The non-profit, all-volunteer group Copenhagen Suborbitals today successfully launched their Nexø II rocket from a floating platform in the Baltic Sea. The liquid fueled propulsion system appeared to work well and the rocket returned via parachute for a soft splashdown. Here is a video of the livestream of the event (the launch happens at around 1:35:33):
[ Update: This video shows the rocket’s flight from three cameras on the vehicle:
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The group is working step-by-step towards launching a person to 100 kilometers in a rocket that they will build.
NASA is announcing today the selection of astronauts who will fly to the International Space Station on the Boeing Starliner and SpaceX Crew Dragon transports, which are scheduled to make the first crew launches next year. The event is webcast from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. [ Here is a video of Friday’s event:
And here is a brief video from NASA Johnson about the Commercial Crew Program:
NASA’s Commercial Crew Program is working with the American aerospace industry as companies develop a new generation of spacecraft and launch systems to carry crews safely to and from low-Earth orbit – the SpaceX Crew Dragon and Boeing CST-100 Starliner. Credits: NASA [Higher-res image]The first test flights for new spacecraft designed by commercial companies in collaboration with NASA to carry astronauts to and from the International Space Station from the United States are known as Demo-1 for SpaceX and Orbital Flight Test for Boeing.
NASA’s goal in collaborating with Boeing and SpaceX is to achieve safe, reliable and cost-effective transportation to and from station on the companies’ spacecraft. Both companies have matured their designs, are making significant progress through their extensive testing campaigns, and are headed toward flight tests to validate their systems.
An uncrewed flight test was not a NASA requirement for certifying these systems for human spaceflight. Boeing and SpaceX volunteered to perform these tests to demonstrate their systems are safe for crew.
“This was above and beyond the NASA requirement in the contract,” said Kathy Lueders, Commercial Crew Program manager at NASA Kennedy. “Both partners said they really wanted to have an uncrewed flight test to make sure the integrated rockets, spacecraft and re-entry systems are all working as designed to be able to ensure the integrated system is functioning.”
Each test flight will provide data on the performance of the rockets, spacecraft, ground systems, and operations to ensure the systems are safe to fly astronauts. Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft will be launched atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
“Tomorrow we will meet the astronauts who will be the first to fly the CST-100 Starliner. Our commitment has always been to provide NASA and those crews the highest level of mission assurance,” said John Mulholland, vice president and program manager for Boeing’s Commercial Crew effort. “We believe the earliest time we can confidently do that will be in mid-2019 after flying an uncrewed flight test late this year or early next year. I’m incredibly proud of the progress our team has made, and it has been inspiring to watch them work through challenges quickly, while developing a brand new human-rated spacecraft that Boeing, NASA and the nation can be proud of.”
SpaceX designed its Crew Dragon spacecraft to launch atop the company’s Falcon 9 rocket from historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
“Safely and reliably flying commercial crew missions for NASA remains the highest priority for SpaceX,” said Benji Reed, Director of Crew Mission Management at SpaceX. “We look forward to launching Crew Dragon—designed to be one of the safest, most-advanced human spaceflight systems ever built—and returning human-spaceflight capabilities to the United States for the first time since the Space Shuttle Program retired in 2011. SpaceX is targeting November 2018 for Crew Dragon’s first demonstration mission and April 2019 for Crew Dragon’s second demonstration mission, which will carry two NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station.”
NASA is making crew assignments now for the Boeing Crew Flight Test and SpaceX Demo-2 to support flight training as we return to launching our astronauts from American soil. As a partner approaches its target readiness date, NASA will work with the company and the Eastern Range to identify launch dates within the busy International Space Station schedule to ensure science investigations, as well as logistics activities and critical operations continue while these new spacecraft are tested.
Many of the team members leading the unique public-private partnership believe the agency is on the cusp of something life changing with its Commercial Crew Program.
“I’m excited to be part of the future of space travel,” said Jon Cowart, acting deputy manager for the Commercial Crew Program’s Mission Management and Integration office at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. “When we get to this point the companies will have tested every piece of the spacecraft individually, but there is so much more learning that occurs when the spacecraft is actually operated in space. The systems will be operated in the actual environment to test it and ensure it’s ready for crew.”
The hardware for these uncrewed missions is being prepared for launch. Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft is being outfitted at the Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility on the Kennedy and the United Launch Alliance Atlas V dual engine Centaur that will launch Starliner will be shipped to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida in August to prepare for the upcoming flight. Separately, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft for Demo-1 arrived to the Cape in July for final processing. Falcon 9’s first and second stages for the Demo-1 mission are targeted to ship from SpaceX’s headquarters in Hawthorne, California to the company’s rocket testing facility in McGregor, Texas for additional testing in August.
Once the uncrewed flight tests are complete and the data reviews have validated the spacecraft systems, NASA astronauts will have their first opportunity to fly in the spacecraft. Crew for Boeing’s Crew Flight Test and SpaceX’s Demo-2 flights will each include at least a flight commander and pilot aboard to test out the systems.
These flight tests will have similar configurations to the uncrewed tests, but the crew will have the ability to interface with spacecraft displays, communicate with mission control, and practice manual controls during flight. Starliner and Crew Dragon will dock and undock autonomously to the space station before returning the crew safely home.
“The crew right now is actually working on integrated crew simulations on the flight systems,” said Lueders. “They are providing input to the partners to help ensure the interior of the cabin is appropriately located and set up so crew can function and conduct key activities. They’re verifying crew layout, doing simulations where they’re actually practicing their maneuvers, and also checking out the software and the display systems, and everything else for the crew to be functioning safely in the spacecraft.”
After successful completion of the flight tests with crew, NASA will review flight data to verify the systems meet the agency’s safety and performance certification requirements and are ready to begin regular servicing missions to the space station.
“I see parallels between commercial crew and the early aviation industry, when government nurtured that commercial innovation,” said Cowart. “In similar fashion, NASA is empowering private industry to gain solid footing in low-Earth orbit, which will allow NASA to explore new frontiers in deep space.”
A Purdue group has developed a simple box for grade school kids to fly experiments on suborbital spaceflights of the Blue Origin New Shepard rocket vehicle:
Standing less than a foot tall and weighing a few ounces, the rectangular box doesn’t seem like much but Purdue’s School of Aeronautics and Astronautics hope it will represent the first step for schools nationwide wanting to conduct zero-gravity experiments in space.
A few aluminum Launchboxes already have been shipped out this summer and more interest is expected as students return to K-12 schools across the nation, said Steven Collicott, professor of aeronautics and astronautics.
Collicott said the Launchboxes allow schools to focus on the experiments they want to send up on private suborbital rockets and also expose students and teachers to Purdue engineering.
“Teachers should be thinking and working with students about what’s going inside the box and the purpose of their experiment, not how to house it on the rocket,” Collicott said. “These Purdue School Launchboxes enable more schools to fly their own original experiments to space by taking this mundane, low-tech stumbling block out of the way for teachers.”
The 8-inch by 4-inch aluminum Launchbox being distributed by Purdue’s School of Aeronautics and Astronautics is intended to help K-12 schools prepare experiments to launch aboard suborbital rockets. (Photo/School of Aeronautics and Astronautics)
In December, Collicott and his students finished a two-year project working with second-graders from Cumberland Elementary School in West Lafayette to send up an experiment aboard a Blue Origin rocket launch to determine whether fireflies could light up in space.
Compliments from Blue Origin officials about the box used for the firefly experiment led Collicott to look into possible production. His findings: Launchboxes were so inexpensive that they could be given away to interested schools and other organizations.
“We email the schools some computer files for 3D printing the plastic end caps,” he said. “Then we ship them the pre-formed aluminum for the box plus the fasteners and instructions for assembly.
“It’s a simple solution that stayed simple.”
Once completed, the boxes are 8 inches by 4 inches and allow schools to work within the 1-pound payload limit. The boxes are strong enough to support a 15-pound weight to prove that their strength is sufficient for the stresses of the launch to space.
The Blue Origin New Shepard rocket reaches space at a height of 60 miles in the air, much higher that any balloon or aircraft.
“That flight opportunity is now available to schools all over the world at roughly half the cost of high school football uniforms,” Collicott said. “Any school district in the country that plays football can now afford space flight.
“Just like their athletic booster clubs, schools can finance these flights with a “Rocket Booster Club,” he added.
Schools or other organizations interested in getting a Purdue School Launchbox can email Collicott at collicott@purdue.edu and include “Purdue School Launchbox” in the subject line.
This setup uses off-the-shelf components, is really easy to put together, and is comparatively low in cost. A key component of the low-cost HRIT/LRIT system is a new LNA [Low Noise Amplifier] for GOES satellite reception that NooElec, Inc. has been developing (currently described as the SAWBird GOES, though the name is subject to change when it goes into volume production). The SAWBird GOES was obtained as an Engineering Sample (for a fee) from NooElec, Inc. through their support department. The key elements of the system are as follows:
