NASA Adds Orbital's Antares To Launch Services II Contract

Joshua Buck

Headquarters, Washington     

202-358-1100

jbuck@nasa.gov

 

George H. Diller

Kennedy Space Center, Fla.

321-867-2468

george.h.diller@nasa.gov

 

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA has modified its NASA Launch Services (NLS) II contract with Orbital Sciences Corporation of Dulles, Va., to add the Antares launch vehicle, formerly known as Taurus II, for future missions.

The NLS II on-ramp provision provides an opportunity annually for launch service providers not presently under NLS II contract to compete for future missions, and allows launch service providers already under contract to introduce launch vehicles not currently on their NLS II contracts, such as Antares.

NLS II contracts are multiple award, indefinite delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts with ordering periods through June 2020. The contracts provide for a minimum capability of delivering agency payloads weighing approximately 550 pounds or more to a minimum 124-mile-high circular orbit with a launch inclination of 28.5 degrees. The launch service providers also may offer a range of vehicles to NASA to meet higher payload mass and orbit requirements.

These contracts support the goals and objectives of the agency's Science Mission Directorate, Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, and Office of the Chief Technologist. Under the contract, NASA also can provide launch services to other government agencies, such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The Launch Services Program Office at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida is responsible for program management.

For more information about NASA and agency programs, visit http://www.nasa.gov.

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NASA LENDS GALAXY EVOLUTION EXPLORER TO CALTECH

J.D. Harrington

Headquarters, Washington                          

202-358-5241

j.d.harrington@nasa.gov

 

Lawren Markle

California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif.

626-395-3226

lmarkle@caltech.edu

WASHINGTON -- NASA is lending the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) to the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, where the spacecraft will continue its exploration of the cosmos. In a first-of-a-kind move for NASA, a Space Act Agreement was signed May 14 so the university soon can resume spacecraft operations and data management for the mission using private funds.

"NASA sees this as an opportunity to allow the public to continue reaping the benefits from this space asset that NASA developed using federal funding," said Paul Hertz, NASA's Astrophysics Division director at the agency's headquarters in Washington. "This is an excellent example of a public/private partnership that will help further astronomy in the United States."

The Galaxy Evolution Explorer spent about nine years as a NASA mission, probing the sky with its sharp ultraviolet eyes and cataloguing hundreds of millions of galaxies spanning 10 billion years of cosmic time.

"This mission was full of surprises, and now more surprises are sure to come," said Chris Martin, who will remain the mission's principal investigator at Caltech. "It already has scanned a large fraction of the sky, improving our understanding of how galaxies grow and evolve. The astronomy community will continue those studies, in addition to spending more time on stars closer to home in our own galaxy."

The spacecraft was placed in standby mode on Feb. 7 of this year. Soon, Caltech will begin to manage and operate the satellite, working with several international research groups to continue ultraviolet studies of the universe. Projects include cataloguing more galaxies across the entire sky; watching how stars and galaxies change over time; and making deep observations of the stars being surveyed for orbiting planets by NASA's Kepler mission. Data will continue to be made available to the public.

"We're thrilled that the mission will continue on its path of discovery," said Kerry Erickson, the mission's project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. "The Galaxy Evolution Explorer is like the 'little engine that could,' forging ahead into unexplored territory."

During its time at NASA, the Galaxy Evolution Explorer made many discoveries involving various types of objects that light up our sky with ultraviolet light. Perhaps the most surprising of these was the discovery of a gargantuan comet-like tail behind a speeding star called Mira. Other finds included catching black holes "red-handed" as they munch away on stars, spying giant rings of new stars around old, presumed dead galaxies, and independently confirming the nature of dark energy.

For astronomers, the most profound shift in their understanding of galaxy evolution came from the mission's findings about a "missing link" population of galaxies. These missing members helped explain how the two major types of galaxies in our universe -- the "red and dead" ellipticals and the blue spirals -- transition from one type to another.

"We were able to trace the life of a galaxy," Martin said. "With the Galaxy Evolution Explorer's ultraviolet detectors, we were able to isolate the small amounts of star formation that are the signatures of galaxies undergoing an evolutionary change. We found that galaxies don't have a single personality, but may change types many times over their lifetime."

The mission also captured a dazzling collection of snapshots, showing everything from ghostly nebulas to a spiral galaxy with huge, spidery arms. A slideshow showing some of the top images can be seen here http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/galex/gallery-index.html.

Under the new agreement, NASA maintains ownership and liability for the Galaxy Evolution Explorer spacecraft. When Caltech completes science activities, it will decommission the spacecraft for NASA. The mission's batteries and solar panels have an expected lifetime of 12 years or more, and the spacecraft will remain in orbit for at least 66 years, after which it will burn-up upon re-entry into Earth's atmosphere. The agreement can be renegotiated when it expires in three years.

Orbital Sciences Corporation in Dulles, Va., which built the spacecraft, will continue performing flight control functions for Caltech associated with monitoring and commanding GALEX and participating in mission planning. Universal Space Network will continue providing the ground stations for communicating with the spacecraft.

For graphics and additional information about the Galaxy Evolution Explorer, visit http://www.nasa.gov/galex.

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Antares Rocket

The first stage of Orbital Sciences Corporation’s Antares rocket stands in launch position during pathfinder operations at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility and the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport. Orbital’s Antares launch vehicle will be conducting missions for NASA under its Commercial Orbital Transportation Service Program and Cargo Resupply Services contract.

Image Credit: NASA/P.Black

NASA Chief Technologist Mason Peck Visits Wallops

NASA Chief Technologist Mason Peck, left, and Robin Heard, Manager of Antares Upper Stage Ground Operations, Orbital Sciences Corp., view the Antares rocket at Wallops on Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012. The visit to Wallops was Peck's first visit to an agency center since becoming NASA's Chief Technologist.

Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

New Space Station Crew Members Launch from Kazakhstan

Stephanie L. Schierholz
Headquarters, Washington

Kelly Humphries

Johnson Space Center, Houston

HOUSTON -- NASA astronaut Dan Burbank and Russian cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishin launched to the International Space Station at 11:14 p.m. EST Sunday (10:14 a.m. Kazakhstan time, Monday) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Burbank, Shkaplerov and Ivanishin are scheduled to dock their Soyuz TMA-22 spacecraft with their new home at 11:33 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 15, and join Expedition 29 Commander Mike Fossum of NASA and Flight Engineers Satoshi Furukawa of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Russian cosmonaut Sergei Volkov. Fossum will hand over command of the station to the new crew within four days.

On Tuesday, coverage of the Soyuz docking will begin on NASA Television at 11 p.m. NASA TV coverage of the hatches opening and the welcoming ceremony aboard the orbiting laboratory will begin at 1:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Fossum, Furukawa and Volkov launched in June and are scheduled to return to Earth in their Soyuz TMA-02M spacecraft at 8:24 p.m. Nov. 21 (8:24 a.m. Kazakhstan time on Nov. 22). Expedition 30 begins when the current crew undocks, leaving Burbank in command. A formal change of command ceremony is planned for Nov. 20 and will be aired on NASA TV during a video file Nov. 21 at 8 a.m.

NASA astronaut Don Pettit, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko and European Space Agency astronaut Andre Kuipers are scheduled to launch to the station Dec. 21, when they will join Expedition 30 as flight engineers.

The six crew members will be busy with dozens of experiments during their time aboard the station. They also will welcome a new era of commercial resupply services from the United States. Expedition 30 is expected to greet the arrival of Dragon, a commercial resupply ship being built by SpaceX of Hawthorne, Calif. Dragon will perform a test flight and rendezvous with the station, soon followed by Cygnus (scheduled for flight during Expedition 31), another commercial resupply ship being built by Orbital Sciences Corporation of Dulles, Va.

For NASA TV streaming video, schedule and downlink information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/ntv.

For more information about the International Space Station and its crew, visit http://www.nasa.gov/station.

To follow Twitter updates from Expedition 28-29 crew member Fossum, visit http://twitter.com/astro_aggie.

To follow Twitter updates from Expedition 29-30 crew member Burbank, visit http://twitter.com/AstroCoastie.

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Cygnus Space Station Cargo Carrier Arrives At NASA Wallops

Michael Braukus/J.D. Harrington

Headquarters, Washington     

 

Keith Koehler

Wallops Flight Facility, Va.

 

Barron Beneski

Orbital Sciences Corp., Dulles, Va.

WASHINGTON -- NASA's work to help develop the next generation of commercial space transportation systems reached another significant achievement yesterday with the arrival at Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia of the Cygnus Pressurized Cargo Module, Orbital Science Corp.'s spacecraft to carry supplies to the International Space Station.

"This is one more important step in our partnership with U.S. private industry to build safe, reliable and cost effective cargo transportation systems," said Philip McAlister, acting director of commercial spaceflight development at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "We are pleased that Orbital has made this accomplishment and look forward to the company flying the Cygnus spacecraft in 2012."

During the next several months, Orbital's engineering team will integrate the pressurized module with the Cygnus service module that includes the spacecraft's avionics, propulsion and power systems.

The Cygnus spacecraft is scheduled for a demonstration flight from Wallops early next year on an Orbital Taurus II launch vehicle under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services agreement with the company.

For information about NASA's commercial space transportation efforts, visit http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial/index.html.

For images and information about the Cygnus arrival, visit http://www.nasa.gov/centers/wallops/news/cygnus-arrives.html.

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Space Station Commercial Cargo Carrier Arriving At NASA Wallops

Michael Braukus/J.D. Harrington

Headquarters, Washington

 

Keith Koehler

Wallops Flight Facility, Va.

 

Barron Beneski

Orbital Sciences Corp., Dulles, Va.

WASHINGTON -- NASA's partnership with industry to develop transportation to the International Space Station reaches another milestone on Wednesday, Aug. 24. The cargo module for Orbital Sciences Corp.'s Cygnus spacecraft, which will carry supplies to the station, is scheduled to arrive at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

Reporters are invited to cover the arrival of Cygnus' Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM) at 4 p.m. EDT Wednesday. NASA officials and Orbital representatives will be available for interviews. To attend, journalists must contact Keith Koehler at 757-824-1579 or e-mail keith.a.koehler@nasa.gov by noon EDT on Aug. 23.

During the next several months, Orbital's engineering team will integrate the PCM with the Cygnus service module that includes the spacecraft's avionics, propulsion and power systems.

The Cygnus spacecraft is scheduled for a demonstration flight early next year on an Orbital Taurus II launch vehicle under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services agreement with the company. Cygnus will launch from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport's pad 0A at Wallops. For information about the spacecraft, visit http://www.orbital.com/CargoResupplyServices/.

For information about NASA's commercial space transportation efforts, visit http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial/index.html.

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NASA's Dawn Spacecraft Enters Orbit Around Asteroid Vesta

Dwayne Brown

Headquarters, Washington

Priscilla Vega

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Dawn spacecraft on Saturday became the first probe ever to enter orbit around an object in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Dawn will study the asteroid, named Vesta, for a year before departing for a second destination, a dwarf planet named Ceres, in July 2012. Observations will provide unprecedented data to help scientists understand the earliest chapter of our solar system. The data also will help pave the way for future human space missions.

"Today, we celebrate an incredible exploration milestone as a spacecraft enters orbit around an object in the main asteroid belt for the first time," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said. "Dawn's study of the asteroid Vesta marks a major scientific accomplishment and also points the way to the future destinations where people will travel in the coming years. President Obama has directed NASA to send astronauts to an asteroid by 2025, and Dawn is gathering crucial data that will inform that mission."

The spacecraft relayed information to confirm it entered Vesta's orbit, but the precise time this milestone occurred is unknown at this time. The time of Dawn's capture depended on Vesta's mass and gravity, which only has been estimated until now. The asteroid's mass determines the strength of its gravitational pull. If Vesta is more massive, its gravity is stronger, meaning it pulled Dawn into orbit sooner. If the asteroid is less massive, its gravity is weaker and it would have taken the spacecraft longer to achieve orbit. With Dawn now in orbit, the science team can take more accurate measurements of Vesta's gravity and gather more accurate timeline information.

Dawn, which launched in September 2007, is on track to become the first spacecraft to orbit two solar system destinations beyond Earth. The mission to Vesta and Ceres is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., for the agency's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Dawn is a project of the directorate's Discovery Program, which is managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.

The University of California, Los Angeles, is responsible for the overall Dawn mission science. Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va., designed and built the spacecraft. The German Aerospace Center, the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, the Italian Space Agency and the Italian National Astrophysical Institute are part of the mission's team.

For information about the Dawn mission, visit http://www.nasa.gov/dawn.

To follow the mission on Twitter, visit http://www.twitter.com/NASA_Dawn.

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NASA's Dawn Spacecraft Enters Orbit Around Asteroid Vesta

Dwayne Brown

Headquarters, Washington

Priscilla Vega

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Dawn spacecraft on Saturday became the first probe ever to enter orbit around an object in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Dawn will study the asteroid, named Vesta, for a year before departing for a second destination, a dwarf planet named Ceres, in July 2012. Observations will provide unprecedented data to help scientists understand the earliest chapter of our solar system. The data also will help pave the way for future human space missions.

"Today, we celebrate an incredible exploration milestone as a spacecraft enters orbit around an object in the main asteroid belt for the first time," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said. "Dawn's study of the asteroid Vesta marks a major scientific accomplishment and also points the way to the future destinations where people will travel in the coming years. President Obama has directed NASA to send astronauts to an asteroid by 2025, and Dawn is gathering crucial data that will inform that mission."

The spacecraft relayed information to confirm it entered Vesta's orbit, but the precise time this milestone occurred is unknown at this time. The time of Dawn's capture depended on Vesta's mass and gravity, which only has been estimated until now. The asteroid's mass determines the strength of its gravitational pull. If Vesta is more massive, its gravity is stronger, meaning it pulled Dawn into orbit sooner. If the asteroid is less massive, its gravity is weaker and it would have taken the spacecraft longer to achieve orbit. With Dawn now in orbit, the science team can take more accurate measurements of Vesta's gravity and gather more accurate timeline information.

Dawn, which launched in September 2007, is on track to become the first spacecraft to orbit two solar system destinations beyond Earth. The mission to Vesta and Ceres is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., for the agency's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Dawn is a project of the directorate's Discovery Program, which is managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.

The University of California, Los Angeles, is responsible for the overall Dawn mission science. Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va., designed and built the spacecraft. The German Aerospace Center, the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, the Italian Space Agency and the Italian National Astrophysical Institute are part of the mission's team.

For information about the Dawn mission, visit http://www.nasa.gov/dawn.

To follow the mission on Twitter, visit http://www.twitter.com/NASA_Dawn.

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NASA Probe Nears Position for Year-Long Stay at Giant Asteroid

Dwayne C. Brown

Headquarters, Washington                               

 

Priscilla Vega/Jia-Rui Cook

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

WASHINGTON -- NASA's Dawn spacecraft is on track to begin the first extended visit to a large asteroid. The mission expects to go into orbit around Vesta on July 16 and begin gathering science data in early August. Vesta resides in the main asteroid belt and is thought to be the source of a large number of meteorites that fall to Earth.

"The spacecraft is right on target," said Robert Mase, Dawn project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. "We look forward to exploring this unknown world during Dawn's one year stay in Vesta's orbit."

After traveling nearly four years and 1.7 billion miles (2.7 billion kilometers), Dawn is approximately 96,000 miles (155,000 kilometers) away from Vesta. When Vesta captures Dawn into its orbit, there will be approximately 9,900 miles (16,000 kilometers) between them. They will be approximately 117 million miles (188 million kilometers) away from Earth.

After Dawn enters Vesta's orbit, engineers will need a few days to determine the exact time of capture. Unlike other missions where a dramatic, nail-biting propulsive burn results in orbit insertion around a planet, Dawn has been using its placid ion propulsion system to subtly shape its path for years to match Vesta's orbit around the sun.

Images from Dawn's framing camera, taken for navigation purposes, show the slow progress toward Vesta. They also show Vesta rotating about 65 degrees in the field of view. The images are about twice as sharp as the best images of Vesta from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, but the surface details Dawn will obtain are still a mystery.

"Navigation images from Dawn's framing camera have given us intriguing hints of Vesta, but we're looking forward to the heart of Vesta operations, when we begin officially collecting science data," said Christopher Russell, Dawn principal investigator, at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). "We can't wait for Dawn to peel back the layers of time and reveal the early history of our solar system."

Dawn's three instruments are all functioning and appear to be properly calibrated. The visible and infrared mapping spectrometer, for example, has started to obtain images of Vesta that are larger than a few pixels in size. During the initial reconnaissance orbit, at approximately 1,700 miles (2,700 kilometers), the spacecraft will get a broad overview of Vesta with color pictures and data in different wavelengths of reflected light. The spacecraft will move into a high altitude mapping orbit, about 420 miles (680 kilometers) above the surface to systematically map the parts of Vesta's surface illuminated by the sun; collect stereo images to see topographic highs and lows; acquire higher resolution data to map rock types at the surface; and learn more about Vesta's thermal properties.

Dawn then will move even closer, to a low-altitude mapping orbit approximately 120 miles (200 kilometers) above the surface. The primary science goals of this orbit are to detect the byproducts of cosmic rays hitting the surface and help scientists determine the many kinds of atoms there, and probe the protoplanet's internal structure. As Dawn spirals away from Vesta, it will pause again at the high-altitude mapping orbit altitude. Because the sun's angle on the surface will have progressed, scientists will be able to see previously hidden terrain while obtaining different views of surface features.

"We've packed our year at Vesta chock-full of science observations to help us unravel the mysteries of Vesta," said Carol Raymond, Dawn's deputy principal investigator at JPL. Vesta is considered a protoplanet, or body that never quite became a full-fledged planet.

Dawn launched in September 2007. Following a year at Vesta, the spacecraft will depart for its second destination, the dwarf planet Ceres, in July 2012. Dawn's mission to Vesta and Ceres is managed by JPL for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Dawn is a project of the directorate's Discovery Program, managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.

UCLA is responsible for overall Dawn mission science. Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va., designed and built the spacecraft. The German Aerospace Center, the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, the Italian Space Agency and the Italian National Astrophysical Institute are part of the mission team.

For more information about Dawn, visit http://www.nasa.gov/dawn.

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