Tag: CRS
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Post mortem for CRS-3 Antares notes turbopump failure
Engineers are methodically working through stacks of data related to last week’s failure of the CRS-3/OrB-3 Antares launch vehicle. Orbital managers have noted that early data points to the failure of a turbopump on one of Antares’ AJ-26 engines as the leading reason the rocket failed just seconds after launch. The company are now working towards…
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Orbital’s Antares fails seconds after launch
Orbital’s Antares launch vehicle – tasked with lofting the CRS-3 Cygnus to the International Space Station (ISS) – dramatically failed after around ten seconds of flight, exploding and falling back on to the launch center. There is extensive damage to the Wallops facility, although it has been confirmed all personnel are accounted for, with no…
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Antares 130 debut with fourth Cygnus ready for second attempt
Orbital Sciences Corporation – with their new version of their Antares rocket – will make a second attempt to loft the fourth Cygnus mission to the International Space Station at 18:22 local time on Tuesday. Liftoff, from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island, Virginia, was scrubbed for 24 hours due to a boat failing…
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CRS-4: SpaceX Dragon returns back to Earth
SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft has concluded her successful mission to the International Space Station (ISS) with a return to Earth on Saturday. The EOM (End Of Mission) events began with an unberthing and release of the CRS-4/SpX-4 spacecraft from the orbital outpost, ahead of a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Pacific Ocean at around 15:38 Eastern. CRS-3…
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Cygnus sets date for next ISS mission – Castor XL ready for debut
Orbital’s Cygnus spacecraft will begin her latest trip to the International Space Station (ISS) on October 24, atop of the Antares carrier rocket – the rocket’s fifth launch in 18 months of operation. The ORB-3/CRS-3 mission will also debut the use of the more powerful Castor XL second stage motor, supplied by ATK. ORB-3: Amid…
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SpaceX’s CRS-4 Dragon completes Tuesday arrival at ISS
The latest SpaceX Dragon – and her crew of “Mousetronauts” – arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday. The orbital ballet between the giant orbital outpost and the commercial spacecraft resulted in the CRS-4 Dragon being captured by the Station’s “big arm” at 06:52 Eastern, ahead of berthing operations that were completed a…
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SpaceX conducts Sunday morning CRS-4 Dragon launch
SpaceX has launched the second Dragon mission of 2014, with a Falcon 9 v1.1 lofting the cargo spacecraft into orbit on a resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Following a weather-related scrub on Saturday morning, liftoff from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral occurred without issue at 1:52am Eastern early on Sunday. CRS-4: Coming less…
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Falcon 9 v1.1 conducts Static Fire ahead of CRS-4 launch
SpaceX is on track to launch another Falcon 9 v1.1, just 13 days after the ASIASAT-6 mission lifted off from SLC-40. The next launch – tasked with lofting the CRS-4/SpX-4 Dragon en route to the International Space Station (ISS) – remains on target for the early hours of September 20, after a Static Fire test…
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Soyuz TMA-12M returns ISS trio to Earth – Dragon up next
Expedition 40 commander Steven Swanson, along with cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev, have returned to Earth in their Soyuz TMA-12M spacecraft on Wednesday. The trio undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) at 7:01pm Eastern, ahead of a landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan at 10:23pm. Meanwhile, the launch of the next SpaceX Dragon…
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Orbital’s Cygnus re-enters to complete successful mission
Orbital’s CRS-2/ORB-2 spacecraft has completed her successful mission to the International Space Station (ISS), following unberthing on Friday. The vehicle then spent two days on orbit prior to conducting a destructive re-entry on Sunday – marking the end to Cygnus’ latest Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) mission. Cygnus ORB-2 EOM (End Of Mission): Cygnus began her…