SpaceX making Easter delivery of station supplies

[Buster's Uncle]

SpaceX making Easter delivery of station supplies
Associated Press
By MARCIA DUNN  23 hours ago



This Friday, April 18, 2014 image made from video shows the aft of the SpaceX Dragon capsule as it separates from the second stage rocket into orbit on its own. The Dragon cargo ship is scheduled to reach the orbiting lab on Sunday, April 20, 2014 - Easter morning. (AP Photo/NASA)



CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A SpaceX supply ship rocketed toward the International Space Station on Friday, setting the stage for an Easter morning delivery and urgent spacewalking repairs later in the week.

Following its midday launch through cloudy skies, the Dragon cargo carrier was shown drifting away in the blackness of space, against the blue backdrop of Earth.

It's transporting 2½ tons of goods, including a new spacesuit, spacesuit replacement parts, much-needed food, legs for NASA's humanoid, Robonaut, a bevy of mating flies, and germs gathered from sports arenas and historic sites across the U.S.

Neither NASA nor SpaceX packed any Easter goodies, but the families of the six astronauts sent private care packages.

"It will be a surprise for all of us when they open the hatch," said NASA's human exploration chief, Bill Gerstenmaier.

The Dragon will reach the orbiting lab on Sunday morning. That pushes urgent spacewalking repairs to Wednesday; NASA wants a bad backup computer replaced before something else breaks.



This Friday, April 18, 2014 image made from video shows the engine of the second stage of the rocket carrying the SpaceX Dragon capsule. The Dragon cargo ship is scheduled to reach the orbiting lab on Sunday, April 20, 2014 - Easter morning. (AP Photo/NASA)


This was the second launch attempt this week for SpaceX after a month's delay.

On Monday, NASA's commercial supplier was foiled by a leaky rocket valve. The valve was replaced, and the company aimed for a Friday liftoff despite a dismal forecast. Storms cleared out of Cape Canaveral just in time.

SpaceX's billionaire chief executive officer, Elon Musk, was delighted with the successful launch for NASA, the customer. "This was a happy day," he told reporters from company headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif.

Last Friday, a critical backup computer failed outside the space station, and NASA considered postponing the SpaceX flight. The primary computer is working fine, but numerous systems would be seriously compromised if it broke, too. A double failure also would hinder visits by the Dragon and other vessels.

"It's imperative that we maintain" backups for these external command-routing computer boxes, also called multiplexer-demultiplexers, or MDMs, said flight director Brian Smith said Friday. "Right now, we don't have that."



A SpaceX rocket Dargon cargo ship lifts off from launch complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Friday, April 18, 2014. The rocket will deliver research equipment, food and other supplies to the International Space Station. (AP Photo/John Raoux)


NASA decided late this week to use the gasket-like material already on board the space station for the repair, instead of waiting for the Dragon and the new, precision-cut material that NASA rushed on board for the computer swap. Astronauts trimmed their own thermal material Friday to fit the bottom of the replacement computer, and inserted a fresh circuit card.

The space station's crew watched the launch via a live TV hookup; the outpost was soaring 260 miles above Turkey at the time of ignition. Video beamed down from Dragon showed the solar wings unfurling.

The shipment is close to five weeks late. Initially set for mid-March, the launch was delayed by extra prepping, then damage to an Air Force radar and, finally on Monday, the rocket leak.

Earlier, as the countdown entered its final few hours, NASA's space station program manager Mike Suffredini said an investigation continues into the reason for last summer's spacesuit failure. The helmet worn by an Italian astronaut filled with water from the suit's cooling system, and he nearly drowned during a spacewalk.

Routine U.S. spacewalks are on hold until engineers are certain what caused the water leak. The upcoming spacewalk by the two Americans on board is considered an exception because of its urgent nature; it will include no unnecessary tasks, just the 2½-hour computer swap.



A rocket carrying the SpaceX Dragon ship lifts off from launch complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Friday, April 18, 2014. The rocket will deliver research equipment, food and other supplies to the International Space Station. (AP Photo/John Raoux)


NASA is paying SpaceX — Space Exploration Technologies Corp. — and Virginia's Orbital Sciences Corp. to keep the orbiting lab well stocked. It was SpaceX's fourth trip to the space station. Russia, Japan and Europe also make periodic deliveries.

Unlike the other cargo carriers, the Dragon can bring items back for analysis.

Among the science samples going up on the Dragon and slated to return with it in a month: 200 fruit flies and their expected progeny, and germs collected from stadiums and sports arenas, as well as such notables as America's Liberty Bell and Sue, the T. rex fossil skeleton at Chicago's Field Museum.

Scientists will study the hearts of the returning flies — as many as 3,000 are expected for the trip home. The germ samples, once back on Earth, will be compared with duplicate cultures on the ground.

Staying up there — for as long as the space station lives — will be new legs for NASA's humanoid, Robonaut. The indoor robot has been in orbit for three years, but only from the waist up.

___

Online:

NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

SpaceX: http://www.spacex.com


http://news.yahoo.com/spacex-making-easter-delivery-station-supplies-203521580.html

[Buster's Uncle]

Storms threaten 2nd launch try to space station
Associated Press
By MARCIA DUNN  April 18, 2014 11:46 AM



FILE - This Jan. 12, 2013 photo provided by NASA shows the SpaceX Dragon vehicle inside a processing hangar at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla. SpaceX has scheduled another launch attempt Friday, April 18, 2014 to the International Space Station. NASA confirmed the launch date Wednesday, April 16, 2014, two days after a last-minute rocket leak delayed the delivery mission. Stormy weather, however, is forecast Friday. Saturday is the backup launch date. (AP Photo/NASA, Kim Shiflett)



CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — SpaceX returned to the launch pad Friday in hopes of finally delivering supplies to the International Space Station, but stormy weather threatened to interfere.

NASA's commercial supplier was foiled by a leaky rocket valve during Monday's launch attempt. The valve was replaced, and the company aimed for a liftoff at 3:25 p.m. Friday. Forecasters put the odds of acceptable weather at 40 percent.

The unmanned Dragon cargo ship contains 2½ tons of station supplies, including material originally intended for urgent spacewalking repairs coming up in just a few days.

A critical backup computer failed outside the space station last Friday. Astronauts will replace it as early as Sunday; the timing for the spacewalk depends on when the Dragon flies.

The primary computer is working fine, but numerous systems would be seriously compromised if it broke, too. A double failure also would hinder visits by the Dragon and other vessels.

"It's imperative that we maintain" backups for these external command-routing computer boxes, also called multiplexer-demultiplexers, or MDMs, said flight director Brian Smith. "Right now, we don't have that."

NASA decided late this week to use the gasket-like material already on board the space station for the repair, instead of waiting for the Dragon. Astronauts trimmed the thermal material Friday to fit the bottom of the replacement computer, and inserted a fresh circuit card.

Much-needed food is also aboard the Dragon, along with a new spacesuit and spacesuit replacement parts. NASA wants these things at the space station as soon as possible.

The shipment is already more than a month late. Initially set for mid-March, the launch was delayed by extra prepping, then damage to an Air Force radar and, finally on Monday, the rocket leak.

As the countdown entered its final few hours, NASA's space station program manager Mike Suffredini said an investigation continues into the reason for last summer's spacesuit failure. The helmet worn by an Italian astronaut filled with water from the suit's cooling system, and he nearly drowned during a spacewalk.

Routine U.S. spacewalks are on hold until engineers are certain what caused the water leak. The upcoming spacewalk by the two Americans on board is considered an exception because of its urgent nature; it will include no unnecessary tasks, just the 2½-hour computer swap.

NASA is paying the California-based SpaceX — Space Exploration Technologies Corp. — and Virginia's Orbital Sciences Corp. to keep the orbiting lab well stocked. The Dragon also can bring items back for analysis. Russia, Japan and Europe also make periodic deliveries.

In case the Dragon remains grounded Friday, better flying weather is anticipated Saturday. The company could try again to launch next week as well.

___

Online:

NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

SpaceX: http://www.spacex.com/


http://news.yahoo.com/storms-threaten-2nd-launch-try-space-station-130815513.html