Category Archives: Space Station

We've all had that feeling of leaving the house and wondering if we left the stove on or forgot to lock the door. In space, an anxious astronaut might worry that an unoccupied space station might be losing oxygen or an experiment is failing because the power went out.

That's why NASA is expanding the use of automation on Deep Space Gateway, a lunar space station for astronauts traveling to far away destinations such as Mars. Deep Space Gateway is set for launch in 2020 and might be occupied by humans for only a month or two at a time.

"When the crew's not there, the Gateway would serve as a science laboratory, tending to its own experiments; we envision having some robotics on board," said Bill Pratt, program manager for Lockheed Martin's NextSTEP program that is working on Deep Space Gateway. Lockheed is also the prime contractor for the future deep space Orion spacecraft.

Other questions for Gateway automation include how to operate items such as the life support system when the astronauts are away. Is air needed when there's nobody around to breathe? What about water filtration or the toilet?

"The avionics lab is really all about showing that we understand how to get that transition right between the uncrewed mode and the crewed mode that's a high-risk area," Pratt said.

In some sense, he added, Lockheed will have to borrow from the long heritage of space robots exploring the solar system. Curiosity rover, for example, can do tasks such as choose rocks for analysis. Space probes also know when to shut themselves off if a huge problem occurs and cry for help from home.

Lockheed is working with MDA the company responsible for the robotic armsCanadarm and Canadarm2 and a two-armed robot called Dextre on the International Space Station to figure out concepts for robotic operations on Gateway.

Space will be at a premium because Gateway will only have one module for living and working. Luckily, electronics are smaller than when the ISS was first put together in 1998. Astronauts docking with the future lunar space station may be able to use tablets after the Orion spacecraft is safely parked. Storing the tablet requires little more than velcroing it to a wall.

RELATED:The Robots Might Not Be Coming for Your Job After All

But some things can't be miniaturized as easily. The ISS has an exercise bike, a treadmill, and an advanced resistive device for weightlifting. This exercise equipment wouldn't all fit in Gateway, at least in their current configuration. There also would be challenges for sleep stations, cooking, and privacy. So Lockheed is testing out a full-scale model of the habitat, where NASA contractors can try out different devices to see how well they might fit together. The fit is also tested out in virtual reality.

"I went with my family on an RV trip if you think about an RV, one minute you are eating at a table, and the next minute that table becomes your bed," Pratt said. "You're reconfiguring the space for the need that you have [at the time]. It's very different from what they do on ISS, where there are a lot of modules and each module has its own purpose."

Read the original:
A Fully Automated Science Lab Could Be Coming to NASA's New Lunar Station - Seeker

Photonics.com Jul 2017 WASHINGTON, D.C., Aug. 2, 2017 An experiment that recently arrived at the International Space Station will test a new solar array design that rolls up to form a compact cylinder for launch with significantly less mass and volume, potentially offering substantial cost savings as well as an increase in power for satellites.

Smaller and lighter than traditional solar panels, the Roll-Out Solar Array, or ROSA, consists of a center wing made of a flexible material containing photovoltaic cells to convert light into electricity. On either side of the wing is a narrow arm that extends the length of the wing to provide support, called a high strain composite boom. The booms are like split tubes made of a stiff composite material, flattened and rolled up lengthwise for launch. The array rolls or snaps open without a motor, using stored energy from the structure of the booms that is released as each boom transitions from a coil shape to a straight support arm.

ROSA can be easily adapted to different sizes, including very large arrays, to provide power for a variety of future spacecraft. It also has the potential to make solar arrays more compact and lighter weight for satellite radio and television, weather forecasting, GPS and other services used on Earth. In addition, the technology conceivably could be adapted to provide solar power in remote locations.

The technology of the booms has additional potential applications, such as for communications and radar antennas and other instruments. The ROSA investigation looks at how well this new type of solar panels deploys in the microgravity and extreme temperatures of space. The investigation also measures the array's strength and durability and how the structure responds to spacecraft maneuvers.

When the array is attached to a satellite, that spacecraft will need to maneuver, which creates torque and causes the wing, or blanket, to vibrate," said Jeremy Banik, principal investigator and senior research engineer at the Air Force Research Laboratory, Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico. "We need to know precisely when and how it vibrates so as not to lose control of the spacecraft. The only way to test that is in space."

The investigation will monitor the array deployed in full sun and full shade and collect data on how much it vibrates when moving from shade to light. This vibration, known as thermal snap, could present challenges in operating satellites with sensitive functions, and the researchers want to learn how to avoid those challenges with ROSA. The investigation will also measure power produced by the array to see how ROSA's thin, crystalline photovoltaic cells hold up during launch. In addition, researchers want to see how the array handles retraction.

"Recognize that we are trying to learn how it behaves this is an experiment and not a demonstration so we'll glean useful data even if it doesn't behave the ways we expect," Banik said.

ROSA was developed as part of the Solar Electric Propulsion project sponsored by NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate. NASA tested the ROSA technology in vacuum chambers on Earth several years ago, and this is its first test in space. This solar array technology was developed to power large spacecraft using highly efficient electric propulsion on missions to deep space including Mars and the moon.

See the article here:
NASA to Test New Solar Array on International Space Station - Photonics.com

Welcome to Science in 60 Seconds

FLYING HIGH

NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik a Marine pilot who was stationed at Miramar for many years has arrived at the International Space Station. Hes scheduled to spend six months at the orbiting outpost. Bresnik will help with several scientific experiments, including one involving potential therapies for Parkinsons disease.

This is Bresniks second trip into space. He earlier served on a space shuttle mission, and performed two spacewalks .

RIDE, SALLY, RIDE

The research vessel Sally Ride is leaving San Diegos Scripps Institution of Oceanography this week to study the ecosystem of the California Current. The ship will be operating offshore, roughly between San Diego and Point Conception.

This is a return-to-service for the R/V Ride, which spent about three months undergoing repairs and upgrades.

The ship is named after former UC San Diego researcher Sally Ride, the first American woman to travel in space.

MONEY FLOWS TO SDSU

San Diego State University says that it raised more than $134 million in research funding during the fiscal year that ended on June 30. Thats one of the highest figures in campus history, but far from the $250 million it wishes to raise annually to evolve into one of Californias elite science centers.

The new money is being used for everything from heart studies to gauging the impact of smoking and air pollution in low income housing.

Twitter: @grobbins

gary.robbins@sduniontribune.com

Go here to see the original:
Science Updates: Bresnik reaches space station, Sally Ride heads out to sea - The San Diego Union-Tribune

Laughing to keep from crying, Peggy Whitson says goodbye to crewmates Tomas Pesquet (back left) and Oleg Novitskiy (back right), with Jack 2Fish Fisher and Fyodor Yurchikhin by her side.

Ive never liked it when people appropriate the term family to include everything from co-workers to customers. Ive got my own family, thanks, and filling my tank with gas doesnt quite warrant a welcome to the Exxon family.

Still, some jobs really do go beyond just being another place to work, and astronaut has to be one of them. Over the decades, human spaceflight has developed a distinct culture, with its own particular customs and rituals that make NASA more like a family than a typical government agency.

I was thinking about this recently, watching Peggy Whitsons change-of-command ceremony on the space station. In case you dont know her, Whitson is one of the most accomplished astronauts of all time. Shes spent more time in space than any other American. She was the first woman to head NASAs astronaut office, and this was her third time commanding the space station.

Whitson is known for her work ethic and her intelligence, and listening to her air-to-ground exchanges with Mission Control, shes usually pretty business-like. So I wasnt prepared for this very emotional send-off of her crewmates, Tomas Pesquet of France and Oleg Novitski, who were returning to Earth the next day on a Soyuz transport.

I like everything about this clip, including Whitsons muting her own (I think) off-color reaction at the 2:00 mark, when she starts to get choked up again. A space station astronaut once told me that he found his emotions to be stronger in orbitthe highs were higher, and the lows were lower. Whether or not thats been true for Whitson, its clear that her bond with her fellow astronauts is very real.

Maybe its becauseas she points out to Fyodor Yurchikhin, the cosmonaut relieving her of commandsome of them have been working together for a long time. Many astronauts, even famous ones, spend just a short time in the spaceflight business. John Glenn, for example, was an astronaut for only five years, Sally Ride for just nine. Whitson has worked in and around NASA for more than 30 years, virtually her entire career, including serving, before she became an astronaut, as the project scientist for the shuttle-Mir program in the 1990s. Shes married to a NASA biomedical researcher. If anyones entitled to call it the NASA family, Whitson is.

Speaking of families, another time-honored Russian spaceflight ritual is the phone call to the ground after a Soyuz docks with the station, so the families and friends of the astronauts and cosmonauts can check in with their loved ones at the start of their long stay in orbit. Heres the scene from last Friday, right after Sergey Ryazanskiy, NASAs Randy Bresnik, and veteran Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli (at 60, the oldest station crew member yet) arrived on board:

We may not see many more of these family calls to Moscow, once ferry flights on U.S. commercial spaceships begin in the next year or two. Ill miss them.

At least well be watching the dockings in HD, though. Fridays docking to the station was captured with new, high-quality cameras on the station, and the detail, as you can see, is noticeably better than it used to be.

Like this article? SIGN UP for our newsletter

See original here:
Comings and Goings in the NASA Family - Air & Space Magazine

New Delhi: From the hot, parched deserts of Africa and the high and magnificent peaks of France and Swiss Alps to gorgeous night and day views of various cities across the globe, astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) have taken it upon themselves to take us on our personal ISS ride through breathtaking photographs.

Their vantage point in the cupola has now become our favourite place too, since we know where all the beautiful views come from.

The images beamed back from high above are truly a sight for sore eyes and astronaut Jack Fischer it seems, just can't get enough of the grandeur of the views.

The space first-timer has been treating his followers on a regular basis with some of the most breathtaking photographs, ever since he joined the ISS crew in April 2017.

His excitement is pretty much credible as much as it is palpable to be cruising 250 kilometres above the Earth and that comes forth through the lens of his camera.

In his latest post on Twitter, Fischer has posted a stunning space view video of the ISS' journey from San Diego to Denver at night.

He wrote: San Diego to Denverat nightfrom space. It always amazes me how fast were cruisin around the planet, but I sure love the view!

Needless to say, the view is awe-inspiring and we can only imagine how it might look in person.

Check out the video below:

Read more here:
ISS astronaut Jack Fischer takes us on an enrapturing space station ride from San Diego to Denver! - Watch video - Zee News

A Russian Soyuz rocket launched three veteran space travelers from the U.S., Russia and Italy into orbit Friday (July 28), kicking off a five-month mission tothe International Space Station.

The trio successfully launched at 11:41 a.m. EDT (1541 GMT) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, which borders Russia in the north and west. It was 9:41 p.m. local time at the launch site.

The Soyuz MS-05 spacecraft was helmed by experienced Russian cosmonaut Sergey Ryazanskiy,alongside Randy Bresnik (NASA) from California and Paolo Nespoli (European Space Agency) from Milan, Italy. After a 6-hour orbital chase, the Soyuz docked at the space station's Rassvet module at 5:54 p.m. EDT (2154 GMT).

The Soyuz MS-05 rocket carrying Expedition 52 flight engineer Sergei Ryazanskiy of Roscosmos, flight engineer Randy Bresnik of NASA and flight engineer Paolo Nespoli of the European Space Agency launches into space from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan on Friday, July 28, 2017.

Throughout the NASA launch broadcast, Public Affairs spokesperson Dan Huot said ground control in Houston and Moscow were"continuing to get good reports," and confirmed "we had a successful launch."

All three space travelers have been to space before. Cosmonaut Sergey Ryazanskiy first trained for space flights as the commander of a crew during Russia's 105-dayMars500isolation experiment in 2009. He ultimately served as flight engineer aboard the Soyuz TMA-10M spacecraft in 2013, and spent 166 days in space this will be his second launch and long-duration mission. Since last year, he has also served as the chairman for the youth organization Russian Movement of Schoolchildren.

Astronaut Randy Bresnik also experimented in simulation missions early in his career. He commanded the underwater NEEMO 19 mission(the name's short forNASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations) in 2014. This will be his second spaceflight and his first long-duration mission: He flew to the space station aboard a NASA shuttle in 2009. In fact, Bresnik experienced some baby jitters when his daughter was scheduled to be born the day of his first spacewalk. In one bit of trivia, Bresnik's grandfather was the photographer for famed female pilot Amelia Earhart. For this flight, Bresnik told Space.com that he's looking forward toseeing the Aug. 21 total solar eclipse from the space station.

Astronaut Paolo Nespoli is heading to space for the third time: He flew for two weeks on the space shuttle in 2007 to help install a module of the space station, and he revisited the space station in 2010 for a 160-day mission. Nespoli is an Italian astronaut with the European Space Agency (ESA). His science mission for ESA is called Vita (short for Vitality, Innovation, Technology and Ability) and was selected by Italy's ASI space agency. Vita is Italian for "life."

Expedition 52 flight engineer Randy Bresnik of NASA, top, flight engineer Paolo Nespoli of ESA (European Space Agency), middle, and flight engineer Sergei Ryazanskiy of Roscosmos wave farewell before boarding their Soyuz MS-05 spacecraft for a launch to the International Space Station from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan on July 28, 2017.

The trio will join the Expedition 52 crew, which includes Peggy Whitson (NASA) of Iowa, Fyodor Yurchikhin (Roscosmos) from the country of Georgia and Jack Fischer (NASA) of Colorado. The latter three have been studying how microgravity impacts cancer therapies since April, and have been measuring the composition of meteors orbiting Earth's atmosphere.

The three new arrivals will participate in many research projects, including a phenomenon that is perhaps of special interest to the astronauts already in orbit: the "puffy face" appearance that astronauts have in microgravity. According to NASA's space station blog, one of the effects of living in space is a tendency of bodily fluids to move up toward the head, which may lead to vision damage.

They will also undertake research projects that pertain to biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science. This new crew will remain at the space station until mid-December, according to NASA.

They will also undertake research projects that pertain to biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science. This new crew will remain at the space station until mid-December, according to NASA.The three new arrivals will participate in many research projects, including a phenomenon that is perhaps of special interest to the astronauts already in orbit: the "puffy face" appearance that astronauts have in microgravity. According to NASA's space station blog, one of the effects of living in space is a tendency of bodily fluids to move up toward the head, which may lead to vision damage.

This story was updated at 6:15 p.m. EDT.

Follow Doris Elin Salazar on Twitter @salazar_elin.Follow us@Spacedotcom,FacebookandGoogle+. Original article onSpace.com.

Read the original here:
Veteran 3-Man Crew Launches to International Space Station - Space.com

The Soyuz MS-05 rocket is launched with Expedition 52 flight engineer Sergei Ryazanskiy of Roscosmos, flight engineer Randy Bresnik of NASA, and flight engineer Paolo Nespoli of ESA (European Space Agency), Friday, July 28, 2017 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

An all veteran multinational trio of astronauts and cosmonauts rocketed to orbit aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule and safely arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) after a fast track rendezvous on Friday, July 28.

NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik, Sergey Ryazanskiy of Roscosmos and Paolo Nespoli of ESA (European Space Agency) docked at the orbital outpost at 5:54 p.m. EDT (2154 GMT) Friday just six hours after departing our Home Planet.

The three crewmates launched aboard the Russian Soyuz MS-05 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan during a typically hot mid-summers night at 9:41 p.m. Baikonur time, or 11:41 a.m. EDT.

The entire launch sequence aboard the Soyuz rocket performed flawlessly and delivered the Soyuz capsule to its targeted preliminary orbit flowing by the planned opening of the vehicles solar arrays and antennas.

The Russian Soyuz MS-05 carrying NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik, Sergey Ryazanskiy of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, and Paolo Nespoli of ESA (European Space Agency) docked to the International Space Station at 5:54 p.m. on Friday, July 28, 2017. Credits: NASA Television

Following a rapid series of orbit raising maneuvers, the Soyuz reached the ISS after 4 orbits and six hours to successfully complete all the rendezvous and docking procedures.

The Soyuz docked at the Earth-facing Russian Rassvet module as the spaceships were flying some 250 mi (400 km) over Germany.

The Soyuz MS-05 rocket is launched with Expedition 52 flight engineer Sergei Ryazanskiy of Roscosmos, flight engineer Randy Bresnik of NASA, and flight engineer Paolo Nespoli of ESA (European Space Agency), Friday, July 28, 2017 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Following the standard pressurization and leak checks, the hatches between the spacecraft and station were opened from inside the ISS at about 9:45 p.m. EDT.

The new trio of Bresnik, Ryazanskiy and Nespoli then floated one by one from the Soyuz into the station and restored the outpost to a full strength crew of six humans.

The veteran space flyers join Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin of Roscosmos and Flight Engineers Peggy Whitson and Jack Fischer of NASA who are already serving aboard.

Thus begins Expedition 52 aboard the million pound orbiting science complex.

The Soyuz MS-05 rocket is launched with Expedition 52 flight engineer Sergei Ryazanskiy of Roscosmos, flight engineer Randy Bresnik of NASA, and flight engineer Paolo Nespoli of ESA (European Space Agency), Friday, July 28, 2017 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

This is the second space flight for both Bresnik and Ryazanskiy and the third for Nespoli.

The new Expedition 52 crew will spend a four and a half month stint aboard the station and continue over 250 ongoing science investigations in fields such as biology, Earth science, human research, physical sciences and technology development.

Bresnik, Ryazanskiy and Nespoli are slated to stay aboard until returning to Earth in December.

Whitson, Fischer and Yurchikhin are in the home stretch of their mission and will retun to Earth in September. Shortly after their departure, NASA astronauts Mark Vande Hei and Joseph Acaba and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin will launch on the next Soyuz from Kazakhstan to join the Expedition 53 crew.

Whitson is the most experienced US astronaut with time in space. Her record setting cumulative time in space will exceed 600 days and include a 9 month stay on this flight upon her return to Earth.

The newly-expanded Expedition 52 crew expect to welcome a pair of unmanned US cargo ships carrying new research experiments and supplies, namely the SpaceX Dragon as soon as August and Orbital ATK Cygnus a month or two later, on NASA-contracted commercial resupply missions.

The SpaceX CRS-12 mission will carry investigations the crew will work on including a study developed by the Michael J. Fox Foundation of the pathology of Parkinsons disease to aid in the development of therapies for patients on Earth. The crew will use the special nature of microgravity in a new lung tissue study to advance understanding of how stem cells work and pave the way for further use of the microgravity environment in stem cell research. Expedition astronauts also will assemble and deploy a microsatellite investigation seeking to validate the concept of using microsatellites in low-Earth orbit to support critical operations, such as providing lower-cost Earth imagery in time-sensitive situations such as tracking severe weather and detecting natural disasters.

Watch for Kens onsite space mission reports direct from the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

Stay tuned here for Kens continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news.

By Ken Kremer - Dr. Ken Kremer is a speaker, research scientist, freelance science journalist (Princeton, NJ) and photographer whose articles, space exploration images and Mars mosaics have appeared in magazines, books, websites and calendars including Astronomy Picture of the Day, NBC, FOX, BBC, SPACE.com, Spaceflight Now, Science and the covers of Aviation Week & Space Technology, Spaceflight and the Explorers Club magazines. Ken has presented at numerous educational institutions, civic & religious organizations, museums and astronomy clubs. Ken has reported first hand from the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, NASA Wallops, NASA Michoud/Stennis/Langley and on over 70 launches including 8 shuttle launches. He lectures on both Human and Robotic spaceflight - http://www.kenkremer.com. Follow Ken on Facebook and Twitter

Baikonur Cosmodrome, esa, Expedition 52, Featured, International Space Station (ISS), ISS, NASA, paolo nespoli, Peggy Whitson, Randy Bresnik, Roskosmos, Soyuz, Soyuz MS-05

Go here to read the rest:
Veteran Multinational Trio Launches on Soyuz and Arrives at ... - Universe Today

Robbi Gregory, with PR-B Community Education, said they applied to the program after one community education class met via Skype with a NASA employee.

"We were learning about physics and microgravity and all of this stuff," Gregory said. "It ended with NASA's digital learning network program where educators will talk to kids and it's like a Skype classroom. The kids were ridiculously excited about that even though it was just a guy behind a desk. The fact that someone from NASA wanted to talk to them was huge in their world. Some kids still talk about it and it's been five or six months."

One student asked if girls could work for NASA, and ever since being given a resounding yes, she has decided she wants to be an astrophysicist. The enabling power of that one answer inspired Gregory to look into an even bigger program and apply for the NASA In-flight Education Downlink program, which requires a comprehensive plan and evidence of a clear impact the program would make.

PR-B was selected from 65 educational organizations that submitted letters of intent to take part in this program, in part because of the life-changing impact the program could have on local students.

"It was astounding that these kids were learning about all of this stuff," Gregory said. "They are capable and a lot of them still don't realize they can be a part of it. I think our kids, being low income and rural, I think the impact was pretty phenomenal and compelling to them."

The downlink is still being scheduled. The exact time and date will not be known until Sept. 8, though the tentative plan is to hold the event during a 9-11:30 a.m. window.

"Their time is scheduled up to the five minutes," Gregory said. "Everything they do is scheduled. The fact that they give us 20 minutes is pretty awesome."

The program is no cost to PR-B. If the school elects to have a NASA exhibit at the event, then the school district would be expected to pay for shipping costs. This is still being decided.

Students will be asked to submit questions for the event, and 20 questions will be selected from those submitted. The students who submitted those questions will get the chance to ask them over Skype. The astronauts in question will be Randy Bresnik and Mark Vande Hei.

"This is a really big deal for us," Gregory said. "It's a very big honor for our school to be chosen."

This year the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph and St. John's University in Collegeville are scheduled for a downlink in January. Otherwise the Henning School District, the Boy Scouts of America Northern Star Council in St. Paul and Crossroads Elementary School in St. Paul are the only Minnesota groups to have hosted downlinks in the past.

Nationally more than 200 In-flight Education Downlinks have occurred, according to NASA representatives.

Read more:
PR-B School: Students to communicate with International Space Station astronauts - The Lake Country Echo

A retired Marine officer was one of three astronauts aboard a Soyuz space capsule that successfully blasted off for the International Space Station on Friday.

NASAs Randy Bresnik, Russias Sergei Ryazansky and Italys Paolo Nespoli lifted off from the Russia-leased launch pad in Kazakhstan shortly after sunset, around 11:41 a.m. Eastern. They were to travel about six hours before docking at the space station.

The three will join NASAs Jack Fischer and Peggy Whitson as well as the veteran Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin.

Bresnik, a retired colonel, previously logged 10 days in space when he flew on a mission in 2009, performing two spacewalks. While in the Marine Corps, he served as an F/A-18 test pilot and flew combat missions in support ofOperation Southern Watch and Operation Iraqi Freedom, according to his NASA bio.

Hes flown more than 6,000 hours in more than 80 types of aircraft, per his bio. He was selected for the astronaut program in 2004 and completed training in 2006.

Russias Ryazansky is the crews most experience astronaut with 160 days in space under his belt.

The incoming crew will contribute to more than 250 experiments conducted at the orbiting lab in fields such as biology, human research, physical sciences and technology development.

Flight Engineer Whitson earlier this week was doing research for a cancer study that may help develop more effective treatments for cancer patients, NASA reported.

Read the rest here:
Retired Marine colonel one of 3 astronauts en route to space station - Military Times

File photo of a Dragon spacecraft at SpaceXs headquarters in Hawthorne, California. Credit: SpaceX

The Dragon supply ship set for liftoff from Florida next month was the last of SpaceXs first-generation cargo capsules off the production line, meaning future logistics deliveries to the International Space Station will fly on recycled spacecraft until a new Dragon variant is ready.

SpaceX launched a reused Dragon cargo craft on its last commercial supply shipment to the space station in June, and officials said then that the next Dragon mission now scheduled for launch next month will use a newly-manufactured capsule. Plans for subsequent resupply missions were still under review, NASA and SpaceX officials said at the time.

But a presentation to the NASA Advisory Councils human exploration and operations committee Monday by Sam Scimemi, director of the space station program at NASA Headquarters, suggested SpaceXs next Dragon spacecraft would be the last one to be built.

SpaceX clarified Friday that the company expects the upcoming automated logistics mission will be the last to fly with a newly-manufactured Dragon 1 spacecraft. SpaceX has a contract with NASA for 20 commercial resupply launches through 2019, followed by at least six more Dragon cargo missions through 2024 under a separate follow-on agreement.

NASA has also contracted with Orbital ATK and Sierra Nevada Corp. for the stations cargo needs.

Another iteration of the Dragon spaceship, with a different shape and other significant changes, is under development at SpaceX. NASA confirmed last week that the first unpiloted orbital demonstration flight of the Dragon 2, also known as the Crew Dragon in its human-rated configuration, would slip from late 2017 until at least February 2018.

A second test flight scheduled for June 2018 will carry two astronauts to the space station and back to Earth. NASA and SpaceX intend to have the Crew Dragon ready and certified for regular crew rotations to and from the orbiting research complex by the end of next year.

Meanwhile, a simpler version of the Dragon 2 capsule will also take over SpaceXs cargo delivery duties. Officials have not identified when the resupply runs will switch to the new spacecraft type, but the changeover could happen when SpaceX begins flying missions under its second cargo contract in late 2019 or early 2020, or sooner.

SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk said July 19 that there was little difference between the cost of a new Dragon capsule and the cost to refurbish the Dragon that launched to the space station June 3 and returned to Earth a month later.

The SpaceX internal accounting said that it cost us almost as much as building a Dragon 1 from scratch, but I expect our internal accounting wasnt counting certain things, Musk said at the International Space Station Research and Development Conference in Washington.

The Dragon that flew the last mission to the space station spent 34 days in orbit in 2014. Engineers replaced the ships heat shield and batteries, which were vulnerable to salt water damage when it splashed down in the Pacific Ocean.But the hull, thrusters, harnessing, propellant tanks, and some avionics boxes were original, officials said.

This had a lot of rework, Musk said. The next one, we think theres a decent shot of maybe being 50 percent of the cost of a new one.

SpaceX hopes to launch the its next supply ship on a Falcon 9 rocket from NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida as soon as Aug. 13 or 14, ahead of an Aug. 17 spacewalk by Russian cosmonauts that will release several small satellites from the space station. The deployments will prevent the Dragon cargo craft from approaching the space station for several days as a safety precaution until station managers have good tracking of the Russian satellites.

Technicians at Cape Canaveral will load more than 7,000 pounds (about 3,300 kilograms) of hardware, crew provisions and experiments into the Dragon spacecraft in the coming weeks, including a NASA-funded instrument to investigate the origins of cosmic rays.

If the SpaceX launch is not off the ground by the middle of August, it could be grounded several days until officials ensure the Russian satellites are well away from the station. Two other launches from Cape Canaveral in the second half of August an Atlas 5 flight set for around Aug. 20 and a Minotaur 4 rocket mission Aug. 25 could complicate SpaceXs scheduling in the event of a delay.

The mid-August launch will be the 12th time SpaceX has sent equipment and experiments to the space station since regular Dragon resupply flights began in October 2012. Counting two Dragon test flights in December 2010 and May 2012, the reused capsule that launched twice, and next months mission, SpaceX built 13 capsules based on the first-generation Dragon design.

After the upcoming cargo flight, SpaceXs next Dragon mission is scheduled for launch in November with a previously-flown capsule.

SpaceX will continue building unpressurized trunk modules for space station deliveries. Those sections, which hold solar panels and carry large external experiment payloads, are disposed at the end of each Dragon mission to burn up in the atmosphere.

Musk confirmed SpaceX will eventually use the Dragon 2 spacecraft for all crew and cargo missions to the space station.

The only thing cargo Dragon wont have is the launch escape system, Musk said, noting that the capsule will still be able to separate from a failing rocket. I think, most likely, even cargo Dragon 2 will be able to survive a booster anomaly. It will have everything the crew Dragon 2 has, except the (abort) thrusters, but I think, in most cases actually, it will be able to survive re-entry and keep the cargo safe.

Dragon 2 being used for both cargo and crew allows us to iterate with just a little more risk on the cargo version and prove it out before theres crew on-board, Musk said.

The SpaceX founder said the next-generation Dragon will not have the capability for propulsive returns to land as originally intended, instead returning to splashdowns at sea.

Email the author.

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.

See the rest here:
Anticipating upgraded spaceships, SpaceX builds final first-generation Dragon cargo craft - Spaceflight Now