Category Archives: Space Station

There soon could be more than one massive space station floating above Earths atmosphere if Russia follows through on a plan to construct a rival to the International Space Station. I confirm we are considering such an option, Oleg Ostapenko, head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, told news agency RIA Novotsi, as quoted by Reuters. This is a possible direction of development.

NASA expects the $100 billion ISS, which is maintained and shared by 15 countries, to remain in service until at least 2024. Yet rumors have circulated in the Russian media for months that the Kremlin, which is engaged in prolonged, intense hostility with the West over Ukraine and other issues, hopes to build its own space station. With the oil-dependent country facing a currency crisis and expected to enter recession in 2015, however, experts wonder where the funding would come from.

How can they suddenly plan a new space station? Its impossible, Russian space industry analyst Pavel Luzin told the English-languageMoscow Times.

Officials have maintained that Russia will honor its commitment with the ISS, a partnership that lasts until 2020. Also, in September Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, head of the space industry, said the federal space budget for the years 2016 to 2025 will dedicate 321 billion rubles ($6.8 billion) to continuing development on the ISS.

Experts have suggested that the contradiction only highlights the current conflict within the Kremlin. President Vladimir Putins popularity has hovered around 80 percent, in part because of a Russian national image thats become more assertive even as the value of the ruble falls.

The best thing for the economy short of an oil price which the Kremlin has no influence over would be to negotiate a settlement with Ukraine and climb down the escalation, foreign policy expect and Russian commentator Ian Bremmer told Business Insider. But that flies against whats actually sustained Putins popularity and the primary driver of his entire strategy for the past year.

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Russia 'Considering' Constructing Rival To International Space Station With Recession Looming

An urban sprawl engulfs San Francisco Bay in a sea of lights. The three bridges Oakland Bay Bridge, San Mateo Bridge and Dumbarton Bridge glow as straight lines connecting the coasts. From top right going clockwise, freeways pass through Oakland, Hayward, Fremont, San Jose, Palo Alto, Redwood City, San Mateo and San Francisco.

The bright lights of the cities are themselves surrounded by natural parks. Past the coastal Eastern Bay Regional Parks to the right, the cities of Pleasanton and Walnut Creek keep the dark wilderness at bay with their street lighting. To the left, apart from the Half Moon Bay Airport on the coast, the blackness of the Pacific Ocean prevails. This image was taken on December 23, 2012 from the International Space Station.

The European Space Agency developed an automatic camera tripod that compensates for the speed of the Space Station flying at 28,800 km/h to take sharper pictures at night.

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City lights from space

A 300-foot-long barge will be used as an off-shore landing platform during launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket Friday. The primary goal of the flight is to deliver critical supplies and equipment to the space station, but SpaceX hopes to land the rocket's first stage on the barge for possible refurbishment and reuse -- a key milestone in the company's push to reduce launch costs. Harwood/CBS News

SpaceX engineers are gearing up to launch a Dragon cargo ship atop a Falcon 9 rocket Friday for the company's fifth operational space station resupply mission. And if all goes well, the Falcon 9's first stage will attempt to land on a barge stationed off the coast of Jacksonville, Fla., a key milestone in SpaceX founder Elon Musk's drive to lower costs by reusing boosters that otherwise would be discarded in the sea.

The Marmac 300, a platform barge listed on McDonough Marine Service's website and modified for use by SpaceX, features a spacious deck measuring 300 feet long and 170 feet wide. The barge, which SpaceX calls an autonomous spaceport drone ship, was seen by reporters over the weekend docked adjacent to the Jacksonville cruise ship terminal.

"Reusability is the critical breakthrough needed in rocketry to take things to the next level," Musk said during the MIT AeroAstro Centennial Symposium in October. "We've been able to soft land the rocket booster in the ocean twice so far. Unfortunately, it sort of sat there for several seconds then tipped over and exploded (laughter). It's quite difficult to reuse. It's as tall as a 14-story building. When a 14-story building falls over, it's quite a belly flop!

"So what we need to do is be able to either land on a floating platform or ideally boost back to the launch site and land back at the launch site. But before we boost back to the launch site and try to land there, we need to show that we can land with precision over and over again, otherwise something bad could happen."

The SpaceX barge would appear to be an ideal offshore landing platform. The deck's dimensions are listed as 300 feet by 100 feet on McDonough Marine's website, but the barge was widened by two wing-like additions seen extending from its sides. Company officials did not return a phone call seeking additional information, but the barge is believed to be equipped with powerful thrusters capable of maintaining its position to within a few tens of feet and internal water tanks to help damp out wave action.

An industry source said the platform will be operated remotely or autonomously on launch day with a crew stationed on another ship a safe distance away.

The width of the Marmac 300 barge was extended to provide additional landing space for the Falcon 9 first stage, which has a leg span of some 70 feet. The dimensions of the landing platform are 300 feet by about 170 feet.

Harwood/CBS News

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SpaceX readies barge for off-shore rocket landing

5 Ways Space Can Drive You Insane - Science on the Web #76
You don #39;t have to turn to science fiction to get your fill of space-related dangers. You don #39;t even have to venture beyond the confines of the human mind. Explore five ways that outer space...

By: HowStuffWorks

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5 Ways Space Can Drive You Insane - Science on the Web #76 - Video

Space to Ground: Spacesuit Tune Up -- 12/12/14
NASA #39;s Space to Ground is your weekly update on what #39;s happening aboard the International Space Station. Got a question or comment? Use #spacetoground to talk to us.

By: ReelNASA

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Space to Ground: Spacesuit Tune Up -- 12/12/14 - Video

Meanwhile on Space Station 13
It #39;s business as usual.

By: Aphtonites

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Meanwhile on Space Station 13 - Video

All Water :: Kerbal Space Colonization With Ruarc :: EP39
A new update brings a new adventure in a new season of a new series in KERBAL SPACE PROGRAM!!! Join me in my unique persuit in Kerbal Space Colonization! Rules: 1. I can only unlock 1...

By: Ruarc88

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All Water :: Kerbal Space Colonization With Ruarc :: EP39 - Video

Russia's space agency Roscosmos is currently looking at plans to create a national space station that may be included in the new Federal Space Program, Roscosmos head Oleg Ostapenko said Monday. "I confirm that we are looking at this variant as a likely direction," Ostapenko said.

Ostapenko added that the high-altitude station is also being considered as a base for Russia's lunar program. "There is also this variant, we are currently considering it," he said.

In September, Roscosmos said it was planning to launch a full-scale moon exploration program in 2016-2025. According to the reports, the new orbital station will also be used to test manned spacecraft for the lunar mission. Spacecraft will first be delivered to the station, and then continue to the Moon.

In May, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said that Russia was considering dropping out of the ISS program, and re-direct its funding into more promising space projects.

A Russian space engineering source close to matter told Russian media in November that the country was looking to build its own orbital station, with the project set to begin in 2017. The station will use modules constructed for the International Space Station (ISS), the source added.

Roscosmos Will Decide on New Super-Heavy Rocket Design in January 2015 Russia's space agency Roscosmos will decide on the design of the country's new super-heavy rocket in January 2015, Roscosmos chief Oleg Ostapenko said Monday.

"We have already received blueprints from three leading space rocket enterprises. A panel of experts has already started considering them, and we will select the winner <...> in January," he told reporters.

Roscosmos is looking to develop a super-heavy carrier rocket to be used in Russia's lunar program. Andrei Mazurin, who heads one of the space agency's departments, told RIA Novosti in October the launch vehicle would be able to lift up to 80 tons of cargo into space. In the long term, a rocket capable of carrying 130 to 160 tons could be developed, he added.

Russia's largest existing rocket, the Proton, can launch payloads of up to 20 tons. The modular Angara rocket is also under development and comes in several versions, the largest of which is planned to send up to 35 tons into orbit.

Russian Space Agency's 2015 Budget Unchanged Despite Economic Downturn Despite the current downturn in the Russian economy, the government has no plans to cut the 2015 budget of the national space agency, Roscosmos chief Oleg Ostapenko told reporters Monday.

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Plans to Create Russian National Orbital Station Confirmed

December 15, 2014

Image Caption: Concept of the floor of the CST-100 assembly facility that Boeing envisions at Kennedy Space Center. Credit: Boeing

Provided by NASA

The momentum of certifying American space transportation systems capable of carrying astronauts to the International Space Station continued on pace as NASA took a comprehensive look at all of Boeings ground-based system designs. This Ground Segment Critical Design Review marks the second milestone in the companys Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) contract, NASAs Launch America initiative designed to return human spaceflight launches to the United States and end our reliance on Russia.

The three-week-long review covered Boeings plans for constructing and processing its Crew Space Transportation System, called the CST-100, in a former orbiter processing facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where Boeing will process its CST-100. It also covered the development of a nearby mission control center that would be the hub of the companys engineering operations.

Along with facility designs, we looked at the operation processes, said Dave Allega, a lead in the Ground and Mission Operations Office of NASAs Commercial Crew Program. How would they be using those facilities? What is the flow? How are they going to build up their new spacecraft, get it ready to fly, put it on the launch vehicle and then operate it once it is there? Then, after landing, how will they go recover it and turn it around to go and do it again?

A few dozen engineers, along with safety and health and human performance experts, took a deep dive into the various elements here on the ground that would support a crew mission to the station. Even astronauts who could one day fly aboard the CST-100 participated in the review of these critical elements, such as how Boeing would test flight hardware, and assemble and integrate its spacecraft to the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. They even looked at the equipment that would move the integrated stack to Cape Canaveral Air Force Stations Space Launch Complex 41.

ULA has a long history of successful uncrewed commercial launches, and now they are highlighting what is different about flying a crew, said John Mulholland, Boeing Commercial Crew Program Manager.

Another critical piece of this review included how Boeing plans to train astronauts prior to missions and how the company will monitor crew members during all phases of the flight. For example, the CST-100 spacecraft simulator the company built at its Houston Product Support Center will start to see a lot of action as more pilot-in-the-loop demonstrations are performed and crew training begins.

The CST-100 will be a more simple vehicle to operate than the space shuttle, but the automation is complicated in and of itself, so we need to understand that automation and so does the crew, said Allega. When Boeing trains our astronauts, they will have to balance simplicity, and giving the crew everything they need to know to manually operate the spacecraft just in case something goes wrong.

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Boeing Covers Groundwork In Second Milestone

Russian state space agency Roscosmos is considering building its own space station, RIA news agency quoted its chief as saying on Monday, underlining how international tensions are affecting space co-operation.

Such a project would rival the International Space Station, an orbiting laboratory that involves 15 nations including Russia and the United States. Moscow has cast doubt on the ISSs long-term future as ties with Washington plummet over Ukraine.

I confirm we are considering such an option. This is a possible direction of development, RIA quoted Roscosmos head Oleg Ostapenko as saying when asked about whether Russia has plans to develop it own space station.

He said such a space station could become a key part of Russian missions to the moon.

It is not clear how such a project would be financed as Russia is widely expected to enter recession next year and the economic crisis is aggravated by Western sanctions over Russias policy in the Ukraine crisis.

Washington wants to keep the $100-billion ISS in use until at least 2024, four years beyond the previous target. But a Russian government official said in May that Moscow would reject Washingtons request to prolong its operations.

The Russian space station Mir, launched by the Soviet Union in 1986, operated until 2001 and President Vladimir Putin is now seeking to reform Russias once-pioneering space industry after years of budget cuts and a brain drain that led to a series of embarrassing and costly failed launches in recent years.

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Russia considers building its own space station to rival ISS: report