International Space Station and crew awaiting Atlas 5 launch of Cygnus

• CAPE CANAVERAL — Lending a helping hand to resume the stalled U.S. supply chain to the International Space Station, a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket will send a commercial Cygnus cargo craft in pursuit of the outpost Thursday.

• With Orbital ATK’s Antares rocket and the Space X Falcon 9 both grounded by failures, a pair of Atlas 5 boosters stand ready as gap-fillers to launch Cygnus vessels over the next 100 days from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

• Space X and Orbital ATK — the two providers under NASA’s privatized Commercial Resupply Services program that took over after retirement of the space shuttles — have been the conveyer belts to ferry cargo, food and new science experiments to the station from U.S. soil since 2012.

• But the Antares failure in October 2014 and the Falcon mishap this past June left the station solely dependent on its international partners to carry out resupply in the interim.

• Six weeks after the Antares rocket exploded above its Virginia launch pad, destroying the third operational Cygnus, Orbital ATK struck a deal with United Launch Alliance for its first Atlas 5 rocket. The deal to purchase the second Atlas for Cygnus was announced this past August.

• The Atlas 5 launches, bought commercially by Orbital ATK, will occur Thursday and March 10, boosting more than 15,000 pounds of cargo to the station on the two flights.

• “When we lost Orb-3 (in Oct. 2014), literally the next day we were on the phone to other launch providers. We probably talked to half or two-thirds of all the possible providers in the world about getting a ride for Cygnus,” said Dan Tani, a former astronaut who spent 120 days living and working aboard the station on Expedition 16 and now serves as Orbital ATK’s manager of mission and cargo operations.

• “Atlas had the magic mixture of the performance we needed, electrical and mechanical interfaces that we could make compatible with us and, most importantly, they had an open opportunity late in 2015,” Tani said.

• The Atlas 5 has flown 59 times since 2002, all successfully, completing 23 flights for the Department of Defense, 12 for the National Reconnaissance Office, 12 for NASA and 12 commercial missions.

• It is very humbling that Orbital ATK and NASA put the confidence in ULA for this critical mission. The new supplies and science need to get there,” said Kevin Leslie, ULA’s OA-4 mission manager.

• But they allow Orbital ATK to fulfill its duties to NASA while working in parallel to redesign its Antares rocket, removing the Soviet-era main engines and replacing them with modern Russian powerplants.

• “CRS is one of the biggest contracts we carry in the company, and we have a moral and financial obligation to deliver the cargo to the space station,” Tani said.

• The company hopes to complete testing and restart Antares launches from Virginia as early as next May.

• Falcon could resume its Dragon capsule flights to the station in early 2016.

• “It’s important that we restart cargo deliveries to ISS,” said Randy Gordon of KSC’s International Space Station mission support office.

Keywords -United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket will send a commercial Cygnus cargo craft,Space X and Orbital ATK,

NASA Announces Awards for ‘Tipping Point’ Technologies

• NASA awarded contracts and unfunded agreements Nov. 19 for 22 projects to advance space technologies that the agency believes are on the verge of significant advancement. 

• NASA awarded nine projects to advance technologies in four satellite technology areas. The contracts are fixed-price, milestone-based deals valued at between $1 million and $20 million each over two years, with each company required to contribute at least 25 percent of the overall value. The four technology areas are: robotic in-space manufacturing and assembly of spacecraft and space structures; low size, weight and power instruments for remote sensing applications; small spacecraft attitude determination and control sensors and actuators; and small spacecraft propulsion systems.

• In addition to the nine contracts, NASA awarded 13 unfunded Space Act Agreements to companies to advance work in other space technologies. The non reimbursable agreements give the companies access to NASA expertise and test facilities, but the agency provides no funding.

• The technology areas covered by these agreements include: Nano satellite and suborbital reusable launch systems development; thermal protection system materials and systems development; green propellant thruster technology demonstration; and small, affordable, high-performance liquid rocket engine development.

Keywords -NASA awarded 13 unfunded Space Act Agreements to companies to advance work in other space technologies.

NASA's 'Chemical Laptop' could help future rovers find life on alien planets

• NASA scientists have a new device up their sleeves to help find life on other planets. The rectangular box is being called the "Chemical Laptop," but it's really more of a portable, automated chemistry lab that can be built into future NASA rovers.

• The Chemical Laptop has one primary goal, according to NASA: to find molecules associated with life. Specifically, it's designed to find amino acids and fatty acids, which are key to proteins and cell membranes, respectively, in life here on Earth.

• Chemical Laptop uses something researchers are likening to an espresso machine to heat up and dissolve the samples in water. Dyes and other chemical additives will be used to help mark molecules in the samples, and anything that's obtained will be analyzed by a laser in the device but the tool won't just be able to tell if there are amino acids or fatty acids on an alien planet.It can determine additional information that could help determine whether those amino acids actually came from a life form 

Keywords - The rectangular box is being called the "Chemical Laptop,It's designed to find amino acids and fatty acids.

NASA tests Orion spacesuit in low-gravity environment

Since NASA modified its old "pumpkin suit" for future missions aboard the Orion spacecraft, it has to undergo testing to ensure that it's tougher and more mobile than its predecessor. These days, NASA has been testing it aboard a C 9 aircraft, which can fly in parabolas to simulate weightlessness. The agency even built a mock-up Orion cabin inside in order to see if astronauts will be capable of performing various tasks while wearing the suit. Since the Orion capsule is meant for deep space missions, the Modified Advanced Crew Escape Suit is being developed to be able to sustain crew members in case of emergency and to protect them during spacewalks. Unfortunately, it'll take almost a decade before we see it used for an actual trip to space, as Orion's first manned mission won't happen until 2023.

Keywords-Orion spacecraft,the Modified Advanced Crew Escape Suit is being developed to be able to sustain crew members in case of emergency and to protect them during spacewalks.

First mirror installed on NASA's James Webb Telescope

• NASA has successfully installed the first of 18 flight mirrors onto the James Webb Space Telescope, beginning a critical piece of the observatory's construction to replace the Hubble Space Telescope in 2018.
• At NASA's Goddard Space Flight Centre in Greenbelt, Maryland this week, the engineering team used a robot arm to lift and lower the hexagonal-shaped segment that measures just over 1.3 meters across and weighs approximately 40 kilogrammes. After being pieced together, the 18 primary mirror segments will work together as one large 6.5-metre mirror. The full installation is expected to be complete early next year.
• Several innovative technologies have been developed for the Webb Telescope, which is targeted for launch in 2018, and is the successor to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Webb will study every phase in the history of our universe, including the cosmos' first luminous glows, the formation of solar systems capable of supporting life on planets like Earth, and the evolution of our own solar system.
• The 18 separate segments unfold and adjust to shape after launch. The mirrors are made of ultra-lightweight beryllium chosen for its thermal and mechanical properties at cryogenic temperatures. Each segment also has a thin gold coating chosen for its ability to reflect infrared light.
• The telescope's biggest feature is a tennis court sized five-layer sun shield that attenuates heat from the Sun more than a million times.

Keywords -18 flight mirrors onto the James Webb Space Telescope,Hexagonal-shaped segment,The mirrors are made of ultra-lightweight beryllium,A tennis court sized five-layer sun shield.

• NASA is upgrading its Orion spacecraft, a deep-space capsule which may one day take men all the way to Mars, with a new silver heat shield. The metallic-based coating will protect Orion from “the harshest set of conditions yet” during its next mission.

• The spacecraft is set to go back to space for more than three weeks in 2018. This would be Orion’s second mission since 2014, when it successfully completed a historic four-and-a-half-hour-long, double-orbit journey. In its next return-trip to Earth, scheduled to come after a three-week space mission, Orion is expected to encounter hotter and faster conditions than on its last flight.

• This new silver, metallic-based thermal control coating will be crucial for future astronauts, who take Orion to return to Earth from deep space destinations. Its main purpose is to retain heat when Orion is heading to space and going through cold temperatures, and protect it from high temperatures when the spacecraft is exposed to the sun 

• The thermal control coating will help the back shell maintain a temperature between -150 and 550 degrees Fahrenheit (-101 and 287 degrees Centigrade).
  
  
  

Keywords-Orion spacecraft, a deep-space capsule ,Main purpose is to retain heat when Orion is heading to space and going through cold temperatures,

NASA's New Horizons probe captures stunning images of Pluto

              NASA's New Horizons probe has captured some stunning images of how the day progresses on Pluto and its largest moon Charon. Pluto’s day is 6.4 Earth days long. The images reveal many details about Pluto, including the differences between the encounter hemisphere and the so-called “far side” hemisphere seen only at lower resolution. The images were taken by the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) and the Ralph/Multi spectral Visible Imaging Camera on board New Horizons. The more distant images contribute to the view at the 3 o’clock position, with the top of the heart-shaped, informally named Tombaugh Regio slipping out of view, giving way to the side of Pluto that was facing away from New Horizons during closest approach on July 14.The side New Horizons saw in most detail - what the mission team calls the “encounter hemisphere” - is at the 6 o’clock position.

Keywords-The images were taken by the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) and the Ralph/Multi spectral Visible Imaging Camera on board New Horizons