ISS Astronauts Reid Wiseman and Barry Wilmore prepare for EVA

Flight Engineers Reid Wiseman (right) and Barry Wilmore spent most of the day on Tuesday, Oct. 14 completing preparations for their 6 ½-hour Oct. 15 spacewalk. 

The two astronauts set up their spacesuits and tools in the equipment lock of the Quest airlock. 

Flight Engineer Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency, who is coordinating spacewalk activities from inside the station, joined Wiseman and Wilmore for a review of spacewalk procedures.

NASA Cassini prepares for its biggest remaining burn

This is an artists concept of Cassini during the Saturn Orbit Insertion (SOI) maneuver, just after the main engine has begun firing. 

Credit: NASA/JPL

NASA's Cassini spacecraft will execute the largest planned maneuver of the spacecraft's remaining mission on Saturday, Aug. 9.

The maneuver will target Cassini toward an Aug. 21 encounter with Saturn's largest moon, Titan.

The main engine firing will last about a minute and will provide a change in velocity of 41 feet per second (12.5 meters per second).

This is the largest maneuver by Cassini in five years. No other remaining maneuver comes close, in the amount of propellant it will consume and the amount by which it will change the spacecraft's velocity.

By contrast, the smallest maneuvers Cassini routinely executes are about 0.4 inches (10 millimeters) per second.

The large size of the Aug. 9 burn is needed to begin the process of "cranking down" Cassini's orbit, so that the spacecraft circles Saturn nearer to the plane of the rings and moons.

Previously, with each Titan flyby, mission controllers adjusted the spacecraft's orbit to be increasingly inclined, carrying Cassini high above Saturn's polar regions.

The upcoming maneuver starts reversing that trend, making the orbit increasingly close to the equator.

Although Cassini has occasionally performed similar large propulsive maneuvers during its decade in the Saturn system, Titan itself has proven to be the workhorse for steering Cassini around Saturn.

It is not uncommon for the spacecraft to receive a gravitational assist, or boost, from Titan that rivals or exceeds the 96-minute engine burn Cassini performed in 2004 to insert itself into Saturn orbit.

The Cassini mission recently celebrated a decade studying Saturn, its rings, moons and magnetosphere.

ISS Preparation for ESA ATV-5 Spacewalk

ISS astronaut crew prepares for upcoming spacewalk (EVA) during ESA ATV-5's slow trek to the space station.

Credit: NASA

NASA’s Mars Spacecraft Maneuvers to Prepare for Close Comet Flyby

This graphic depicts the orbit of comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring as it swings around the sun in 2014. 

On Oct. 19, the comet will have a very close pass at Mars. 

Its nucleus will miss Mars by about 82,000 miles (132,000 kilometers).

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA is taking steps to protect its Mars orbiters, while preserving opportunities to gather valuable scientific data, as Comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring heads toward a close flyby of Mars on Oct. 19.

The comet’s nucleus will miss Mars by about 82,000 miles (132,000 kilometers), shedding material hurtling at about 35 miles (56 kilometers) per second, relative to Mars and Mars-orbiting spacecraft.

At that velocity, even the smallest particle, estimated to be about one-fiftieth of an inch (half a millimeter) across, could cause significant damage to a spacecraft.

NASA currently operates two Mars orbiters, with a third on its way and expected to arrive in Martian orbit just a month before the comet flyby.

Teams operating the orbiters plan to have all spacecraft positioned on the opposite side of the Red Planet when the comet is most likely to pass by.

"Three expert teams have modeled this comet for NASA and provided forecasts for its flyby of Mars," explained Rich Zurek, chief scientist for the Mars Exploration Program at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California.

"The hazard is not an impact of the comet nucleus, but the trail of debris coming from it. Using constraints provided by Earth-based observations, the modeling results indicate that the hazard is not as great as first anticipated."

"Mars will be right at the edge of the debris cloud, so it might encounter some of the particles -- or it might not."

During the day's events, the smallest distance between Siding Spring's nucleus and Mars will be less than one-tenth the distance of any known previous Earthly comet flyby.

The period of greatest risk to orbiting spacecraft will start about 90 minutes later and last about 20 minutes, when Mars will come closest to the center of the widening dust trail from the nucleus.

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) made one orbit-adjustment maneuver on July 2 as part of the process of repositioning the spacecraft for the Oct. 19 event. An additional maneuver is planned for Aug. 27.

NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter

The team operating NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter is planning a similar maneuver on Aug. 5 to put that spacecraft on track to be in the right place at the right time, as well.

NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN)

NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft is on its way to the Red Planet and will enter orbit on Sept. 21.

The MAVEN team is planning to conduct a precautionary maneuver on Oct. 9, prior to the start of the mission's main science phase in early November.

In the days before and after the comet's flyby, NASA will study the comet by taking advantage of how close it comes to Mars.

Researchers plan to use several instruments on the Mars orbiters to study the nucleus, the coma surrounding the nucleus, and the tail of Comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring, as well as the possible effects on the Martian atmosphere.

This particular comet has never before entered the inner solar system, so it will provide a fresh source of clues to our solar system's earliest days.

MAVEN will study gases coming off the comet's nucleus into its coma as it is warmed by the sun.

MAVEN also will look for effects the comet flyby may have on the planet’s upper atmosphere and observe the comet as it travels through the solar wind.

Odyssey will study thermal and spectral properties of the comet's coma and tail. MRO will monitor Mars’ atmosphere for possible temperature increases and cloud formation, as well as changes in electron density at high altitudes.

The MRO team also plans to study gases in the comet’s coma. Along with other MRO observations, the team anticipates this event will yield detailed views of the comet’s nucleus and potentially reveal its rotation rate and surface features.

NASA Mars MSL Curiosity rover

Mars' atmosphere, though much thinner than Earth's, is thick enough that NASA does not anticipate any hazard to the Opportunity and Curiosity rovers on the planet's surface, even if dust particles from the comet hit the atmosphere and form into meteors.

Rover cameras may be used to observe the comet before the flyby, and to monitor the atmosphere for meteors while the comet's dust trail is closest to the planet.

Observations from Earth-based and space telescopes provided data used for modeling to make predictions about Siding Spring's Mars flyby, which were in turn used for planning protective maneuvers.

The three modeling teams were headed by researchers at the University of Maryland in College Park, the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona, and JPL.

NASA LDSD: Saucer-shaped craft preps for flight test

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA's Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) project, a rocket-powered, saucer-shaped test vehicle, has completed final assembly at the U.S. Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii.

This experimental flight test is designed to investigate breakthrough technologies that will benefit future Mars missions, including those involving human exploration.

Three weeks of testing, simulations and rehearsals are planned before the first launch opportunity on the morning of June 3.

LDSD was built at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, and shipped to Kauai for final assembly and preparations.

"Our Supersonic Flight Dynamics Test Vehicle number 1 arrived at the Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility on April 17," said Mark Adler, project manager of the Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator project from JPL.

"Since then, we have been preparing it for flight. One of the last big assemblies occurred on April 30, when we mated the vehicle with its Star-48 booster rocket."

During the June experimental flight test, a balloon will carry the test vehicle from the Hawaii Navy facility to an altitude of about 120,000 feet.

There, it will be dropped and its booster rocket will quickly kick in and carry it to 180,000 feet, accelerating to Mach 4.

Once in the very rarified air high above the Pacific, the saucer will begin a series of automated tests of two breakthrough technologies.

In this picture, NASA's saucer-shaped experimental flight vehicle is prepared for a Range Compatibility Test at the US Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kaua'i, Hawaii. 

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

In order to get larger payloads to Mars, and to pave the way for future human explorers, cutting-edge technologies like LDSD are critical.

Among other applications, this new space technology will enable delivery of the supplies and materials needed for long-duration missions to the Red Planet.

The upper layers of Earth's stratosphere are the most similar environment available to match the properties of the thin atmosphere of Mars.

The Low Density Supersonic Decelerator mission developed this test method to ensure the best prospects for effective testing of the new and improved technologies here on Earth.

Anyone with Internet access will be able to watch live as video from the June test is relayed from the vehicle to the ground.

The low-resolution images from the saucer are expected to show the vehicle dropping away from its high-altitude balloon mothership and then rocketing up to the very edge of the stratosphere.


NASA's Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator team gathers around the "SIAD-R" -- a Supersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator they're developing to assist future planetary exploration missions -- during rocket-sled testing at China Lake, Calif. 

Credit: NASA/JPL

The test vehicle will then deploy an inflatable Kevlar tube around itself, called the Supersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (SIAD).

After the SIAD inflates, the test vehicle will deploy a mammoth parachute called the Supersonic Disk Sail Parachute.

While people watching at home may be fascinated by how these two new technologies operate, the NASA flight team will actually be concentrating on a more fundamental question - "Will the test vehicle work as planned?"

"This first test is a true experimental flight test," said Ian Clark, the LDSD principal investigator from JPL.

"Our goal is to get this first-of-its-kind test vehicle to operate correctly at very high speeds and very high altitudes. "

ESA Venus express prepared for Daring Dive into Venus' Atmosphere - Video

A European spacecraft will plunge into Venus' thick atmosphere next month in a bold maneuver that may bring its lengthy and productive mission to a dramatic end.

The European Space Agency (ESA) Venus Express probe, which has been circling Earth's hellishly hot "sister planet" for eight years, is running low on fuel.

So mission officials wrapped up routine science operations this week to begin preparing Venus Express for a deep dive into the planet's fast-swirling air.

"We have performed previous short 'aerodrag' campaigns where we've skimmed the thin upper layers of the atmosphere at about 165 kilometers [103 miles], but we want to go deeper, perhaps as deep as 130 kilometers [81 miles], maybe even lower," Venus Express mission manager Patrick Martin said in a statement.

Visualization of Venus Express during the aerobraking maneuver, which will see the spacecraft orbiting Venus at an altitude of around 130 km from 18 June to 11 July. 

If the spacecraft survives and fuel permits, it will be raised back up to approximately 450 km, allowing operations to continue for a few more months. 

Eventually, however, the spacecraft will plunge back into the atmosphere and the mission will end.

Credit: ESA–C. Carreau

"It is only by carrying out daring operations like these that we can gain new insights, not only about usually inaccessible regions of the planet's atmosphere, but also how the spacecraft and its components respond to such a hostile environment," Martin added.

Venus Express will take temperature and pressure measurements and gather other science data during the dive, which is scheduled to take place from June 18 through July 11. But mission officials expect the "aerobraking" maneuver will have other benefits as well.

"The campaign also provides the opportunity to develop and practice the critical operations techniques required for aerobraking, an experience that will be precious for the preparation of future planetary missions that may require it operationally," Paolo Ferri, head of mission operations for Venus Express, said in a statement.

ISS Expedition 40/41 crew prepare for their mission

The crew members of Expedition 40/41 pose in front of a Soyuz spacecraft simulator in Star City, Russia. From left, Alex Gerst (European Space Agency), Max Suraev (Roscosmos) and Reid Wiseman (NASA). 

Credit: NASA

European Space Agency astronaut Alex Gerst during training prior to Expedition 40/41 in 2014. 

Credit: European Space Agency

The crew (who lifts off in May) will have an action-packed mission.

It will include the arrival of the last Automated Transfer Vehicle, Georges Lemaître (ATV-5) and, if fixes on a NASA spacesuit leak allows, two American maintenance spacewalks.

There also are 162 experiments to perform (this according to Gerst) and if there's time, checking out our home planet.

"Earth observation was not one of the primary goals that [station] was designed for," he cautioned in a phone interview, but he added that one of its strengths is there are people on board the orbiting laboratory that can fill in the gaps for other missions.

Alex Gerst (who was a volcano researcher before becoming an astronaut) pointed out that if a volcano erupts, a typical Earth satellite would look straight down at it.

ISS Astronauts can swing around in the ESA Cupola attached to Node 3, and get different views quickly, which could allow scientists to measure things such as the volcano plume height.

ESA Sentinel-1A: Preparation for radar vision

This ‘interferogram’ shows Petermann Glacier grinding towards the sea along the northwestern coast of Greenland. 

Two Radarsat-2 TOPS images acquired 24 days apart were used to generate it. 

Radarsat-2 was programmed specially by MDA to work in an experimental imaging mode called Terrain Observation by Progressive Scans (TOPS) in azimuth to match the way ESA’s Sentinel-1 will image Earth. 

Credit: ESA/MDA

Sentinel-1A, Europe's first satellite for Copernicus, is almost ready for launch on 3 April. Meanwhile, ESA is showing how its advanced radar will map ice, monitor subsidence and much more.

Marking a new era in Earth observation focusing on operational applications, Sentinel-1A is set to deliver timely imagery for numerous Copernicus services.

Carrying an advanced radar, it will scan Earth's surface no matter what the weather and regardless of whether it is day or night.

In crisis situations, it will be used for rapid response to disasters such as floods and earthquakes. Its radar will routinely monitor shipping zones, map sea ice and provide information on winds and waves for marine traffic, track changes in the way land is being used, and monitor subsidence.

It will also track how glaciers move, as shown in the image above of Petermann Glacier in northwest Greenland.

So that users are fully prepared for the images Sentinel-1A delivers, Canada's Radarsat-2 was recently programmed by MacDonald, Dettweiler & Associates to scan Earth's surface using the same novel 'interferometric' wide-swath mode technique as Sentinel-1.

Consequently, a suite of images was acquired over various sites.



Carrying an advanced radar, Sentinel-1A can image Earth’s surface no matter what the weather and regardless of whether it is day or night. 

This makes it an ideal mission for monitoring the polar regions, which are shrouded in darkness for months at a time. 

As well as providing information on changing ice cover and glacial flows, Sentinel-1 will provide imagery of sea-ice for maritime navigation in polar waters. 

Sentinel-1A will also be used to track changes in the way land is used and to monitor ground movement. 

Moreover, this new mission is designed specifically for fast response to aid emergencies and disasters such as flooding and earthquakes. 

Sentinel-1A, the first in the family of satellites for Europe’s environmental monitoring Copernicus programme, marks a new era in Earth observation, focusing on operational missions to support users for decades to come. 

Credit: ESA/ATG medialab

As the most realistic Sentinel-1A-like images to date, they show the performance and suitability of the new mission for classifying different types of sea ice, detecting ships and monitoring oil platforms.

They also included image pairs to show changes in glaciers such as Petermann, and a 'stack' of 11 images to map surface subsidence in Mexico City.

The image of Petermann Glacier was derived from two images taken 24 days apart. It shows some stationary and slowly moving features, as well as some large areas of much faster-moving ice.

The pattern's fringes are widely spaced in the stationary areas and closer together in the centre of the glacier where the ice is moving much faster.

The wealth of data available through ESA's Earth observation campaign data website is helping to pave the way for users to get the maximum out of the upcoming mission.

The Sentinel-1mission comprises two identical satellites for optimal global coverage and data delivery.

Sentinel-1B will join Sentinel-1A in orbit next year.

ISS Astronauts Prepare for EVA Spacewalks to Repair Coolant System

Expedition 38 crew member Mike Hopkins checks out the spacesuit he will wear outside the International Space Station on Saturday, Dec. 21, 2013. 

He and fellow astronaut Rick Mastracchio will conduct a series of spacewalks to replace an ammonia pump that is part of the station's coolant system. 

This will be Hopkins' first spacewalk, while Mastracchio has had six previous ones on STS-118 and STS-131

More Information

Cygnus Spacecraft: Orbital-1 Mission Pre-Launch Preparations

An Orbital Science Corporation Antares rocket is seen on Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2013 as it is rolled out to launch Pad-0A at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, VA. 

The Antares is scheduled to launch a Cygnus spacecraft on a cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station on Thursday, Dec. 19 at 9:19 p.m. EST. 

The Orbital-1 mission is Orbital Sciences' first contracted cargo delivery flight to the space station for NASA. 

Among the cargo aboard Cygnus set to launch to the space station are science experiments, crew provisions, spare parts and other hardware.

Weather permitting, it may be widely visible along the east coast of the United States.

Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano prepares to leave ISS - Video

Watch the Soyuz return flight from the International Space Station of ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano, NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg and commander Fyodor Yurchikhin: live coverage starts Sunday 20:30 CET, courtesy NASA TV.

ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano has run over 30 experiments on the International Space Station, helped to dock three spaceships, kept his cool during two spacewalks and entertained us with his blogs and pictures of Earth from above – and now it is time for him to come home.

After almost six months on the orbital complex, Luca will return home in a Soyuz spacecraft together with NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg and cosmonaut commander Fyodor Yurchikhin during the night of Sunday–Monday.

ESA's ATV-5 for launch by Arianespace begins its pre-flight checkout

The Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) "Georges Lemaitre" has begun pre-flight checkout in the Spaceport's clean room facilities, following its arrival in French Guiana for a scheduled Ariane 5 flight next year.

As the fifth and final ATV to be launched by Arianespace under current arrangements with the European Space Agency, this spacecraft's Integrated Cargo Carrier (ICC) has now been removed from its special shipping container in the S5C preparation hall.

The ICC makes up 60 percent of the Automated Transfer Vehicle's total volume, with the capacity of ferrying up to 6.6 metric tons of cargo - both dry and fluid - on the spacecraft's servicing mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

Incorporating a two-part design, the Integrated Cargo Carrier includes a pressurized module for docking to the space station, where all dry materials are contained.

Up to two ISS astronauts can access this section while the spacecraft is attached to the orbital facility, working to unload supplies or conduct experiments.

Fluid cargo - such as propellant for refueling of the International Space Station - is stored in the ICC's non-pressurized area and transferred to the space station through pipes or manually operated hoses.

Prior to Georges Lemaitre's ESA-targeted launch date in 2014, final assembly of the spacecraft will be carried out at the Spaceport, including the Integrated Cargo Carrier, the Service Module solar panels and the Separation and Distancing Module (SDM) that links the ATV to its Ariane 5 vehicle.

Designated Georges Lemaitre after the Belgian physicist and father of the Big Bang theory, the fifth Automated Transfer Vehicle will resupply the International Space Station, as well as perform maneuvers to maintain this manned facility's nominal orbit.

An Astrium-led industry consortium is responsible for producing this series of resupply spacecraft under the European Space Agency-managed program.

To date all four Automated Transfer Vehicles have been orbited by Ariane 5 ES launchers, beginning with "Jules Verne" in March 2008, which was followed by "Johannes Kepler" in February 2011, "Edoardo Amaldi" in March 2012, and this June's flight with "Albert Einstein."

NASA IRIS Mission prepare for Launch

The fully integrated spacecraft and science instrument for NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) mission is seen in a clean room at the Lockheed Martin Space Systems Sunnyvale, Calif. facility. 

The solar arrays are deployed in the configuration they will assume when in orbit. IRIS is scheduled to launch on June 26, 2013.

Understanding the interface between the photosphere and corona remains a fundamental challenge in solar and heliospheric science. The IRIS mission opens a window of discovery into this crucial region by tracing the flow of energy and plasma through the chromosphere and transition region into the corona using spectrometry and imaging.

IRIS is designed to provide significant new information to increase our understanding of energy transport into the corona and solar wind and provide an archetype for all stellar atmospheres.

The unique instrument capabilities, coupled with state of the art 3-D modeling, will fill a large gap in our knowledge of this dynamic region of the solar atmosphere.

The mission will extend the scientific output of existing heliophysics spacecraft that follow the effects of energy release processes from the sun to Earth.

Image Credit: NASA/Lockheed Martin

Orbital Science: Preparation of NASA IRIS on Pegasus XL Launcher

Orbital Sciences team members move the second half of the payload fairing before it is placed over NASA's IRIS (Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph) spacecraft. 

The fairing connects to the nose of the Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL rocket that will lift the solar observatory into orbit. 

The work is taking place in a hangar at Vandenberg Air Force Base, where IRIS is being prepared for launch on a Pegasus XL rocket. 

Scheduled for launch from Vandenberg on June 26, 2013, IRIS will open a new window of discovery by tracing the flow of energy and plasma through the chromospheres and transition region into the sun's corona using spectrometry and imaging. 

IRIS fills a crucial gap in our ability to advance studies of the sun-to-Earth connection by tracing the flow of energy and plasma through the foundation of the corona and the region around the sun known as the heliosphere. 

Photo Credit: NASA/Tony Vauclin

NASA MIT Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS): Prepares to release first results

The scientist leading one of the most expensive experiments ever put into space says the project is ready to come forward with its first results.

The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) was put on the International Space Station to survey the skies for high-energy particles, or cosmic rays.

Nobel Laureate Sam Ting said the scholarly paper to be published in a few weeks would concern dark matter.

This is the unseen material whose gravity holds galaxies together.

Researchers do not know what form this mysterious cosmic component takes, but one theory points to it being some very weakly interacting massive particle (Wimp).

Although telescopes cannot detect the Wimp, there are high hopes that AMS can confirm its existence and describe some of its properties from indirect measures.

The imminent publication in an as yet undetermined journal will detail the progress of that investigation.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor said the project he first proposed back in the mid-1990s had now reached an important milestone.

"We've waited 18 years to write this paper, and we're now making the final check," he told reporters.

"I would imagine in two or three weeks, we should be able to make an announcement.

"We have six analysis groups to analyse the same results. Physicists as you know - everybody has their own interpretations, and we're now making sure everyone agrees with each other. And this is pretty much done now."

Sam Ting was speaking here in Boston at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

His $2bn machine was taken up to the ISS in 2011 - on the final mission of Shuttle Endeavour.

The seven-tonne experiment holds a giant, specially designed magnet that bends the paths of particles that fall on it.

The way they bend reveals their charge, a fundamental property that, together with information about their mass, velocity and energy, garnered from a slew of detectors, tells scientists precisely what they are dealing with.

Prof Ting said that in its first 18 months of operation, AMS had witnessed 25 billion particle events.

ESA Ariane-5 Launch preparations: Mission ATV - Albert Einstein

Ariane 5’s cryogenic core stage is suspended over the launch table in the Spaceport’s Launcher Integration Building. Credits: ESA/CNES/Arianespace/Optique Video du CSG

The launcher for Arianespace’s fourth flight with Automated Transfer Vehicle 4 (ATV-4), Albert Einstein, is rapidly taking shape at the Spaceport, preparing it for liftoff in the spring from French Guiana with the International Space Station’s latest resupply spacecraft.

During activity this month in the Spaceport’s Launcher Integration Building, the heavy-lift vehicle’s core cryogenic stage was suspended over the mobile launch table, followed by positioning of its two solid propellant boosters.

The launcher’s EPS storable propellant upper stage will then be installed, readying the Ariane 5 for transfer to the Final Assembly Building, where the latest ATV (named after Albert Einstein) is to be mated.

Scotland's Clyde Space: Preparing for Soyuz-2 Launch, Baikonur

Scotland's first satellite will be launched from a Russian Soyuz-2 rocket in March 2013. UKube-1, built by Clyde Space in Glasgow, is now completing final testing at the company's headquarters before making the journey to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for the launch.

Confirming that agreement had been reached for the Russian rocket to carry UKube- 1, Clyde Space CEO Craig Clark, said: "UKube-1 aims to be the first of many nanosatellites produced at Clyde Space, and is a fantastic mission for us to demonstrate our capabilities as a spacecraft mission lead.

"I'm proud of the team here at Clyde Space in achieving such a critical milestone in the mission."

The UKube-1 nanosatellite has been designed and manufactured by Clyde Space at their high-tech facility on the West of Scotland Science Park in Glasgow.

The nanosatellite is one of the most advanced of its kind, the complexity of the spacecraft highlighted by the nature of the 6 independent, advanced payloads being flown by the mission.

NB: The UK Space agency has renamed the Clyde Space CubeSat product to make it sound politically more nationalistic and collaborative.

The satellite is one of the most advanced of its kind and the mission is the pilot for a collaborative, national CubeSat programme bringing together UK industry and academia to fly educational packages, test new technologies and carry out new space research quickly and efficiently.

Payloads in UKube-1 include the first GPS device aimed at measuring plasmaspheric space weather, a camera that will take images of the Earth and test the effect of radiation on space hardware using a new generation of imaging sensor and an experiment to demonstrate the feasibility of using cosmic radiation to improve the security of communications satellites and to flight test lower cost electronic systems.

In line with the Scottish philosophy of education, enlightenment and their historical technical heritage, the company has engaged with students, colleges and universities to involve them in the design of future payloads.

Therefore, the Clyde Space CubeSat (UKube-1) will also carry a payload made up of five experiments that UK students and the public can interact with and an outreach programme that also allows school children to interact with the spacecraft.

Orbital Rolls Antares to NASA Pad To Prepare for Hold down Test

Orbital Sciences Corp. on Oct. 1 rolled the first stage of its Antares rocket out to the launch pad at NASA’s Wallops Island Flight Facility to prepare for a series of tests that, if successful, will clear the way for the company to begin routine cargo deliveries to the international space station sometime next year.

Orbital wanted to move the Antares stage to the pad Sept. 27, but a power problem with a transporter vehicle used to haul the rocket from its hangar to the pad, coupled with expectations of foul weather on the Virginia coast during the weekend, prompted the company to delay rollout until Oct. 1, spokesman Barron Beneski said.

Orbital holds a $1.9 billion NASA contract signed in 2008 that calls for eight cargo flights to the space station.

Orbital will deliver that cargo with its unmanned Cygnus space freighter, which Antares will loft to low Earth orbit from Wallops.

Before it can collect on the delivery contract, however, Orbital has to complete a hold-down test of the Antares first stage, then conduct two Antares demonstration flights out of Wallops.

The first-stage hold-down test will take place at the pad sometime in the next four to five weeks, Orbital said in its Oct. 1 press release.

In the hold-down test, the rocket core’s two liquid engines — Soviet-vintage NK-33s refurbished by Sacramento, Calif.-based Aerojet and rebranded as AJ-26s — will be lit for about 30 seconds.

Antares would have its maiden flight a month after a successful hold-down test, Orbital said Oct. 1.

Assuming a successful test flight, a full-up Antares-Cygnus stack would be cleared to fly a demonstration cargo run to the space station before the end of the year, Orbital said.

In that mission, Cygnus would deliver 550 kilograms of freight and relieve the outpost of about 1,000 kilograms of trash, Orbital said.

Antares will launch all of its space station resupply missions from Pad 0-A at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS), a facility at the southern tip of Wallops Island that is operated by the state-funded Virginia Commercial Spaceflight Authority.

Because MARS and Pad 0-A are on a NASA range, the agency had to give its approval for Orbital to begin operations at the launch pad.

NASA ISS Astronaut Sunita Williams Prepares for EVA with a Toothbrush

Astronaut Joseph Acaba helps Sunita Williams with her spacesuit before the longest EVA is undertaken.

Flight Engineer is due to return to earth on the next Progress flight. 

The toothbrush that helped fix Space Station. Suni and Aki took it outside to clean the fouled bolt on the MBSU.

Credit: NASA

NASA and SpaceX: Preparation for May 7 Launch

In a processing facility at Space Launch Complex-40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, Space Exploration Technologies technicians attach the Dragon capsule to the second stage of the company’s Falcon 9 rocket.

Known as SpaceX, the launch will be the company's second demonstration test flight for NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program, or COTS.

During the flight, the capsule will conduct a series of check-out procedures to test and prove its systems, including rendezvous and berthing with the International Space Station.

If the capsule performs as planned, the NanoRacks-CubeLabs Module-9 experiments and other cargo aboard Dragon will be transferred to the station.

The cargo includes food, water and provisions for the station’s Expedition crews, such as clothing, batteries and computer equipment.

Under COTS, NASA has partnered with two private companies to provide resupply missions to the station. The launch is scheduled for 9:38 a.m. EDT on May 7. For more information, visit www.nasa.gov/spacex.

Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann