iss International Space Station - Mission Status and Updates (Thread 2)

[Unobscured Vision]

This thread is respectfully dedicated to our buddy @Draggendrop. 

 

The previous thread was getting quite long, and since we haven't really paid much attention to the ISS much recently I thought it was high time to begin a new one. And what better way to kick it off than with the following news item that's sure to put a smile on everyone's face.  Standby one.

[Unobscured Vision]

Google Street view of the International Space Station!

ISS Cupola Module - Google Street View | Article link | DIY Photography website

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GOOGLE STREET VIEW NOW LETS YOU EXPLORE THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION

 

Google Street View lets you see almost all corners of the world, but now you can even see the world from another angle – from space. They launched the latest novelty to the web app, which lets you explore the inside of the International Space Station (ISS). In addition, you can also see the images of the Earth taken from the observation cupola.

 

Thomas Pesquet, an astronaut with the European Space Agency (ESA), worked with Google on the project. He spent six months inside the ISS, and during this time he was taking the panoramic images of the Earth and of the Station.

 

(read the rest of the article at the link above.)

How cool is THIS?!   

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

 

 

Soyuz MS-05 has landed in the Kazakh steppe!

 

ISS Expedition 52

 

[DocM]

If this scrub was for the same reason as Progress MS-07 then it was a faulty avionics (flight) computer. 

 

/sigh

 

 

 

 

 

[Unobscured Vision]

Wow .. some QA issues going on in Russia's space program too. My goodness.

[DocM]

Enter: Bigelow's X-BASE, which would attach to ISS for a few years then fly off to become the core of a commercial low Earth orbit  space station. 

 

Cis-lunar space would then become the target of the international partners with the building of the Deep Space Gateway station in a high lunar orbit.

 

 

[DocM]

The NASA ISS transition report has been submitted to Congress.

 

Before anyone says anything, this transitioning away from govts running ISS to commercializing it, or using commercial space stations,  is not new. It's been in the works for several years.

 

https://science.house.gov/sites/republicans.science.house.gov/files/documents/HR5503BabinNASAAuthorizationAct_2.pdf

 

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TUESDAY, April 17, at 10 a.m. EDT, the U.S. House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology will meet to consider the following legislation: H.R. 5503, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2018, introduced today by Rep. Brian Babin (R- Texas). The legislation authorizes the programs of NASA for fiscal years 2018 and 2019.

 

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(4) The ISS transition report, submitted pursuant to section 50111(c)(2) of title 51, United States Code, provides an explanation of NASA's plans to foster the development of private industry capabilities and private demand with a goal of ending direct NASA support for ISS operations by the end of fiscal year 2024.

(5) The plans laid out in the ISS transition report are conditionally flexible and require feedback to inform next steps. In addition, the feasibility of ending direct NASA support for ISS operations by the end of fiscal year 2024 is dependent on many factors, some of which are indeterminate until the Administration carries out the initial phases of the ISS transition plan.
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Edited April 15, 2018 by DocM

[DocM]

NASA's been doing to Commercial Resupply Services 2 what it did to Commercial Crew; they got base model F-150's in CRS 1 and now wants Cadillac Escalades. 

 

WRT SpaceX, NASA was  given the choice of Dragon 1 or Dragon 2, chose Dragon 2 (Crew Dragon) then decided to modify the crap out of it. 

 

One good change is +30% in Dragon 2's pressurized cargo volume.

 

Business insider... 

 

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SpaceX cargo launches may soon cost 50% more  but it's still an offer NASA can't refuse

* Government auditors published a new report about NASA's commercial spaceflight program that focuses in part on SpaceX, the rocket company founded by Elon Musk.

* The report says sending cargo to and from the International Space Station may soon cost NASA about 14% more per kilogram.

* It also said that SpaceX will increase its price about 50%, due to new NASA requirements that forced the company to redesign its Dragon cargo spaceship.

* But SpaceX missions will still be cheaper than its competitors' and do things other companies can't.

* The report pins most of the blame on NASA for the cost increase.
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NASA's rising costs

Auditors cited NASA for missing opportunities to cut redundancies and bargain on pricing, and noted that the agency forced SpaceX to (expensively) redesign its Dragon spaceship from the bottom up.
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Dragon 2 changes, which of course were not well coordinated with the Commercial Crew program.

 

[Unobscured Vision]

Yep ... and there are two separate lines for Dragon 2's. One for Cargo and one for Crew. It's costing SpaceX so much more time and money to build them like this, and it is NASA's fault that all of this has happened.

 

Dragon 2 should have been flying two years ago. Crew Dragons should have been doing test flights four years ago. Yes, FOUR, y'all read that correctly. NASA (courtesy of OldSpace initiatives) prevented it. OldSpace has likewise tripped SpaceX up in Dragon and Dragon 2 development via those same lackeys working at NASA.

 

Dirty, dirty business practices afoot as I constantly mention. OldSpace cannot simply let things be, or play fairly. They must antagonize, manipulate, and otherwise lie in order to maintain outward appearances.

 

AKA "business as usual".

 

And people wonder why there's so much mistrust of the Mil/Gov Contractors. There are only a mere handful of them who are trustworthy, and none of them who've been in business before 2000. Certainly not anyone tied to OldSpace.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if SpaceX pays the penalty & bails out of Commercial Crew, finishes out the CRS-2 contract, tells NASA where to stick it and moves forward with all intensity and resources on BFR/BFS. They don't actually need NASA as much as NASA needs SpaceX. THEN Musk sends a nice, photocopied image to the heads of ULA, Boeing, and LockMart for all of the griefing they've done over the years -- I'm personally thinking a picture of himself on the surface of Mars proudly flying a middle finger would be appropriate. 

[DocM]

Mike Gold was Director of DC Operations for Bigelow Aerospace before moving on.

 

NASA's Advisory Council is talking about selling naming rights to missions (boosting the NASA budget), allowing astronauts to do endorsements, doing private science, adding commercial modules (Bigelow's XBASE B330, Axiom etc.)...

 

https://spacenews.com/new-nasa-advisory-committee-to-explore-enhanced-commercial-activities/

 

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New NASA advisory committee to explore enhanced commercial activities

WASHINGTON  NASA has tasked a new advisory committee with studying greater commercial activities at the agency, including selling naming rights for NASA missions and allowing astronauts to perform commercial work.

In a presentation at an Aug. 29 meeting of the NASA Advisory Council at the Ames Research Center in California, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine announced the formation of a new committee within the council that will examine regulatory and policy issues.

Bridenstine named as chairman of the committee Mike Gold, vice president of regulatory issues at Maxar Technologies. Gold is also chairman of the Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC), an advisory group for the Federal Aviation Administration's Office of Commercial Space Transportation.

"NASA is famous for overcoming herculean technological challenges," Gold said at the council meeting. "However , in this new era of public-private partnerships and commercial space development, conquering regulatory and policy hurdles can be just as important to the agency as any engineering challenge that NASA may face."

The committee, he said, will work to "target and tackle barriers"  to achieving the agency's goals on a wide range of issues related to commercialization. One area of focus will be commercial activities on the International Space Station, from allowing NASA astronauts to perform commercial work there to issues associated with adding private-sector modules to the station.

"The great challenge private sector companies face is finding ways to bolster true commercial demand for human spaceflight" in low Earth orbit, Gold said. The ISS can play a "vital role" in that effort, he added, "but for this to occur, obsolete rules and regulations must be reviewed and revised."

Both Gold and Bridenstine, though, showed openness to greater commercial activities by NASA itself. That includes studying the ability for NASA astronauts to accept "endorsements and other media opportunities" as a way of both promoting themselves and the agency.

Bridenstine noted that commercial crew vehicles will be flying private astronauts who will not have restrictions on their commercial activities. "If those astronauts are not limited in the way they are able to promote themselves, then should NASA astronauts be limited in how we promote NASA?" he said.
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[DocM]

https://spacenews.com/house-joins-senate-in-push-to-extend-iss/

 

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House joins Senate in push to extend ISS

 

WASHINGTON — A key House member announced Sept. 26 that he is introducing legislation that would extend operations of the International Space Station to 2030, weeks after senators sought a similar extension.

In his opening statement at a House space subcommittee hearing on the past and future of NASA's space exploration efforts, Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas), chairman of the subcommittee, said he was introducing legislation called the Leading Human Spaceflight Act that he said was designed to "provide further congressional direction to NASA."

The text of the bill, designated H.R. 6910, was not immediately available. However, Babin said in his remarks that one provision of the bill would extend the existing authorization for operating the ISS from 2024 to 2030 unless a viable and less expensive commercial alternative was available sooner.

"As I've said before, the ISS is the crown jewel of America's human spaceflight program," he said. "Leadership in [low Earth orbit] returns tremendous economic benefits of space exploration to Earth."
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[Unobscured Vision]

That's fine with me. Plenty of science to do, lots of new technologies to prove, and new Astronauts/Cosmonauts/Others who need to get feet wet. The ISS is still the best place to do that.

 

The station is in good shape, all things considered. It'll need another round of maintenance and upgrades to make it to 2030 though. The solar arrays especially; the technology is already a few orders of magnitude better than what they're equipped with up there.

 

Dealie-O is it'll require a huge fairing or a Utility BFS to tote 'em up there ... pretty long arrays.

[Jim K Global Moderator]

Good, it should stay with the international community vs. commercialization (until the maintenance/age becomes overbearing/unsafe).

[DocM]

"The Plan" appears to be flying new modules to prove themselves, which would fly off later to become new stations; 2 Russian, perhaps Bigelow's XBASE and others. Depends on how the NextSTEP 2 space habitat program turns out.

 

Two problems with ISS are its aging solar arrays and twitchy ECLSS system. Paragon SDC and Honeywell, as well as SpaceX and (separately) SNC's ORBITEC division are working in more closed cycle systems for deep space, but adapting them would be up to the partners.

[Draggendrop Veteran]

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Welcome home! @Astro_Feustel, @OlegMKS and @astro_ricky are back on Earth after a 197-day mission aboard the @Space_Station, landing this moring at 7:44am ET. Check out the first photos of landing - https://flic.kr/s/aHsmt8qDof

https://twitter.com/nasahqphoto/status/1047834451491872768

 

[+John. Subscriber¹]

https://news.sky.com/story/emergency-landing-for-astronauts-as-rocket-fails-11523326

 

"A US and Russian astronaut are making an emergency landing following a rocket failure.

 

Shortly after lift-off, the Soyuz rocket was reported to have suffered significant engine difficulties which has caused the mission to be aborted.

 

The crew members are "alive and set to land in Kazakhstan" according to Russian media."

 

[Draggendrop Veteran]

 

 

sample image...

 

 

Check out the Flickr site...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasa2explore/sets/72157702855486404/

[Draggendrop Veteran]

Halloween post....

 

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That is quite a spooky story, but did you know #Canadarm2 is actually a versatile “monster”? @Stranger_Things Photos: @Netflix & @NASA #Halloween

https://twitter.com/csa_asc/status/1057730086735089667

 

 

 

reaction...

 

 

[Draggendrop Veteran]

Cargo ships...

 

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Nov. 15   Antares • NG-10

Launch time: 0949 GMT (4:49 a.m. EST)
Launch site: Pad 0A, Wallops Island, Virginia

A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket will launch the 11th Cygnus cargo freighter on the 10th operational cargo delivery flight to the International Space Station. The mission is known as NG-10. The rocket will fly in the Antares 230 configuration, with two RD-181 first stage engines and a Castor 30XL second stage. Delayed from March and Nov. 10. Moved forward from Nov. 17. [Oct. 14]

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Nov. 18  Soyuz • Progress 71P

Launch time: TBD
Launch site: Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan

A Russian government Soyuz rocket will launch the 71st Progress cargo delivery ship to the International Space Station. Delayed from Oct. 31. [Oct. 25]

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Dec. 4  Falcon 9 • SpaceX CRS 16

Launch time: 1838 GMT (1:38 p.m. EST)
Launch site: Cape Canaveral, Florida

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the 18th Dragon spacecraft mission on its 16th operational cargo delivery flight to the International Space Station. The flight is being conducted under the Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA. Delayed from Nov. 16. Moved forward from Nov. 29. Delayed from Nov. 27. [Oct. 31]

https://spaceflightnow.com/launch-schedule/

 

3 ships in 19 days with 3 crew on ISS...they will be busy...

[Unobscured Vision]

Yeah they will. Gosh.

[Draggendrop Veteran]

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18 yrs ago today! Cosmonauts Sergei Krikalev, left, Yuri Gidzenko, and @NASA astronaut Bill Shepherd, right, on the screen of the Russian Mission Control Center. 1st live television of Expedition 1 onboard the International Space Station, Nov. 2, 2000 Photo: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

https://twitter.com/ingallsimages/status/1058497471750512642

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/Space_Station/status/1058418482600177665

 

[Draggendrop Veteran]

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*November 3, 2007*

On this day 11 years ago, our team at #NASA redefined what was possible. 11 years, and our 5 stitches are holding strong on the #ISS Solar Array!

Captured this image (‘5 Stitches in Time’) of @AstroDocScott from my ‘front row’ seat!

*Photo Courtesy of NASA😉

https://twitter.com/Astro_Wheels/status/1058790868214337537

 

 

[DocM]

Wow....

 

 

[Unobscured Vision]

 Whoa ... that's bold coming from him.

[Draggendrop Veteran]

On 11/4/2018 at 1:09 PM, Unobscured Vision said:

 Whoa ... that's bold coming from him.

No pun intended?