Seen a rocket lately?

Those who live in the vicinity of Florida’s eastern coast still have a fairly routine ability to watch rockets launch despite the conclusion of the space shuttle program, as Kennedy Space Center continues to launch a variety of unmanned spacecraft. Those of us further north rarely see anything more interesting than commercial airliners fly by. That could all change later this week.

Although SpaceX has received most of the commercial space flight attention lately for its successful unmanned mission to the ISS (International Space Station), they are far from the only players in the commercial launch game. And on April 17, dramatic proof of that may come from Virginia.

　

Orbital's Antares rocket is raised into place on its coastal Virginia launch pad.

Sitting right now on a launch pad at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in coastal Virginia is Orbital’s Antares rocket. The vehicle is poised for the A-ONE mission, a test flight into space to be followed up by a flight to the ISS later this year. Those along the East Coast may - skies willing - be able to see the Antares rocket take flight in just a few days. Here’s a helpful viewing map.

　

Where to look to potentially witness Antares' ascent into space.

For more on the flight’s scheduling and Orbital’s efforts to supply the ISS, please visit:

http://www.orbital.com/Antares-Cygnus/

It's more fun to compute...

In the late 1980s, I nearly moved to Florida to work for Lockheed Space Operations as a computer programmer working on Space Shuttle systems at Kennedy Space Center. Though a position was targeted for me, a government budget reduction led to that position and others being eliminated – and I dodged a big bullet of landing in Titusville FL only to become immediately unemployed.

State of the 1960s IT art: an Apollo Guidance Computer.

Having remained in the Information Technology realm, I’ve always been interested in the programming and technology aspects of spaceflight. When you consider that the onboard computers of the Apollo program look nearly prehistoric compared to an iPhone, it becomes apparent how so many of today's space exploration wonders are possible.

Linux into orbit: the SpaceX Dragon at the International Space Station.

Aerospace Perceptions has mentioned the efforts of SpaceX numerous times, and with their Dragon spacecraft scheduled to return to Earth just after noon tomorrow after a successful re-supply mission to the International Space Station, the company’s IT folk are surely working flat out. Many people imagine giant rooms of supercomputers when they think of spaceflight, but having visited SpaceX’s Launch Control Center operation in Florida, the center is essentially nothing more glamorous than typical PC workstations you might see in any office. And despite the exotic nature of spaceflight, the central concerns of SpaceX will sound familiar to anyone who works in IT: project management, logging of performance and defects, etc.

The deliverables may be extraordianry, but the infrastructure is standard-issue.

For all of you tech heads out there, here are two articles you may want to read in-depth. One contrasts the Apollo Guidance Computers compared to today’s technology, and the other is a detailed Linux look into SpaceX’s IT efforts used in almost every aspect of their spaceflight operations:

How powerful was the Apollo 11 computer?

Development the SpaceX way 

Stress testing marriage - the Martian way

This morning SpaceX took another step toward proving the validity of commercial space ventures with the latest launch of its Falcon rocket bearing the Dragon capsule. This is the firm’s second International Space Station resupply mission, and with each success SpaceX’s plans for manned missions grow nearer.



The SpaceX “garage” is the low building to the right in this image from this morning’s launch.



I toured the SpaceX facility at Cape Canaveral when I was covering the final Space Shuttle mission, and it’s efficiency is refreshing. Essentially, the prepared Falcon is towed out of garage-like facility a short distance to the launch pad, raised upright, fueled, and launched. There is a slight feel of, “Hey gang – let’s have a rocket launch!” But SpaceX have proven their functional model delivers results.

If the SpaceX approach comes across as no-frills, the description may be redefined by Inspiration Mars.

Official Inspiration Mars imagery.

Inspiration Mars is an initiative headed by Dennis Tito. The one-time NASA worker and current multimillionaire became the first “space tourist” a dozen years ago when he paid the Russians for passage to the International Space Station. But that Low Earth Orbit jaunt is nothing compared to what’s on his new agenda. If Tito and his team succeed with their development program, in five years a married couple will be on their way to a rendezvous with Mars.

While the Inspiration Mars vehicle will not join NASA’s Curiosity rover on the planet surface – the complexity of a landing will be dealt with in the future – the mission is designed to inspire future exploration and to present interplanetary exploration as a reality within our reach.

Artist Conception of the Inspiration Mars mission passing the Red Planet in August 2018.

Taking advantage of planetary alignments advantageous to a Martian visit, the mission is planned for a launch on January 5, 2018, passing by Mars at a 100-mile distance eight months later. Return to Earth would come in May, 2019.

Technical challenges? Certainly. But to me the most daunting aspect is life on the flight. I’ve flown cheap coach to Europe several times, so I can deal with no frills – but for hours, not months. Inspiration Mars demands a couple co-exist in a 600-square-foot inflated habitation module for a period of 18 months. Resource consumption must be kept to a minimum, luxuries virtually nonexistent. Mission planners believe a scientifically-oriented couple stands the best chance of succeeding as a crew.

In 2010 and 2011 six volunteers spent 520 days confined in a simulated space habitat near Moscow. With the lack of daily human rhythms and simple light cycles, the volunteers had difficulty sleeping and lost interest in fitness. Add in the stress of actual spaceflight, and it could turn out that the biggest obstacle to a Martian mission may be human rather than technological.

Regardless, Inspiration Mars should be fascinating to follow in the months to come.

Event Horizon 2013

Yes, technically “event horizon” is a spacetime boundary associated with gravitational pull around objects like black holes. But I’ve empowered myself to adapt it as a description of what’s on the horizon in the year to come, especially with regard to pending developments in manned U.S. spaceflight and exploration.

Last year was the first in recent memory in which no United States astronauts ascended to the heavens from a launch based in their home country. While we are in “the gap,” as this dependent-on-foreign-launch-resources period is informally known, anxious eyes in the U.S. are turned toward the progress of the CCDev (Commercial Crew Development) initiative.

Progress may seem to be slow in coming, but the four main CCDev players – Blue Origin, Boeing, Sierra Nevada, and SpaceX – all have an active year planned.

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket boosts the Dragon capsule into orbit in May, 2012.

Boasting what is likely the highest public profile, SpaceX successfully flew an unmanned supply mission to the International Space Station in 2012. But a manned flight increases the complexity of the vehicle. The company plans to conduct crew-escape testing – both on the ground and in powered flight at maximum aerodynamic pressure – later this year. And SpaceX’s second ISS supply mission could take place as soon as next month.

Blue Origin conducted its own such ground-based escape system test late last year, pushing a capsule mock-up over 2000 feet in altitude and safely landing the vehicle by parachute. The company, founded by Amazon.com billionaire Jeff Bezos, continues toward the goal of developing rocket-powered Vertical Takeoff and Vertical Landing (VTVL) vehicles for access to suborbital and orbital space. Their newest engine, designated the BE-3, is expected to be test fired in a matter of days. And though the company is not participating in the latest stage of the CCDev program as it applies specifically to manned spaceflight development, they are obviously a significant and well-funded presence.

Boeing continues to develop detailed systems for its CST-100 spacecraft, planned to reach orbit via the reliable Atlas V rocket.



A full-size mockup of the Sierra Nevada Dream Chaser.



Also eventually planned to be boosted spaceward via Atlas V is Sierra Nevada’s Dream Chaser. An unmanned glide test of the stubby-winged vehicle is planned to take place within weeks at Edwards Air Force Base.

On Jan. 10, 2013, the Saturn V F-1 gas generator completed a 20-second hot-fire test. Engineers are completing a series of tests at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.

While these four corporate entities focus on the growing economic potential of manned commercial flight, manned space exploration remains NASA’s domain. In 2013, the space agency has been delving into a bit of “back to the future” research by studying the firing of Saturn V engine systems – the very technology used to carry NASA’s astronauts to the moon four decades ago. This is part of the foundation work for the Space Launch System, the planned future of manned exploration. This new generation spacecraft will require more thrust than is available in current boosters. Flight control tests of avionics for these new boosters are underway, with thrust control system tests taking place last week.

Finally, while not currently participating in the official manned flight efforts of CCDev, Orbital Sciences Corporation, planning the first launches of its Antares launch vehicle and Cygnus spacecraft, is an important presence. Orbital is currently focused on unmanned ISS supply missions, with a demonstration flight into orbit coming as soon as April. While SpaceX initiates its flights to the ISS from Florida, Orbital’s launch base is coastal Virginia’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport.

All in all, the horizon for 2013 boasts a number of events that should reflect positive spaceflight developments.

Return to action...

There are few things sadder on the Internet than a blog that’s fallen into inactivity, digital cobwebs hanging from that distant date in the past when the content was last updated…

Well, as Patti Smith exclaimed upon her return to the stage after breaking her neck in a fall: “Out of traction, back in action!”

My blog silence was not the result of a medical condition (fortunately!). Instead, I had the opportunity to focus on one area of my range of interests, and it demanded full attention. So I’ve spent much of the last nine months living in the past while working on the music of my band of the 1980s, Informed Sources. This effort ranged from mixing studio multitrack tapes and preparing for a commercial release to practicing and playing a one-off show in Philadelphia. And, of course, there was the creation of a Web site: www.FrankBlankMusic.com

But after all those weeks playing the roles of recording engineer, art director, sales manager, web developer, publicist, logistics coordinator – oh, and guitarist! – it’s time to end the hiatus and dust off these blogs.

Keyboard, computer, action!

Dawn Reveals

Four and a half years ago a Delta II rocket arced high over Florida, carrying what has proven to be one of the most fantastic unmanned explorers ever launched from our planet: Dawn.





September 27, 2007: As the sun rises, Dawn is carried aloft by a Delta II rocket at pad 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.



Dawn’s mission is to explore the asteroid belt, with particular focus on two objects: the asteroid Vesta, and the so-called “minor planet” Ceres. Vesta’s dimensions are roughly 359 by 348 by 285 miles, while Ceres is much larger: nearly as big across as the state of Texas, and an object that may bear a weak atmosphere. Both objects are believed to have formed early in the inception of our solar system. Despite that similarity, the objects are vastly different entities – the very reason they were selected for exploration.



In this artist concept, Dawn is shown traveling among the asteroids. Each of the solar panels providing power measures 8 feet by 27 feet.





While Ceres will fall under Dawn’s gaze in 2015, the explorer arrived at Vesta in the middle of 2011, and has been hard at work ever since. On April 25, some of Dawn’s intriguing findings were presented by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA.



NASA's Dawn spacecraft approaches orbit around the giant asteroid Vesta on July 24, 2011. This photo was taken from a distance of about 3,200 miles.



The surface of Vesta contains a wide variety of composition and patterns – including material that was at one time molten and beneath the asteroid’s surface. There are rocks apparently fused by collisions encountered in the asteroid’s travels, as well as smooth surface areas described by JPL scientists as “pond-like.”

Vesta is a frigid asteroid, with Dawn measuring temperatures ranging from minus 10 to minus 150 Fahrenheit – demonstrating how much of a role illumination from the sun can alter temperatures without atmospheric considerations.

 

A relatively new crater spreads approximately nine miles across the surface of Vesta. Boulders and other debris around the crater are believed to have originated deep beneath the asteroid’s surface, cast outward upon impact with the object that created this large surface scar.



So what’s next for Dawn? The explorer will continue work at Vesta, swooping to within 130 miles of the asteroid’s surface, until August 26. Then it’s off to Ceres, with arrival planned for February, 2015.

For more on Dawn and the incredible scientific discoveries being revealed by this vehicle, please visit NASA’s mission page at:  http://www.nasa.gov/dawn

It Figures: Enterprise in Holding Pattern

UPDATE 4/24/2012:


NASA has announced the flight of Enterprise on board the NASA 905 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft is now scheduled for Friday morning, with the orbiter arriving in the New York area at approximately 10AM. Please refer to the link below for continuing updates.



UPDATE 4/23/2012:

NASA has announced the flight of Enterprise on board the NASA 905 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft is now scheduled for Wednesday morning, with the orbiter arriving in the New York area at approximately 10AM. Please visit the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum web site for confirmation and scheduling announcements:

http://www.intrepidmuseum.org/

ORIGINAL POST CONTENT:


Going to see a space shuttle in action at Kennedy Space Center could be easier said than done during the program’s decades-long service life. Equipment failures during the countdown could lead to lengthy delays. Bad weather at the KSC Shuttle Landing Facility could lead to a last-minute diversion to a California landing.

Back in the days before everything was available for instant updating via the Internet, the main method of keeping up to date on shuttle launch preparations was to call a special number which allowed one to listen to a recording of George Diller reporting on the latest developments. I called this number so many times it’s permanently ingrained in my memory: 407-867-2525.

But in the years before cell phones were common you couldn’t just call the info line while cruising down I-95 toward Florida. I recall one depressing launch journey pit stop at South of the Border in South Carolina, where I happened to hear a news broadcast reporting the launch had been scrubbed due to a major component replacement that could take weeks. Reverse course.

Welcome to the moment of truth.

But perhaps nothing was worse was than the pit-in-the-stomach feeling as the countdown clock ticked down to 31 seconds - perhaps the most significant moment of each countdown, when the Ground Launch Sequencer would hand over control of the countdown to the shuttle’s onboard computers. Several times I stood in the Florida sun and watched that clock come to a halt just a half minute from launch. Sometimes the resulting delay was brief; other times, the launch was pushed back by a week or more. After all, changing out an Auxiliary Power Unit deep within the innards of an orbiter was no small task.

Even the charmed final flight of the shuttle program had its moment. As Atlantis waited on the pad, poised to begin the STS-135 mission, the clock crept toward the dreaded 31 second mark. Then it hit 30. Then it climbed back up to 31! Mercifully, the resulting delay was one of moments rather than days, and soon Atlantis was thundering uphill for one final time.

These thoughts all came to mind this week as Discovery made her way to a new home in the Washington D.C. area, and the original flight test orbiter Enterprise was prepared for a journey to New York.

Enterprise: ready to depart, just not yet.

I had planned on attending Discovery’s arrival, but family medical issues disrupted that plan. Instead, I made plans to cover the arrival of Enterprise in New York on April 23. I would be witnessing a significant reunion: the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft that will lift Enterprise into the skies one last time is the same plane that carried this first orbiter into the air for the very first atmospheric flight tests back in 1977.

And then, on April 20, came the Media Advisory from NASA:

WASHINGTON -- NASA's planned flight to New York City of space shuttle Enterprise atop the 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) has been postponed until further notice due to an unfavorable weather forecast for Monday, April 23.

File this under "unfavorable conditions."

Somehow, it seems appropriate. This will likely be the last time I will ever see a space shuttle in flight, even if it is attached to a modified Boeing 747. A shuttle-related delay? I’d expect nothing less. But I also know that - as always - the wait will be worth it.