to compensate for Earth's gravity because the space station loses an average 300 feet of altitude each day.

The adjustments also facilitate the docking and undocking of spacecraft, and are sometimes conducted to dodge space debris.

Friday's readjustment was to create the best conditions for the undocking of a Soyuz TMA-06M manned spacecraft that will return Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky and Yevgeny Tarelkin and U.S. NASA astronaut Kevin Ford to Earth March 15.

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Space station's orbit is readjusted

Published: Feb. 19, 2013 at 4:07 PM

HOUSTON, Feb. 19 (UPI) -- NASA confirmed it lost direct contact with the International Space Station for about 3 hours Tuesday morning due to equipment failure.

Communication between the space agency and the ISS was lost at 9:45 a.m. EST as controllers at the Johnson Space Center in Houston were sending a software update to the space station, SPACE.com reported.

With the link to NASA's Mission Control center out, the orbiting laboratory's only communication channel to Earth was through Russian ground stations.

NASA said the software update was not a cause of the problem, rather a main data relay system on the ISS malfunctioned.

"Mission Control Houston was able to communicate with the crew as the space station flew over Russian ground stations before 11 a.m. EST and instructed the crew to connect a backup computer to begin the process of restoring communications," NASA officials explained.

However, despite switching to a backup the station was still unable to communicate with the satellite network that serves as the outpost's link to the control center in Houston.

Contact was finally re-established at 12:34 p.m. EST, NASA said.

During the outage Expedition 34 commander Kevin Ford, using the Russian ground stations, reported on the status of the station.

"Hey, just FYI, the station's still fine and straight, everybody is in good shape of course," Ford said in audio released by NASA. "And nothing unexpected other than lots of caution warning tones, and of course we have no system in sight. We'll get that back to you as soon as we can."

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NASA regains contact with space station