CCDev2 – Blue Origin

Blue Origin Spacecraft Image Credit: NASA / Blue Origin

Third in our series on the second round of funding in the Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program is the secretive Blue Origin company. The award of $22 million has been announced by NASA. Funding from this round will help with development through the requirements review stage including work on the thermal protection system and an analysis of the aerodynamics of its cone shaped body. The spacecraft is designed to carry seven astronauts to low Earth orbit.

It will carry astronauts and cargo to and from the International Space Station and serve as an ISS emergency escape vehicle for up to 210 days. The vehicle is designed for launch on an Atlas V rocket.

Endeavour – Final Mission

Endeavour at T-Minus 6 Hours Image Credit: NASA TV

The Russian Progress M-10M resupply spacecraft completed its docking with the ISS at 7:28 AM Phoenix time (1428 GMT). Endeavour is scheduled for launch at 12:47 PM Phoenix time (1947 UTC). You can watch the launch live at NASA TV. Notice: at 1610 UTC, the launch of Endeavour was scrubbed due to a failed heater in the APU (Auxiliary Power Unit) of the Shuttle. It looks like there are multiple failures on APU1. The Load Control Assembly appears to be the problem, although a short is possible. Launch would be no earlier than Monday, and likely Wednesday. Additional discussion of the APU problem can be found at NASASpaceFlight.

Endeavour’s Final Mission

STS-134 Endeavour Image Credit: NASA / Cory Huston

Endeavour is scheduled for launch at 12:47 PM Phoenix time (1947 UTC) on Friday, 29 April. The crew members for space shuttle Endeavour’s STS-134 mission are Commander Mark Kelly, Pilot Gregory H. Johnson and Mission Specialists Michael Fincke, Greg Chamitoff, Andrew Feustel and European Space Agency astronaut Roberto Vittori. During the 14-day mission, Endeavour will deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) and spare parts including two S-band communications antennas, a high-pressure gas tank, additional spare parts for Dextre.

The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer will revolutionize what we know about invisible cosmic rays the same way NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope rewrote what we know about the visible universe says the intellectual force behind the instrument. The AMS is to launch on space shuttle Endeavour in April. The AMS is a 2-ton ring of powerful magnets and ultrasensitive detectors built to track, but not capture, cosmic rays. The 15,251-pound instrument will be connected to the outside of the International Space Station, braced on the orbiting laboratory’s right hand truss and tilted a bit so it will not interfere with any of the station’s mechanisms and storage platforms. It will be operated remotely from Earth and should not require any attention from astronauts in orbit.

Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer Image Credit: NASA

CCDev2 – Sierra Nevada

NASA HL-20 Image Credit: NASA

The second round of funding in the Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program has been announced by NASA. Sierra Nevada Corporation received $80 million in the second round to go with the $20 million it received in 2010. Sierra Nevada acquired the Dream Chaser project in December 2008, and won funding in round one of the CCDev program. This was the largest award in round one. The project derives from the HL-20 program undertaken in 1990 by NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The Dream Chaser is designed to carry up to seven people to the International Space Station and back.

The vehicle is designed to launch vertically on an Atlas V rocket and land horizontally on conventional runways.

CCDev2 – Boeing

Boeing CST-100 Image Credit: Boeing

NASA announced the second round of funding in the Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program. Boeing was the big winner in CCDev-2, getting $92.3 million, on top of the $18 million it won last year. The initial $18 million allowed Boeing to complete several risk reduction demonstrations and a System Definition Review (SDR) in October, 2010. The CST-100’s system characteristics and configuration were base-lined. Boeing designed, built and tested a pressurized structure of the crew module. It also developed an avionics systems integration facility to support rapid prototyping and full-scale development.

Boeing notes that the CST-100 spacecraft relies on proven materials and subsystem technologies that are safe and affordable. Plans include ferrying astronauts and supplies to the International Space Station (ISS), as well as crew and passengers to the Space Station being proposed by Bigelow Aerospace. The CST-100 is designed to carry up to seven passengers and is designed to be launched by a number of different expendable launch vehicles. These include United Launch Alliance’s Delta 4 and Atlas 5, Space Exploration Technologies’ Falcon 9, and the European Ariane 5. NASA’s new 14-month CCDev-2 Space Act Agreement will enable Boeing to further mature its system to a Preliminary Design Review (PDR), a critical step that ensures the system design meets all requirements.

Boeing CST-100 Interior Image Credit: Boeing

Soyuz TMA-01M Returns with Three ISS Crewmembers

The Russian spacecraft Soyuz TMA-01M returned last night bearing three crew members from the International Space Station Expedition 26. Scott Kelly and Russian Flight Engineers Alexander Kaleri and Oleg Skripochka safely landed their Soyuz spacecraft on the Kazakhstan steppe, wrapping up a five-month stay aboard the International Space Station. Kaleri, the Soyuz commander, was at the controls of the spacecraft as it undocked at 9:27 PM Phoenix time Tuesday night from the station’s Poisk module. The trio landed at 12:54 AM (0754 UTC) Wednesday at a site northeast of the town of Arkalyk.

Soyuz TMA-01M Crew Image Credit: Energia

Soyuz TMA-01M in Kazakhstan Image Credit: NASA TV

Discovery Returns

365 Days – total accumulated time in space during 39 missions. 146 million miles – total mileage accumulated during Discovery’s time in orbit. Discovery was cleared for return on the first available opportunity.

Discovery Descending Image Credit: NASA TV	Discovery Descending Image Credit: NASA TV
Discovery Approach Image Credit: NASA TV	Discovery Touchdown Image Credit: NASA TV
Discovery Chute Image Credit: NASA TV	Discovery Rollout Image Credit: NASA TV
Discovery Stopped Image Credit: NASA TV	Main Gear Touchdown: MET 12/19:03:53 – 16:57:17 UCT Nose Gear Touchdown: MET 12/19:04:04 – 16:57-28 UCT Wheel Stop: MET 12/19:04:50 – 16:58:14 UCT

Discovery’s Final Day in Orbit

Discovery is spending its final day in orbit, and is scheduled to land at the Kennedy Space Center at either 9:58 AM Phoenix time (1658 UTC) (orbit 202) or 11:34 AM Phoenix time (orbit 203) on Wednesday. Prior to reentry tomorrow, Discovery astronauts powered up one of the auxiliary power units and performed tests on the orbiter’s flight control surfaces. This provides assurance to the Mission Control staff and the Space Shuttle crew that elevons and speed brake will control the spacecraft once the shutle enters the atmosphere. The second of the main tasks today was the firing of the Space Shuttle’s Reaction Control System (RCS) thruster rockets.

Discovery Day 12 Over Morocco From ISS Image Credit: NASA

Each was fired in a standard two-pulse checkout that ensures they will properly control the shuttle during Wednesday’s de-orbit and entry back to Earth. All the jets performed normally. Depending on whether Discovery reenters during orbit 202 or 203, the track will either cross the southern Pacific and the Yucatan peninsula (202) or cross northern Mexico, southern Texas and Louisiana (203). Details can be found at NASA’s landing map page. If Discovery is unable to land Wednesday due to weather, additional opportunities are available on Thursday at Kennedy and at the backup landing site at Edwards Air Force Base in California. If Discovery lands Wednesday, it will have spent a total of 365 days in space and traveled more than 148 million miles during 39 flights. It launched on its first mission on 30 August 1984.

Discovery Undocks and Prepares to Fly Home

The Space Shuttle Discovery undocked at 5:00 AM Phoenix time (1200 UTC). The crew are currently inspecting the ship using the Shuttle payload bay robotic arm.

Shuttle Inspection with the payload bay Robotic Arm
Image Credit: NASA TV

Discovery Prepares to Leave the International Space Station for the Last Time

NASA astronauts on the Space Shuttle Discovery are packing prior to leaving the International Space Station for the last time. A farewell ceremony at 1:28 PM Phoenix time (2028 UTC) will mark the end of their stay. They will close the hatches, stay overnight and undock tomorrow.

With the Payload Bay empty, Discovery will soon depart the International Space Station Image Credit: NASA