Hasta La Gadget!

Orbital Sciences Corp. will be conducting its first test launch of its Antares rocket on April 18th, and if all goes well, the company will be well on its way on delivering on its $1.9 billion contract with NASA. The contract requires Orbital to complete 8 unmanned cargo missions to the International Space Station (ISS) using its Antares rocket and its Cygnus Capsule.

However, not only will this test launch show whether or not Orbital is ready to deliver on its contract, it will also put Wallops Island into the spotlight as well. William Wrobel, director of the Wallops Island-based NASA facility hopes that this test launch will show that the facility is more than just a research facility, and that it is capable of doing “regular flights out of here to the space station”, just like the NASA facilities in Florida, California, and Texas.

During the test launch, the Antares rocket will carry a simulated version of the Cygnus capsule to an altitude of 155 to 185 miles above Earth. It will also be delivering 4 small satellites into orbit. If everything is successful, Orbital will be well on its way to a test launch of its Cygnus Capsule in November. The Cygnus capsule is expected to carry 5,952 pounds of supplies to the ISS.

Orbital is one of two private companies contracted by NASA, with the other being SpaceX. Orbital is still quite a ways behind SpaceX, because while its Cygnus capsule would burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere upon re-entry, SpaceX’s Dragon capsule can return to Earth just fine, and can also bring with it supplies, equipment, and science experiments from the ISS. Orbital has yet to complete one of its 8 required cargo missions, however SpaceX has already completed 2 out of its 12 missions required from its $1.6 billion contract with NASA.

Orbital is mostly known for launching small satellites into space. It is also getting more into developing missile defense systems, with it completing around 50 launches for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, Air Force, Army, and Navy. If the Antares rocket test launch is successful, it will also be diving into the medium-size rockets business. The Antares rocket test launch will also prove beneficial to the NASA’s Wallops Island facility as well. Virginia Officials believe that the publicity generated from the event will entice more space and tech companies to do business with them.

[via Washington Post]

NASA’s Wallops Island to secure spotlight with Orbital’s Antares rocket test launch is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Today the SpaceX capsule that’d three weeks ago visited the International Space Station has splashed down into the Pacific Ocean. This trip was planned and executed precisely, with NASA’s announcement of a landing (today) being issued back on the 22nd of this month. What we’ve got inside of this lovely machine is a set of science samples from the space station from areas of human research, biology and biotechnology studies, and physical science investigations, as well as education activities.

The landing was called successful this morning and right around the full 2,668 pounds (1,210 kilograms) will be collected and studied into the future. One of the areas these particular samples are being used is in the study of long-lasting spaceflight’s impact on the human body. Another is the study of plants as they’ve been grown on the space station, these samples being set for aiding in growing better and more fruitful plants in the future both on the space station and here on our planet’s surface.

Also onboard the ship – and shipped back this month – were a collection of crystals grown aboard the ship. With these crystals, NASA scientists hope to aid in the development of new more efficient solar cells as well as semiconductor-based electronics. As NASA reminds us, the SpaceX capsule Dragon “is the only space station resupply spacecraft able to return to Earth intact.”

Elon Musk himself Tweeted at 11:59 AM CST that the recovery ship had secured Dragon. He went on to note that as they powered down all secondary systems, it was apparent that all cargo looked “A ok”. According to the official SpaceX Twitter account, the Dragon capsule made its splashdown at 9:34AM PST – now it’s time to watch the research and see SpaceX and NASA head upward once again!

[Photo via SpaceX]

SpaceX Dragon capsule returns to Earth: what’s in that 2,668 pounds of cargo? is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

It’s been quite the eventful year for the team at SpaceX. A few weeks after sending a Dragon capsule to the International Space Station, Elon Musk’s company announced that its Merlin 1D engine managed to snag flight qualification, thanks to 1,970 seconds of testing time at its McGregor, Texas facility. That adds up to more than 10 full mission durations. The engine scored a ratio of 4:1 for critical engine life parameters, well above the industry’s 2:1 standard. SpaceX will waste little time in getting it off the ground — Musk said the engine will be taking off this year, as part of a Falcon 9 flight.

Update: Now with more video.

Filed under: Science

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Source: SpaceX

When we last saw SpaceX’s Grasshopper, it had just finished a test flight that carried the vertical takeoff/landing rocket up to 40 meters. A couple months later, it’s now hovering in at around 80 meters! Progress! And Johnny Cash! More »

SpaceX released a video detailing its most recent launch of its Grasshopper reusable rocket. The video demonstrates the continuous advancements SpaceX is making, and how Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, is working hard to achieve his goal of making space travel much more cost friendly. On March 7th, 2013, the Grasshopper was able to hover 262.8 feet, which is over twice the amount it was able to hover back in December.

The SpaceX Grasshopper was tested at the company’s rocket development facility located in McGregor, Texas. The Grasshopper has come a long way since its first test, where it only flew up about 8.2 feet. SpaceX is also improving Grasshopper’s landing, with this latest test showing Grasshopper’s most accurate landing results as of late. This is all progress for SpaceX, who wants to be able to create a rocket that can survive re-entry through the Earth’s atmosphere and be able to land back on the launch pad intact.

Elon Musk has high hopes for SpaceX’s reusable rockets. He believes that reusable rockets will provide a “hundred-fold decrease in the cost of space flight”, and that they will open up the possibility of humanity becoming a multi-planetary species. He says that it isn’t the cost of fuel and oxygen that’s holding back the future of space travel, but the wasted cost of having to throw away a rocket after one use.

SpaceX hopes to get more businesses interested in the space industry. With demonstrations like these, the company hopes to get businesses excited about the future of space travel, which would result in more funding for future projects. Currently, 1/4 of SpaceX’s launches are composed of NASA assignments, while the other 3/4 are for commercial use. With the advancement of creating reusable rockets, Musk hopes that in his lifetime, man will have stepped foot on Mars at least once.

[via Space Answers]

SpaceX shows impressive Grasshopper rocket demonstration is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.