Boeing Transfers US Portions of International Space Station to NASA

HOUSTON, March 5, 2010 — Boeing [NYSE: BA] today officially turned over the U.S. on-orbit segment of the International Space Station (ISS) to NASA with the signing of government form DD-250 at the conclusion of an Acceptance Review Board meeting in Houston.

Often referred to as “handing over the keys,” the DD-250 is equivalent to a final bill of sale that formally transfers ownership. Through today’s review board, NASA and Boeing verified the delivery, assembly, integration and activation of all hardware and software required by contract.

“It was 10 years in the making, but NASA’s acceptance today confirms that the U.S.-built portion of the International Space Station meets its requirements and that its hardware and software are in excellent shape,” said Joy Bryant, Boeing ISS vice president and program manager. “The vehicle is capable of being fully utilized as a national laboratory, and we look forward to sustaining it for many years to come.”

The U.S. segment interfaces with all the ISS international partner elements. It encompasses the truss segments, including the four solar arrays, and several pressurized modules, which consist of:

• Unity and Harmony, connecting nodes 1 and 2
• the Destiny laboratory module
• the Quest airlock
• pressurized mating adapters
• the Zarya storage module, built in cooperation with the Russian Federal Space Agency
• more than 2 million lines of software code to operate all the components.

Additionally, thousands of components make up the segment’s core systems for thermal control; environmental control; guidance and navigation; communication and tracking; electrical power distribution; command and control; structure and mechanisms; and robotics.

This year, the ISS will mark 10 consecutive years of human presence on orbit. It was designated a national laboratory by the U.S. Congress in 2005 and selected for the 2009 Collier Trophy by the National Aeronautic Association. The station takes advantage of the microgravity conditions 220 miles above the Earth’s surface for research across a wide variety of fields, including human life sciences, biological science, human physiology, physical and materials science, and Earth and space science.

“Research conducted aboard the ISS will benefit the entire world with unique scientific breakthroughs, and its crews will inspire a new generation to look toward space,” said Bryant.

Boeing is the prime contractor to NASA for the ISS. In addition to designing and building all the major U.S. elements, Boeing also is responsible for ensuring the successful integration of new hardware and software — including components from international partners — as well as for providing sustaining engineering work.

Boeing’s 3rd GOES Satellite Sends 1st Signals From Space

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., March 5, 2010 – Boeing [NYSE: BA] has received the first on-orbit signals from the third Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) built by Boeing for NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The satellite, GOES-P, is healthy and ready to begin thruster firings to move to its on-orbit test location. GOES-P is a Boeing 601 satellite that will provide enhanced Earth-observation and weather-monitoring services.

GOES-P launched on a Delta IV rocket at 6:57 p.m. Eastern time on March 4 from Space Launch Complex 37B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. Controllers confirmed initial contact with the spacecraft today at 12:52 a.m. Eastern time at the NASA Deep Space Network Canberra ground station in Australia. Boeing Launch Services procured the vehicle and mission services from United Launch Alliance.

“GOES-P’s precision imaging and navigation technologies will improve weather forecasting by providing image data that is two to three times more accurately located,” said Craig Cooning, vice president and general manager of Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems. “We look forward to working with NASA and NOAA in the months ahead as GOES-P is tested and deployed as an on-orbit spare that can be called immediately to action, especially during emergencies.”

GOES-P will be placed in geosynchronous orbit at 89.5 degrees west longitude for approximately five months of on-orbit operational testing. Following NASA and NOAA’s acceptance, GOES-P will join GOES-14 (formerly called GOES-O) in storage at 105 degrees west longitude to operate as backups for primary satellites GOES-11 and GOES-13. GOES-13 is in the process of being activated to replace GOES-12. Together, the satellites will improve weather forecasting with sharper vision and longer life and help NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center monitor severe weather events.

The GOES N-P series represents the newest generation of satellite technology and a significant improvement over earlier environmental systems. The prime instrument on GOES-P, the imager, captures images of the Earth with a resolution accuracy of 1 kilometer from an altitude of 22,240 miles above the Earth’s surface. The satellite’s highly stable optical bench enables more accurate predictions of storm location and movement by protecting the operational instruments from thermal or motion disruptions. GOES-P also can store enough power to operate during the eclipse season, when there is no sunlight to power its solar array.

Source and picture: Boeing

Space Shuttles Final Flight Tank Spliced Together.

NEW ORLEANS, LA., March 2nd, 2010 — The Space Shuttle Programs final flight tank  designated External Tank-138  has completed a critical production milestone at the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility. Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) builds the External Tanks in New Orleans where its engineers and technicians mechanically spliced ET-138s liquid oxygen (LO2)/intertank to the liquid hydrogen (LH2) tank, thus producing a whole tank for the first time in the production process.

The work is performed in Cell A in the 20-story-tall Vertical Assembly Building, and is the only time during production that the tank is standing upright. Workers also completed foam closeouts on the LH2 to intertank flange. 

An External Tank is actually three components in one. The 54.6-foot-tall bullet-shaped LO2 tank sits at the top. The 22.5-foot-long intertank separates the LO2 tank and the LH2 tank and does not hold fuel. Unpressurized, the intertank serves as the forward attachment point for the Solid Rocket Boosters. The bottom vessel is the 96.7-foot-tall LH2 tank. The LO2 tank and intertank are already spliced together when they enter Cell A. 

Lockheed Martin employees loaded the tanks into the cell and completed the splicing and laydown of the tank in a record 40 days. The prior eight tanks averaged 60 days in Cell A. 

ET-138 now proceeds to the Final Assembly area for more processing and is scheduled for completion June 29. When ET-138 is delivered to NASA, it will be 15 stories tall (154 feet), nearly 28 feet in diameter, and weigh 58,500 pounds empty. When filled with 534,000 gallons of propellant on the launch pad, the tank will weigh nearly 1.7 million pounds. ET-138 is scheduled to launch with Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-133) on September 16 — the final shuttle launch of the 29-year program. ET-138 will help propel Discovery to orbit and then separate from the shuttle 8½ minutes post-launch after Main Engine Cut-off or MECO.

Source: Lockheed Martin

FALCON 9 VERTICAL AT THE CAPE

 

Taking the rocket vertical was the most recent milestone in a series of key launch prep activities at the Cape in recent weeks. Prior to this, SpaceX fully integrated all flight hardware, mating the first stage, second stage and Dragon qualification spacecraft in the SpaceX hangar at SLC-40.

Falcon 9 flight hardware undergoing final integration in the hangar at SpaceX’s Cape Canaveral launch site in Florida. Components include: Dragon spacecraft qualification unit (l), second stage with Merlin Vacuum engine (ctr), first stage with nine Merlin 1C engines (r). Credit: SpaceX

Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Dragon spacecraft fully integrated in the SpaceX hangar at Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) in Cape Canaveral, FL. Credit: Chris Thompson/SpaceX

We then raised the entire vehicle and placed it on to the mobile transporter. The following days involved connecting the vehicle to the transporter’s support systems, including lines for RP-1 fuel, liquid oxygen (LOX), gaseous helium and nitrogen, as well as numerous electrical and data connections.

These attach to the vehicle through three umbilical connectors – two at the base of the first stage on opposite sides, and one at the top of the interstage that supplies the second stage. They remain connected until liftoff, when they detach and pull away from the departing vehicle, just as with the Falcon 1.

Credit: Chris Thompson/SpaceX

After verifying all the connections (leak checking the fluid and gas systems, and continuity checking the electrical systems), the team joined the entire flight-ready Falcon 9 to the launch support system for the first time. The process went very smoothly thanks to the efforts of our hardworking team down at the Cape.

Next, we opened the hangar doors and rolled the entire system out to the launch platform. There, we anchored to the launch mount, and connected the combined transporter/rocket to the ground-based feeds and support. We then conducted another set of system checks to verify those systems – the same set of liquids, gasses, electrical and data.

Video: The full flight-ready Falcon 9 with Dragon qualification spacecraft rolls out of the SpaceX hangar at SLC-40, Cape Canaveral, Florida. Click image to play video. Credit: SpaceX.

Mounted on the mobile transporter, the full flight-ready Falcon 9 with Dragon qualification spacecraft rolls to the launch pad at SLC-40, Cape Canaveral, Florida. Credit: SpaceX.

On the morning of Saturday 20 February, we brought the vehicle to vertical, and began preparations for tanking and static test firing.

The full flight-ready Falcon 9 with Dragon qualification spacecraft stands on the launch pad at SLC-40, Cape Canaveral, Florida. Credit: SpaceX.

Aerial view of Falcon 9 with Dragon qualification spacecraft on the launch pad at SLC-40, Cape Canaveral, Florida. Credit: SpaceX.

The full flight-ready Falcon 9 with Dragon qualification spacecraft stands on the launch pad at SLC-40, Cape Canaveral, Florida. Credit: Chris Thompson/SpaceX.

Coming up next, we prepare the vehicle and launch pad for static firing. During the test firing we will collect data from numerous sensors on and around the vehicle, then review all data thoroughly prior to launch.

High-performance ESA receiver brings satnav indoors

Satellite navigation is having an enormous impact on our daily lives. In practical terms it means the only place left to get lost is indoors, where satnav signals fail to reach. But one ESA project is changing that.
 
With initial results presented at last week’s Techno/Innovation Days, the DINGPOS (Demonstrator for Indoor GNSS Positioning) project combines a highly-sensitive receiver capable of picking up GPS and Galileo signals indoors with additional positioning methods.

These include accelerometer and gyroscope sensors, local WiFi-based positioning and ‘map-matching’ – associating available location data of its user in terms of a computer model of the building concerned, like a character moving through a video game.

“Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals are intended for outdoor use of course,” said David Jimenez-Baños, overseeing one of two DINGPOS contracts for ESA. “They can pass through windows and walls however – depending on the material used – though the signals are hugely attenuated. Our receiver is 10 decibels more sensitive than the best commercially available equipment, meaning it can detect GNSS signals that are 10 times weaker.”

Gustavo Lopez-Risueño, running ESA’s second DINGPOS contract, explained how it is done: “The ingredients are long integration time and computing power. A standard outdoor receiver integrates GNSS signals for just a few milliseconds, while it takes us a comparatively lengthy two seconds or even more.

“Longer integration times also require a narrower frequency resolution. Normally a standard receiver would have a resolution of hundreds of hertz, but the DINGPOS approach goes down to a single hertz. Putting these two factors together, our signal integration involves something like a million times more processing overall.”

This extreme effort is still worthwhile because Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs) integrating accelerometers and gyroscopes are prone to drift over time. Any GNSS signal that can be detected works as an absolute reference for cross-checking and correcting the user’s estimated position.

“Nowadays IMUs are mass-produced for the automobile industry but we have gone with a pedestrian-tailored design that can measure each and every step its wearer takes,” Mr Lopez-Risueño continued. “But however well it operates, an inertial system can’t do the job alone. So we also make use of whatever GNSS signals of opportunity we can acquire.

“We also plan to employ a building’s wireless network, although this requires a map of the network footprint, detailing the power required from each and every access point. It is feasible, although major calibration efforts are required. And map-matching provides an additional constraint – we can be sure the user is not going to walk through walls!”

Initially the DINGPOS system is envisaged as serving emergency services, with other applications under consideration for the longer term. A pair of consortia – one led by IFEN in Germany in partnership with UFAF, AUDENS and Telespazio and the other led by GMV in Spain and Portugal in partnership with TAS-F, UAB, ADI and Saphirion – are developing and testing separate platforms in parallel.

Testing has been taking place at the European Navigation Laboratory at ESTEC, the respective company facilities and the Galileo Test and Development Environment in Bavaria, Germany. This test facility is equipped with Galileo-like transmitters placed at high points in advance of Europe’s own GNSS system becoming operational.
 
 
The DINGPOS project is supported through ESA’s Basic Technology Research Programme (TRP), and builds on previous Agency research, with both consortia exploiting technology originally patented by ESA within this field.

DINGPOS remains a proof-of-concept-project at this stage. The current platforms are bulky – reflecting the sheer density of number-crunching required – and require transport on a backpack or trolley.

That could change in future, Mr Jimenez concluded: “Our design and processing algorithms are on the cutting-edge. Right now we are continuing to test and demonstrate what can be achieved but there is no reason in principle why at some point a similar system could not be integrated into a hand-held device.”

Source: ESA

Space shuttle Endeavour is home after two weeks in space

Endeavour Completes Mission, Lands at KSC

Space shuttle Endeavour is home after two weeks in space, having delivered the final U.S. module and a “room with a view” to the International Space Station. STS-130 Commander George Zamka guided Endeavour to a landing at the Kennedy Space Center’s Shuttle Landing Facility at 10:20 p.m. EST, to wrap up a 5.7 million mile mission.

Zamka, pilot Terry Virts and Mission Specialists Kathryn Hire, Stephen Robinson, Nicholas Patrick and Robert Behnken left behind more than 36,000 pounds of hardware that included the Tranquility Node 3 and the unique cupola providing a 360-degree view through seven windows.

Behnken and Patrick conducted three spacewalks during the mission totaling 18 hours, 14 minutes. That brings the totals for station assembly to 140 spacewalks and more than 873 hours.

Source and picture: NASA

Endeavours Crew Prepares to Depart Orbital Outpost Today; Landing Sunday

Endeavour and Station Crews Say Goodbye

The hatches between space shuttle Endeavour and the International Space Station were closed at 3:08 a.m. EST Friday. During 9 days, 52 minutes of joint operations, the station got a new module and a viewport offering a valuable, enjoyable vantage.

Hatch closure came after a farewell ceremony by the two crews. Endeavour Commander George Zamka, Pilot Terry Virts and Mission Specialists Kathryn Hire, Stephen Robinson, Nicholas Patrick and Robert Behnken said their goodbyes in the Harmony module to Station Commander Jeff Williams and Flight Engineers Maxim Suraev, Oleg Kotov, Soichi Noguchi and T.J. Creamer.

As shuttle astronauts filed out of the forward end of Harmony, Williams formally rang the station bell marking their departure. Endeavour is scheduled to undock from the station at 7:54 p.m. Friday and land at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center at 10:16 p.m. Sunday.

Source and picture: NASA

Stardust-NExT Spacecraft Fires Engines To Delay Arrival At Comet

Lockheed Martin-Built Spacecraft One Year Away From Encounter with Tempel 1

DENVER, February 18th, 2010 — NASA’s Stardust-NExT (New Exploration of Tempel) spacecraft fired its engines for 22 minutes 53 seconds on Feb. 17 to purposely delay its arrival at comet Tempel 1 by 8 hours 21 minutes. In one year, the Lockheed Martin- [NYSE: LMT] built spacecraft will still fly by the comet on Feb. 14, 2011, Valentines’ Day, but the encounter time will now be 8:42 p.m. PT.

The low-cost Discovery Program Mission of Opportunity will expand the investigation of comet Tempel 1 initiated by NASA’s Deep Impact spacecraft. The mission uses the still-healthy Stardust spacecraft to perform a flyby of comet Tempel 1 and obtain high-resolution images of the comet and hopefully the crater made by Deep Impact in July 2005. The delayed arrival will provide project scientists the best chance of seeing both previously imaged areas and news areas of Tempel 1. By taking photos of previously imaged areas of the comet, scientists can analyze terrain changes caused by the comet’s close approach to the Sun on a successive orbit five and one-half years later.

The engine burn was performed autonomously at 2:00 p.m. PST while the spacecraft was out of contact from Earth. Spacecraft engineers at Lockheed Martin sent the trajectory correction maneuver commands to the spacecraft on Monday, Feb. 15. The maneuver reduced the spacecraft’s velocity, relative to the sun, by 54 mph (24 meters per second). The spacecraft’s velocity relative to the sun is 47,500 mph (21 km per second).

The robust spacecraft recently completed it 4,000th day of flight and had traveled approximately 3.4 billion miles (5.4 million kilometers) since its launch 11 years ago.

Throughout its two-mission life, Stardust has had many January and February milestones.
• Feb. 7, 1999 launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
• Jan. 15, 2001 Earth gravity assist to meet up with comet Wild 2
• Jan. 2, 2004 encounter with comet Wild 2
• Jan. 15, 2006 sample return capsule returned safely back to Earth
• Jan. 14, 2009 Earth gravity assist to meet up with comet Tempel 1
• Feb. 14, 2011 future encounter with comet Tempel 1

Dr. Joseph Veverka at Cornell University is the principal investigator of the Stardust-NExT mission. JPL is managing Stardust-NExT for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company designed and built the Stardust spacecraft and performs flight operations for the mission.

Source and image: Lockheed Martin

Boeing Ships 1st Next-Generation GPS Satellite to Cape Canaveral

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Feb. 16, 2010 – Boeing [NYSE: BA] on Feb. 11 shipped the first Global Positioning System (GPS) IIF satellite from the company’s satellite manufacturing facility in El Segundo to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida aboard a Boeing-built C-17 Globemaster III airlifter. The next-generation navigation spacecraft will now undergo final preparations for launch.

Space Vehicle 1 (SV-1), the first of 12 GPS IIF satellites for the U.S. Air Force, will lift off on a United Launch Alliance Delta IV vehicle later this year. The GPS IIF system will bring enhanced performance to the GPS constellation by providing twice the navigational accuracy of heritage satellites, more robust signals for commercial aviation and search-and-rescue, and greater resistance to jamming in hostile environments.

“Since the first GPS satellite was launched in 1978, this successful program has demonstrated the value of space assets,” said Craig Cooning, vice president and general manager of Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems. “The GPS IIF system will afford major performance improvements over the legacy satellites and will sustain and dramatically improve the GPS constellation for civil, commercial and defense users alike.”

To prepare for the launch of SV-1, the SV-2 spacecraft in September successfully completed a consolidated system test – a set of one-time, system-level design verification and validation tests involving the space vehicle, the ground-based control segment, and user equipment. In addition, GPS master control stations successfully commanded the space vehicle as they will do when the satellite is in operational orbit. SV-2 was also used as a “pathfinder” to validate transportation equipment and processes, as well as launch-site test procedures and equipment.

GPS is a space-based, worldwide navigation system providing users with highly accurate, three-dimensional position, navigation and timing information 24 hours a day in all weather conditions. GPS IIF is the product of Boeing’s experience with 39 successful satellites from the GPS Block I and Block II/IIA missions and more than 30 years of teamwork with the Air Force. GPS IIF will form the core of the GPS constellation for many years to come.

Source: Boeing

CryoSat to observe Earth’s ice cover

ESA PR 03-2010. The European Space Agency is about to launch the most sophisticated satellite ever to investigate the Earth’s ice fields and map ice thickness over water and land: lift-off scheduled for 25 February.

ESA’s ice mission satellite CryoSat will be placed into orbit 700 km above Earth by a Russian Dnepr rocket to be launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Lift-off is scheduled to take place at 14:57 CET (13:57 UTC) on Thursday 25 February 2010. The launcher is operated by the international space company Kosmotras.

CryoSat will be the third of ESA’s Earth Explorer satellites in orbit, following on from GOCE (launched in March 2009) and SMOS (launched in November 2009). It was originally due to be the first in the Earth Explorer series, but the first satellite was lost as a result of a launcher failure in October 2005.

The 700 kg CryoSat spacecraft – whose name comes from the Greek kruos meaning icy cold – carries the first all-weather microwave radar altimeter. The instrument has been optimised for determining changes in the thickness of both floating sea ice, which can be up to several metres, and polar land ice sheets, which in Antarctica can be up to five kilometres. The mission will deliver data on the rate of change of the ice thickness accurate to within one centimetre.

Recent record-lows in the extent of summer Arctic sea-ice cover demonstrate that significant changes are occurring in the polar regions. Ice cover has been mapped from space for many years by satellites such as Envisat. But to understand more about how climate change is affecting these sensitive regions, there is also an urgent need to determine how ice thickness is changing. Data from CryoSat will lead to a better understanding of the dynamics of ice mass, provide the scientific community with valuable information on this variable and contribute to climate change studies.

On the launch day, ESA will be opening a European Press Centre at its European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany, from 10:00 to 16:30, hosting a launch event from 11:30 to 16:00.

A live televised transmission of the launch will provide pictures from the Baikonur Cosmodrome and from Mission Control at ESA/ESOC in Darmstadt for broadcasters (further details of TV transmission at http://television.esa.int).

Source: ESA

Cryosat_Greenland_Flyby_H264

(computer video animation of CryoSat)

Last Night Launch Space Shuttle Begins a Complex Mission

“What a beautiful launch we had this morning… the orbiter performed extremely well,” said Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations, during the STS-130 postlaunch news conference. “This is a great start to a very complicated mission.”

Jean-Jacques Dordain, European Space Agency director general, thanked NASA, the crew and the ground teams for “a very beautiful launch.” Dordain said, “It was an important event. Even more important for us because the shuttle was full of European hardware.”

Mike Moses, shuttle launch integration manager, said the count went unbelievably smooth. He commented how the weather constraints influenced the launch of space shuttle Endeavour and how happy he was that it all came together today. Docking is set for flight day three with three spacewalks planned to install the Tranquility node and then cupola permanently to the International Space Station. “This will be a good example of international partnerships and cooperation between the station crew and shuttle crew,” said Moses.

“This was one of the smoothest countdowns ever,” said Mike Leinbach, shuttle launch director. “The team was very, very energized going into the count.”

Source and picture: NASA

Endeavour Launch Rescheduled

Managers officially have scheduled space shuttle Endeavour’s next launch attempt for Monday, Feb. 8 at 4:14 a.m. EST.

The Mission Management Team will meet at 6:15 p.m. Sunday to give the “go” to fill Endeavour’s external fuel tank with propellants. Tank loading would begin at 6:45 p.m.

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