Updates Orbital Sciences' Cygnus CRS Flight 1 through Flight 8 updates.

[Thunder Chicken]

Excellent! I'm getting a whole lot more psyched about U.S. commercial space. Between Orbital Sciences and SpaceX I'm seeing good things and high capability.

MOAR ROCKETS!

 

[Zachstar]

Well at the very least it means that we have a backup for cargo to the station. And that of course means we can rely on Progress launches less and less.

 

[orb]

NASA:

 

[RGClark]

Congratulations to Orbital Sciences for their successful launching of the Antares and the successful berthing of the Cygnus at the ISS. And to NASA's commercial space program for showing the pathway to making spaceflight routine.

Bob Clark

 

[Cosmic Penguin]

BTW I don't see any launch photos posted here yet - so I will wait till the Cygnus arrival photos are published to post them in one "From Wallops to ISS" sequence. :camera:

 

[Cosmic Penguin]

The first operational Cygnus is leaving the ISS in a few hours time! Please watch NASA TV in 1.5 hours from now to catch it departing from the station.

As for the "From Wallops to ISS" in photo exhibition.....it's coming soon.

 

[RGClark]

It would be so much cooler if given a heat shield so it could be reusable and able to return cargo:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7B50CrMb-s"]HEART - YouTube[/ame]

Bob Clark

 

[C3PO]

It would be so much cooler if given a heat shield so it could be reusable and able to return cargo:

Most things would be cooler with a heat shield. (The clue is in the name)

 

[Kyle]

Destructive re-entry will occur at 12:20am CST tomorrow.

 

[Ripley]

From SpaceFlightNow's Mission Status Center

...Named for the late astronaut C. Gordon Fullerton, the successful Cygnus flight is the first of eight commercial resupply missions planned by Orbital through 2016. NASA and Orbital signed a $1.9 billion contract for the flights in December 2008...

So, are the planned missions 8 or are they 12, as the thread title says?
Orbital says 8, too.

 

[MattBaker]

Wikipedia gives this old article as their source for eight.

Relevant section:

The agency has also doled out $1.9 billion to Orbital for eight flights of its Cygnus spacecraft.

 

[Urwumpe]

It would be so much cooler if given a heat shield so it could be reusable and able to return cargo:

HEART - YouTube

Bob Clark

Maybe you should also put a parachute somewhere. It might get necessary at times. :lol:

 

[Ripley]

Wikipedia gives this old article as their source for eight....

Ok, so there was maybe some confusion because of this (same link):

...NASA has agreed to pay $1.6 billion for 12 flights of SpaceX's planned Dragon spacecraft and their Falcon 9 boosters...

SpaceX=12 flights
Orbital=8 flights

 

[IronRain]

Title updated :thumbup:

 

[Kyle]

NSF article
Orbital set May 6 for next Cygnus mission to the ISS

 

[dehat42]

It would be so much cooler if given a heat shield so it could be reusable and able to return cargo:

HEART - YouTube

Bob Clark

There is an app you can get for Android and Apple devices that has the latest concept for an alternative to rigid heat shields. And I have seen the programs on NASA TV about it as well. It's called HIAD.

http://www.nasa.gov/offices/oct/gam.../game_changing_development/HIAD/hiad-app.html

 

[ISProgram]

There is an app you can get for Android and Apple devices that has the latest concept for an alternative to rigid heat shields. And I have seen the programs on NASA TV about it as well. It's called HIAD.

http://www.nasa.gov/offices/oct/gam.../game_changing_development/HIAD/hiad-app.html

What NASA has in mind, I think, when they wanted Cygnus to have return capability at one point.

 

[Cosmic Penguin]

Well apparently Orbital is deep into final preparations for mating the Cygnus spacecraft for a launch opportunity on May 6. However whether it will launch by then depends on SpaceX - if Dragon CRS-3 cannot get off the ground on April 18 & 19, NASA will let Orbital go first and launch Cygnus CRS-2 as planned on May 6. This would mean Dragon CRS-3 won't get off till June 10 due to thermal constraints at the ISS.

If however the Dragon does launch within the next 2 days then Cygnus CRS-2 will launch on June 10.

BTW this reminds me that I still haven't posted the photos from the Cygnus CRS-1 mission on January-February - give me another day or two.... :hmm:

 

[Cosmic Penguin]

Well apparently Orbital is deep into final preparations for mating the Cygnus spacecraft for a launch opportunity on May 6. However whether it will launch by then depends on SpaceX - if Dragon CRS-3 cannot get off the ground on April 18 & 19, NASA will let Orbital go first and launch Cygnus CRS-2 as planned on May 6. This would mean Dragon CRS-3 won't get off till June 10 due to thermal constraints at the ISS.

If however the Dragon does launch within the next 2 days then Cygnus CRS-2 will launch on June 10.

BTW this reminds me that I still haven't posted the photos from the Cygnus CRS-1 mission on January-February - give me another day or two.... :hmm:

And it is now confirmed to launch in June:

Mission Status - April 21, 2014

Orbital’s upcoming cargo logistics mission to the International Space Station (ISS) under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA is now scheduled for no earlier than June 10. With the successful berthing of the SpaceX Dragon capsule at the Station, a crew rotation and a “solar beta cutout” also to occur in May, the earliest date that Orbital can launch will be during the second week in June.

The Antares and Cygnus teams have made great progress in preparing for this mission. The Cygnus spacecraft is currently loaded with 1083 kg of NASA cargo, approximately 65% of the planned total cargo load. The team has also been completing final Cygnus closeouts and has transferred the integrated Cygnus spacecraft from the payload processing facility on the Wallops main base to the fueling facility on Wallops Island. Fueling will take place in the near future. The remaining cargo, some of which is time sensitive, will be loaded just prior to the encapsulation of the spacecraft within the Antares rocket’s fairing.

The Antares team continues to prepare the rocket for the mission, conducting final testing and preparing for the integration of Cygnus with the vehicle’s upper stage. In addition, the team will also be making progress on the rocket that will conduct the Orb-3 resupply mission later this year. While not as far along as the Orb-2 rocket, the Antares ground team is working on both rockets in parallel at the Wallops Horizontal Integration Facility (HIF).

The Cygnus and Antares team also completed the Flight Readiness Certification Review (FRCR) on April 15. The FRCR is a comprehensive review of the current status of the spacecraft and the rocket and the team's readiness to support the Orb-2 mission operations.

Unfortunately for American viewers, the launch time on June 10 is 2:07 am EDT (06:07 UTC).

 

[Kyle]

I'll be on break, so that's fine with me!