Orbital Sciences' Cygnus spacecraft burned up in the atmosphere on August 17th, 2014. ISS crew member Alexander Gerst captured imagery to create a time-lapse of the fireworks.
See Photos of the Destruction
Showing posts with label Cygnus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cygnus. Show all posts
Monday, September 8, 2014
Orbital Sciences' Cygnus 'Fireball' Re-Entry from Space Station - Video
Orbital Sciences' Cygnus spacecraft burned up in the atmosphere on August 17th, 2014. ISS crew member Alexander Gerst captured imagery to create a time-lapse of the fireworks.
See Photos of the Destruction
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
Orbital Cygnus: ISS Commercial Resupply Mission Planned for July 11
Orbital has established July 11, 2014 as the targeted date for the launch of the Orb-2 mission to the International Space Station (ISS), the second operational cargo resupply mission under the company's Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA.
The targeted launch time from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on July 11 will be 1:40 p.m. (EDT).
These inspections were recently completed and program officials have cleared the rocket for flight.
Leading up to the launch, the Cygnus cargo logistics spacecraft was mated to the rocket.
After the loading of the final time sensitive cargo and installation of the rocket's payload fairing, Antares will be rolled out to the launch pad on July 9.
A launch on July 11 will result in a rendezvous and berthing with the ISS on July 15.
The Cygnus spacecraft will deliver 1,657 kg of cargo to the ISS and will be loaded with approximately 1,346 kg of material for disposal upon reentry into Earth's atmosphere.
Mission Description
Cygnus will be boosted into orbit by a two-stage Antares rocket from Pad 0A at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport.
The launch sequence will last about ten minutes from liftoff through the separation of Cygnus from the Antares vehicle.
Once in orbit, Cygnus will deploy its solar arrays and undergo initial check-out. The spacecraft will then conduct a series of thruster burns to raise its orbit to bring it within 4 km of the ISS prior to receiving authorization to autonomously rendezvous with the station.
When the vehicle approaches to within 12 meters, the astronauts will use the station's robotic arm to grapple Cygnus and berth it to the Harmony node of the station.
Cygnus is planned to remain berthed at the ISS for approximately 40 days during which time the station crew will unload cargo from Cygnus and subsequently load it with materials for disposal. At the end of the mission Cygnus will depart the station and reenter the Earth's atmosphere.
Saturday, May 31, 2014
SpaceX unveils Dragon V2, an upgraded capsule to uplift astronauts to space - Video
A sleek, white gumdrop-shaped space capsule that aims to carry up to seven astronauts to the International Space Station and return to land anywhere on Earth was unveiled Thursday by SpaceX.
The Dragon V2, short for version two, is the first attempt by a private company to restore Americans' ability to send people to the orbiting space station in the wake of the space shuttle program's retirement in 2011.
"It's all around, I think, really a big leap forward in technology. It really takes things to the next level," said SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.
SpaceX is competing with other companies, including Boeing, Sierra Nevada and Blue Origin, to be the first commercial outfit to take astronauts to space, possibly as early as 2017.
Until then, the world's astronauts must rely on Russian Soyuz spacecraft at a cost of $70 million per seat.
The Dragon V2 was shown for the first time at a jam-packed evening press conference in Hawthorne, California.
The shiny Dragon V2 sat on a white stage floor, as a scorched Dragon cargo capsule was suspended above, bearing the blackened markings of a capsule that had returned to Earth from orbit.
SpaceX's Dragon capsule in 2012 became the first private spacecraft to carry supplies to the ISS and back.
Since then, Orbital Sciences has followed with its Cygnus, a capsule shaped like a beer keg that can carry supplies to the space station but burns upon re-entry to Earth's atmosphere.
Musk said a key feature of the Dragon V2 is that it will be able to "land anywhere on Earth with the accuracy of a helicopter."
The crew spacecraft will be able to use rocket propulsion and deploy legs to land, instead of using parachutes to make an ocean splash-landing the way the cargo capsule does.
It will however still have parachutes that it can use for a landing in case any engine problems are detected before touchdown on Earth.
The V2 also carries an improved heat shield and will be able to autonomously dock with the space station, instead of needing the space station's robotic arm to catch it and pull it in.
"That is a significant upgrade as well," Musk said.
Musk touted the reusability of the Dragon V2, allowing it to cut back on expensive space journeys.
"You can just reload propellant and then fly again. This is extremely important for revolutionizing access to space," Musk said.
"Because as long as we continue to throw away rockets and spacecraft, we will never have true access to space. It will always be incredibly expensive," he added.
"If aircraft were thrown away with each flight, nobody would be able to fly."
The Internet entrepreneur and billionaire co-founder of PayPal did not say when the Dragon V2's first test flight would take place.
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Orbital Sciences Cygnus: Launch Postponed after Antares rocket test failure
Orbital Sciences Corporation has postponed the launch of the Orbital-2 mission to the International Space Station after an engine test aborted prematurely.
The engine being tested at NASA's Stennis Space Center was slated to be used for a launch in 2015, but Orbital has taken the action to investigate the mishap before attempting to launch Orb-2.
Orbital now is looking no earlier than June 17 for the Orb-2 launch.
Orbital published the following message on their website:
Orbital has rescheduled the launch of its Antares rocket for the Orb-2 mission to a date of no earlier than (NET) June 17, 2014. Orb-2 is the second of eight cargo resupply missions to the International Space Station under Orbital's Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA.
That engine was designated for use in a mission slated for 2015 and was undergoing hot fire testing that all Antares AJ26 engines are subject to to ensure nominal performance and acceptance for use in Antares missions.
The NET June 17 is a planning date. The determination of a new firm date will depend on progress of the investigation team, so please check back to this page for further updates.
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Orbital Science Cygnus: Supply ship departs space station after five weeks
NASA astronaut Michael Hopkins used Canadarm, the space station's robot arm, to release the capsule, as the orbiting lab sailed 260 miles (418 kilometers) above the South Atlantic.
Cygnus is filled with garbage and will burn up Wednesday when it plunges through the atmosphere, over the Pacific.
After a number of delays, Orbital Sciences Corp. launched the capsule last month from Virginia under a $1.9 billion contract with NASA.
The Cygnus successfully delivered 3,000 pounds (1,360 kilograms) of goods, including belated Christmas gifts for the six-man crew and hundreds of ants for a student experiment.
Space Exploration Technologies Corp., (SpaceX) based in Southern California—will launch its next Dragon from Cape Canaveral on March 16 with a fresh load of supplies.
NASA is paying Orbital Sciences and SpaceX to keep the space station stocked. Russia, Japan and Europe also take turns making deliveries.
The SpaceX Dragon is the only craft capable of safely returning a pile of items, now that NASA's space shuttles are retired.
The resolute Russian Soyuz crew capsule is not built for staorage. It has just enough room for three astronauts and a few odds and ends.
A handful of American companies, including SpaceX, are working to develop craft to carry space station crews. Until that happens, NASA must continue to buy seats for its astronauts on the elderly but reliable, Soyuz Progress.
Americans have not launched from U.S. soil since the last shuttle flight in 2011. NASA expects it will be 2017 before U.S. astronauts rocket into orbit from their homeland.
Monday, December 30, 2013
Orbital Science's Antares rocket launch Jan 7th 2014
Credit: Orbital Science
The NASA Wallops Flight Facility and Virginia’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport are set to support the launch of Orbital Sciences’ Corp. Antares rocket at 1:55 p.m. EST, Jan. 7.
The Antares rocket will carry Orbital’s Cygnus cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station.
Also aboard the flight are 23 student experiments that will involve more than 10,000 students on the ground.
These experiments will involve life sciences topics ranging from amoeba reproduction to calcium in the bones to salamanders.
The launch may be visible, weather permitting, to residents throughout the mid-Atlantic region from New York City to North Carolina.
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Orbital Science Corporation Antares rocket raised into position
With the space station cooling system hobbled and a commercial cargo launch waiting in the wings, NASA Tuesday prepared all options but said no decision had yet been made on whether spacewalk repairs would be needed.
Instead, Orbital Sciences rolled its Antares rocket out to the launch pad at Wallops Island, Virginia in preparation for a Thursday launch of its Cygnus supply ship at 9:19 pm (0219 GMT).
Meanwhile, NASA television showed images of astronauts preparing their white spacesuits in case they are called upon to step outside the space station and repair the broken equipment cooling system.
A US space agency spokesman told reporters a final decision could come later Tuesday or early Wednesday.
On Wednesday of last week, NASA learned that a broken valve had interfered with the cooling loops that regulate the equipment temperature aboard the space station.
The six-man crew was never in danger due to the problem, NASA said.
If the agency decides the manuevers it has made from the ground to orchestrate a temporary fix—by manipulating valves and shutting down some equipment—are stable, the Orbital launch could go ahead.
The company did a demonstration launch and berthing at the ISS in September, showing it was capable of the mission and paving the way for more supply trips.
Both companies have lucrative contracts with the US space agency to ferry supplies to the ISS.
Cygnus Spacecraft: Orbital-1 Mission Pre-Launch Preparations
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
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Cygnus Releases from International Space Station
Orbital Sciences engineers now will conduct a series of planned burns and maneuvers to move Cygnus toward a destructive re-entry in Earth's atmosphere Wednesday, Oct. 23.
Cygnus had been attached to the space station's Harmony module for 23 days. The spacecraft delivered about 1,300 pounds (589 kilograms) of cargo, including food, clothing and student experiments, on a demonstration cargo resupply mission to the station.
Cygnus was launched on Orbital's Antares rocket on Sept. 18 from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Pad-0A at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Image Credit: NASA/Karen Nyberg
Friday, December 21, 2012
ESA Hubble Image: Snow Angel
Appearances can be deceiving, however, as behind the delicate façade lies a devilish young star that is ejecting material at a furious rate, disrupting the gas and dust around it.
The central star has a mass of about 15 times that of our own Sun and is in the final stages of its formation.
The outstretched glowing blue wings are created from twin lobes of super-hot hydrogen gas spewing out from the star.
Temperatures here reach 10 000ºC, and contrast against the cool backdrop of interstellar space. A cold belt of dust, appearing red in this image, nearly obscures the central star from view, but it can just be seen peeking through.
Its faint light reflects off tiny dust particles throughout the scene, giving the blue wings the appearance of having red veins.
S106 is 2000 light-years away towards the constellation of Cygnus, and measures about 2 light-years across.
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Astro-Photography: Cygnus Loop Filaments
The Cygnus Loop is a large supernova remnant: the gaseous remains of a massive star that exploded long ago.
It is located about 1,500 light-years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Cygnus, the Swan.
Astronomers estimate the supernova explosion that produced the nebula occurred between 5,000 to 10,000 years ago.
The bright star near the western edge of the image, known as 52 Cygnus, is not associated with the supernova.
The data were obtained with the NOAO Mosaic 1 camera, with observations in the Oxygen [OIII] (blue), Sulphur [S II] (green) and Hydrogen-Alpha (red) filters.
Thursday, June 21, 2012
A Ring Nebula around Wolf-Rayet Star
It highlights the bright edge of a ring-like nebula traced by the glow of ionized hydrogen and oxygen gas.
Embedded in the region's interstellar clouds of gas and dust, the complex, glowing arcs are sections of bubbles or shells of material swept up by the wind from Wolf-Rayet star WR 134, brightest star near the center of the frame.
Distance estimates put WR 134 about 6,000 light-years away, making the frame over 50 light-years across.
Shedding their outer envelopes in powerful stellar winds, massive Wolf-Rayet stars have burned through their nuclear fuel at a prodigious rate and end this final phase of massive star evolution in a spectacular supernova explosion.
The stellar winds and final supernovae enrich the interstellar material with heavy elements to be incorporated in future generations of stars.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Wings: Planetary nebula NGC 6881 in the constellation of Cygnus
Planetary nebula NGC 6881 lies in the constellation of Cygnus. Its "wings" spread across about one light-year.
A dying star about 60% of the mass of the sun lies at the core of the NGC 6881.
A planetary nebula arises when a dying star, a red giant, flings off its outer layers.
Planetary nebulas were misnamed by early discoverers, who thought the objects were giant planets.
Credit: ESA/NASA Hubble
A dying star about 60% of the mass of the sun lies at the core of the NGC 6881.
A planetary nebula arises when a dying star, a red giant, flings off its outer layers.
Planetary nebulas were misnamed by early discoverers, who thought the objects were giant planets.
Credit: ESA/NASA Hubble
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
NASA’s Galaxy Evolution Explorer: UV image of the Cygnus Loop Nebula
Wispy tendrils of hot dust and gas glow in this ultraviolet image of the Cygnus Loop Nebula, taken by NASA’s Galaxy Evolution Explorer.
The nebula lies about 1,500 light-years away, and is a supernova remnant, left over from a massive stellar explosion that occurred 5,000-8,000 years ago.
Picture: NASA/JPL-CALTECH/AFP/Getty
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
NASA Spitzer Space telescope Image: Cygnus X
Infrared light that we can't see with our eyes has been colour-coded, such that the shortest wavelengths are shown in blue, the longest in red, and the middle wavelengths in green.
The top left box shows AFGL 2636, which is a bright-rimmed shell of material, carved out by winds and radiation from massive stars.
These massive stars are located near the tip of the pillar in the center of the region. The inner region is glowing red due to gas that has been ionized by the massive stars.
Spitzer has revealed a cluster of young stars with planet-forming disks in the central region, and embryonic stars embedded in the rim around the cavity.
The situation is similar in the top right image, a region called DR22.
The lower left and right images show clouds that are so thick to appear dark even to the dust-piercing, infrared eyes of Spitzer. Young stars, visible as red points, are buried in these dark clouds.
They are red because they are heating up surrounding dust, causing it to glow at longer infrared wavelengths.
The red orb in the lower right image surrounds what is thought to be a star called a luminous blue variable, visible as the blue central point.
This is a more evolved massive star that, after periods of instability, cast off a shell of material (red) from its outer layers.
The bright object below the dark cloud in the lower right image is the tip of a large pillar, called DR 15, which is being eroded by winds and radiation from a large number of massive stars located above it.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Harvard-Smithsonia CfA
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
NASA: Infra red Image of Cygnus X
This NASA image shows Cygnus X as it hosts many young stellar groupings.
The combined outflows and ultraviolet radiation from the region's numerous massive stars have heated and pushed gas away from the clusters, producing cavities of hot, lower-density gas.
In this 8-micron infrared image, ridges of denser gas mark the boundaries of the cavities.
Bright spots within these ridges show where stars are forming today.
Picture: NASA/PAC/MSX/AFP/Getty
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
The Heart Of Cygnus Fermi: A Cosmic-ray Cocoon
Cygnus X hosts many young stellar groupings, including the OB2 and OB9 associations and the cluster NGC 6910.
The combined outflows and ultraviolet radiation from the region's numerous massive stars have heated and pushed gas away from the clusters, producing cavities of hot, lower-density gas.
The constellation Cygnus, now visible in the western sky as twilight deepens after sunset, hosts one of our galaxy's richest-known stellar construction zones.
Astronomers viewing the region at visible wavelengths see only hints of this spectacular activity thanks to a veil of nearby dust clouds forming the Great Rift, a dark lane that splits the Milky Way, a faint band of light marking our galaxy's central plane.
Located in the vicinity of the second-magnitude star Gamma Cygni, the star-forming region was named Cygnus X when it was discovered as a diffuse radio source by surveys in the 1950s.
Now, a study using data from NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope finds that the tumult of star birth and death in Cygnus X has managed to corral fast-moving particles called cosmic rays.
Cosmic rays are subatomic particles - mainly protons - that move through space at nearly the speed of light. In their journey across the galaxy, the particles are deflected by magnetic fields, which scramble their paths and make it impossible to backtrack the particles to their sources.
Yet when cosmic rays collide with interstellar gas, they produce gamma rays - the most energetic and penetrating form of light - that travel to us straight from the source.
By tracing gamma-ray signals throughout the galaxy, Fermi's Large Area Telescope (LAT) is helping astronomers understand the sources of cosmic rays and how they're accelerated to such high speeds. In fact, this is one of the mission's key goals.
The galaxy's best candidate sites for cosmic-ray acceleration are the rapidly expanding shells of ionized gas and magnetic field associated with supernova explosions. For stars, mass is destiny, and the most massive ones - known as types O and B - live fast and die young.
They're also relatively rare because such extreme stars, with masses more than 40 times that of our sun and surface temperatures eight times hotter, exert tremendous influence on their surroundings.
With intense ultraviolet radiation and powerful outflows known as stellar winds, the most massive stars rapidly disperse their natal gas clouds, naturally limiting the number of massive stars in any given region.
Which brings us back to Cygnus X. Located about 4,500 light-years away, this star factory is believed to contain enough raw material to make two million stars like our sun.
Within it are many young star clusters and several sprawling groups of related O- and B-type stars, called OB associations.
One, called Cygnus OB2, contains 65 O stars - the most massive, luminous and hottest type - and nearly 500 B stars.
Astronomers estimate that the association's total stellar mass is 30,000 times that of our sun, making Cygnus OB2 the largest object of its type within 6,500 light-years. And with ages of less than 5 million years, few of its most massive stars have lived long enough to exhaust their fuel and explode as supernovae.
Intense light and outflows from the monster stars in Cygnus OB2 and from several other nearby associations and star clusters have excavated vast amounts of gas from their vicinities.
The stars reside within cavities filled with hot, thin gas surrounded by ridges of cool, dense gas where stars are now forming.
It's within the hollowed-out zones that Fermi's LAT detects intense gamma-ray emission, according to a paper describing the findings that was published in the journal Science.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
NASA Fermi Reveals a Cosmic-ray Cocoon in Cygnus - YouTube
Tour the Cygnus X star factory. This video opens with wide optical and infrared images of the constellation Cygnus, then zooms into the Cygnus X region using radio, infrared and gamma-ray images. Fermi LAT shows that gamma rays fill cavities in the star-forming clouds. The emission occurs when fast-moving cosmic rays strike hot gas and starlight.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
NASA Sky Survey - Cygnus X-1: A Stellar Mass Black Hole
Cygnus X-1 is located near large active regions of star formation in the Milky Way, as seen in this image that spans some 700 light years across.
An artist's illustration on the right depicts what astronomers think is happening within the Cygnus X-1 system. Cygnus X-1 is a so-called stellar-mass black hole, a class of black holes that comes from the collapse of a massive star.
The black hole pulls material from a massive, blue companion star toward it. This material forms a disk (shown in red and orange) that rotates around the black hole before falling into it or being redirected away from the black hole in the form of powerful jets.
A trio of papers with data from radio, optical and X-ray telescopes, including NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, has revealed new details about the birth of this famous black hole that took place millions of years ago.
Using X-ray data from Chandra, the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer, and the Advanced Satellite for Cosmology and Astrophysics, scientists were able to determine the spin of Cygnus X-1 with unprecedented accuracy, showing that the black hole is spinning at very close to its maximum rate.
Its event horizon -- the point of no return for material falling towards a black hole -- is spinning around more than 800 times a second.
Using optical observations of the companion star and its motion around its unseen companion, the team also made the most precise determination ever for the mass of Cygnus X-1, of 14.8 times the mass of the Sun.
It was likely to have been almost this massive at birth, because of lack of time for it to grow appreciably.
The researchers also announced that they have made the most accurate distance estimate yet of Cygnus X-1 using the National Radio Observatory's Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA).
The new distance is about 6,070 light years from Earth. This accurate distance was a crucial ingredient for making the precise mass and spin determinations.
Credits: X-ray: NASA/CXC; Optical: Digitized Sky Survey
> Read more/access all images
Friday, August 26, 2011
NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation Services: Cygnus Spacecraft delivered
NASA's partnership with industry to develop transportation to the International Space Station reached another step Aug. 23, as the cargo module for Orbital Sciences Corp.'s Cygnus spacecraft, which will carry supplies to the station, arrived at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
The Cygnus spacecraft is scheduled for a demonstration flight early next year on an Orbital Taurus II launch vehicle under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services agreement with the company. All photos credit: NASA/Wallops Flight Facility
Thales Alenia Space reports it has shipped its first Pressurized Cargo Module, designed to transport cargo to the International Space Station, to NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
The PCM, developed on behalf of Cygnus prime contractor Orbital Sciences Corporation, was carried by an Antonov An-24 cargo plane.
At Wallops, Orbital will integrate the PCM with the Service Module (including the avionics, propulsion subsystem and power supply) to produce the complete Cygnus spacecraft.
This vehicle will fly a demonstration mission in early 2012, using Orbital's Taurus II launcher, under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) agreement.
Following the demonstration flight, within the scope of the CRS (Commercial Resupply Service) contract signed by Orbital and NASA, Thales Alenia Space will provide Orbital with eight more pressurized modules for cargo missions to the International Space Station, including crew supplies, spare parts and scientific experiments.
The first PCM will be followed by three more units in "standard" configuration, capable of transporting up to 2,000 kg of cargo each, along with five "enhanced" configuration units, boosting payload capacity to 2,700 kg.
The CygnusTM spacecraft comprises a Service Module (SM) built by Orbital, and a Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM) developed by Thales Alenia Space.
Building on 30 years of experience in space infrastructures and transportation systems, Cygnus PCM developed by Thales Alenia Space calls on the company's skills and expertise developed through previous programs for the International Space Station.
Previous Thales Alenia Space programs include; the MPLM (Multipurpose Logistics Module), built by the company on behalf of the Italian space agency for NASA, and the ATV (Automated Transfer Vehicle) Cargo Carrier, built by Thales Alenia Space for the European Space Agency (ESA).
Thales Alenia Space is a major contributor to the International Space Station, as a key player in the Columbus laboratory and prime contractor for Node 2, Node 3 and the Cupola.
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