Category Archives: Space Station

A privately ownedDragoncapsule arrived a day late at the International Space Station on Sunday, delivering a ton of supplies with high-flying finesse after a shaky start to the mission.

A privately ownedDragoncapsule arrived at the International Space Station on Sunday, delivering a ton of supplies with high-flying finesse after a shaky start to the mission.

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TheDragon'sarrival was one day late but especially sweet and not because of the fresh fruit on board for the station astronauts who snared the capsule.

SpaceX, the California-based company founded by billionaire Elon Musk, had to struggle with theDragon following its launch Friday from Cape Canaveral. A clogged pressure line or stuck valve prevented thrusters from working, and it took flight controllers several hours to gain control and salvage the mission.

In the end, theDragonapproached the orbiting lab with its 1-ton load about as smoothly as could be expected, with all of its thrusters, or little maneuvering rockets, operating perfectly. The capture occurred as the two spacecraft zoomed 250 miles above Ukraine.

"As they say, it's not where you start, but where you finish that counts," said space station commander Kevin Ford, "and you guys really finished this one on the mark."

He added: "We've got lots of science on there to bring aboard and get done. So congratulations to all of you."

Among the items on board: 640 seeds of a flowering weed used for research, mouse stem cells, food and clothes for the six men on board the space station, trash bags, computer equipment, air purifiers, spacewalking tools and batteries. The company also tucked away apples and other fresh treats from an employee's family orchard.

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Tamed Dragon supply ship arrives at space station (+video)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) A private Earth-to-orbit delivery service made good on its latest shipment to the International Space Station on Sunday, overcoming mechanical difficulty and delivering a ton of supplies with high-flying finesse.

To NASA's relief, the SpaceX company's Dragon capsule pulled up to the orbiting lab with all of its systems in perfect order. Station astronauts used a hefty robot arm to snare the unmanned Dragon, and three hours later, it was bolted into place.

The Dragon's arrival couldn't have been sweeter and not because of the fresh fruit on board for the six-man station crew. Coming a full day late, the 250-mile-high linkup above Ukraine culminated a two-day chase that got off to a shaky, almost dead-ending start.

Moments after the Dragon reached orbit Friday, a clogged pressure line or stuck valve prevented the timely release of the solar panels and the crucial firing of small maneuvering rockets. SpaceX flight controllers struggled for several hours before gaining control of the capsule and salvaging the mission.

"As they say, it's not where you start, but where you finish that counts," space station commander Kevin Ford said after capturing the Dragon, "and you guys really finished this one on the mark."

He added: "We've got lots of science on there to bring aboard and get done. So congratulations to all of you."

Among the items on board: 640 seeds of a flowering weed used for research, mouse stem cells, food and clothes for the six men on board the space station, trash bags, computer equipment, air purifiers, spacewalking tools and batteries. The company also tucked away apples and other fresh treats from an employee's family orchard.

The Dragon will remain at the space station for most of March before returning to Earth with science samples, empty food containers and old equipment.

The California-based SpaceX run by billionaire Elon Musk has a $1.6 billion contract with NASA to keep the station well stocked. The contract calls for 12 supply runs; this was the second in that series.

This is the third time, however, that a Dragon has visited the space station. The previous capsules had no trouble reaching their destination. Company officials promise a thorough investigation into what went wrong this time; if the maneuvering thrusters had not been activated, the capsule would have been lost.

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Supply ship meets space station after shaky start

A privately built robotic cargo ship has been cleared to link up with the International Space Station early Sunday (March 3) after a review by its builders and NASA. The cargo ship's arrival will be one day later than planned due to a thruster issue, since fixed, that cropped up shortly after its Friday launch.

The unmanned Dragon space capsule, built by the SpaceX spaceflight company, is on track to be captured by the space station's robotic arm at 6:01 a.m. EST (1101 GMT) and attached to an open docking port shortly afterward. The cargo ship is hauling 1,200 pounds (544 kilograms) of food, experiments and other supplies for the station's six-man crew.

"Just received #Dragon docking clearance from @NASA," SpaceX CEO and founder Elon Musk wrote in a Twitter post today. "Will begin orbital maneuvers to Space Station at 11pm Pacific time."

NASA will broadcast live views of the Dragon rendezvous at the space station beginning at 3 a.m. EST (0800 GMT).

You can watch NASA's SpaceX Dragon docking webcast on SPACE.com courtesy of NASA TV.

Stargazers in the Southern Hemisphere also have a chance to see the Dragon spacecraft in the night sky tonight as it chases the space station. The two spacecraft will appear as fast-moving lights in the sky to observers who know when and where to look. [How to spot Dragon in the night sky]

SpaceX's Dragon space capsule mission is the company's third flight to the International Space Station and second official resupply flight for NASA under a $1.6 billion cargo delivery contract. In all, SpaceX plans to launch 12 missions to the space station under the deal.

The mission hit an unexpected snag shortly after the Dragon capsule launched into space atop its SpaceX-built Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. After separating from the rocket, three of the spacecraft's four thruster pods did not activate as planned. NASA requires at least three functioning thruster pods on the Dragon capsule in order to allow a docking attempt. [See video of SpaceX's Dragon and Falcon 9 launch]

After several hours of troubleshooting, SpaceX officials solved the thruster problem and activated all four thruster pods, but the time required for the fix forced the Dragon to miss its planned Saturday morning docking at the space station.

Now, with all 18 Draco thrusters on the Dragon's four thruster pods working, SpaceX is ready to attempt the rendezvous.

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SpaceX Dragon Capsule Cleared for Space Station Docking Sunday

A privately built robot cargo ship has been cleared to link up with the International Space Station early Sunday (March 3) after a review by its builders and NASA. The cargo ship's arrival will be one day later than planned due to a thruster issue, since fixed, that cropped up shortly after its Friday launch.

The unmanned Dragon space capsule, built by the SpaceX spaceflight company, is on track to be captured by the space station's robotic arm at 6:01 a.m. EST (1101 GMT) and attached to an open docking port shortly afterward. The cargo ship is hauling 1,200 pounds (544 kilograms) of food, experiments and other supplies for the station's six-man crew.

"Just received #Dragon docking clearance from @NASA," SpaceX CEO and founder Elon Musk wrote in a Twitter post today. "Will begin orbital maneuvers to Space Station at 11pm Pacific time."

NASA will broadcast live views of the Dragon rendezvous at the space station beginning at 3 a.m. EST (0800 GMT).

You can watch NASA's SpaceX Dragon docking webcast on SPACE.com courtesy of NASA TV.

Stargazers in the Southern Hemisphere also have a chance to see the Dragon spacecraft in the night sky tonight as it chases the space station. The two spacecraft will appear as fast-moving lights in the sky to observers who know when and where to look. [How to spot Dragon in the night sky]

SpaceX's Dragon space capsule mission is the company's third flight to the International Space Station and second official resupply flight for NASA under a $1.6 billion cargo delivery contract. In all, SpaceX plans to launch 12 missions to the space station under the deal.

The mission hit an unexpected snag shortly after the Dragon capsule launched into space atop its SpaceX-built Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. After separating from the rocket, three of the spacecraft's four thruster pods did not activate as planned. NASA requires at least three functioning thruster pods on the Dragon capsule in order to allow a docking attempt. [See video of SpaceX's Dragon and Falcon 9 launch]

After several hours of troubleshooting, SpaceX officials solved the thruster problem and activated all four thruster pods, but the time required for the fix forced the Dragon to miss its planned Saturday morning docking at the space station.

Now, with all 18 Draco thrusters on the Dragon's four thruster pods working, SpaceX is ready to attempt the rendezvous.

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SpaceX Dragon Capsule Cleared Space Station Docking Sunday

NASA / SpaceX via Twitter

A video view from the International Space Station shows SpaceX's Dragon cargo capsule in the grip of the station's robotic arm, with Earth below.

By Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News

Astronauts used the International Space Station's robotic arm to grab SpaceX's Dragon capsule on Sunday after the unmanned spacecraft made a dramatic recovery in orbit. The grapple operation reached its successful climax an hour ahead of schedule,proving that the unmanned capsule had fully recovered from a post-launch glitchthat affected its propulsion system.

NASA and California-based SpaceX decided to go ahead with Sunday's rendezvous after the Dragon made a series of orbital maneuvers that demonstrated the craft's thrusters were operating normally. When the Dragon closed in to a distance of 33 feet (10 meters), the Canadian-built robotic arm reached out and latched onto an attachment on the cargo ship.

The robotic-arm grapple was originally scheduled to take place at 6:31 a.m. ET, but it occurred instead at 5:31 a.m., as the station was flying 253 miles (407 kilometers) over Ukraine.

NASA's Mission Control and the space station's astronauts exchanged congratulations. "That was a brilliant capture," NASA astronaut Kate Rubins told space station commander Kevin Ford from Mission Control.

Ford passed along his thanks to NASA's controllers in Houston as well as to SpaceX's mission control at the company's headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif. "It's not where you start, but where you finish that counts, and you guys really finished this one on the mark,"Ford said. "You're aboard, and we've got lots of science on there to bring aboard and get done. So congratulations to all of you."

As the crew watched, the robotic arm's remote operators in Houston issued commands to pull the Dragon in for a hookup with the station's Harmony module. "The Dragon is ours!" Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield wrote in a Twitter update. "Maneuvering it now on Canadarm2 to docking port, will open hatches. Look forward to new smells."

The capsule was berthed at 8:56 a.m. ET, and within a few hours, the station's astronauts hooked up the electrical connections, opened up the hatch from the Harmony module and took their first look inside the Dragon.

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Space station grabs Dragon

A privately built robotic space capsule filled with supplies for the International Space Station successfully arrived at the orbiting laboratory early Sunday (March 3), one day later than planned due to a temporary thruster glitch.

The unmanned Dragon cargo capsule, built by the private spaceflight company SpaceX, was captured by astronauts wielding the space station's robotic arm at 5:31 a.m. EST (1031 GMT) as both spacecraft sailed 243 miles (391 kilometers) above Northern Ukraine.

"Congratulations to the SpaceX and the Dragon team in Houston and in California," space station commander Kevin Ford, a NASA astronaut, radioed Mission Control after the successful Dragon arrival. "They say it is not where you start, but where you finish that counts and you guys really finished this one on the mark. You're aboard and we've got lots of science on there to bring aboard and get done."

SpaceX launched the Dragon capsule toward the space station on Friday (March 1), with the spacecraft riding the company's Falcon 9 rocket into orbit. While the launch was smooth, the Dragon capsule ran into trouble after it separated from the Falcon 9 rocket when three of four thruster pods did not activate as planned.

After several hours of troubleshooting, SpaceX engineers isolated the glitch to a pressurization problem in the thruster system and devised a fix that solved the problem. Because of the time needed for the fix, the Dragon capsule missed its initial rendezvous slated for Saturday (March 2). [See photos of the Dragon's space station arrival]

The spacecraft's arrival on Sunday, however, appeared to go extremely smoothly, with the capsule being captured by the station's robotic arm an hour earlier than scheduled.

"That was a brilliant capture," NASA astronaut Kate Rubins radioed the station crew from Mission Control in Houston.

The Dragon space capsule is packed with 1,200 pounds (544 kilograms) for the International Space Station, a haul that includes fresh food, science experiments and other vital equipment. The capsule is also carrying two grapple bars for the station's exterior inside an unpressurized "trunk" a storage compartment in a cylindrical section of the spacecraft below its re-entry capsule.

This mission is SpaceX's third flight to the space station and second official cargo delivery under a $1.6 billion deal with NASA for resupply flights. Under that contract, the Hawthorne, Calif.-based SpaceX has agreed to provide at least 12 Dragon supply flights to the space station.

SpaceX launched its first Dragon to the space station last May during a demonstration flight, and followed that success with an official cargo delivery in October.

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SpaceX Dragon Cargo Capsule Arrives at Space Station

An unmanned commercial space capsule packed with precious cargo successfully linked up with the International Space Station early Sunday (March 3), making a flawless orbital delivery after overcoming a thruster glitch that delayed its arrival by a day.

The SpaceX-builtDragon cargo capsule docked with the space stationat 8:56 a.m. EST (1356) as the two spacecraft soared 253 miles (407 kilometers) over the Arabian Sea. NASA flight controllers performed the orbital link-up remotely by commanding the space station's Canadian-built robotic arm, which had latched onto Dragon three hours earlier, to attach the capsule to an available docking port.

"The Dragon is ours! Maneuvering it now on Canadarm2 to a docking port, will open hatches once secure," station astronaut Chris Hadfield of Canada wrote in a Twitter post. "Look forward to new smells. Great!" [See photos of the Dragon's space station arrival]

Dragon reached the space station at 5:31 a.m. EST (1031 GMT), a full hour ahead of schedule. Two NASA astronauts, station commander Kevin Ford and flight engineer Thomas Marshburn, used the station's arm to grapple the capsule as it approached close to the orbiting lab.

SpaceX (short for Space Exploration Technologies) launched the Dragon capsule toward the space station on Friday (March 1), with the spacecraft riding the company's Falcon 9 rocket into orbit. While the launch was smooth, theDragon capsule ran into troubleafter it separated from the Falcon 9 rocket when three of four thruster pods did not activate as planned.

After several hours of troubleshooting, SpaceX engineers isolated the glitch to a pressurization problem in the thruster system and devised a fix that solved the problem. Because of the time needed for the fix, the Dragon capsule missed its initial rendezvous slated for Saturday (March 2).

The spacecraft's arrival on Sunday, however, went extremely smoothly. About four hours after the capsule was berthed to space station, astronauts opened the hatches between the two spacecraft to enter the Dragon, NASA officials said.

"Happy Berth Day, Dragon," SpaceX officials wrote in a Twitter post. The same message was emblazoned on the company's website.

"In solving the issues facing Dragon post-insertion, the team at SpaceX exhibited the ingenious engineering tenacity that has become a NASA hallmark, and further demonstrated the industry's readiness to perform the critical task of cargo delivery to low Earth orbit," Michael Lopez-Alegria, a former NASA astronaut and station commander who is now president of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, said in a statement. "Congratulations to SpaceX and NASA for the successful berthing of Dragon this morning; I look forward to seeing Dragon back on Earth."

Precious cargo for space station

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SpaceX Dragon Cargo Ship Docks at Space Station

SpaceX launched an unmanned rocket with capsule to ferry supplies to space station. Once in orbit, some of the capsule's thrusters wouldn't work.

On an overcast morning, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket launched from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and sped through the clouds Friday on its way to the International Space Station.

However, about 12 minutes into the NASA resupply mission, after the rocket had lifted its Dragon capsule packed with more than 1,200 pounds of cargo into orbit, there was an anomaly in the spacecraft.

"It appears that although it reached Earth orbit, Dragon is experiencing some type of problem right now," John Insprucker, Falcon 9 product director, told viewers on SpaceX's live webcast. "We'll have to learn the nature of what happened."

PHOTOS: A 'new era': Private-sector space mission

The live webcast was then shut down.

Elon Musk, SpaceX founder and chief executive, took to Twitter to describe the problem: "Issue with Dragon thruster pods. System inhibiting three of four from initializing. About to command inhibit override."

The company later issued a statement about the thrusters, which are crucial to the spacecraft successfully reaching the space station:

"One thruster pod is running. Two are preferred to take the next step which is to deploy the solar arrays. We are working to bring up the other two in order to plan the next series of burns to get to station."

The Hawthorne company's craft blasted off at 7:10 a.m. PST. The plan was that Dragon would reach and attach to the space station on Saturday, but it's unclear how the thruster issue will affect that.

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SpaceX launches to space station, but experiences problem in orbit

A thruster problem on the robotic Dragon space capsule launched by the private spaceflight company SpaceX on Friday (March 1) has engineers scrambling to identify the cause, forcing a delay in the spacecraft's arrival at the International Space Station by at least a day.

SpaceX and NASA officials say the thruster glitch, which occurred after the Dragon spacecraft's launch atop a Falcon 9 rocket today, prevented the spacecraft from performing vital maneuvers to put it on course for the International Space Station. The spacecraft is hauling nearly a ton of cargo and support equipment to the space station for NASA.

The Falcon 9 rocket launched on time at 10:10 a.m. ET (1510 GMT) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, but once the Dragon capsule separated from the booster, the problem became apparent.

Three of the four thruster pods on the Dragon space capsule required to propel the spacecraft to the space station did not activate properly after today's launch, according to officials at SpaceX. An issue with one of the capsule's propellant valves caused the thrusters to malfunction before the solar arrays the pieces of machinery responsible for powering Dragon to the station could deploy. [Photos: SpaceX's Dragon Launch to Space Station]

Friday afternoon, SpaceX founder Elon Musk announced that after some troubleshooting, ground controllers were able to activate one of the inactive thruster pods.

"Pods 1 and 4 now online and thrusters engaged," Musk wrote in a Twitter post. "Dragon transitioned from free drift to active control. Yes!!"

Engineers on the ground decided to extend the two solar arrays in spite of the less-than-ideal conditions. The solar panels were deployed when the capsule was upside down, preventing them from performing their intended function, according to press reports.

According to NASA officials, three thrusters need to be in working order before the craft can dock with the space station. Two will get the capsule within the vicinity of the orbiting science laboratory, but unless three thrusters are proved to be functioning, it cannot attach to the station.

This is the first time SpaceX has experienced problems with a Dragon spacecraft in orbit, but not the first glitch on a mission by the company.

During an October 2012 cargo launch to the International Space Station, one of the nine Merlin engines on the Falcon 9 rocket shut down during launch. The engine shutdown did not affect the delivery of Dragon to the station, but it did prevent the mission's secondary payload from being deployed in its proper orbit.

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SpaceX Dragon Capsule Problem Stalls Space Station Cargo Delivery

LOW EARTH ORBIT A commercial vessel carrying a ton of supplies for the International Space Station ran into thruster trouble shortly after liftoff Friday and will miss its docking date, despite a day spent scrambling by flight controllers to fix the problem.

In a press conference Friday afternoon, SpaceX founder Elon Musk said the company had resolved issues that prevented three of the four sets of thrusters on the company's unmanned Dragon capsule from kicking in, delaying the release of solar panels -- and ultimately preventing the vehicle from making its planned docking date.

Dragon's twin solar wings swung opened two hours later than planned as SpaceX worked to bring up the idled thrusters, which Musk said should happen shortly.

Weve been deeply engaged in trying to find out what went wrong with the Dragon thruster system, Musk said over the phone from SpaceX mission control in California. "Im optimistic that well be able to turn all four thruster pods on and restore full control soon, he added.

The Dragon is equipped with 18 thrusters, divided into four sets, and can maneuver adequately even with some unavailable. The thruster issues caused SpaceX to miss its scheduled rendezvous.

Fortunately, we have quite a bit of flexibility in our birthing date, explained Michael Suffredini, International Space Station program manager. Musk noted that the capsule could orbit safely for up to a month before docking, if needed. And because the cargo is largely scientific, a delay won't put the station crew in any jeopardy.

The problem cropped up following Dragon's separation from the rocket upper stage, nine minutes into the flight. The liftoff was right on time and appeared to go flawlessly; the previous Falcon launch in October suffered a single engine failure that resulted in the loss of a communications satellite that was hitching a ride on the rocket.

This is the first major trouble to strike a Dragon in orbit. Two similar capsules, launched last year, had no problem getting to the orbiting lab.

It was a little frightening there, Musk admitted, stressing that the Falcon rocket performed perfectly despite the minor troubles with the Dragon capsule. More than 1 ton of space station supplies are aboard the cargo craft, including some much-needed equipment for air purifiers.

SpaceX has a $1.6 billion contract with NASA for 12 deliveries to restock the space station, and hopes the venture will lead to transporting astronauts there in a few years. A company-sponsored demo mission kicked everything off last May.

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SpaceX Dragon capsule to miss berthing date at space station after thruster issue