Dragon Return from ISS Re-Scheduled for Tuesday A.M.

Goodbye Tuesday
Credit : SpaceX

NASA Press Release:

More than three weeks after arriving at the International Space Station, the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft is ready for the trip back to Earth, now scheduled for Tuesday, March 26. Dragon’s return date, originally scheduled for March 25, was postponed due to inclement weather developing near its targeted splashdown site in the Pacific Ocean. The additional day spent attached to the orbiting laboratory will not affect science samples scheduled to return aboard the spacecraft. NASA Television will provide coverage of Dragon’s departure beginning at 4 a.m. EDT.

The actual removal of Dragon from the space station begins at 4:05am, with release scheduled for 7:06am. Dragon will conduct a series of engine burns to take it away from the space station with the third and final departure burn taking place around 7:16am. NASA TV coverage will conclude once Dragon leaves the vicinity of the space station.

Dragon’s deorbit burn will take place approximately 11:40am with splashdown scheduled for 12:36pm about 246 miles off the coast of Baja California. Dragon will take about 30 hours to return to port, at which point several critical science samples will be handed over to NASA for a return trip back to Houston that day.

For the latest on the mission, continue visiting http://www.nasa.gov/station or http://www.spacex.com

CASIS Awards Two Materials Sciences Grants

Image Credit : NASA

CASIS is steadily expanding its portfolio of research to be conducted aboard the International Space Station. On March 14, it issued a Request for Information looking for partners to assist with expanding the scope of non-embryonic stem cell research.  The RFI specifically seeks organizations with expertise in payload development and integration which can make the process of getting experiments to orbit easier for researchers.

Yesterday, CASIS awarded two grants in the field of materials science research, outlined in the press release below.  Notably, one is  for an experiment to be conducted outside of the station on the NanoRacks exposed platform focused on developing a space radiation adapted, fault tolerant capability for the Gumstix line of tiny computers.

There are two basic ways of dealing with the effect of radiation in space on computer systems.  The first is to develop resistant computers which are comprised of radiation hardened components.  The problem with this approach in that rad hardened components tend to be very expensive, difficult to program and well behind the performance curve compared to terrestrial based systems.

The second approach, which is being pursued by SpaceX among others, is to design fault tolerant systems which use newer,  more off the shelf components incorporated into an overall system which accommodates radiation through redundancy and multiple voting architectures.  One of the biggest benefits is that the programming can taken place in more familiar languages.

This link, an interview with SpaceX director of certification John Muratore in Aviation Week from last year, provides an excellent explanation of the philosophy behind radiation tolerant design.  What is interesting about the CASIS grant is the general implication for the future.

Based on current trends it seems likely that the near term future will see an increasing tide of small, automated spacecraft and landers, some of which will be privately funded, performing a variety of tasks throughout the solar system, ultimately aimed at simplifying the challenge of human settlement.   One major obstacle; whether large, small or tiny, each will need a strategy for coping with a difficult radiation environment.  A proliferation of smaller space probes would be problematic if the only option was mil-spec, radiation hardened components,  but becomes more practical when following alternative approaches like those apparently being studied for Gumstix.

Even though CASIS is still struggling to establish a workable model, and ultimately independent funding, for its research activities, it is worth noting the potential long term benefits being pursued not just in terms of human health sciences, which has been an early area of focus, but also in other fields as well.  One of those is providing an affordable (in this very, since it is a grant) means of  testing COTS (Commercial Off the Shelf) products in the space environment. In doing so, CASIS is helping to realize the International Space Station’s potential as a useful tool in preparing for future well beyond low Earth orbit, engaging a much wider commercial audience in the process.

CASIS Press Release:

CASIS Announces Grant Awards for Materials Science

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL. (March 21, 2013) – The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), the nonprofit organization promoting and managing research onboard the International Space Station (ISS) U.S. National Laboratory, today announced grant awards totaling $400,000 for two projects from its recent Request for Proposals (RFP) titled “Materials Testing in the Extreme Environment of Space.”

The RFP sought to identify projects within the field of materials science that could make use of the physical and chemical properties influenced by microgravity, atomic oxygen, low pressure and/or vast temperature variations. The selected experiments will use the NanoRacks External Platform, which allows exposure to the extreme conditions of space for development and testing of new materials, components and systems.

Grant awardees include:
Kathleen Morse, Ph.D., from Advanced Materials Applications, LLC, who will focus on using the Gumstix™ Computer On Module in ground and space-based radiation studies to examine fault-tolerant computers to meet the intensive demands of current and next generation satellites and space missions.
W. Jud Ready, Ph.D., from the Georgia Institute of Technology, who will focus on further developing cost-effective, energy-efficient photovoltaic cells made of lightweight carbon nanotubes. Past work, which began in 2011, successfully demonstrated an increased efficiency in capturing photons and creating energy. The technology is expected to be in commercially available products in fall 2013.

Final award of grant money is contingent upon the acceptance of legal terms and conditions between recipients and CASIS.

“The involvement of CASIS in the External Platform Program has opened the door to commercial utilization of the space environment far faster than previously possible,” said NanoRacks Managing Director Jeff Manber. “We are delighted to partner with CASIS in this new era of utilization on the International Space Station.”

“Today’s announcement further demonstrates the ability of CASIS to fund research to utilize the ISS National Lab,” said CASIS Interim Executive Director Jim Royston. “CASIS is excited about the ability to take advantage of the NanoRacks External Platform and fund opportunities to not only utilize the inside of the station but also promote experiments conducted outside in the extreme environment of space.”

Expedition 34 Lands Safely in Kazakhstan

Back on Earth
Source: RIA Novosti

 

Source:  RIA Novosti

After 5 months aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 34 landed safely in Kazakhstan during late Friday night U.S. time. Carrying Russian crew members Oleg Novitsky, Yevgeny Tarelkin and American Kevin Ford, the Soyuz capsule landed at 7:06 AM Moscow time 30 miles north of Arkalyk in Kazakhstan.  The three remaining astronauts aboard ISS will have a little extra room for themselves until the arrival of Expedition 35 at the end of the month.

NASA Solicits Public for Research Proposals on ISS

ISS: Now Accepting Proposals
Credit : NASA

When President Bush introduced the Vision for Space exploration 9 years ago, long term prospects for the International Space Station suddenly didn’t look so good.  As it turned out, ISS ultimately survived VSE and Project Constellation, with much of the American section of the station’s scientific research handed over to CASIS, the Center for the Advancement of Science,  which manages it as a U.S. National Lab.

One of the remaining aspects of the former plan still remains, and that is a narrowed focus on NASA sponsored station research which can benefit the agency’s (very) long term goals of space exploration, as evidenced by both the recent announcement of an agreement to host a Bigelow inflatable module for a two year stint, as well as the successfully concluded Robotic Refueling Mission using the Canadian supplied Dextre.

Not all the research is large scale or demands international collaboration however,  and along those lines,  the agency is issuing a  call for research proposals which is open to a wide variety of companies, non-profit and educational institutions.   While not  exactly crowd sourced research, it is as close as the agency gets, and even the smallest of groups as well as individuals inventors have an opportunity to compete.

According to the official NASA release:

“Proposed technologies should help advance exploration and research capabilities aboard the space station. Concepts must fit within existing NASA standards for mass and volume to meet requirements for current launch vehicles. Suggested areas include in-space propulsion; space power and energy storage; components of highly reliable, closed-loop, human health, life support and habitation systems; thermal systems; robotics, telerobotics, and autonomous systems; and human exploration destination systems.

Proposals for new exploration technologies could include strategies to reduce mass, maintenance and power requirements, while also increasing efficiency, reliability and safety. The idea could be a new technology or a new, improved use of existing space hardware. Proposals also may have the potential to yield benefits for humanity, such as testing a new material or stimulating economic growth.”

NASA will cover  launch and integration costs,  which must take place on existing vehicles, and possible supply funding for some proposals.  In other words, in addition to helping build a renewed knowledge base for deep space exploration, winners stand a fair chance of seeing their experiments blasted into space and a returned to Earth aboard the most transformational system of the era, the SpaceX Falcon 9 and Dragon Capsule. Something of a win-win.  As recent collaborations demonstrate, this is not your parent’s aloof and detached NASA.  Come up with something.

The complete announcment”Soliciting Proposals for Exploration Technology Demonstration and National Lab Utilization Enhancements,” is available here.

NASA / Bigelow Press Conference Reveals Interesting Details

Robert Bigelow and Lori Garver
Credit: NASA

At a press conference held in Bigelow Aerospace headquarters, NASA Deputy administrator Lori Garver and Bigelow founder and chairman Robert Bigelow formally announced the partnership arrangement revealed last week by SpaceNews,  one which had been in the works for nearly 2 years. Under the terms, NASA will pay Bigelow $17.8 million for a two-year test of its BEAM, Bigelow Expanded Activity Module, which will be attached to the International Space Station’s Tranquility Node.

BEAM will be transported to the station by SpaceX on Commercial Re-Supply Mission number 8, scheduled in 2015, and will be packed in a 7′  tube housed in the Dragon spacecraft’s “trunk.”  This marks one of the most significant manifested uses of the Dragon’s unique external cargo capability, one which can be enhanced by an optional 14′ extended version. Once attached to the station, BEAM will be slowly pressurized and expand until it reaches its full dimensions of 13′ x 10′, offering roughly  560 cubic feet of internal space.  Though it will be primarily empty space, the chief purpose of which is to test basic environmental factors over an extended time frame, NASA has speculated that station’s crew may find it one of the most relaxing abodes onboard the packed and somewhat noisy station, perfect even for a cat-nap.  Garver also left open the possibility of extending the BEAM’s presence beyond the two-year time frame if it performs as advertised.

The press conference also offered some insight, including pricing,  into Bigelow’s plans for its BA-330 station module, two of which would be joined to form its proposed Space Station Alpha, the first component of which could launch as early as the end of 2016, depending on the rate of progress in the commercial crew program. Along those lines, Bigelow announced that the transport price to the station, would be $26.25 million aboard a SpaceX Dragon,  or $36.75 million aboard a Boeing CST-100.  The 40% price difference is almost certainly due to the much higher cost of the Boeing’s Atlas V launch vehicle, as compared to the SpaceX Falcon 9.  The gap could become even more pronounced if Congress ultimately removes the large annual subsidy going to United Launch Alliance in the form of the Launch Capability Contract which is currently on the order of nearly $100 million per flight at current rates.  Bigelow has a clear business interest in maintaining two separate sources of transportation to its stations, but assuming the company proceeds, the comparative flight rates should prove very revealing.  For what it is worth,  SpaceX originally announced that for crew carrying purposes, the  Falcon 9 would be “capsule” agnostic,”  offering the same pricing to other customers  as it charged itself, a fact Sierra Nevada might want to taken into account if it still continues to be funded at a reduced level.

Perhaps just as interesting was the pricing associated with station no matter how you get there.  First,  the somewhat boring name of Space Station Alpha could change even more often than that of Joe Robbie Stadium, with full naming rights available for $25 million per year, and half that for just one of the two modules.  Customers, expected to be non space-faring  (until now) national governments,  as well as large corporations,  could lease 1/3 of a module, termed a “block” for $25 million for a nominal flight period of 60 days.

Also noteworthy was NASA’s apparent enthusiasm at the prospect of future developments based on this first step.  Although the agency cannot directly  say it wants to go back to the Moon at the moment, because deep gravity wells are not an acceptable destination along the official “flexible path,”  Bigelow is under no such restriction, and would very much like to use a future version of its plug and play orbital modules to serve a similar function on the lunar surface.  Coming on the heels of the Golden Spike announcement,  it seems increasingly likely that the agency might want to consider just how flexible the path might become with the addition of  expandable habitats.

It should also not go unnoticed that in considering possible alternatives to the current plan, (to the extent there is one)  that added to the Dragon spacecraft’s own 350 cubic feet of pressurized space, the modest BEAM module makes a total availability of 910′ cubic feet.  The Orion capsule by contrast, upon which the U.S. has already spent nearly $7 billion dollars, and is which is continuing to hoover up roughly an additional billion dollars every year, offers a total of pressurized space of 691 cubic feet,  but with a habitable volume of just 316 cubic feet.  The Apollo capsule by comparison was 343 cubic feet of total space within 207 cubic feet of usable space.

While the BEAM offers little more than additional living space at the moment, and the crew version of the Dragon is still in the works, a workable combination of the two could be ready years before the Orion’s first and only scheduled crewed mission, currently slated for 2021. It is safe to assume that given the future prospects for NASA’s budget, which are grim, this and other alternative “paths” may ultimately prove to lead to some very interesting conclusions regarding what is, and what  is not, a sustainable space infrastructure.

NASA / Bigelow Arrangement Opens the Door to Bigger Things

Gensesis II in Orbit
Credit: Bigelow Aerospace

Space.com is reporting that NASA and Bigelow Aerospace have reached an agreement which will allow the North Las Vegas company to fly its proposed BEAM, Bigelow Aerospace Expanded Module  to the International Space Station, where it would to provide extra storage space, similar to that provided by the Permanent Multi Purpose Logistics Module.

Assuming the agreement, which is expected to be formally announced next week comes to fruition, BEAM, which would be similar in size, would join Bigelow’s prototype Genesis I and II modules which are in separate orbits, and mark an important progression in the evolution of that company’s plan to launch an entirely separate private station made up of linked Bigelow modules.   Both the Commercial Resupply and Commercial Crew program were predicated on the concept that NASA and ISS could function as a type of anchor tenant in low Earth orbit, but in anticipation of new ventures such as the Bigelow station which could provide a second destination for the systems developed for NASA by private contractors.  Boeing in particular has stated that the addition of a second destination could help close the business case for the CST-100 capsule.  Both Boeing and SpaceX have previously signed agreements with Bigelow for transportation services for an eventual Bigelow private station,  and the expected NASA /  Bigelow partnership would be a next step and further validation of the CRS /  Commercial Crew approach.

Looking a bit further down the road, the potential launch of a Bigelow BEAM module, particularly if it takes place on a SpaceX Falcon 9 booster could be a harbinger of much greater things to come.  As Mars visionary Robert Zubrin and many others have observed, the addition of an inflatable module similar to that being considered for the station, to the SpaceX Dragon 2.0 capsule  greatly increases the available space and capability of a future Dragon to serve both as a Mars transfer vehicle, and / or surface habitat.  Add in the introduction of Falcon Heavy, and the pieces for an alternate vision of far more affordable (and timely) inner system exploration begin to fall into place.

In that context,  it appears that if the NASA/Bigelow arrangement is a happy one, it could signal the entrance, albeit tentative, of another element of NewSpace infrastructure into the agency’s tool kit the next time it chooses or is forced, to re-evaluate long term plans.

NASA’s Spot the Station Service

Worth Taking a Look
Credit NASA

NASA is often accused of doing a less than stellar job of informing the public of what it is actually doing.  If seeing really is believing, then a recently released spotting program is a step in the right direction.   With the advent of cold clear nights which make fall and winter the best seasons for nighttime sky watching, NASA has released a convenient service which alerts you when the International Space Station is passing overhead.  The Spot the Station service uses either e-mail or text messages to notify participants of when the station will be passing above 40 degrees over the horizon of over 4,600 locations worldwide during the evening or early morning hours.

With a crew capacity of six full-time residents, a U.S. National Laboratory, and a steady traffic of no less than five different visiting spacecraft,  (with OSC Cygnus, soon to be six) the International Space Station is a remarkable achievement in space which is well worth putting on a jacket and stepping outside on the occasional  clear evening to consider, if only for a moment.

Dragon Released from ISS, Heading Home

Dragon Released and Heading Home
Credit NASA TV

High above Burma, ISS astronauts released the SpaceX CRS-1 Dragon capsule at 8:29 AM CST.  Following two brief burns to safely remove the spacecraft from  the International Space Station’s “keep out sphere”   the craft rotated, accelerated and began heading back to Earth for an estimated landing at 2:20  PM CST.

The deorbit burn, which will lower the Dragon’s apogee is scheduled to begin at 1:28 PM CST, and Dragon trunk, which serves as the mounting point for the crafts’ solar panels will be jettisoned moments before the capsule begins atmospheric interface.

The Dragon is packed with 1,673 lbs of return items, excluding packaging, including items from each of the stations four segments; US, ESA, Japanese and Russian, as well as ISS equipment  for analysis and repair.   Some of the most important  cargo on board came from the astronauts themselves, blood and urine samples taken over the last year which are contributing to a rapidly increasing understanding of bone mineral density loss and other effects of micro-gravity on the human organism.  Once safely recovered  by a team at the splashdown site, the frozen samples will be unloaded and transported to waiting labs for study.  With direct implications for the treatment of purely terrestrial conditions, as well as the particular circumstances of spaceflight, the bio-medical research being conducted on ISS is quietly bridging the gap between space exploration and everyday life.   Quoting NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, ” literally and figuratively there’s a piece of us on that spacecraft going home to Earth. ”

With another successful landing, the Dragon will also take an important step in ushering in the day that astronauts themselves will be making the trip home in Dragon as well.  While there are no published plans to do so, it should be noted that with the addition of life support systems and seating, both easily accomplished,  NASA could readily achieve in Dragon a long sought capacity for an  Emergency Crew Return Vehicle, well before the Dragon / Falcon 9 system is certified for crew launch.

Unlike the previous COTS 2/3 mission return, the Dragon’s descent and landing will not be covered live on NASA television.

Soyuz Booster Lofts New Crew Towards ISS

Soyuz TMA-06M Lifts Off
Credit NASA TV

NASA Press Release:

RELEASE : 12-369      New Crew Headed to the International Space Station     HOUSTON — NASA astronaut Kevin Ford and Russian cosmonauts Evgeny Tarelkin and Oleg Novitskiy launched aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket on their mission to the International Space Station at 5:51 a.m. CDT Tuesday (4:51 p.m. Kazakhstan time). The trio lifted off from Site 31 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. This is the first time in 28 years the pad has been used for human spaceflight.

Ford, Tarelkin and Novitskiy will spend the next two days inside their Soyuz TMA-06M spacecraft as they close in on the space station. Novitskiy is serving as the commander of the Soyuz and will be at the controls as the spacecraft docks with the Poisk module of the station Thursday. The three will join Expedition 33 Commander Sunita Williams of NASA and Flight Engineers Aki Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Yuri Malenchenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency, who have been living aboard the orbiting laboratory since July.

NASA TV will provide live coverage of the Soyuz docking beginning at 7 a.m. CDT (8 a.m. EDT) Thursday. Coverage of the hatch opening and welcome ceremony aboard the space station will begin at 9:45 a.m. Hatch opening is scheduled for approximately 10:15 a.m.

Ford, Novitskiy and Tarelkin will remain aboard the station until March 2013. Williams, Malenchenko and Hoshide will return to Earth Nov. 19. When Williams, Malenchenko and Hoshide undock from the station, it will signal the end of Expedition 33 and the beginning of Expedition 34 with Ford as commander.

An excellent NASA video of the laucnh can be seen here.

 

Hit Piece on SpaceX Misses Target, Results in Self Inflicted Wound

Credit SpaceX

If you’re going to commit a drive by, at least don’t aim at yourself.

In an article published yesterday in the Washington Examiner, meant as an attack on SpaceX and Elon Musk, staff writer Richard Pollock initiated a series of stumbling, intellectually vacant statements with this whopper:

“The rocket lost power from one of its nine engines shortly after its Sunday launch and only delivered 882 of the promised 1,800 pounds of resupply cargo for the space station.”

What?  The total mass delivered was actually 1,995 pounds; 882 of cargo and 1,113 of packaging.

And then there was this:

“These are not the Falcon 9 project’s first setbacks, as it is at least two years behind schedule and three previous test launches were cancelled.”

“Cancelled?”  Perhaps then, the streaming video of Falcon  9 flights 1,2 and 3 were elaborate fabrications,  just like the Moon landing.  Or, maybe the word he was looking  for was  “delayed, ” the occurrence of which has a strong correlation with the word “test.”

After quoting an anonymous former “astronaut,”  who was presumably brave enough to fly on the Shuttle but is apparently too timid to identify himself (or more likely, his employer) the rest of the article goes on to misrepresent the nature of Space Act Agreements, and attempt to make the case for the wonders of FAR contracting “to ensure cost controls.”

One of the best things about a free press is that fact that people are allowed to make fools of themselves in public, and internet gives everyone a front row seat.  Where was the editor?  Maybe watching NASA video coverage of Sunita Williams opening the cargo hatch  of the second reusable,  crew capable spacecraft  which SpaceX has developed and flown to the station with less funding than Project Orion burns through in a four month’s time.

Clearly the Examiner, which is a very conservative leaning publication, is none to pleased about the apparent success of this aspect of the Obama Administrations’s space policy, even if it was initiated under President Bush, and comes from a strong background of bi-partisan support over many years as outlined in this recent piece  in The Space Review.

Nevertheless, it seems that there is something else at work here, a deep-seated and almost inexplicable hostility to what in any other industry would be heralded by ostensible proponents of smaller government as a quintessential American success story.  As such, it harkens back to previous (and equally dishonest, but at least better written) attacks on SpaceX  by Loren Thompson, and the Lexington Institute as mouthpieces for traditional aerospace interests, of which defense giant Lockheed Martin is a significant contributor.

There is nothing wrong with expressing concerns about the issues of a young company taking on an almost unprecedented challenge with the help of the U.S. taxpayer.  In fact, that is the job of a skeptical press.  But when the degree of success is so undeniable that one has to resort to outright falsehoods to even draw a contrast and present a story, then that becomes the news.

If  Orbital Sciences is successful in conducting its own COTS test flights in coming months, out of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport,  almost in D.C.’s own  back yard no less, it will be interesting to see what if any reaction comes from defenders of arsenal space.  Somehow it seems unlikely that the headlines will shout that Orbital, not to mention Boeing, Sierra Nevada and even ULA  got “insider deals” as well.