CRS-19: SpaceX Dragon Scheduled for December 4 Launch

Posted by takebackthesky on December 2, 2019
Posted in: Launches. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

A Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to carry Dragon into the black on December 4 for SpaceX’s next commercial cargo resupply mission to deliver several tons of supplies, equipment and science investigations to the International Space Station.

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image courtesy SpaceXNow

Liftoff is currently scheduled NET 12:51 p.m. EST (17:51 UTC) on Wednesday from LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.  If the launch occurs on time, the launch pad will be almost directly underneath the orbital track of the ISS at liftoff due to the Earth’s rotation.  The backup launch date is Thursday, December 5 if necessary.

The launch, SpaceX’s twelfth of the year, will feature a brand new Falcon 9 first stage booster.  SpaceX plans to land and recover the first stage on their drone ship Of Course I Still Love You in the Atlantic Ocean so it can be refurbished for future use.

The Dragon capsule that will launch on December 4 flew twice previously to the space station on resupply missions in September of 2014 and June of 2017.

Among the more than one ton of scientific investigations being delivered to the International Space Station on this mission are 40 mice, which will aid in studies of muscular degradation during spaceflight and hopefully yield data that will help make future space missions– including long-range space missions– safer for humans.

If the mission launches on time, Dragon will arrive at the ISS on December 7, where it will remain until early January.

Those who wish to watch the launch can tune in to SpaceX’s live webcast of the mission, which should commence around 20 minutes before liftoff at spacex.com and on the company’s YouTube channel. 

Peace, love and rockets…

 

Upcoming SpaceX Starlink Launch to Reuse Payload Fairing for the First Time

Posted by takebackthesky on November 10, 2019
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It’s been a bit quiet on the launch front for SpaceX these past few months, but when a Falcon 9 breaks atmo with its next set of 60 Starlink broadband network satellites this week, Elon Musk and company will return to the black with yet another milestone mission.

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image courtesy The Space Store

The Starlink launch that is scheduled NET November 11 will mark the first time that a SpaceX mission will employ a reusable payload fairing.  The fairing for the upcoming mission last launched with the Falcon Heavy on April 11 of this year.

And if that’s not impressive enough, SpaceX confirmed last month that the upcoming Starlink mission would also be the company’s first to fly a Falcon 9 first-stage booster for a fourth time.

The Starlink mission is scheduled to liftoff Monday, November 11 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, with a launch window that opens at 9:56 a.m. EST (14:56 UTC) and will remain viable for eleven minutes.  If necessary, a backup launch opportunity is available on Tuesday, November 12 at 9:34 a.m. EST (14:34 UTC).

SpaceX’s President and Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell said in September that the company plans as many as 24 Starlink launches next year, with the eventual goal of providing broadband satellite coverage to all populated areas of the globe.

For those who would like to watch this launch in real time, SpaceX’s webcast of the mission should go live approximately 20 minutes before liftoff on the company’s YouTube channel and at spacex.com.

Peace, love and rockets…

 

 

 

 

One Browncoat’s Opinion: Please DON’T Bring Back “Firefly!”

Posted by takebackthesky on August 27, 2019
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If you spend any time at all online, you’ve probably seen speculation every so often about a possible return of Joss Whedon’s space western Firefly, the Fox series that was cancelled in 2002 after only 11 of its 14 episodes had aired– mostly out of order and with gaps in its weekly broadcasts due to Major League Baseball playoffs and holiday programming.

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image credit:  the Firefly and Serenity Database

And why not? The series only grew in popularity after its cancellation.  Its devoted fan base, who came to be known as “Browncoats” (taking their name from the Independent forces in the series who fought for their freedom against the corporate super-government known as the Alliance), spurred brisk sales of the series’ DVD box set, and Universal Studios greenlit a major motion picture, Serenity, that was helmed by Whedon himself and reunited the series’ original cast to tie up most of the show’s loose ends.

Serenity debuted in theaters in August of 2005, and although there was never a sequel, both the movie and the TV series that inspired it have spawned a number of additional stories set in the Firefly ‘verse.  There have been several comics series published by Dark Horse Comics and Boom! Studios that follow the exploits of the crew of Serenity, and publishers like Insight Editions and Titan Books have published numerous volumes covering every detail of the Firefly ‘verse, from handbooks and episode companions to prose novels and cookbooks.  It also seems as though Firefly- and Serenity-licensed merchandise is at an all-time high.  A quick online search will reveal clothing, board games, prop replicas, action figures and much more.

It’s obvious that the love of Browncoats the world over has kept Serenity relevant for nearly twenty years, so with reboots and revivals being all the rage in Hollywood these days, you’d think it would only be a matter of time until the executives at 21st Century Fox (now owned by the Walt Disney Company) decide to send Malcolm Reynolds and his crew back to the black.  I’m sure if that happened, there’d be more than a few Browncoats that would be all manner of glad to see it.

I just wouldn’t be one of them.

I know what you’re thinking:  “How could you say that, Chris? You’re a hardcore fan.  There aren’t many folk out there whose coats have a more brownish color than yours.  You’ve even spent the past seven years spearheading a movement to convince Elon Musk’s company SpaceX to name its first Crew Dragon after Serenity.  Why wouldn’t you want to see Firefly on the screen again?”

Well, read on and I’ll explain.

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SpaceX Now Aims to Launch Amos-17 NET August 6

Posted by takebackthesky on August 5, 2019
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The next mission for the SpaceX Falcon 9 will be the launch of Amos-17, a Boeing-built, Israeli-owned communications satellite that will be delivered to a geostationary transfer orbit.

The satellite was to have launched on August 3, but after the initial static fire of the Falcon 9 rocket on July 31 revealed a suspect valve, the launch had to be delayed until a second static fire could confirm that the valve had been successfully replaced.

With the successful completion of the second static fire, the mission is now expected to launch NET Tuesday, August 6, with a launch window that opens at 6:53pm EST (22:53 UTC) and extends until 8:20pm EST (00:20 UTC).

Whether or not the launch actually occurs on Tuesday will be largely due to range availability, since an Atlas 5 rocket owned by SpaceX’s competitor United Launch Alliance is booked for a launch on the same USAF-run Eastern Range on Thursday morning.  There is also the issue of the weather, which has a 60% chance of violating launch constraints according to the latest Launch Mission Execution Forecast.

When the mission eventually does launch, it will be the tenth launch of a Falcon rocket (either a Falcon 9 or Falcon Heavy) this year.

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(image courtesy SpaceXNow)

Had the mission launched on August 3, it would have been just nine days after SpaceX launched the Dragon on the CRS-18 resupply mission to the ISS, and would have marked the fastest turnaround for consecutive SpaceX launches from the same launchpad, in this case Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

Amos-17 is owned by Spacecom Limited, a company based in Tel Aviv that has reason to appreciate SpaceX’s caution.  The last Spacecom satellite that was to have launched aboard a Falcon 9 was destroyed on the launchpad in an explosion shortly before a planned static fire test.  In the wake of that incident, SpaceX ceased placing customer payloads on its rockets for static fire tests.

The Falcon 9 booster for this mission, a “Block 5” booster which was previously flown for the Telstar 19 VANTAGE and Es’hail-2 missions, will not be recovered.  Amos-17’s heavy weight– approximately 6.5 metric tons (14,330 pounds) fully fueled– requires all of the Falcon 9’s lift performance to deliver it into a geostationary transfer orbit above the equator. It will be just the second Block 5 Falcon 9 to be deemed expendable.  It is likely, however, that SpaceX will still attempt to recover the fairing from this mission.

SpaceX’s live webcast of the launch should begin about 20 minutes before liftoff at spacex.com and on the company’s YouTube channel.

Peace, love and rockets…

 

 

 

 

CRS-18: SpaceX Dragon Takes Flight for the 20th Time

Posted by takebackthesky on July 19, 2019
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It’s hard to believe that the SpaceX Dragon capsule will be heading out to the black for the 20th time this coming week.

It doesn’t seem all that long ago that we experienced the excitement of that first commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station in October of 2012, almost one month to the day after Take Back the Sky was founded to convince Elon Musk and SpaceX to name the crewed version of the Dragon capsule after Joss Whedon’s fictional transport ship Serenity from the TV series Firefly.

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image courtesy Wikipedia

Now, a little less than seven years later, the Dragon is about to make its 20th flight and its 18th operational delivery flight to the ISS, with liftoff scheduled NET Sunday, July 21 at 7:32 PM EST (23:32 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

As with the previous resupply missions, this one will deliver supplies, equipment and science investigations (a.k.a. experiments) to the ISS.  Astronauts aboard the station will also be able to send completed experiments and equipment that is no longer needed or in need of repair back to Earth when the capsule makes its return trip.

Even though these Dragon resupply missions will soon number three dozen, they should not be taken for granted or regarded as routine.  Each one is a unique opportunity for NASA, the ESA, Roscosmos, JAXA and other space agencies of the world to do some pretty mind-blowing science.  According to officials at Johnson Space Center, this particular mission will carry equipment and science investigations that will allow astronauts to test the ability to print human tissues and study the process of biomining in microgravity, as well as develop innovative bone healing therapies.  Goodyear Tire will also test the limits of silica fillers in microgravity in an attempt to improve the manufacture and performance of its tires (putting a real emphasis on the “commercial” in Commercial Space).  Other investigations will study how bacterial life adapts to long-term space travel, which might yield data that could lead to new therapies for diseases like Parkinson’s and Multiple Sclerosis. 

Over 40 of the experiments delivered on this mission were developed by students and educators.  Many of these will utilize “MixStix,” tiny mixture enclosure tubes that use clamps to keep fluids or solids (such as chemicals or biological materials) separate until they are released in space, allowing the contents to mix.

The Dragon will also deliver a new docking adapter that will add another docking port for future US Commercial Crew vehicles (Crew Dragon, Starliner, Dream Chaser, etc.).  This International Docking Adapter, designated IDA-3, will help convert the older shuttle-era Androgynous Peripheral Attach System-95 (APAS-95) docking systems on the ISS’s Pressurized Mating Adapter-2 and 3 (PMA-2 and PMA-3) docking ports into the newer International Docking System Standard (IDSS) style.  IDA-3 is identical to the first International Docking Adapters, IDA-1, which was destroyed when the Falcon 9 that was carrying the Dragon of CRS-7 experienced an in-flight anomaly and was lost, and IDA-2, which has already been installed on the ISS.  (IDA-2 was the docking port for Crew Dragon on her DM-1 mission.)  IDA-3, which was constructed mainly from spare parts, will be extracted from the Dragon by Canadarm2 and and permanently installed by astronauts during an EVA (“spacewalk”) next month.

The Falcon 9 booster core for this mission also carried the last Dragon into orbit for the CRS-17 mission and was recovered aboard SpaceX’s drone ship Of Course I Still Love You.  After it takes this Dragon out to the black, it will return to Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) at Cape Canaveral.

If you’d like to watch this launch, SpaceX’s usual webcast should go live approximately 20 minutes before liftoff at spacex.com and on the company’s YouTube channel.

Peace, love and rockets…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Browncoat Ball Comes to Las Vegas this September

Posted by takebackthesky on July 8, 2019
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In 2004, the Chicagoland Browncoats decided to hold a one-night banquet that was planned as a formal Sino-Western ball like the one in the Firefly episode “Shindig.”  The event was such a hit that Browncoats decided not only that they would do it annually, but also that they would host it in a different city every year.  This unique shindig, officially dubbed the “Browncoat Ball,” has moved from location to location, year after year, and has gradually evolved into a full weekend of social activities, sightseeing at local tourist attractions and celebrating all aspects of the Firefly and Serenity ‘verse.

Previous Browncoat Balls have been held in Chicago, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Austin, Portland, Charlotte, Warwick (RI), Albuquerque, Phoenix, Greenville (SC), Virginia Beach, Salt Lake City, Gettysburg (PA) and most recently Washington, DC.  This year’s Browncoat Ball will be held September 27-29 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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image courtesy browncoatball.com

The 2019 Browncoat Ball is the result of a joint bid by the Las Vegas Browncoats and the Pennsylvania Browncoats– the first of its kind.  It is also the third time that the PA Browncoats have organized a Browncoat Ball, and the third time that the Delaware Valley Brigade, more commonly known as the Philadelphia Browncoats, have played a major role in the preparations.

Matt Black is the head of the planning committee for this year’s Browncoat Ball and a friend of many of us here at Take Back the Sky since 2013, when we spent a weekend working side-by-side at the Browncoats tables at Wizard World Philadelphia Comic Con.  You may recall that back in 2017 we asked him to answer some questions about the Browncoat Ball, that particular year’s host city of Gettysburg and why he thinks naming a SpaceX Crew Dragon Serenity would be all kinds of appropriate.  If you haven’t read that interview, we’d encourage you to take a few moments to do so.

But seeing as how Matt’s back at the helm this year again for Browncoat Ball Las Vegas, we decided to ask him if he would talk to us once again and tell us a little bit more specifically about this year’s shindig.  He was kind enough to answer a few of our questions…

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The Road Back to the Black: Ascent Abort 2

Posted by takebackthesky on July 6, 2019
Posted in: Launches, Press Coverage. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

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Earlier this week, NASA conducted Ascent Abort 2, a critical milestone in the development of the Orion spacecraft to ensure the future safety of astronauts onboard. The day prior, the agency hosted influencers and bloggers for a press event under the NASA SOCIAL program — and Take Back the Sky was invited along for the ride.

The morning started with short briefings in the very same media broadcasting facilities that news anchors used to report live on the Apollo missions back in the day. That big clock from the movies is even in view.

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Houston, we’ve gone legit.

Two engineers who have worked on preparing the (simulated) craft for this test fielded questions about the very, very short-lived flight that would take place. The purpose of this test flight was to literally abort during ascent, that is, after liftoff on the way up. The Orion’s dedicated escape thrusters would fire, yanking it up, away and clear of the rocket as it continues on its way to space — or more likely the ocean, I guess, given that this is an abort. Either way, it’s crucial to test-fire the system to ensure that, before any astronauts fly onboard, that the Big Red Button will work if they have to press it.

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