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Lockheed’s ‘Jupiter’ Space Tug Could Fly to Space Station …

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Lockheed Martin has unveiled a new spaceflight architecture that it says could take cargo to the International Space Station and help facilitate humanity's spread out into the solar system.

Lockheed hopes the system which features a space tug known as Jupiter and a supply module called Exoliner wins a NASA contract for the next round of cargo missions to the space station, which would commence in 2018. But the company's ambitions extend far beyond low-Earth orbit, to destinations such as the moon and Mars. Lockheed unveiled the project, along with a video animation of how Jupiter and Exoliner would work, on Thursday (March 12).

"Although our priority is going to be servicing the International Space Station and providing the ability to carry commercial payloads and deploy small satellites, we're also designing this system from the beginning to be able to do deep-space missions," Lockheed Martin space exploration architect Josh Hopkins told reporters during a news briefing Thursday. [See more views of Lockheed's Jupiter and Exoliner spacecraft]

"That means that NASA will be able to start doing some early human spaceflights beyond low-Earth orbit without a huge investment," Hopkins added. "Instead, what they'll be able to do is buy more copies of the same design."

Lockheed named the refuelable Jupiter spacecraft after one of the two locomotives that met at Promontory Summit, Utah, in 1869 to mark the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad.

The "public-private partnership that basically established the Transcontintal Railroad changed everything," said Jim Crocker, vice president and general manager of Lockheed's Space Systems International division. "It changed the economics of how the United States competed in the world, and we believe that the system that we're unveiling tonight will do the same."

Two American companies Orbital ATK and SpaceX currently resupply the space station for NASA under separate billion-dollar contracts. Last year, the space agency solicited proposals for a new round of private cargo delivery, called Commercial Resupply Services 2 (CRS-2).

Orbital ATK and SpaceX will face some competition in this next round: Boeing, Sierra Nevada and Lockheed have all thrown their hats into the CRS-2 ring. NASA is expected to make its decision this June. (The agency hasn't said how many contracts it will award, but it's likely to be at least two, given the agency's previously stated desire for redundancy and competition.)

If Lockheed Martin's entry is selected, the company's first operational mission likely in 2018 would launch Jupiter and an Exoliner toward the orbiting lab aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.

The Exoliner will be able to haul up a maximum of 11,000 lbs. (5,000 kilograms) of pressurized cargo and 3,300 lbs. (1,500 kg) of unpressurized cargo, Lockheed representatives said.

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Lockheed's 'Jupiter' Space Tug Could Fly to Space Station ...

This is Lockheed Martins new way to get supplies to the space station and beyond

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Lockheed Martin unveiled a new spacecraft Thursday evening that it says could not only ferry supplies to the International Space Station but also become a habitat for astronauts in deep space.

The nation's largest defense contractor is one of several high-profile companies competingfor the NASA contract, which also reflects how robust the commercial space industry has become. A few years ago, NASA decided to outsource the resupply mission by hiring two contractors -- Elon Musk's SpaceX and Orbital ATK -- to take groceries and experiments to the orbiting space laboratory.

As the second round of contracts, potentially worth billions, is expected to be awarded in June, the competition has become especially fierce. Lockheed and Boeing, neither of which bid last time, offered proposals. And they face stiff competition from other smaller space companies that have grown quickly and demonstrated the ability to serve space missions for NASA. In addition to the cargo launches, NASA last year awarded contracts to SpaceX and Boeing to take astronauts to the space station.

At the announcement Thursday evening, Lockheed executives said their offering to take cargo to space was markedly different from any of the other proposals. Its Jupiter system, which includes a cargo container called an Exoliner, would launch on an Atlas V rocket. Once in space, Jupiter would detach and fly to the space station. After delivering the cargo, and then filling up with trash from the station, Jupiter would disembark.

"And here's where things get different," said Jim Crocker, vice president and general manager of Lockheed's Space Systems International division, while explaining the chronology Thursday.

Instead of coming straight back to Earth, Jupiter would remain in orbit and carry out other missions, such as deploying commercial satellites.

Then, some months or weeks later on the next cargo mission, another Atlas V would launch with another Exoliner container filled with supplies. Once in space, the container would deploy on the rocket's second stage and meet up with the container filled with trash. And then the two containers would swap places using a robotic arm. The one filled with cargo would deploy from the second stage, connect with Jupiter and fly to the space station. The one filled with trash would connect with the second stage. Then it would fly back to Earth, ultimately crashing in the ocean.

But Jupiter has other capabilities as well, Lockheed says.

"This takes us beyond the space station," Crocker said.

The system could also carry humans, Lockheed says, and is big enough to hold big pieces of equipment that astronauts need for extended stays in space. It could hold treadmills, for example, which astronauts would need for exercise, as well as the systems needed to support life in space.

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This is Lockheed Martins new way to get supplies to the space station and beyond

Inflatable space houses get real

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Bigelow hopes to have habitats going to the moon in about a decade, providing structures for commercial mining operations or research. He's working with the Federal Aviation Administration to develop policies that will grant some sort of property rights to companies that risk lives and treasure to get to the moon.

Why the FAA? That agency issues launch licenses, and in the future, Bigelow said the FAA is planning to restrict licenses so that one American company is blocked from planning a trip to the exact spot on the moon where another U.S. venture has already set up shop. Whether other countries will respect such private commercial claims remains to be seen.

Read MoreSpaceX, Elon Musk and the reusable rocket dream

A lot still needs to be worked out. "The next step is probably, 'What is this boundary where you are sufficiently safe?'" Bigelow asked. "What is this standoff distance?'" He thinks a buffer zone on the moon between commercial neighbors may have to be greater than 100 miles. "I think it has to be a fair distance."

As for astronaut Zamka, it's been a change moving from NASA to a small private venture. But he's enjoying himself. "I was in the Marines, and one of the things I liked about being in the Marines is there's not that many of us, so when there's not that many of you, you get to do more things," he said.

While the private sector isn't currently giving him astronomical pay, he sees astronomical potential, and the chance to return to space, this time as a commercial astronaut. "We're doing tremendously interesting stuff," said Zamka, "and I get to be more directly involved with more parts of that."

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Inflatable space houses get real

Lockheed Martin reveals new method for resupplying space station

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WASHINGTON, March 14 (UPI) -- Lockheed Martin has a new plan for resupplying the International Space Station, and it includes the use of a tugboat-like craft called Jupiter. As the defense contractor and aerospace company explains it, Jupiter would serve as deliveryman, garbageman, satellite deployment specialist and astronaut transport vehicle -- all in one.

The most immediate use for Jupiter will be as a cargo ferry, shuttling supplies back and forth to ISS. But unlike other cargo vehicles that start and end their mission on the Earth's surface -- like SpaceX's Dragon capsule -- Jupiter will hang out in space 24/7.

Jupiter would begin its life by delivering a cargo load in a container the size of a rail car called the Exoliner. After delivering the Exoliner, Jupiter will chill out in low Earth orbit, perhaps serving other purposes -- like deploying satellites -- until it's time to deliver another cargo load.

When another resupply mission comes along, Jupiter will both take out the trash for ISS and deliver the space station the new Exoliner. Jupiter would all the while be accompanied by a detached robotic arm to assist in the various handoffs.

"Just imagine a future of interplanetary shipping lanes to the Moon and Mars, bustling autonomous spacecraft carrying supplies, scientific instruments and construction materials for habitats," Jim Crocker, vice president and general manager of Space Systems Company International, said in a company press release that likened their plans to a 21st century Transcontinental Railroad in space.

"Picture commercial hosted payloads and cube sats, sharing space with NASA instruments and reducing costs," Crocker said. "Picture a fleet of space habitats, serving as orbiting labs and helping Orion astronauts on their journey to Mars."

The new space architecture won't necessarily revolutionize how cargo is delivered to ISS. And it's unclear whether the method will save time or money. But Jupiter has the advantage of versatility. In an aerospace industry that's become increasingly crowded, Lockheed seems to be making the long play.

A versatile system like Jupiter could ultimately find a way to make itself useful in a variety of future NASA missions.

"Although our priority is going to be servicing the International Space Station and providing the ability to carry commercial payloads and deploy small satellites, we're also designing this system from the beginning to be able to do deep-space missions," Josh Hopkins, the company's space exploration architect, told reporters at a press briefing on Thursday night.

In other words, if NASA awards this ISS delivery contract to Lockheed, it could set the company up for more success down the line.

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Lockheed Martin reveals new method for resupplying space station

One giant leap for…inflatable space houses

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Bigelow hopes to have habitats going to the moon in about a decade, providing structures for commercial mining operations or research. He's working with the Federal Aviation Administration to develop policies that will grant some sort of property rights to companies that risk lives and treasure to get to the moon.

Why the FAA? That agency issues launch licenses, and in the future, Bigelow said the FAA is planning to restrict licenses so that one American company is blocked from planning a trip to the exact spot on the moon where another U.S. venture has already set up shop. Whether other countries will respect such private commercial claims remains to be seen.

Read MoreSpaceX, Elon Musk and the reusable rocket dream

A lot still needs to be worked out. "The next step is probably, 'What is this boundary where you are sufficiently safe?'" Bigelow asked. "What is this standoff distance?'" He thinks a buffer zone on the moon between commercial neighbors may have to be greater than 100 miles. "I think it has to be a fair distance."

As for astronaut Zamka, it's been a change moving from NASA to a small private venture. But he's enjoying himself. "I was in the Marines, and one of the things I liked about being in the Marines is there's not that many of us, so when there's not that many of you, you get to do more things," he said.

While the private sector isn't currently giving him astronomical pay, he sees astronomical potential, and the chance to return to space, this time as a commercial astronaut. "We're doing tremendously interesting stuff," said Zamka, "and I get to be more directly involved with more parts of that."

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One giant leap for...inflatable space houses

Space Station Astronauts Make Safe Landing In Kazakhstan

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The Soyuz TMA-14M spacecraft is seen as it descends toward Earth, carrying NASA's Barry Wilmore and Russian flight engineers Alexander Samokutyaev and Elena Serova. Bill Ingalls/NASA hide caption

The Soyuz TMA-14M spacecraft is seen as it descends toward Earth, carrying NASA's Barry Wilmore and Russian flight engineers Alexander Samokutyaev and Elena Serova.

After spending nearly six months on the International Space Station, an astronaut and two cosmonauts have landed safely back on Earth. While in orbit, they traveled almost 71 million miles, NASA says.

Cmdr. Barry Wilmore of NASA and flight engineers Alexander Samokutyaev and Elena Serova of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) touched down in Kazakhstan on Thursday morning, local time.

They began their trip home by undocking a Soyuz TMA-14M spacecraft from the space station and undergoing a 4-minute, 41-second deorbit burn, NASA says. A parachute later eased the Soyuz craft down to the recovery area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan.

In the 167 days they were aboard the space station, the crew of Expedition 42 researched "the effects of microgravity on cells, Earth observation, physical science and biological and molecular science," NASA says.

The space agency adds that the space station now has an Electromagnetic Levitator, which will let scientists "observe fundamental physical processes as liquid metals cool," possibly leading to the production of "lighter, higher-performing" alloys.

The space station now has a three-person crew. A new trio will launch to join them in late March.

In other NASA news, the agency on Wednesday successfully tested what it calls the "largest, most powerful rocket booster ever built," producing some 3.6 million pounds of thrust during a two-minute burn at a test site in Utah. Temperatures inside the booster reached more than 5,600 degrees, NASA says.

The agency says the booster rocket is being developed "to help propel NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft to deep space destinations, including an asteroid and Mars."

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Space Station Astronauts Make Safe Landing In Kazakhstan

After six months in space, a trio of astronauts return home

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SenThree International Space Station (ISS) crew members have safely returned home aboard a Soyuz after almost six months in space performing scientific research and technology demonstrations.

On Mar. 10, Expedition 42 Commander Barry Wilmore of NASA handed over command of the ISS to NASA astronaut Terry Virts.

The crew closed the hatch between the Soyuz TMA-14M spacecraft and the space station at 1934 UTC (03:34 EDT). Expedition 43 officially began aboard the station under Virts command at 1144 UTC (6:44 p.m. EDT) Wednesday, when Wilmore and flight engineers Alexander Samokutyaev and Elena Serova of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) undocked their Soyuz spacecraft from the space station.

The three astronauts landed 147 km from the town of Zhezkazgan in Kazakhstan at 0307 UTC (10:07 p.m. EDT 8:07 a.m. March 12 Kazakh time). Their return completes 167 days in space since launching from Kazakhstan on Sept. 26. Their mission covered over 114 million km (71 million miles).

Expedition 42 included research projects focusing on the effects of microgravity on cells, Earth observation, physical science and biological and molecular science. There were also three U.S. spacewalks that took place to prepare the station for future commercial spacecraft.

During their time in space the trio were part of a study to assess the impact of physical body shape and size changes on suit-sizing. This study will involve collecting body measurements using digital still and video imagery and a tape measure to measure length, height, depth, and circumference data for all body segments (i.e., chest, waist, hip, arms, legs, etc.) from astronauts for pre-, post-, and in-flight conditions.

Wilmore has now logged 178 days in space on two flights, the first of which was on space shuttle mission STS-129 in 2009. Samokutyaev has spent 331 days in space on two flights, the first of which was on Expedition 27/28 in 2011. This was Serovas first flight into space.

Virts and his crewmates Anton Shkaplerov of Roscosmos and Samantha Cristoforetti of ESA (European Space Agency), will operate the station for two weeks until the arrival of NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonauts Mikhail Kornienko and Gennady Padalka, due to launch from Kazakhstan on Mar. 27.

Padalka will stay in space until September, but Kelly and Kornienko will be the first astronauts undertaking an entire year on the ISS. The pair will stay aboard the station until March 2016, twice as long as a typical mission. Their investigations will study the medical, psychological and biomedical challenges faced by astronauts during long-duration spaceflight.

NASA also has a unique opportunity to conduct studies with identical twin astronauts Scott and Mark Kelly. These investigations will provide broader insight into the subtle effects and changes that may occur in spaceflight as compared to Earth by studying two individuals who have the same genetics, but are in different environments for one year.

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After six months in space, a trio of astronauts return home


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