Tag: SpaceX
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Dream Chaser passes Wind Tunnel tests for CCiCap Milestone
As the US battles to regain its domestic crew launch capability, companies across the nation are making great progress on the vehicles that are in competition to achieve that goal. Monday saw the confirmation Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) has passed Milestone 8 in the Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) process, a success that relates to Wind Tunnel…
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SpaceX Dragon homecoming successfully concludes CRS-3 mission
SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft has concluded her mission to the International Space Station (ISS) with a successful return to Earth on Sunday. The EOM (End Of Mission) events began with the successful unberthing and release of the CRS-3/SpX-3 spacecraft from the orbital outpost, ahead of a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Pacific Ocean at around 3:05pm Eastern.…
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Falcon 9 scrubs Static Fire – SpaceX delay launch
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 v1.1 – tasked lofting six ORBCOMM OG2 satellites into orbit – scrubbed her second attempt at a Static Fire test on Friday. Thursday’s Static Fire was postponed following problems with umbilical connections between the SLC-40 pad and the rocket. Friday’s issue is unspecified but it has resulted in SpaceX delaying the launch…
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Canada’s Dextre completes payload removals from CRS-3 Dragon
Canada’s SPDM (Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator), or Dextre as it’s commonly known, has completed the removal of payloads from the Trunk of the SpaceX CRS-3 Dragon spacecraft, which recently arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) with an array of supplies and equipment. Two major payloads rode uphill in the unpressurized aft of the Dragon,…
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Russian Progress M-21M re-tests new Kurs-NA system
A Russian Progress went on a short excursion this week, resulting in a redocking to the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday. The two day free-flying trip for Progress M-21M was used to re-test the Kurs-NA system that misbehaved when the vehicle first docked to the orbital outpost last November, resulting in Oleg Kotov having to grapple…
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Rockets that return home – SpaceX pushing the boundaries
SpaceX is continuing to advance the technology that is aimed at creating a fully – and rapidly – reusable launch system, with the recent addition of two key milestones towards that goal. While the F9-R Dev-1 rocket enjoyed a debut hop at the McGregor Test Facility in Texas, the first stage of the Falcon 9…
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SpaceX CRS-3 Dragon completes Easter arrival at the ISS
SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft was captured by the International Space Station (ISS) and successfully berthed, following her Easter Sunday arrival. After only a slight hiccup with her quad thrusters, the spacecraft has enjoyed a smooth passage towards the orbital outpost, ahead of a complex set of requirements that culminated in her capture and berthing. Dragon Arrival:…
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SpaceX Falcon 9 successfully launches CRS-3 Dragon
SpaceX successfully launched the latest Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) mission to the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday. Following repairs to a a helium valve in the stage separation pneumatic system – which was responsible for Monday’s scrub, the Falcon 9 v1.1 was readied for its next attempt, with the launch of the CRS-3 Dragon from…
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SpaceX, NASA realign launch and EVA scenarios
SpaceX managers have confirmed a second attempt to launch their Falcon 9 v1.1 with the CRS-3 Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) will take place on Friday, with Saturday as a back-up opportunity. Meanwhile, Station managers have created an EVA schedule to work around when Dragon finally sets sail. Currently, EVA-26 – which…
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Spacewalk set to fix external MDM failure on ISS
The International Space Station (ISS) suffered a failure of an external computer known as a Multiplexer/Demultiplexer (MDM) on Friday night (11 April), which will require a spacewalk on April 22 to replace in order to restore vital redundancy to the station. Despite the challenges, SpaceX’s Dragon CRS-3 mission – which could have been impacted by…