The International Space Station as seen by the departing STS-134 crew aboard space shuttle Endeavour in May 2011. Credit: NASA
TORONTO, CANADA – NASA isn’t “reading too much” into a report that the Russians will spend $8 billion on the International Space Station through 2025, the head of the agency says. That date is five years past the international agreements to operate the space station.
The Russian announcement comes at a pivotal time for NASA, which is looking to extend operations on the station to at least 2024. Other space agency heads have not yet signed on. Russia is the major partner for NASA on the station, given it operates several modules and sends astronauts to and from Earth on Soyuz spacecraft.
When deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin made the funding announcement, said NASA administrator Charles Bolden, Rogozin was speaking of a budget request that is before the State Duma. The Duma is Russia’s lower house of government.
“I am told that’s why he said that,” Bolden said at a press conference yesterday (Sept. 29) for the International Astronomical Congress, citing a conversation he had with Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA’s human exploration associate administrator. “You shouldn’t read too much into that.”
Canadarm2, the huge robotic arm on the International Space Station, holds astronaut Stephen Robinson during the STS-114 mission. Credit: NASA
Other member agencies of the space station gave noncommittal responses when asked if they would sign on to an extension.
“The [European] member states will be invited to give their views on what [to do] after 2020,” said Jean-Jacques Dordain, who heads the European Space Agency. He added that any extension would require a financial commitment, as an agreement without money is “only principles.”
Similarly, Canadian Space Agency chief Walter Natynczyk said the money allocated to his agency will bring them through to 2020, but “we will have a look at the entire value proposition when we put a case before the government of Canada.”
The Russian agreement with NASA came under scrutiny earlier this year as tensions erupted in Ukraine while Russian soldiers were in the country. This year, Ukrainian Crimea was annexed to Russia to the condemnation of several countries, including the United States.
While Bolden has said relations with the Russians for the space station are still healthy, NASA suspended most science ties with the country in April. In response, Rogozin wrote a frustrated tweet saying NASA should try to send its astronauts into space using a trampoline.
Five spacecraft are parked at the International Space Station including the Soyuz TMA-14M and Dragon which docked this week. Credit: NASA
Mars isn’t the only place in the Solar System that was busy this week with arriving spacecraft. While NASA’s MAVEN and ISRO’s MOM arrived in orbit around the Red Planet, the International Space Station also welcomed two arriving spacecraft, bringing the total of docked ships at the ISS to five.
Screenshot from NASA TV of the Soyuz-TMA14M arriving with just one solar panel deployed.
Last night, the Expedition 41/42 crew arrived — peeling in on one solar panel on their Soyuz TMA-14M — with the first female cosmonaut to be part of an ISS crew, Elena Serova along with her crewmates cosmonaut Alexander Samokutyaev, and NASA astronaut Barry Wilmore. They took the Soyuz “fast track,” arriving at the station in just under six hours after launch. One of the craft’s solar panels jammed and couldn’t deploy, but the crew docked to Poisk docking compartment without indecent.
The arrival of Wilmore, Samokutyaev and Serova returns the station’s crew complement to six. Already on board are Commander Max Suraev of Roscosmos, Reid Wiseman of NASA and Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency. They have been aboard the complex since May.
Suraev, Wiseman and Gerst will return home in November. At that time, Wilmore will become commander of the station for Expedition 42, and the remainder of the Expedition 42 crew will arrive in a new Soyuz.
Earlier this week, on September 23, the SpaceX Dragon capsule arrived with over 2.5 tons of science experiments and supplies for the crew.
Also docked to the space station is the Soyuz ship that will take Suraev, Wiseman and Gerst home, a Progress resupply ship and the European ATV-5 supply ship.
There are two more cargo missions targeted to launch to the space station before the end of the year. Orbital Sciences just announced October 20 as the next launch date for their Cygnus commercial space freighter. It will occupy the same Harmony node port as Dragon when it leaves in a few weeks. When Cygnus vacates the Harmony node port, SpaceX CRS-5 will replace it in December.
The Milky Way above the International Space Station's solar panels. Credit: NASA/NASA Crew Earth Observations
Have you ever sat outside on a starry night and just watched the stars move slowly above you? Here’s a video that shows what it is like to sit back on a spaceship and gaze at the ever-changing sky above.
This timelapse was compiled from recent images taken from the International Space Station. Hugh Carrick-Allan, a 3D Animator/VFX artist living in Sydney Australia used a sequence of 52 images posted on the NASA Crew Earth Observation website. The video also features the Aurora Australis and and some random satellites.
He also created the beautiful image below by combining all 52 the images.
“I used DeepSkyStacker to stack the images, I used PixInsight for some heavy noise reduction on the foreground, and then I combined and tweaked everything in Photoshop,” Carrick-Allan wrote on his website.
A view of the International Space Station as seen by the last departing space shuttle crew, STS-135. Credit: NASA
Amid tensions surrounding international space collaboration, Russia is planning to spend $8 billion (321 billion rubles) on the International Space Station between 2016 and 2025, according to a Russian state agency report.
Deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin made the announcement at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia. Part of the money will go to new “automatic spacecraft” and modules, said a translated version of the Russian-language ITAR-TASS report.
There was no mention in the report about Rogozin’s anger this spring concerning sanctions against Russia levied earlier this year after his nation placed soldiers inside Ukranian Crimea, which subsequently was annexed to Russia.
As part of policy with the Obama administration, this April NASA said it would cut most space ties with Russia except for those that are deemed essential to operation of the space station. In response, Rogozin wrote a tweet pointing out the Americans’ dependence on Russian Soyuz vehicles to bring astronauts to and from the station, an arrangement that has been in place since the space shuttle retired in 2011.
Screenshot from NASA TV of the Soyuz TMA-09M spacecraft arriving at the International Space Station.
“After analyzing the sanctions against our space industry, I suggest to the USA to bring their astronauts to the International Space Station using a trampoline,” Rogozin wrote in Russian at the time.
The United States wants to extend operations of the station at least four years to 2024, but has not received commitments from its international partners yet. Rogozin’s reported announcement implies Russia would use the station through at least 2024, but it’s not clear if that is the case or what form any international collaboration would take.
Expedition 42 to the International Space Station poses as characters from Douglas Adams' 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe.' Credit: NASA.
Don’t panic! NASA has been creating some great posters for their missions and Expedition crews to the International Space Stations, and this newest one will warm the heart of any Douglas Adams fan. As we all know, 42 is the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe and Everything. Right now, the first half of the Expedition 42 crew has a targeted launch date of Nov. 23, 2014.
Featuring (from left to right):
Terry Virts and Anton Shkaplerov as Zaphod Beeblebrox
Aleksandr Samokutyayev as Humma Kavula
Barry “Butch” Wilmore as Arthur Dent
Elena Serova as Ford Prefect
Samantha Cristoforetti as Trillian
Guest star: Robonaut, as Marvin the Paranoid Android
Samantha Cristoforetti posted this image on her Flickr page and said the family of Douglas Adams gave the crew permission to do the photo-shoot for this poster, and added that the Point-of-View gun is not Photoshopped, but a real creation.
SpaceX Falcon 9 erect at Cape Canaveral launch pad 40 awaiting launch on Sept 20, 2014 on the CRS-4 mission. Credit: Ken Kremer - kenkremer.com
SpaceX Falcon 9 erect at Cape Canaveral launch pad 40 awaiting launch on Sept 20, 2014 on the CRS-4 mission.
Credit: Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com
Story/launch date/headline updated[/caption]
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL – SpaceX is on the cusp of launching the company’s fourth commercial resupply Dragon spacecraft mission to the International Space Station (ISS) shortly after midnight, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2014, continuing a rapid fire launch pace and carrying NASA’s first research payload – RapidScat – aimed at conducting Earth science from the stations exterior.
Final preparations for the launch are underway right now at the Cape Canaveral launch pad with the stowage of sensitive late load items including a specially designed rodent habitat housing 20 mice.
Update 20 Sept: Poor weather scrubs launch to Sept. 21 at 1:52 a.m.
Fueling of the two stage rocket with liquid oxygen and kerosene propellants commences in the evening prior to launch.
If all goes well, Saturday’s launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket would be the second in less than two weeks, and the fourth over the past ten weeks. The last Falcon 9 successfully launched the AsiaSat 6 commercial telecom satellite on Sept. 7 – detailed here.
“We are ready to go,” said Hans Koenigsmann, SpaceX vice president of mission assurance, at a media briefing at the Kennedy Space Center today, Sept. 19.
Liftoff of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on the CRS-4 mission bound for the ISS is targeted for an instantaneous window at 2:14 a.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at the moment Earth’s rotation puts Cape Canaveral in the flight path of the ISS.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with Dragon cargo capsule bound for the ISS launched from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral, FL. File photo. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com
Story/launch date/headline updated
You can watch NASA’s live countdown coverage which begins at 1 a.m. on NASA Television and NASA’s Launch Blog: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/
Liftoff of SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla, April 18, 2014. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com
The weather forecast is marginal at 50/50 with rain showers and thick clouds as the primary concerns currently impacting the launch site.
The Dragon spacecraft is loaded with more than 5,000 pounds of science experiments, spare parts, crew provisions, food, clothing and supplies to the six person crews living and working aboard the ISS soaring in low Earth orbit under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract.
The CRS-4 missions marks the start of a new era in Earth science. The truck of the Dragon is loaded Dragon with the $30 Million ISS-Rapid Scatterometer to monitor ocean surface wind speed and direction.
RapidScat is NASA’s first research payload aimed at conducting Earth science from the stations exterior. The stations robot arm will pluck RapidScat out of the truck and attach it to an Earth-facing point on the exterior trusswork of ESA’s Columbus science module.
Dragon will also carry the first 3-D printer to space for studies by the astronaut crews over at least two years.
SpaceX Falcon 9 rests horizontally at Cape Canaveral launch pad 40 awaiting blastoff reset to Sept 21, 2014 on the CRS-4 mission. Credit: Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com
The science experiments and technology demonstrations alone amount too over 1644 pounds (746 kg) and will support 255 science and research investigations that will occur during the station’s Expeditions 41 and 42 for US investigations as well as for JAXA and ESA.
“This flight shows the breadth of ISS as a research platform, and we’re seeing the maturity of ISS for that,” NASA Chief Scientist Ellen Stofan said during a prelaunch news conference held today, Friday, Sept. 19 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
After a two day chase, Dragon will be grappled and berth at an Earth-facing port on the stations Harmony module.
The Space CRS-4 mission marks the company’s fourth resupply mission to the ISS under a $1.6 Billion contract with NASA to deliver 20,000 kg (44,000 pounds) of cargo to the ISS during a dozen Dragon cargo spacecraft flights through 2016.
SpaceX Dragon resupply spacecraft arrives for successful berthing and docking at the International Space Station on Easter Sunday morning April 20, 2014. Credit: NASA TV
This week, SpaceX was also awarded a NASA contact to build a manned version of the Dragon dubbed V2 that will ferry astronauts crews to the ISS starting as soon as 2017.
NASA also awarded a second contact to Boeing to develop the CST-100 astronaut ‘space taxi’ to end the nation’s sole source reliance on Russia for astronaut launches in 2017.
Dragon V2 will launch on the same version of the Falcon 9 launching this cargo Dragon
Stay tuned here for Ken’s continuing SpaceX, Boeing, Sierra Nevada, Orbital Sciences, commercial space, Orion, Mars rover, MAVEN, MOM and more planetary and human spaceflight news.
NASA’s anticipated $3 billion to $4 billion annual budget for the International Space Station is “overly optimistic”, a new report from NASA’s Inspector General says.
Transportation costs will likely rise when NASA uses commercial spacecraft to access the station instead of Russian Soyuzes, the report said. Also, if international partners don’t commit to extending the station four extra years to 2024, NASA will need to pick up more of the financial burden.
“While ISS program officials have been seeking ways to reduce costs and consolidate resources, it is unclear whether these efforts will be sufficient to address anticipated cost increases, particularly because the program does not expect to maintain any funding reserves over the next several years,” the report reads.
Expedition 38 crew members proudly sport their national flags in this March 2014 picture from the International Space Station. Pictured (clockwise from top center) are Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kotov, commander; Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata, Russian cosmonaut Sergey Ryazanskiy, NASA astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Mike Hopkins, and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin, all flight engineers. Credit: NASA
In January, the Obama administration approved NASA’s request to extend the ISS until 2024. At the time, NASA said the extension would be beneficial for science and also for the companies that will send spacecraft to the station, which right now appear to be SpaceX and Boeing. (NASA has been purchasing Soyuz seats since the shuttle retired in 2011, and U.S. flights are slated to start up again in 2017.)
There are 16 nations participating in space station operations, however, and any extension may require the approval of some or all of them. Political tensions with major partner Russia (which manages much of the station) have increased since the Ukrainian invasion crisis erupted earlier this year, prompting international condemnation. NASA cut most scientific ties with Russia in April, but preserved the station — an activity the agency says is proceeding normally, despite the crisis.
Besides political ramifications, the report points to technical issues with the ISS that could make an extension difficult. Its solar arrays are degrading faster than predicted, causing power limitations, and NASA has limited capability to lift large replacements parts to the station since the shuttle’s retirement.
Image above: Expedition 24 Flight Engineers Doug Wheelock (right) and Tracy Caldwell Dyson work to replace a failed ammonia pump module outside of the International Space Station. Credit: NASA TV
Even the station’s promise of science return is proving to be a challenge. ISS United States laboratory manager Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) is facing “issues related to funding and patent licenses and data rights” that are “deterring commercial stakeholders from conducting research on the ISS,” the report notes.
The report suggests that NASA keep trying to secure commitments from the ISS partners to share station costs, and that the agency “prioritize the human health risks to long-term exploration” in terms of its scientific research. While the report praised NASA for taking its recommendations seriously, it chastised the agency for not having a list of risks to the ISS ready yet.
NASA’s spending on the ISS was $2.9 billion in fiscal 2013, with 43% of that money going to system operations and maintenance, and 34% to crew and cargo transportation. About 10% is allocated to research.
The report was signed by Paul Martin, the inspector general, and can be read in full at this link. This news report just skims the surface of what the actual report says, so we highly encourage you to read it.
"I never imagined that flying to space would give me a different view of our entire galaxy," tweeted Expedition 41 astronaut Alexander Gerst from the International Space Station in September 2014. Credit: Alexander Gerst / Twitter
While NASA often speaks about the power of Earth observation from the International Space Station, the picture above from one of the astronauts on board now shows something else — you can get an awesome view of the Milky Way.
With the view unobscured by the atmosphere, the picture from Expedition 41 European astronaut Alexander Gerst shows that his perch on the ISS is pretty amazing. We wonder how it compares to some of the desert or mountaintop observatories here on Earth! And there are astronomical experiments on board, such as this one that may have found dark matter.
Below we’ve handpicked some of the best recent pictures from Gerst and NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman, a crewmate, as they take in the wonder of our planet and the universe.
NASA will make a “major announcement” today on the return of human spaceflight launches for the U.S, specifically which commercial space company — or companies — will taxi astronauts to and from the International Space. You can watch the press conference live here today (Sept. 16) at 4 pm EDT (1 pm PDT, 20:00 UTC).
The competition for the Commercial Crew Program (CCP) has been between four companies: SpaceX, Boeing, Sierra Nevada and Blue Origin. Some media reports indicate NASA will make commercial crew awards to the obvious front-runners, Boeing and SpaceX.
SpaceX’s Dragon became the first commercial spacecraft to deliver cargo to the space station in 2012, and SpaceX has been working on a version of the Dragon that can carry humans as well.
Boeing’s CST-100 can carry up to seven passengers or a mix of humans and cargo.
Sierra Nevada has been working on the Dream Chaser, a winged spacecraft that looks similar to a mini space shuttle. Blue Origin has been developing a capsule called Space Vehicle.
The CCP program was developed after the space shuttle program ended in 2011. While NASA focuses its human spaceflight efforts on the new Space Launch System and going beyond Earth orbit, they will use commercial companies that will launch from the US to ferry their astronauts to the space station.
The Expedition 40 crew returns to Earth, as seen from the International Space Station Sept. 10, 2014. Credit: Reid Wiseman / Twitter
Wow! See that bright streak in the photo above? That’s a shot of the Expedition 40 crew making a flawless return from the International Space Station yesterday (Sept. 10) … a shot taken from space itself.
“Our view of the picture perfect reentry of TMA-12M,” wrote Expedition 41 astronaut Reid Wiseman, who just hours before bid farewell to Steve Swanson (NASA), Alexander Skvortsov (Roscosmos) and Oleg Artemyev (Roscosmos). The re-entry was in fact so perfect that TV cameras caught the parachute immediately after deployment, which doesn’t always happen.
As you can see in the video replay below, the Soyuz made a bulls-eye landing near Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan at 10:23 p.m. EDT (2:23 a.m. UTC). There are now only three people tending to the space station until the rest of the Expedition 41 crew launches, which is expected to happen Sept. 25.
