TO THE MOON, MARS, AND BEYOND

Many folks would like to see us back on the Moon and developing its resources.

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Find a Lunar Cave - Think about designing for that cave - 3D printing - Neri Oxman


Using caves on the Moon for habitats plays a part in science fiction and possibly for real if we ever go back to stay.  Finding them and checking out their usefulness will be necessary and Jaro alerted me to the below PDF article.

When you decide to move it will take a bit of fixing up and I have been viewing some videos of Neri Oxman of MIT's Media Lab using 3D printers. Could I use any of her ideas?  Look around and see what mother nature has done and be inspired and creative.
- LRK -

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44th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (2013) - 3080.pdf
SKYLIGHT: MISSION TO INVESTIGATE AND MODEL A LUNAR PIT. H. L. Jones1, K. M. Peterson2, W. L. Whittaker1,2, and U. Y. Wong1 1Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University (5000 Forbes Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, {hlj|red|uyw}@cs.cmu.edu), 2Astrobotic Technology, Inc. (2515 Liberty Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, kev-in.peterson@astrobotictech.com).

Introduction: Caves on planetary bodies beyond Earth have always been of great interest for science and exploration, but for many years there was no known way to enter. Unprecedented high-resolution imagery from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has revealed pits that are believed to be skylights – features formed by partial cave ceiling collapse that provide access into caves [1],[2]. Skylights have also been discovered on Mars [3], and similar features may exist elsewhere in the solar system [1]. Discovery of these features changes everything. The Skylight mission takes the next step to closely investigate one of these pits.
Mission Objectives: The Skylight mission seeks to answer science and exploration questions about the-se newly discovered lunar skylights. The objectives of the mission are to:
1. provide multi-perspective close-up images of a lunar pit,
2. build a detailed, high quality 3D model of the pit, and
3. survey the terrain surrounding the pit.

Mission Decription: The Skylight mission targets the Marius Hills Hole (MHH) in the Marius Hills re-gion of Oceanus Procellarum at 14.2°N, 303.3°E [4]. This pit is selected because of its location on the lunar near side, facilitating mission operations without re-quirement for installation of expensive communication infrastructure, as well as the indications of lava tubes in surrounding terrain.

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Neri Oxman
- LRK -

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Neri Oxman, Founder of Mediated Matter Lab -- Part 1


Published on Feb 20, 2013
Neri Oxman, Founder of Mediated Matter Lab -- Part 1...

Material Ecology - http://web.media.mit.edu/~neri/site/i...
MIT - http://www.media.mit.edu/people/neri
Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neri_Oxman
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What might you be able to create with nature in mind.
- LRK -

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Neri Oxman: On Designing Form

from  PLUS 3 years ago 
Architect Neri Oxman is the founder of MATERIALECOLOGY, an interdisciplinary design initiative expanding the boundaries of computational form-generation and material engineering. Named one of Fast Company's "100 Most Creative People in Business," Oxman investigates the material and performance of nature in an effort to define form itself.

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Uploaded on Mar 12, 2010
Architect Neri Oxman is the founder of MATERIALECOLOGY, an interdisciplinary design initiative expanding the boundaries of computational form-generation and material engineering. Named one of Fast Company's "100 Most Creative People in Business," Oxman investigates the material and performance of nature in an effort to define form itself.

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What could you do with the 3D printer?
- LRK -

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Revolution in Art & Design using 3D Printing | Objet for Neri Oxman


Published on May 4, 2012
As seen on the Objet blog: http://blog.objet.com/

A special thanks to MIT Media Lab's Neri Oxman, Peter Schmitt (3D printed clock) & Amit Zoran (3D printed flute) for kindly allowing footage of their 3D printed models to be used in the making of this film. (Some of these parts were created using a variety of 3D printing technologies including Objet.) 

In this insightful interview, Neri Oxman,architect, designer and professor of Media Arts and Sciences and Director of the Mediated Matter group at the MIT Media Lab, explains the differences between 'additive' and 'subtractive' manufacturing. Inspired by things that 'grow' in nature, Oxman uses the world's most advanced 3D printing technology - the Objet Connex500 multi-material 3D printer to produce some incredible models which will be on display at the Pompidou Center until August 6th 2012 at the 'Multiversites Creatives' exhibit. Neri also explains 3D printing within the wider paradigm shift in technology and manufacturing - comparing it to the Gutenberg 2D print revolution of the 1440's.

For more information about Objet: http://www.objet.com/
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Feel free to express yourself.
Could you design a pair of space suit gloves that would not wear out an astronaut's fingernails?
- LRK -

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Neri Oxman, Founder of Mediated Matter Lab -- Part 2


Published on Feb 20, 2013
Neri Oxman, Founder of Mediated Matter Lab -- Part 2... The Next List: CNN's hub for stories about innovation.

Material Ecology - http://web.media.mit.edu/~neri/site/i...
MIT - http://www.media.mit.edu/people/neri
Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neri_Oxman

The Next List: http://whatsnext.blogs.cnn.com/catego...
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Feel free to think outside the box, inside the box, on the box, and really not so boxy in the first place.  :-)

Thanks for looking up with me.  
- LRK -

3D Printing Explained in 37 Seconds!


Published on Jul 31, 2012
The 3D printing process explained visually. Begin by sketching your product concept or idea on paper. Elaborate your idea using 3D CAD software or any 3D content program. Then 3D print the idea using an Objet multi-material 3D Printer which produces all moving parts and different color/material properties in a single production step. A few short hours later you hold a finished, ready-assembled product or prototype. Feel it, test it to validate that your concept really works. This process helps save substantial time and expense by confirming a design before you begin mass production manufacturing.

Visit the Objet Blog http://ow.ly/bQeam
Objet Website http://ow.ly/bQemr
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Advanced 3D Printing Materials


Uploaded on Aug 28, 2011
Objet spoke about a number of new advanced 3D printing materials at EuroMold 2010 including a new ABS-like material with the strength and toughness of engineering plastics, and a new clear transparent material for simulating PMMA in glass-like applications. Both materials were released in early 2011.
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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK -

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Thursday, March 21, 2013

Voyager: Looking Backward and Forward



A paper about the Voyager missions was given a headline that announced that Voyager 1 had left the Solar System and then was revised to be a bit less sensational.  Please do read Paul Gilster's blog, a snippet seen below.
- LRK -

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Voyager: Looking Backward and Forward

by PAUL GILSTER on MARCH 21, 2013
The Voyager spacecraft have run into their share of problems as they move toward true interstellar space, but on the whole their continued operations have been a testament to what well designed equipment can do. Voyager 2’s camera platform locked for a time not long after the Saturn flyby but controllers were able to restore the system by experimenting with similar actuators on Earth. Three years ago the craft began having data problems resulting from a flipped bit in an onboard computer but a reset from Earth corrected the fault. Even the failure of the primary radio receiver not long after launch was resolved by the use of the onboard backup.
Obviously both craft are living on borrowed time as the power output of their radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) continues to decline, but we should still be getting signals for another decade or so. With the Voyagers now on what is designated their ‘interstellar mission,’ it’s pleasing to note that Alpha Centauri is the guide star that Voyager 1 used to reorient itself to resume transmissions to Earth following 2011 maneuvering to allow better detection of the solar wind. We continue to push deeper into a region of space that is now little understood.
Leaving the Solar System
Yesterday’s brief skirmish over Voyager 1’s true situation tells us how much we have to learn about the Solar System’s edge. A paper by William Webber (New Mexico State) and the late Frank McDonald (University of Maryland) reported that a sudden change in cosmic rays detected by Voyager 1 last summer showed that the spacecraft was in a new region of the Solar System they called the ‘heliocliff.’ What evidently confused matters was that the American Geophysical Union, publisher of Geophysical Review Letters — the publication at which the paper had been accepted — sent out a news release saying the craft had left the Solar System.
While the cosmic ray changes were marked, with galactic cosmic ray intensity suddenly doubling last August, Caltech’s Ed Stone issued a statement saying that a change in the magnetic field will be the true indication of Voyager 1’s arrival in interstellar space. No such change has yet been detected, and the AGU soon revised the news release headline to say that the spacecraft had ‘entered a new region of space.’ The ‘heliocliff,’ in other words, is apparently the same region that NASA scientists had already noted as a previously unknown ‘highway’ of magnetic particles. Nancy Atkinson straightened all this out quickly on Universe Today.

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The American Geophysical Union corrected press release.
- LRK -

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http://www.agu.org/news/press/pr_archives/2013/2013-11.shtml
CORRECTED PRESS RELEASE
Please note that the headline on this release has been changed to better represent the findings reported in the study

Voyager 1 has entered a new region of space, sudden changes in cosmic rays indicate

20 March 2013
AGU Release No. 13-11
For Immediate Release
WASHINGTON – Thirty-five years after its launch, Voyager 1 appears to have travelled beyond the influence of the Sun and exited the heliosphere, according to a new study appearing online today.
The heliosphere is a region of space dominated by the Sun and its wind of energetic particles, and which is thought to be enclosed, bubble-like, in the surrounding interstellar medium of gas and dust that pervades the Milky Way galaxy.
On August 25, 2012, NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft measured drastic changes in radiation levels, more than 11 billion miles from the Sun. Anomalous cosmic rays, which are cosmic rays trapped in the outer heliosphere, all but vanished, dropping to less than 1 percent of previous amounts. At the same time, galactic cosmic rays – cosmic radiation from outside of the solar system – spiked to levels not seen since Voyager's launch, with intensities as much as twice previous levels.
The findings have been accepted for publication in Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union.
"Within just a few days, the heliospheric intensity of trapped radiation decreased, and the cosmic ray intensity went up as you would expect if it exited the heliosphere," said Bill Webber, professor emeritus of astronomy at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces. He calls this transition boundary the "heliocliff."
In the GRL article, the authors state: "It appears that [Voyager 1] has exited the main solar modulation region, revealing [hydrogen] and [helium] spectra characteristic of those to be expected in the local interstellar medium."
However, Webber notes, scientists are continuing to debate whether Voyager 1 has reached interstellar space or entered a separate, undefined region beyond the solar system.
"It's outside the normal heliosphere, I would say that," Webber said. "We're in a new region. And everything we're measuring is different and exciting."
The work was funded by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
Notes for Journalists
Journalists and members of the public can download a PDF copy of this accepted article by clicking on this link: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/grl.50383/abstract
Or, you may order a copy of the final paper by emailing your request to Peter Weiss at pweiss@agu.org. Please provide your name, the name of your publication, and your phone number.
Neither the paper nor this press release are under embargo
Title:
“Recent Voyager 1 Data Indicate that on August 25, 2012 at a Distance of 121.7 AU From the Sun, Sudden and Unprecedented Intensity Changes were Observed in Anomalous and Galactic Cosmic Rays”
Authors:
W.R. Webber
New Mexico State University, Department of Astronomy, Las Cruces, New Mexico, USA;
F.B. McDonald
University of Maryland, Institute of Physical Science and Technology, College Park, Maryland, USA. (Deceased)
Contact information for the authors:
W.R. Webber, Email: bwebber@nmsu.edu, Telephone: (575) 646-2007

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Los Angeles Times article.
- LRK -

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http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-voyager-20130321,0,2604128.story

Voyager 1 has left the solar system — almost

The American Geophysical Union announces that the space probe has become the first man-made object to enter interstellar space, only to backtrack when NASA scientists and others dispute the claim.

Voyager
A NASA illustration depicts one of the twin Voyager spacecraft. NASA scientists Wednesday disputed an announcement that Voyager 1 had moved beyond the solar system and into interstellar space. (NASA /August 9, 2002)

By Monte Morin and Amina Khan, Los Angeles Times
March 20, 2013, 8:09 p.m.

It was welcome news to Earthlings: The Voyager 1 spacecraft had seemingly crossed a momentous threshold and become the first man-made object to enter interstellar space.
"Voyager 1 has left the solar system," the American Geophysical Union declared Wednesday in a news release. An accompanying study published online in the organization's journal, Geophysical Research Letters, also contained an unusually sentimental end note declaring that "we did it. Bon Voyage!"
Alas, the elation that spread through news and social media was short-lived. Voyager 1 was still in the neighborhood,NASA said, even after traveling for more than 35 years. Then the American Geophysical Union press office issued a correction of its headline, omitting any reference to the spacecraft having departed "the solar system."
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And at JPL - Voyager - The Interstellar Mission

Thanks for looking up with me.  
- LRK -

Mission Objective

The mission objective of the Voyager Interstellar Mission (VIM) is to extend the NASA exploration of the solar system beyond the neighborhood of the outer planets to the outer limits of the Sun's sphere of influence, and possibly beyond. This extended mission is continuing to characterize the outer solar system environment and search for the heliopause boundary, the outer limits of the Sun's magnetic field and outward flow of the solar wind. Penetration of the heliopause boundary between the solar wind and the interstellar medium will allow measurements to be made of the interstellar fields, particles and waves unaffected by the solar wind.

Mission Characteristic

The VIM is an extension of the Voyager primary mission that was completed in 1989 with the close flyby of Neptune by the Voyager 2 spacecraft. Neptune was the final outer planet visited by a Voyager spacecraft. Voyager 1 completed its planned close flybys of the Jupiter and Saturn planetary systems while Voyager 2, in addition to its own close flybys of Jupiter and Saturn, completed close flybys of the remaining two gas giants, Uranus and Neptune.

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The Voyager program is an American scientific program that launched two unmanned space missions, the probes Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. These were launched in 1977 to take advantage of a favorable alignment of the planets during the late 1970s. Although they were designated officially to study just the planetary systems of Jupiter and Saturn, the space probes were able to continue their mission into the outer solar system, and they are expected to push through the heliosheath in deep space.
These two space probes were built at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, and they were paid for by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which also paid for their launchings from Cape Canaveral, Florida, their tracking, and everything else concerning the space probes.
As of 2012, Voyager 1 is the farthest manmade object that has ever been sent from the Earth. On 15 June 2012, scientists at NASA reported that Voyager 1 might be very close to entering interstellar space and becoming the first manmade object to leave the Solar System.[1][2]
Both of these scientific missions into outer space have gathered large amounts of data about the gas giants of the solar system, and their orbiting satellites, about which little had been previously known. In addition, the trajectories of the two spacecraft have been used to place limits on the existence of any hypothetical trans-Neptunian planets.
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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK -

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Wednesday, March 20, 2013

F-1 ENGINE RECOVERY - BEZOS EXPEDITIONS


Thanks to those that pointed me to this link from BEZOS EXPEDITIONS.
I hope you find as interesting as I did.
- LRK -

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F-1 ENGINE RECOVERY - BEZOS EXPEDITIONS

March 20, 2013


F-1 Thrust Chamber - Credit BEZOS EXPEDITIONS

What an incredible adventure. We are right now onboard the Seabed Worker headed back to Cape Canaveral after finishing three weeks at sea, working almost 3 miles below the surface. We found so much. We’ve seen an underwater wonderland – an incredible sculpture garden of twisted F-1 engines that tells the story of a fiery and violent end, one that serves testament to the Apollo program. We photographed many beautiful objects in situ and have now recovered many prime pieces. Each piece we bring on deck conjures for me the thousands of engineers who worked together back then to do what for all time had been thought surely impossible.
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BEZOS 2012
- LRK -

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http://www.bezosexpeditions.com/learn-more.html

Welcome to the Apollo 11 F-1 Engine Recovery Website

March 28, 2012
The F-1 rocket engine is still a modern wonder — one and a half million pounds of thrust, 32 million horsepower, and burning 6,000 pounds of rocket grade kerosene and liquid oxygen every second. On July 16, 1969, the world watched as five particular F-1 engines fired in concert, beginning the historic Apollo 11 mission. Those five F-1s burned for just a few minutes, and then plunged back to Earth into the Atlantic Ocean, just as NASA planned. A few days later, Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon.

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Wikipedia link
- LRK -

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The F-1 is a rocket engine developed by Rocketdyne and used in the Saturn V. Five F-1 engines were used in the S-IC first stage of each Saturn V, which served as the main launch vehicle in the Apollo program. The F-1 is still the most powerful single-chamber liquid-fueled rocket engine ever developed.[1] The RD-170 has slightly more thrust, using a cluster of four smaller combustion chambers and nozzles.[2]

History

The F-1 was originally developed by Rocketdyne to meet a 1955 US Air Force requirement for a very large rocket engine. The eventual result of that requirement was two different engines, the E-1 and the much larger F-1. The E-1, although successfully tested in static firing, was quickly seen as a technological dead-end and was abandoned for the larger, more powerful F-1. The Air Force eventually halted development of the F-1 because of a lack of requirement for such a large engine. However, the recently created National Aeronautics and Space Administration appreciated the usefulness of an engine with so much power and contracted Rocketdyne to complete its development. Test firings of F-1 components had been performed as early as 1957. The first static firing of a full-stage developmental F-1 was performed in March 1959. The first F-1 was delivered to MSFCin October 1963. In December 1964 the F-1 completed flight-rating tests. Testing continued at least through 1965.[3]
For seven years of development F-1 tests revealed serious combustion instability problems which would sometimes cause catastrophic failure.[4] Progress on this problem was initially slow, as the problem onset was intermittent and unpredictable. Oscillations of 4 kHz with harmonics to 24 kHz were noticed. Eventually engineers developed a technique of detonating small explosive charges (which they called "bombs") outside the combustion chamber through a tangential tube (RDX, C4 or black powder were used) while the engine was firing, which allowed them to determine exactly how the running chamber responded to variations in pressure and to determine how to nullify these oscillations. The designers could then quickly experiment with different co-axial fuel-injector designs to obtain the one most resistant to instability. These problems were addressed from 1959 through 1961. Eventually the engine's combustion was so stable it would self-damp artificially induced instability within 1/10 of a second.

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Thanks for looking up with me.  
- LRK -
 
By: Robert Z. Pearlman 
Published: 01/23/2013 07:18 AM EST on SPACE.com
NASA is reigniting its mighty moon rocket engine using parts retrieved from museums and displays.
Engineers working this month at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., are completing a series of test firings using recovered components from 40-year-old F-1 engines. The 19-foot-tall (5.8 meter) by 12-foot-wide (3.8 meter) Apollo powerhouses launched the space agency's Saturn V rockets on voyages to Earth orbit and to the moon.
Between 1967 and 1973, a total of 65 F-1 engines were launched, five per flight, on 13 Saturn V boosters.
To develop the Space Launch System (SLS), NASA's next generation heavy-lift rocket, engineers are dissecting, refurbishing and re-firing components from the remaining F-1s to gain a better understanding of how the engine was designed and worked. Even four decades later, the F-1 is still the most powerful single-chamber liquid-fueled rocket engine ever developed. [Graphic: Saturn V Moon Rocket Explained]
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The F-1 Engine Powered Apollo Into History, Blazes Path for Space Launch System Advanced Propulsion

Saturn V Engines Recovered in Atlantic

Some of the powerful engines that sent the first humans to the moon have been recovered from the sea. Jeff Bezos, the founder and Chief Executive Officer of the aerospace company Blue Origin and Amazon.com, announced on Wednesday, March 20, that his expedition has recovered two of the Saturn V's first-stage engines from the Atlantic Ocean. 

The F-1 engine -- the most powerful single-nozzle, liquid-fueled rocket engine ever developed -- boosted the Saturn V rocket off the launch pad and on to the moon during NASA's Apollo program during the 1960s and 1970s. NASA is again looking at the large gas generator cycle engine to help develop the nation's next heavy-lift launch vehicle the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.

Related: Engineers Resurrect and Test Mighty F-1 Engine Gas Generator 

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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK -

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Sunday, March 03, 2013

Canadarm captures unmanned Dragon capsule

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2012/10/10/canadarm_captures_unmanned_dragon_capsule.html

Canadarm captures unmanned Dragon capsule

Canada’s robotic arm on the International Space Station was put to work today when it grabbed a Dragon capsule that arrived at the orbiting space lab.
SpaceX Dragon capsule is seen just after its release from the Canadarm2 in May, 2012.

SpaceX Dragon capsule is seen just after its release from the Canadarm2 in May, 2012
HO / THE CANADIAN PRESS
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Well the launch went well, then a glitch with some thrusters.  They get purged and work, and just a day delay before the OK to get close enough for the Canadarm2 to grapple and tuck into an Earth facing port.
- LRK -

SpaceX Dragon Capsule on Final Approach: CRS-2

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SpaceX Update: Dragon Now Mated to Space Station
 Posted Sunday, March 3, 2013, at 12:17 PM

Well, that was fast! This morning, the SpaceX Dragon capsule was successfully berthed to the International Space Station. After all the drama that started this mission, the successful orbital mating brought cheers—and a sigh of relief—across NASA.
The capsule began maneuvering toward the ISS last night, and took several hours to approach. At 10:31 UTC (05:31 Eastern US time), when it was a few meters away, the astronauts used the Canadarm2—the station’s large, articulated robot arm—to grapple the capsule. After a few hours of checkouts, the arm brought Dragon in, and the capsule was berthed at 13:56 UTC (08:56 Eastern).
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Success after some suspense. 
- LRK -

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SpaceX Dragon successfully docks with International Space Station

Will spend the next 22 days attached to the ISS before returning.
by  - Mar 3 2013, 10:45am PST

After some issues with its thrusters hours after launch, the SpaceX Dragon capsule successfully docked with the International Space Station. NASA reported that the capsule attached to the Harmony module of the ISS at 8:56am EST Sunday morning, with the door set to be opened on Monday morning.

Dragon took off from Cape Canaveral on Friday morning and reached orbit without a hitch, but a pressure problem prevented the thruster pods from initializing once orbit was attained. The four pods then gradually came online over the course of the day. Two pods are needed to get Dragon to the ISS with a third pod necessary for successfully maneuvering once the station is reached.

Loaded with nearly 1,270 pounds of supplies (575kg, to be exact), Dragon will spend the next 22 days docked with the ISS. On its return, the capsule will carry more than 1,200 kg of cargo, according to NASA. Included in the return payload will be seedlings and metal mixtures that spent time in low gravity, along with biological samples taken from the crew.

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SpaceX website.
- LRK -

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Dragon is a free-flying, reusable spacecraft developed by SpaceX under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program. Initiated internally by SpaceX in 2005, the Dragon spacecraft is made up of a pressurized capsule and unpressurized trunk used for Earth to LEO transport of pressurized cargo, unpressurized cargo, and/or crew members.

In May 2012, SpaceX made history when its Dragon spacecraft became the first commercial vehicle in history to successfully attach to the International Space Station. Previously only four governments -- the United States, Russia, Japan and the European Space Agency -- had achieved this challenging technical feat. SpaceX has now begun regular missions to the Space Station, completing its first official resupply mission in October 2012.

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Phil Plait again, on some of the problems noted just after launch.
- LRK -

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BREAKING: After Initial Problems, SpaceX Dragon Now Looking Good On Orbit
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Posted Friday, March 1, 2013, at 4:25 PM





A dramatic series of events unfolded this morning shortly after the private commercial company SpaceX launched their Dragon capsule into space. This launch was part of the second of 12 planned missions to bring supplies and equipment to the International Space Station (ISS).

To be clear, things are looking good now, and it looks like the mission will proceed. Just not quite as planned.

Launch, and the Emergence of the Problem

The launch, using the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, was essentially flawless. The rocket performed beautifully and was able to cleanly insert the Dragon capsule into the desired orbit

However, shortly thereafter there was a problem. The first indication was that the solar panels—which provide power to the capsule during the mission—did not deploy as they were supposed to, which should happen about 10 minutes into the flight. There is a battery onboard that can provide power for only 12—14 hours, so this was worrisome.

However, news soon came down that the thrusters on the capsule were not working; the tanks containing the oxidizer (used to ignite the fuel) were not pressurizing correctly. The thrusters are small rockets that can be used to change the orbit of Dragon as well as maneuver it on orbit. These are mission-critical: without them, the mission cannot proceed.

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CRS-2: Dragon’s tantrum subdued following Falcon 9 launch


Sighs of relief.
Thanks for looking up with me.  
- LRK -


A second contracted flight for the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station will be twice as nice for researchers working with investigations on the orbiting laboratory. While other cargo ships can bring research payloads to the station, only the Dragon and the Russian Soyuz can safely get the cargo home. Scientists in the United States, Canada, France and Japan -- and several high school students -- are awaiting the return of their research studying a wide range of subjects, from plants to liquid crystals.

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Dragon Propulsion Anomaly Resolved After Successful Falcon 9 Launch (Updated 3/3/13)The fifth SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket orbited a Dragon spacecraft on NASA's CRS-2 International Space Station resupply mission on March 1, 2013, but Dragon suffered a problem shortly after reaching orbit.  The initally unannounced problem occurred around the time that Dragon's solar arrays should have deployed, a process that occurs within minutes of spacecraft separation from the Falcon 9 second stage.

 Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 40 at 15:10 UTC and provided an uneventful nine minute, two-stage ascent to orbit.   Dragon, filled with 847.8 kg of ISS supplies and 201.8 kg of packing materials, separated into a 199 x 323 km x 51.66 deg orbit, and was visible moving away from the second stage in an initially stable fashion.

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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK -

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