SpaceX Release images of Falcon 9 Launcher crash - Video

Video of SpaceX Falcon 9's Lower Stage Launcher crash 

Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX Falcon 9's Lower Stage Launcher crash.

Credit: Space X

SpaceX Falcon 9's Lower Stage Launcher crashes back onto the deck of the floating platform that was intended as its safe haven.

Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, has released pictures from his firms recent failed attempt to land a rocket on a boat.

The images show the first stage of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket hitting the boat at a 45 degree angle before exploding.

Looking closely at the images above, you can see the steerable fins at the top of the rocket, designed to bring it in for a safe landing.

Musk has previously said that the fins ran out of hydraulic fluid just before landing, meaning the rocket lost control, so SpaceX will be adding more fluid for its next attempt.

The rocket came in too fast, destroying its landing legs, and then the leftover fuel ignited and it exploded (see below).

"Full RUD (rapid unscheduled disassembly) event. Ship is fine minor repairs. Exciting day!" tweeted Musk.

SpaceX Dragon Arrives at ISS - Docked

SpaceX Dragon spacecraft arrives at ISS to unload cargo and refresh astronauts' supplies. 

Credit: NASA

SpaceX's Dragon capsule is set to arrive at the International Space Station this morning.

The cargo craft, launched early Saturday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is carrying more than 5,000 pounds of supplies and payloads, including the Cloud–Aerosol Transport System (CATS), which will monitor cloud and aerosol coverage that directly impacts the global climate.

ESA Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti tweeted; 'Dragon is berthed! Did leak check & equalized pressure, now our hatch is open. On Dragon hatch "smell of space".' 

Cloud–Aerosol Transport System (CATS) 

Credit: NASA

SpaceX Falcon 6 Rocket Launch: Orbit Insertion success but loss of launcher

Dragon cargo ship on its way to the International Space Station. 

A Space Exploration Technologies Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force tion.

The rocket lifted off at 4:47 a.m. EST (0947 GMT), streaking through nighttime skies as it headed into orbit.

Nine minutes later, the rocket’s upper-stage engine shut down and deposited Dragon into its preliminary orbit.

The capsule was due to reach the space station, which circles about 260 miles above the planet, on Monday.

As Dragon began its solo journey, the discarded first-stage booster was attempting to land itself vertically on a platform in the ocean, part of an ongoing series of tests to develop reusable rockets.

"Rocket made it to drone spaceport ship, but landed hard," SpaceX founder and chief executive Elon Musk posted on Twitter.

The rocket was aiming for a 300- by 100-ft platform stationed about 200 miles off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida, in the Atlantic Ocean.

Ground control teams reported two engine restarts as the rocket descended back through the atmosphere before the communications link was lost.

The rocket was expected to make one more engine burn and extend four landing legs prior to touchdown.

SpaceX engineers stationed on a nearby support ship tried to catch the descent and landing on video, but it was "pitch dark and foggy," Musk said. "Didn't get good landing/impact video ... Will piece it together from telemetry and ... actual pieces."

The ship itself is fine, he added, though some of the support equipment on the deck will need to be replaced, Musk added.

He previously had pegged the chance of a successful touchdown on the first try at 50 per cent.

"Returning anything from space is a challenge, but returning a Falcon 9 first stage for a precision landing presents a number of additional hurdles," SpaceX said in a blog post about the test.

"At 14 stories tall and traveling upwards of 1300 m/s (meters per second), stabilizing the Falcon 9 first stage for re-entry is like trying to balance a rubber broomstick on your hand in the middle of a wind storm."

SpaceX Launch. Credit: M. Staples

To help stabilise the stage and to reduce its speed, SpaceX relights the engines for a series of three burns.

The first burn, the boostback burn, adjusts the impact point of the vehicle and is followed by the supersonic retro propulsion burn that, along with the drag of the atmosphere, slows the vehicle's speed from 1300 m/s to about 250 m/s.

"The final burn is the landing burn, during which the legs deploy and the vehicle's speed is further reduced to around 2 m/s.

“The legspan of the Falcon 9 first stage is about 70 ft and while the ship is equipped with powerful thrusters to help it stay in place, it is not actually anchored, so finding the bullseye becomes particularly tricky,” SpaceX said.

“During previous attempts, we could only expect a landing accuracy of within 10 km. For this attempt, we’re targeting a landing accuracy of within 10 meters,” SpaceX said.

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket grid fins. Credit: SpaceX

Musk said dark and foggy conditions prevented cameras aboard the rocket and the landing barge from recording good video of the impact, but there is plenty of other data to help determine what happened.

SpaceX engineers revealed that a loss of power in the grid fins caused a loss of control of the launcher, resulting in it being damaged on impact.

Musk tweeted the grid fins added to the rocket launched Saturday “worked extremely well from hypersonic velocity to subsonic, but ran out of hydraulic fluid right before landing.”

An upcoming flight will carry 50 percent more hydraulic fluid, Musk said. The mission “should have plenty of margin for landing attempt next month.”

SpaceX to attempt Falcon 9 Rocket landing on Floating Ocean Platform

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, complete with "hypersonic grid fins," that SpaceX will attempt to land on a floating platform in the Atlantic Ocean as part of a Dec. 16, 2014 launch.

Credit: Elon Musk/SpaceX

SpaceX will apparently attempt something truly epic during next week's cargo launch to the International Space Station.

During the Dec. 16 launch from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, which will send SpaceX's robotic Dragon capsule toward the orbiting lab, the California-based company will try to bring the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket back to Earth for a controlled landing on a floating platform in the Atlantic Ocean.

The bold maneuver marks a big step forward in SpaceX's development of reusable-rocket technology, which the company's billionaire founder, Elon Musk, says could eventually cut the cost of spaceflight by a factor of 100 and perhaps make Mars colonization economically feasible.

A photo of the "autonomous spaceport drone ship" on which SpaceX will attempt to land the Falcon 9 rocket.

Credit: Elon Musk/SpaceX

Musk shared photos of the Falcon 9 and landing platform via Twitter late last month, ratcheting up interest in the cargo mission, the fifth of 12 unmanned resupply flights SpaceX will make to the space station for NASA under a $1.6 billion contract.

"Autonomous spaceport drone ship. Thrusters repurposed from deep sea oil rigs hold position within 3m even in a storm," Musk tweeted about the platform on Nov. 22.

"Base is 300 ft by 100 ft, with wings that extend width to 170 ft. Will allow refuel & rocket flyback in future," he added in another tweet.


The Falcon 9 photo revealed that the rocket is outfitted with "hypersonic grid fins" to increase stability during a return to Earth.

"Grid fins are stowed on ascent and then deploy on reentry for 'x-wing' style control," Musk tweeted on Nov. 22. "Each fin moves independently for pitch/yaw/roll."

At a conference at MIT in October, Musk said that SpaceX would attempt to land the Falcon 9 first stage on the floating platform during the rocket's next flight.

The next liftoff on the rocket's schedule is the Dec. 16 Dragon launch.

New Commercial Rocket Descent Data Helps NASA with Future Mars Landings

NASA successfully captured thermal images of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on its descent after it launched in September from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

The data from these thermal images may provide critical engineering information for future missions to the surface of Mars.

"Because the technologies required to land large payloads on Mars are significantly different than those used here on Earth, investment in these technologies is critical," said Robert Braun, principal investigator for NASA's Propulsive Descent Technologies (PDT) project and professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.

"This is the first high-fidelity data set of a rocket system firing into its direction of travel while traveling at supersonic speeds in Mars-relevant conditions."

"Analysis of this unique data set will enable system engineers to extract important lessons for the application and infusion of supersonic retro-propulsion into future NASA missions."

NASA equipped two aircraft with advanced instrumentation to document re-entry of the rocket's first stage.

The first stage is the part of the rocket that is ignited at launch and burns through the rocket's ascent until it runs out of propellant, at which point it is discarded from the second stage and returns to Earth.

During its return, or descent, NASA captured quality infrared and high definition images and monitored changes in the smoke plume as the engines were turned on and off.

Thermal imagery of the Space X Falcon 9 first stage performing propulsive descent Sept. 21. 

Supersonic retropropulsion data obtained from this flight test is being analyzed by NASA to design future Mars landing systems.

Image Credit: NASA

"NASA's interest in building our Mars entry, descent and landing capability and SpaceX's interest and experimental operation of a reusable space transportation system enabled acquisition of these data at low cost, without standing up a dedicated flight project of its own," said Charles Campbell, PDT project manager at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

NASA's Scientifically Calibrated In-Flight Imagery (SCIFLI) project team at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, had their eyes, cameras and telescopes trained on the Falcon with the help of two long-range aircraft provided by NASA and the U.S. Navy.

A NASA WB-57, a twin jet engine high-altitude research aircraft from Johnson, was equipped with a long-range infrared optical system to capture the images. 

It is a unique full-motion video camera system that is gimbal-mounted on the nose of the WB-57. It collects full-color high definition and infrared video.

A Navy NP-3D Orion aircraft from the Naval Air Systems Command Weapons Division's Air Test and Evaluation Squadron-30 at Point Mugu, California, was equipped with a long-range infrared optical system and also took thermal images of the launch.

ISS Re-supply Missions: Five spaceships parked at the Space Station

Five spacecraft are parked at the International Space Station including the Soyuz TMA-14M and Dragon which docked this week. 

Credit: NASA

Mars isn't the only place in the Solar System that was busy this week with arriving spacecraft.

This week the International Space Station welcomed two arriving spacecraft, bringing the total of docked ships at the ISS to five.

Last night, the Expedition 41/42 crew arrived—peeling in on one solar panel on their Soyuz TMA-14M, with the first female cosmonaut to be part of an ISS crew,

Elena Serova along with her crewmates cosmonaut Alexander Samokutyaev, and NASA astronaut Barry Wilmore.

They took the Soyuz "fast track," arriving at the station in just under six hours after launch.

One of the craft's solar panels jammed and couldn't deploy, but the crew docked to Poisk docking compartment without indecent.

The arrival of Wilmore, Samokutyaev and Serova returns the station's crew complement to six.

Already on board are Commander Max Suraev of Roscosmos, Reid Wiseman of NASA and Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency. They have been aboard the complex since May.

Earlier this week, on September 23, the SpaceX Dragon capsule arrived with over 2.5 tons of science experiments and supplies for the crew.

Also docked to the space station is the Soyuz ship that will take Suraev, Wiseman and Gerst home, a Progress resupply ship and the European ATV-5 supply ship.

There are two more cargo missions targeted to launch to the space station before the end of the year.

Orbital Sciences just announced October 20 as the next launch date for their Cygnus commercial space freighter.

It will occupy the same Harmony node port as Dragon when it leaves in a few weeks. When Cygnus vacates the Harmony node port, SpaceX CRS-5 will replace it in December.

Sierra Nevada Corp (SNC) challenges Boeing and SpaceX spacecraft contract

An interior view of Boeing's CST-100 spacecraft.

Credit: Boeing

Sierra Nevada Corp (SNC) said it had filed a legal challenge to NASA’s award of contracts totaling $6.8 billion to Boeing and SpaceX to build commercially owned and operated “space taxis” to fly astronauts to the International Space Station.

NASA had considered a bid by privately owned Sierra Nevada, but U.S. officials said on Tuesday the U.S. space agency had opted to award long-time aerospace contractor Boeing and SpaceX with contracts to develop, certify and fly their seven-person capsules.

SNC said its bid could have saved up to $900 million and that NASA’s statements “indicate that there are serious questions and inconsistencies in the source selection process.”

“SNC, therefore, feels that there is no alternative but to institute a legal challenge,” it added in a statement on Friday.

Boeing was awarded $4.2 billion and SpaceX $2.6 billion. SpaceX is run by technology entrepreneur Elon Musk, also chief executive of electric car manufacturer Tesla Motors Inc.

“With the current awards, the U.S. government would spend up to $900 million more at the publicly announced contracted level for a space program equivalent to the program that SNC proposed,” Sierra Nevada said.

It said a “thorough review must be conducted of the award decision.”

The space taxis would end U.S. dependence on Russia for rides to the space station.

The contract has taken on new urgency given rising tensions over Russia’s annexation of the Crimea region of Ukraine and support for rebels in eastern Ukraine.

SpaceX Dragon Spacecraft arrival at Space Station - Video

The private space company's cargo spacecraft delivered supplies, a 3-D printer and more to the International Space Station on September 23rd, 2014.

A private Dragon cargo ship built by SpaceX arrived at the International Space Station today (Sept. 23) to deliver more than 2 tons of astronaut supplies and experiments for NASA, including the first 3D printer in space and an intrepid crew of 20 lab mice.

After a two-day chase, the Dragon spacecraft caught up to the orbiting laboratory at 6:52 a.m. EDT (1052GMT).

European astronaut Alexander Gerst used the space station's huge robotic arm to grab the capsule with help from NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman.

The spacecraft is packed with 5,000 lbs. (2,268 kilograms) of experiments and supplies.

SpaceX Dragon cargo ship docks with ISS

An unmanned SpaceX Dragon cargo ship is seen grappled by a robotic arm on the International Space Station on Sept. 22, 2014. 

The commercial spacecraft is SpaceX's fourth delivery mission to the space station and is carrying 20 live mice and the world's first 3D printer in space among its haul.

Credit: NASA TV

A private Dragon cargo ship built by SpaceX arrived at the International Space Station today (Sept. 23) to deliver more than 2 tons of astronaut supplies and experiments for NASA, including the first 3D printer in space and an intrepid crew of 20 lab mice.

After a two-day chase, the Dragon spacecraft caught up to the orbiting laboratory at 6:52 a.m. EDT (1052GMT).

European astronaut Alexander Gerst used the space station's huge robotic arm to grab the capsule with help from NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman.

The spacecraft is packed with 5,000 lbs. (2,268 kilograms) of experiments and supplies.

"This was a great flight of Dragon toward the space station," Gerst radioed Mission Control after capturing the Dragon capsule with the robotic arm.

SpaceX Falcon 9 carrying a Dragon spacecraft, successfully launched

The SpaceX Falcon 9 carrying a Dragon spacecraft loaded with scientific equipment and cargo launches from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, on Sept. 21, 2014.

Image Credit: NASA /Frankie Martin

An eruption of fire and smoke sent a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft skyward laden with 5,000 pounds of scientific equipment and supplies destined for use by the crew of the International Space Station.

"This launch kicks off a very busy time for the space station," said NASA's Sam Scimemi, director of the International Space Station, noting upcoming launches of a Soyuz carrying the next crew of the station and launches of cargo spacecraft within a month.

Lifting off at 1:52:03 a.m. EDT on Sunday, Sept. 21, from Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon etched a yellow and white arc across the sky as it flew on a path roughly paralleling the East Coast of America.

The nine Merlin 1D engines of the first stage shut down as planned about 2 minutes and 41 seconds into flight and the single Merlin engine of the second stage ignited to carry the Dragon the rest of the way into orbit.

Cheers greeted the video from Dragon as the second stage pushed itself away from the orbit-bound spacecraft and a pair of solar array "wings" unfolded to recharge the Dragon's batteries.

"There's nothing like a good launch, it's just fantastic," said Hans Koenigsman, vice president of Mission Assurance for SpaceX. "From what I can tell, everything went perfectly."

Following the launch, the spacecraft starts a two-day chase to catch up with the space station. It is scheduled to complete this pursuit by Tuesday morning.

Once the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft reaches the ISS, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Alexander Gerst and NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman will reach out with CanadArm-2, the station's robot arm, and maneuver the capsule to latch onto a port of the station.

The station crew later will unload the equipment and supplies inside the Dragon, including a glovebox-sized habitat holding 20 mice that will be used for microgravity research into bone density.

SpaceX Falcon-9 Launch Postponed: Stormy weather delays launch

Stormy weather has forced SpaceX to delay its latest supply run to the International Space Station.

The California company called off its early Saturday liftoff from Cape Canaveral, with a half-hour remaining in the countdown.

Officials said they will try again Sunday to launch the unmanned Falcon 9 rocket.

Image of SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket on launch pad at Cape Canaveral, NOT launching. 

Credit: NASA

The SpaceX Dragon capsule holds more than 5,000 pounds of space station cargo for NASA, including a 3-D printer.

NASA hopes astronauts will be able to one day fix their spacecraft by cranking out spare parts on the spot.

This will be the fifth station shipment by SpaceX.

It's been an exciting week for SpaceX. On Tuesday, the company won a huge contract to deliver U.S. astronauts to the space station.

Brad Kohlenberg, a business development engineer with Made In Space, displays some of the items that will be made by astronauts using a 3-D printer that will be transported to the International Space Station aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Friday, Sept. 19, 2014. 

NASA is sending a 3-D printer to the International Space Station in hopes that astronauts will be able to one day fix their spacecraft by cranking out spare parts on the spot. 

Credit: AP Photo/John Raoux

This undated photo provided by Made In Space shows a 3-D Printer during testing in the ESA Supplied, Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) Engineering Unit at Marshall Space Flight Center. 

Credit: AP Photo/Made In Space

This April 2014 photo provided by NASA shows a 3-D printer after it passed flight certification and acceptance testing at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. 

The technology demonstration will print objects in the  ESA Supplied, Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG). 

The ESA MSG Engineering Unit at Marshall is pictured in the background. 

Credit: AP Photo/NASA, Emmett Given

In this undated photo Michael Snyder and Aaron Kemmer monitor the performance of extruders inside the Made In Space experiment box during a microgravity portion of flight aboard a modified Boeing 727 from the Zero G Corporation. 

Credit: AP Photo/Made In Space

SpaceX Dragon V2 Spacecraft: The next generation ISS Crew spacecraft

Meet SpaceX's Dragon V2 spacecraft, the next generation spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to Earth orbit and beyond.

Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX's Crew Dragon will be capable of carrying up to seven crew members, landing under its own propulsion almost anywhere on Earth, and refueling and flying again for rapid reuse.

Dragon was designed from the beginning to carry humans, and the upgraded human-rated vehicle will be one of the safest, most reliable spacecraft ever flown.

The vehicle holds seats for 7 passengers, and includes an Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) that provides a comfortable environment for crew members.

Crew Dragon’s powerful launch escape system, the first of its kind, will provide escape capability from the time the crew enters the vehicle all the way to orbit.

Should an emergency occur during launch, eight SuperDraco engines built into the side walls of the Dragon spacecraft will produce up to 120,000 pounds of axial thrust to carry astronauts to safety.

This decision builds on SpaceX’s track record of successfully delivering critical cargo and science experiments to the space station for NASA.

The Dragon spacecraft currently resupplies the space station under a $1.6 billion Cargo Resupply Services contract with NASA.

A full press release is available from NASA.

Blue Origin to Build New BE-4 liquid rocket engine for US Launch Provider

Jeff Bezos looks on as a new model of Blue Origin's BE-4 liquid rocket engine is revealed during a press event on Sept. 17, 2014.

Credit: United Launch Alliance Instagram

Blue Origin, the secretive private spaceflight company led by billionaire Jeff Bezos, has teamed up with a veteran space launch provider to build a new rocket engine designed to reduce U.S. dependence on Russian hardware.

In an announcement today (Sept. 17), Bezos and the launch provider United Launch Alliance unveiled plans to develop Blue Origin's new BE-4 liquid rocket engine.

The new partnership will allow ULA's next-generation rockets to come equipped with engines that are built in America. At the moment, ULA uses Russian-made RD-180 engines to power its Atlas 5 rockets.

"ULA has put a satellite into orbit almost every month for the past eight years – they're the most reliable launch provider in history and their record of success is astonishing," Bezos, founder of Blue Origin and Amazon.com, said in a statement.

"The team at Blue Origin is methodically developing technologies to enable human access to space at dramatically lower cost and increased reliability, and the BE-4 is a big step forward. With the new ULA partnership, we're accelerating commercial development of the next great US-made rocket engine."

A model of Blue Origin's BE-4 rocket engine on display on Sept. 17, 2014.

Credit: United Launch Alliance Instagram

The United Launch Alliance is currently launches most U.S. government and military satellites using its Atlas 5 rockets, as well as Delta 4 booster variants.

The company is a cooperative venture by Boeing and Lockheed Martin.

Blue Origin's partnership with ULA states that full-scale BE-4 engine testing should begin in 2016, with the first flight due for launch in 2019, according to representatives.

Although ULA and Blue Origin did not release the cost of development for the BE-4 engine, it will be privately funded.

Blue Origin and ULA have committed to funding it 100 percent for the next five years. Blue Origin began testing its BE-3 rocket engine in 2013.

"This agreement ensures ULA will remain the most cost-efficient, innovative and reliable company launching the nation's most important national security, civil, human and commercial missions," Tory Bruno, president and CEO of ULA, said in today's statement.

"Blue Origin has demonstrated its ability to develop high-performance rocket engines and we are excited to bring together the best minds in engineering, supply chain management and commercial business practices to create an all-new affordable, reliable, American rocket engine that will create endless possibilities for the future of space launch."



Tensions between the United States and Russia have been heightened due to Russia's involvement with the conflict in the Ukraine. Because of that political situation, ULA has come under fire for its use of the Russian rocket engines.

Today's Blue Origin-ULA rocket engine news is the second time in two days that a commercial spaceflight vernture including Boeing has made headlines.

On Tuesday (Sept. 16), NASA announced that Boeing's manned CST-100 spacecraft, which is slated to launch on Atlas 5 rockets, was one of two vehicles picked to fly American astronauts as part of the agency's Commercial Crew Transportation Capability program.

Blue Origin's BE-4 engine won't serve as a direct replacement for RD-180s that power Atlas 5 rockets.

Instead, Blue Origin's new engine will outfit ULA's next generation of rockets, according to Blue origin representatives.

NASA also picked the Dragon spacecraft developed by California-based SpaceX, led by billionaire Elon Musk, as its second commercial space taxi for astronauts.

The announcement Tuesday came after a four-year competition of aerospace companies that included Blue Origin's Space Vehicle and the Dream Chaser space plane developed by Sierra Nevada among the spacecraft contenders.

SpaceX Dragon V2: Next ISS cargo launch set for Sept 20

SpaceX's new seven-seat Dragon V2 spacecraft is seen at a press conference to unveil the new spaceship, in Hawthorne, California, May 29, 2014

SpaceX's next unmanned cargo trip to restock supplies at the International Space Station is scheduled for September 20, the US space agency said Friday.

The Dragon spacecraft will launch atop a Falcon 9 rocket at 2:16 am (0616 GMT) on September 20 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, NASA said.

"If for any reason the launch is postponed, the next launch opportunity is Sunday, Sept. 21 at approximately 1:53 am," it said in a statement.

The cargo ship will be loaded with more than 5,000 pounds (2,300 kilograms) of supplies and scientific experiments, including an ocean surface wind speed monitor, equipment for studying rodents in microgravity and cabbage-like plants to see how their growth adapts in space.

The mission, called SpaceX CRS-4, "is the fourth of 12 SpaceX flights NASA contracted with the company to resupply the space station," the space agency said.

The trip marks the fifth Dragon journey to the orbiting outpost, including its initial demonstration mission.

SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corporation each have billion-dollar contracts with NASA to supply the space station over the coming years.

The retirement of the space shuttle program in 2011 has left the United States without a government spacecraft to transport cargo or crew to the space station.

Boeing CST-100 spacecraft favoured in NASA Space Taxi Decision

A Boeing CST-100 spacecraft is shown near the International Space Station in this artist's rendering of the commercial manned spacecraft for astronauts.

Credit: Boeing

The private spaceflight company Boeing has been hard at work designing a capsule that could deliver NASA astronauts to the International Space Station sometime in the next three years, and pretty soon, everyone will find out if all that hard work has paid off.

NASA is expected to announce its pick (or picks) for a contract that will enable a commercial company (or companies) to fly manned missions to the International Space Station by 2017 any day now, and Boeing's astronaut-carrying CST-100 capsule is in the running.

People working with the commercial spaceflight company's capsule have been working diligently to make sure that they meet their goals ahead of the commercial crew announcement.

"Obviously, we're very anxious to get to the announcement, but the team has just been outstanding," John Mulholland, Boeing commercial crew program manager, told reporters.



Boeing is competing with three other spaceflight companies for the commercial crew contract, technically called the Commercial Crew Transportation Capability contract (CCtCap).

Sierra Nevada Corp., SpaceX and Blue Origin are also still in the running for the chance to fly humans to the International Space Station from the United States for the first time since the end of the space shuttle program in 2011.

At the moment, NASA astronauts fly to space aboard Russian-built Soyuz space capsules.

The upcoming announcement marks the last in a series of awards put in place by NASA in 2010.

NASA Launches New Era of Earth Science from Space Station

Image Credit: NASA

The launch of a NASA ocean winds sensor to the International Space Station (ISS) this month inaugurates a new era of Earth observation that will leverage the space station's unique vantage point in space.

Before the end of the decade, six NASA Earth science instruments will be mounted to the station to help scientists study our changing planet.

The first NASA Earth-observing instrument to be mounted on the exterior of the space station will launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, on the next SpaceX Commercial Resupply Services flight, currently targeted for no earlier than Sept. 19.

Graphic of ISS-RapidScat on ISS

ISS-RapidScat will monitor ocean winds for climate research, weather predictions and hurricane monitoring from the space station.

The second instrument is the Cloud-Aerosol Transport System (CATS), a laser instrument that will measure clouds and the location and distribution of airborne particles such as pollution, mineral dust, smoke, and other particulates in the atmosphere.

Graphic of CATS on ISS

CATS will follow ISS-RapidScat on the fifth SpaceX space station resupply flight, targeted for December.

"We're seeing the space station come into its own as an Earth-observing platform," said Julie Robinson, chief scientist for the International Space Station Program at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

"It has a different orbit than other Earth remote sensing platforms. It’s closer to Earth, and it sees Earth at different times of day with a different schedule."

"That offers opportunities that complement other Earth-sensing instruments in orbit today."

The space station-based instruments join a fleet of 17 NASA Earth-observing missions currently providing data on the dynamic and complex Earth system.

GPM image of Precipitation

ISS-RapidScat and CATS follow the February launch of the Global Precipitation Measurement Core Observatory (GPM), a joint mission with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and the July launch of the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2), making 2014 one of the busiest periods for new NASA Earth science missions in more than a decade.

Most of the agency’s free-flying, Earth-observing satellites orbit the planet over the poles at altitudes higher than 400 miles in order to gather data from all parts of the planet.

Although the space station does not pass over Earth’s polar regions, its 240-mile high orbit does offer logistical and scientific advantages.

"With the space station we don't have to build a spacecraft to gather new data, it's already there,” said Stephen Volz, associate director of flight programs in the Earth Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

“The orbit enables rare, cross-disciplinary observations when the station flies under another sensor on a satellite. Designing instruments for the space station also gives us a chance to do high-risk, high-return instruments in a relatively economical way."

The data provided by ISS-RapidScat will support weather and marine forecasting, including tracking storms and hurricanes.

The station's orbit will allow the instrument to make repeated, regular observations over the same locations at different times of day, providing the first near-global measurements of how winds change throughout the day.

ISS-RapidScat was built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California.

CATS is a laser remote-sensing instrument, or lidar, that measures clouds and tiny aerosol particles in the atmosphere.

These atmospheric components play a critical part in understanding how human activities such as pollution and fossil fuel burning contribute to climate change.

CATS was built by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

SpaceX Night Time Launch: AsiaSat 6 Satellite Lifted Into Orbit

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket streaks across the night sky on Sept. 7, 2014 in this long-exposure view of the AsiaSat 6 satellite launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

Credit: SpaceX

The private spaceflight company SpaceX successfully launched a new commercial telecommunications satellite for Asia early Sunday (Sept. 7) in a dazzling nighttime liftoff that ended a nearly two-week delay for the mission.

A SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 1 a.m. EDT (0500 GMT) Sunday, carrying the AsiaSat 6 satellite into space for Hong Kong-based firm AsiaSat.

The launch was originally scheduled for Aug. 26, but SpaceX pushed it back to give engineers time to investigate the self-destruction of its Falcon 9 Reusable (F9R) rocket during an Aug. 22 flight test in Texas.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the AsiaSat 6 satellite lifts off from the spaceflight company's launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Sept. 7, 2014 in this still from a SpaceX launch webcast. 

Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX's F9R rocket prototype is quite different than the company's operational Falcon 9 booster, so the mishap did not raise any specific red flags about SpaceX's commercial liftoffs, company representatives said.

But SpaceX wanted to do a thorough check of its launch systems regardless, to make sure all is well. 

"What we do want to triple-check is whether even highly improbable corner case scenarios have the optimal fault detection and recovery logic," SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk said in a statement late last month.

Sunday's launch appeared to go off without a hitch, with SpaceX declaring the mission a success about 30 minutes after liftoff.

SpaceX Reusable Rocket Prototype Explodes Over Texas

A reusable rocket prototype built by the private spaceflight company SpaceX exploded over the firm's Texas proving grounds Friday (Aug. 22) after an anomaly forced the destruction of the craft.

The SpaceX rocket detonation occurred over McGregor, Texas, where SpaceX has been testing reusable rocket technology using its prototype Falcon 9 Reusable (or F9R) vehicle. One observer video shows debris falling from the sky just after the explosion.

"During the flight, an anomaly was detected in the vehicle and the flight termination system automatically terminated the mission," SpaceX representatives said in a statement.

"Throughout the test and subsequent flight termination, the vehicle remained in the designated flight area."

"There were no injuries or near injuries. An FAA representative was present at all times."

On Friday, SpaceX was testing a three-engine version of the F9R rocket when the incident occurred. The vehicle, which is the successor to SpaceX's Grasshopper reusable rocket, began single-engine test flights earlier this year.

SpaceX Falcon 9-R Dev1 Rocket Explodes after takeoff

An anomaly occurred during a test flight of SpaceX's Falcon 9-R Dev1 rocket at their development site in McGregor, Texas.

The Flight Termination System ended the mission as it was designed to. More information to follow.

SpaceX Adopting 3D Printing and Taking it to the Final Frontier

A 3D-printed SuperDraco Engine Chamber being tested by SpaceX. 

The company is planning to use these engines for the manned version of the Dragon spacecraft. 

Credit: SpaceX

The private spaceflight company SpaceX wants to launch astronauts into space in the coming years, and it will enter the final frontier with an innovative technology: 3D printing.

California-based SpaceX is using additive manufacturing, as 3D printing is also known, to build the emergency escape rockets on its new manned Dragon spacecraft.

The capsule, known as Dragon Version 2, is SpaceX's entry in NASA's competition for commercial manned spacecraft to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

SpaceX sent its first 3D-printed part into space early this year.

The part, a rocket engine main oxidiser valve, flew aboard SpaceX's Jan. 6 launch of a Falcon 9 rocket carrying the commercial Thaicom 6 telecommunications satellite to orbit. The valve flew inside one of the rocket's Merlin 1D engines.



"The mission marked the first time SpaceX had ever flown a 3D-printed part, with the valve operating successfully with high-pressure liquid oxygen, under cryogenic temperatures and high vibration," SpaceX representatives wrote in a statement.

The concept of 3D printing in space has received extensive attention in industry circles in recent months.

NASA plans to send a 3D printer produced by California-based company Made in Space to the space station this year, and the European Space Agency has mused about using 3D parts to build lunar bases.

Despite those plans, a recent National Research Council report said the technology is still in its infancy and that the materials science behind manufacturing in space is poorly understood.

SpaceX has used 3D printing to build the SuperDraco rocket engine for the company's Dragon Version 2 manned spacecraft. 

The eight SuperDracos on the capsule are designed to double as a landing system, or as an escape system in the event of a launch emergency. 

Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX has spent three years evaluating the fast-growing technology, particularly for use on the Dragon spacecraft.

A 3D-printed SuperDraco engine chamber, which will be used in the escape system, passed a firing test at full thrust in late 2013.

"Printing the chamber resulted in an order of magnitude reduction in lead time compared with traditional machining, the path from the initial concept to the first hotfire was just over three months," SpaceX representatives stated.

The 3D valve inside the Falcon 9's rocket engines will also be more efficient to manufacture, SpaceX added.

After extensive testing, the 3D part is now certified to fly alongside regularly manufactured materials.

"Compared with a traditionally cast part, a printed valve body has superior strength, ductility and fracture resistance, with a lower variability in materials properties," company representatives stated.

"The [valve] body was printed in less than two days, compared with a typical castings cycle measured in months."