SPACE reports that Blue Origin announced Wednesday “that it’s targeting Aug. 31 for NS-23, the next flight of its New Shepard suborbital vehicle. New Shepard is best known for taking space tourists on brief trips to the final frontier, but NS-23 won’t haul anyone aloft – just 36 payloads provided by universities, other institutions and students.” NS-23 is “scheduled to launch at 9:30 a.m. EDT (1330 GMT) on Aug. 31 from Blue Origin’s West Texas site.”
Full Story (SPACE)
Tag: Mission
SLS Set to Fly Soon
TIME reported that NASA engineers are confident they can fix the Space Launch System’s loose collet issue in time for the launch windows in late August and early September. The mission “involves the SLS flying an Orion crew vehicle first into Earth orbit and then on a long looping trajectory that will see it fly around the moon at altitudes ranging from just 100 km (62 mi.) to 70,000 km (43,000 mi.). The Orion capsule will then return to Earth, slamming into the atmosphere at about 32,000 km/hr (20,000 mph) and sustaining temperatures of up to 2,700ºC (nearly 5,000ºF) on its heat shield, before splashing down in the Pacific off the San Diego coast.”
Full Story (TIME)
SpaceX Launches CRS-25 Resupply Mission to ISS
The Orlando Sentinel reports that SpaceX “sent up its Dragon spacecraft on the CRS-25 resupply run to the International Space Station on Thursday night.” The launch was delayed from last week “after teams detected hydrazine vapor in the spacecraft, and ultimately decided to replace the vehicle’s parachutes.” The Dragon supply capsule is loaded with “experiments tackling wound healing, immune response and a potential way to build structures off planet, among other things.”
Full Story (Orlando Sentinel)
Video
SpaceX launch of CRS-25 Mission, July 14, 2022.
(SpaceX via YouTube)
Russia Launches Cargo Mission to ISS
SPACE reports that Russia launched the Progress 81 freighter “atop a Russian-built Soyuz rocket at 5:32 a.m. EDT (0932 GMT) from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, where the local time was 2:32 p.m. in the afternoon.” Progress 81 “is carrying about three tons of food, propellant and equipment up to the International Space Station (ISS)” where it will dock at 9:02 a.m. EDT. NASA spokesperson Sandra Jones said, “It was a perfect launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.”
Full Story (SPACE)
Video
Progress 81 Cargo Ship Launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome – June 3, 2022 (NASA via YouTube)
SpaceX Launches Transporter-5 Mission from Cape Canaveral
Florida Today reports that SpaceX launched its Transporter-5 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Launch Complex 40 at 2:35 p.m. EDT Wednesday. The Transporter-5 mission was carried out by a Falcon 9 rocket carrying around 59 satellite payloads. SpaceX’s launch “came just one minute before Boeing undocked its high-profile Starliner capsule mission from the International Space Station.”
Full Story (Florida Today)
Video
Launch of the Transporter-5 Mission (SpaceX via YouTube)
Blue Origin to Launch New Shepard Mission August 25
Space News reports that Blue Origin will conduct “its next New Shepard suborbital mission Aug. 25 with a set of research payloads, but not people, on board on the vehicle’s first flight under a revised launch license.” The NS-17 mission will launch from Blue Origin’s Launch Site One the morning of August 25, and will carry 18 research payloads aboard the capsule.
Full Story (Space News)
AIAA Statement on Blue Origin’s Successful New Shepard Mission
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 20, 2021 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) congratulates our corporate member Blue Origin on its successful first human flight of its New Shepard rocket today. AIAA Executive Director Dan Dumbacher made the following statement:
“On behalf of the 30,000 professional and student members of AIAA, we are excited to congratulate Jeff Bezos and the Blue Origin team on their accomplishments today! The successful New Shepard Mission NS-16 builds upon today’s anniversary when we first touched the moon and accelerates us toward where we’re going next. Blue Origin is opening up access to space travel for more people. We believe this will help extend the human neighborhood beyond planet Earth.
We commend Blue Origin for turning this mission’s seat auction into inspiration. The AIAA Foundation is honored to be among the organizations chosen to receive $1 million each to inspire future generations to pursue STEM careers. We look forward to engaging students and educators with new, innovative, and creative STEM education opportunities, as well as expanding the robust K-12 and university programs we have enabled for the last 25 years.
We are excited to build on our existing partnership with Blue Origin through our Design/Build/Launch (DBL) competition, giving high school students opportunities to develop and fly microgravity research payloads onboard future missions of New Shepard. We are proud of our recently announced 2021 DBL winners – Puneeth Bheesetty, Anna Porter Puckett, and Jaden Shawyer – from Granby High School, Norfolk, Virginia. They join our 2020 DBL winner, Eleanor Sigrest, who recently graduated as valedictorian of a dual program at Forest Park High School in Woodbridge, Virginia, and the Governor’s School at Innovation Park in Manassas, Virginia. We look forward to seeing their research payloads fly aboard New Shepard and hearing their results at an ASCEND event – a gathering of the global community focused on building humanity’s off-world future faster.
We recognize the countless aerospace industry professionals who are involved in making today’s mission a success. We salute and applaud the Blue Origin team for turning dreams into reality and helping shape the future of aerospace.”
AIAA Media Contact: Rebecca B. Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270 cell
About ASCEND
Powered by AIAA, ASCEND promotes the collaborative, interdisciplinary, outcomes-driven community of professionals, students, and serious enthusiasts around the world who are accelerating humanity’s progress toward our off-world future! For more information, visit ascend.events, or follow ASCEND on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit aiaa.org, or follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
AIAA Statement on the Successful Virgin Galactic Unity 22 Mission
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 11, 2021 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) congratulates our corporate member Virgin Galactic on its successful flight test of SpaceShipTwo Unity today. AIAA Executive Director Dan Dumbacher made the following statement:
“On behalf of the 30,000 professional and student members of AIAA, we are excited to congratulate Sir Richard Branson and the Virgin Galactic team on their accomplishments today! The successful Unity 22 mission marks a major step forward in humanity’s quest to extend the human neighborhood beyond planet Earth. Virgin Galactic is helping move us closer to the day when space travel is widely accessible to people everywhere.
We especially congratulate Unity 22 Mission Specialist Sirisha Bandla on her part in this flight. In addition to serving as a Unity 22 crew member, Sirisha is a member of our ASCEND Guiding Coalition. The ASCEND Guiding Coalition is the executive board of advisors for ASCEND, the global community focused on building humanity’s off-world future faster. Sirisha exemplifies the community experience of space because no one goes to space alone.
We commend the pioneering role of Sir Richard Branson in accelerating the nascent space tourism industry. Today’s mission would not have been possible without his long-term vision and risk taking. He has courageously led the Virgin Galactic team through challenges and tragedies to get here. Their collective perseverance is admirable, reminding us of how we must accelerate innovation in space with the utmost focus on safety and our shared humanity.
We recognize the countless professionals in the aerospace industry involved in making this mission a success, from design, to fabrication, to testing, and now to operations. We salute and applaud the Virgin Galactic team for pursuing their dreams with determination and making important contributions to shaping the future of aerospace.”
Media Contact: Rebecca B. Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270 cell
About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit aiaa.org, or follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.