SpaceX Rocket explodes during Test Flight

SpaceX is one of the private companies which is the most successful non-Government company in Space programs.  It was the first private company to launch a spacecraft to orbit and recover it and it was the first to launch a satellite into a geo synchronous orbit.  It is amazing that SpaceX has come so far without any set back.  But the failure happened on Friday, 23rd August, 2014 during an unmanned internal test and no payload was lost.

 SpaceX rocket exploded shortly after launching during a test flight in Texas, according to Bruce Gietzen of KXXV-TV.   Gietzen followed up by reporting there were no injuries. The rocket, which was unmanned, was launched from the SpaceX rocket-development facility in McGregor, Texas.  

Mr. John Taylor, a spokesman for SpaceX said that the prototype rocket automatically detonated after detection of an anamoly during a test flight on Friday 23rd August, 2014 in McGregor, Texas.   He said that the rocket was a three-engine version of the F9R ( FAlcon Rocket ) test vehicle, a prototype intended to pave way for fully reusable launch vehicles which would fly themselves back home. The rocket is similar to Falcon 9 which the SpaceX uses to launch unmanned cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station.  

The Flight Termination System automatically terminated the mission during the flight when an anamoly was detected.    SpaceX will review the flight record to learn more about the rocket's performance before its next test flight.  Here is a video of the launch and the explosion....

Robotic Russian CArgo Ship launched for a trip to International Space Station

An unmanned Russian spacecraft filled with three tons of cargo for the six crew members living on the International Space Station launched on 23rd July, 2014.  

The unmanned Progress 56 spacecraft launched atop a Russian built Soyuz rocket from Baikanur Cosmodrome in Kazakhistan at 5:44 PM EDT ( 21:44 GMT) and 3:44 local time on Thursday, 23rd Jult, 2014.  

The Progress 56 carrying around 2,587 Kilograms of food and other supplies for the Expedition 40 crew who are currently aboard ISS.  The spacedcraft is also delivering 800 Kg of Propellant,  26 Kg of air, 22 Kg of Oxygen, 420 Kg of Water and 1,320 Kg of supplies, spare parts and experimental hardware according to NASA.

The Progress ships normally takes around 2 days to reach ISS but the Russian craft launched on 24th July, 2014 has been accelerated and reached in 6 hours to the Science Laboratory.

The International Space Station was flying about 260 miles above north east of Kazakhistan at the time of launch and passed directly over4 the launch site three minutes later.  After a series of thruster firings by progress have adjusted the orbit to put the Russian space freighter on track for a rendezvous with the ISS and an automatic docking to the earth facing port of Piris docking compartment.  Progress 56 is slated to spend about three months docked to the complex before undocking to make way for ISS Progress 57.

The ISS Progress 55 cargo craft, which undocked from Pirs on Monday, is now a safe distance from the complex for a series of engineering tests prior to being sent to a destructive re-entry over the Pacific Ocean on July 31.

The station's crew began the workday at 6 a.m. Wednesday, four hours later than the usual 2 a.m. reveille to accommodate the late-night arrival of Progress.

Commander Steve Swanson and Flight Engineer Alexander Gerst participated in more Ocular Health exams as flight surgeons track the vision health of the astronauts aboard the station.

NASA recently identified that some astronauts experience changes in their vision, which might be related to effects of microgravity on the cardiovascular system. Researchers are working to understand and prevent these changes in astronauts. With guidance from the Ocular Health team on the ground, Gerst performed an ultrasound scan of Swanson's eyes.

Flight Engineer Reid Wiseman then pitched in to help out with Wednesday's exams and conducted an ultrasound scan of Gerst's eyes. Swanson and Gerst later measured each other's blood pressure and collected electrocardiogram data for Ocular Health.

Swanson also temporarily removed the Multi-user Droplet Combustion Apparatus from the Combustion Integrated Rack's combustion chamber to replace some igniter tips.

A video of the launch is shown below.

Five Foreign Satellites launched by Indian PSLV-C23 Rocket on 30th June, 2014

Indian Space Research Organization, ISRO bagged another success of its work horse launch vehicle PSLV.  The PSLV-C23 carrying five foreign satellites including French Satellite SPOT-7 successfully placed the satellites into their intended orbits on 30th June, 2014.


The Rocket lifted off from Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota exactly at 09:52 Hrs IST on Monday, 30th June, 2014.

PSLV-C23 injected SPOT-7, a French earth observing satellite, and four other foreign satellites, including two from Canada and one each from Germany and Singapore, into the desired orbits. This marks exclusive commercial launch by India and the 26th consecutive successful launch of PSLV.

The launch of PSLV-C23 was originally planned at 09:49 hrs IST but was delayed by 3 minutes to 09:52 Hrs IST to avoid possibility of some space debris getting in the way of the satellites.

Prime Minister of India, Sri Narendra Modi  arrived at Sriharikota on Sunday, 29th June, 2014 and has witnessed the PSLV-C23 Launch from Sriharikota.   The other dignitaries who accompanied Sri Narendra Modi are Chief Minister of AP Sri. Chandra Babu Naidu, Governor of Andhra Pradesh, Sri Narasimhan and Central
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who arrived in Sriharikota on Sunday, witnessed the PSLV-C23 launch.

Modi on Sunday tweeted his government is committed to give impetus to the country's space programme.

The live Video of the PSLV-C23 launch is shown below.
 

2nd Navigation Satellite launched by India on 4th April, 2014

The second navigation satellite of India, IRNSS-1B was launched on Friday 4th April, 2014 by Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C24.  The launch vehicle lifted off at 11:44 hrs GMT ( 17:14 hrs IST) from Satish Dhawan Space Center which is India's primary launch site.  

The launch vehicle is propelled by a solid fueled first stage and six strap-on motors.  The second stage of the rocket is the liquid engine.  The third and fourth stages of the vehicle accelerated the spacecraft to the orbital velocity.  The spacecraft was separated  20 minutes after lift off.

Initial data indicated that the launch vehicle placed the spacecraft in an orbit with a perigee of 20610 Kilometers.  It was placed with an inclination of 19.2 degrees.  The PSLV is the most powerful launch vehicle of ISRO and the Friday's mission has used the PSLV-XL version.

The IRNSS-1B is the second satellite of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System which is a 7-satellite network flying in high altitude orbit over Indian ocean. The spacecraft weighs 1,432 Kilo grams including the full load of propellant.  The satellite will maneuver itself into a 36,000 high geosynchronous orbit at 55 degrees east longitude with inclination of 29 degrees to the equator. The spacecraft will be drifting north and south of the equator, tracing a figure of eight pattern over Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea and South Asia.

The spacecraft is designed for a 10-year lift time.  Five more satellites are scheduled to be launched by mid of 2015.  The program of regional navigation system will reach users within India and surrounding regions extending about 1500 Kilometers from the Indian main land. The IRNSS services will be freely available to the public but some of the features will be restricted to the Government users.

The IRNSS-1B launched on 4th April, 2014 carries L-band and S-band navigation payloads and a rubidium atomic clock to keep the time.  A C-band transponder and a laser reflectors will help the engineers to find out the distance to the satellite in orbit which is a requirement for precise navigation services.

Four IRNSS satellites will be operating in inclined orbits ( geosynchronous orbits ) while three satellites will be orbiting in the geostationary orbit over the equator.  The navigation services will be helpful for marine traffic, emergency response officials, vehicle tracking applications, mobile communications, mapping and civilian drivers.

A Planet beyond Pluto - Scientists discover a new planet of Solar System

Scientists at the Carnegie Institute for Science has discovered a new and distant dwarf planet beyond Pluto in our solar system recently in third week of March, 2014.  The planet is named as 2012 VP113.  The scientists believe that the existence of this planet indicates that there may be another actual planet there which may be ten times bigger than the Earth.

The dwarf planet seems to be around 450 Kms.  wide  and orbits roughly 12.4 billion kilometers away from the Sun.  This distance is roughly 83 Astronomical Units away from Sun.  One astronomical unit or AU is 155.838 million Kilometers.

If the size of the dwarf planet is confirmed, it could be qualified as a dwarf planet in the same category of Pluto.  The researchers said that the discovery proves the existence of the inner Oort cloud, which is a region of icy bodies that lies far beyond the orbit of Nepture,.   The planet is currently named as 2012VP113 as announced on 26th March, 2014.  

The size of 2012 VP113 is half the size of Sedna discovered earlier.  Dwarf planets such as 2012 VP113 and Sedna, which travels as far as 949 AUs away from the sun on its 11,400-year orbit, form a placid "inner" Oort Cloud distinct from the outer one, the study suggests. Comets that plunge into the inner solar system are thought to be dispatched from the outer Oort Cloud by gravitational nudges from stars passing near our solar system.

 

Astronaut and 2 Cosmonauts arrive at International Space Station after 2 day delay

 A NASA astronaut and two Cosmonauts arrived finally at the International Space Station two days later than originally planned.

A Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying NASA astronaut Mr. Steve Swanson and Soviet Cosmonauts Mr. Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev docked with the orbiting ISS at 7:53 PM EDT ( 23:53 GMT) on Thursday, March, 27, 2014. 

The three crew members blasted off on Tuesday afternoon ( March 25, 2014) and expected to arrive six hours later.  But there was a failure in the Soyuz to complete one of the automated burns required to pull off this "fast track" trip, forcing mission controllers to revert to a more traditional two-day chase and rendezvous.

 NASA officials said that all the systems on board Soyuz were functioning normally.  Arrival of these three crew members brings the space station back up to its full complement of six crew members.  The new crew members join the NASA's Rick Mastracchio, Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata and Cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin.

 

Japan launches next generation satellite to track rainfall and snow

The H-IIA rocket blasted off from a southern Japanese island at 3:37 am on Friday, 28th February, 2014  (1837 GMT Thursday) as scheduled, with the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) core observatory aboard. 


The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory, which is jointly developed by NASA and the JAXA (Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency) was launched by Japan and the rocket blasted off from Japan's Tanegashima Space Center on 28th February, 2014.


The GPM satellite is designed to collect data from several other satellites in orbit and add that to its own measurement to build up a detailed picture of precipitation around Earth.  Weather forecasters say that with more detailed and  complete map of rain and precipitation they will be better able to predict events like typhoons and floods.  

The GPM will provide near real-time observations of precipitation every 3 hours all over the world which improves scientists' understanding of climate changes and global water cycle.

The H-IIA rocket blasted off from a southern Japanese island at 3:37 am on Friday (1837 GMT Thursday) as scheduled, with the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) core observatory aboard, JAXA said.
The satellite, jointly developed by Japan and the United States, is designed to collect data from several other satellites in orbit and add that to its own measurements to build up a detailed picture of precipitation around the planet.
Weather forecasters say that with a more detailed and complete map of rain they will be better able to predict extreme events such as typhoons and floods.
On Thursday, Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, who is now aboard the International Space Station along with NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio and Russia's Mikhail Tyurin, told his 74,000 Twitter followers he was hoping for a smooth launch.


Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2014-02-japan-readies-hi-tech-global-rainfall.html#jCp