Tag: AV-064
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Atlas 5 rocket gains approval to launch again after issue on last flight diagnosed
The Atlas 5 rocket streaks to space on March 22. Credit: Alex Polimeni/Spaceflight Now CAPE CANAVERAL — United Launch Alliance has granted “flight clearance” for its workhorse Atlas 5 rocket to resume satellite deployments after linking an errant valve with the fuel usage crunch on its most recent mission and tweaking subsequent vehicles. The next…
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Cygnus leaves space station and conducts NASA fire experiment in microgravity
CAPE CANAVERAL — Bidding farewell to the International Space Station today, the commercial Cygnus cargo ship separated to a safe distance before igniting an intentional fire in microgravity like never before, all in the name of science. The NASA-sponsored Spacecraft Fire Experiment, or SAFFIRE, was conducted to better understand how flames will behave in weightlessness…
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New lineup spelled out for upcoming Atlas 5 rocket launches from the Cape
The most recent Atlas 5 arcs to orbit over the next Delta 4-Heavy rocket. Credit: ULA CAPE CANAVERAL — The revised Atlas 5 rocket firing order includes two national security missions this summer before launching NASA’s daring asteroid sampler mission in September as originally planned. That’s the schedule the United Launch Alliance managers have devised…
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Mixture ratio valve the culprit in Atlas 5 anomaly, next launch this summer
Photo by ULA CAPE CANAVERAL — With the performance hit on the Atlas 5 rocket’s most recent flight last month now isolated to a faulty valve, preparations to resume the manifest are underway as United Launch Alliance workers stack the next booster for blastoff this summer. The Mixture Ratio Control Valve (MRCV) governing the blend…
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New target date for next Atlas 5 launch
File photo of Atlas 5 first stage in ASOC. Credit: NASA-KSC CAPE CANAVERAL — As the internal investigation continues into the first stage performance trouble on the last Atlas 5 rocket launch, the next mission on the manifest has slipped to May 27. Originally planned for May 5, the flight of the Navy’s fifth and…
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United Launch Alliance narrowing lists of suspects in rocket anomaly
First stage graphic. Credit: NASA TV CAPE CANAVERAL — The detective work into the Atlas 5 rocket’s first stage performance trouble during the Cygnus cargo ship launch a week ago has implicated the fuel system as the likely culprit for using up the liquid oxygen supply too quickly. That is what United Launch Alliance engineers…
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Photos: Cygnus goes from Cape Canaveral to the space station
This collection of official NASA photographs captures the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket rolling to the pad on Monday, successfully blasting off Tuesday and the Cygnus freighter arriving at the International Space Station on Saturday morning. Credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky Credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky Credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett Credit: NASA/Tony Gray & Kevin O’Connell…
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Traveling Cygnus pulls into port at International Space Station
CAPE CANAVERAL — Astronauts aboard the International Space Station used the robotic arm to snare a commercial cargo ship and bring it aboard this morning while traveling at five miles per second. The Orbital ATK Cygnus freighter, dubbed the S.S. Rick Husband, was captured at 6:51 a.m. EDT (1051 GMT) by Expedition 47 commander and…
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Atlas 5 forced to improvise during Tuesday’s climb to orbit
Credit: United Launch Alliance CAPE CANAVERAL — The Centaur upper stage launching the Cygnus space freighter Tuesday persevered through a velocity shortfall from the first stage of the Atlas 5 rocket, improvising with a longer firing to reach the correct orbit. The 16,500-pound payload was injected into a 147 by 144-statute-mile orbit at 51.6 degrees…
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2nd Cygnus ship in three months rockets to orbit aboard Atlas 5
CAPE CANAVERAL — An Atlas 5 rocket successfully launched another Cygnus cargo freighter for Orbital ATK Tuesday night, fulfilling the booster’s role of reestablishing America’s resupply link to the International Space Station. If all goes well over the next three days, the Cygnus will intercept the station on Saturday to deliver 7,485 pounds of food,…