American-Russian crew safely dock to space station

Soyuz closes in for a successful docking with space station. (NASA)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- An American and two Russians docked their spacecraft to the International Space Station on Thursday beginning a six month voyage aboard the orbiting laboratory.

The Russian Soyuz TMA-12M craft arrived at it's port-of-call two days later than planned after a thruster firing failed to work hours after lift-off from Baikonur Cosmodrome on March 26 (Moscow time).

Russian cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsuv and Oleg Artemyev, and NASA astronaut Steven Swanson docked with the station's Poisk module at 7:58 p.m. EDT, as they flew over southern Brazil.

"A flawless approach, a flawless docking... the trio has arrived at the International Space Station," said NASA spokesperson Rob Navis from inside Mission Control near Houston.

The space trio now join Japan's first space station commander Koichi Wakata, and flight engineers American Rick Mastracchio and Russian Mikhail Tyurin as the complete Expedition 39 crew.

The delayed docking has been attributed to a failed Soyuz thruster firing which kept the spacecraft from moving closer to it's target at an exact time during it's orbit.

Russian Mission Control remains unsure as to why they received a failure message at the time of the thruster jet firing.

The two space crews began chatting an hour prior to docking as the Soyuz approached from 23 km below the space station.

"We have a visual on the station!" exclaimed Soyuz commander Skvortsuv as they soared 260 miles above the western Pacific Ocean.

The orbital ballet saw the Soyuz fire it's thrusters in a series of burns which brought the craft to the proper alignment for the slow approach.

"You can see the thrusters did some work here," Skvortsuv commented moments after a successful burn brought their Soyuz even closer a few minutes later.



(Charles Atkeison reports on aerospace, science and technology. Follow his updates via Twitter @AbsolutSpaceGuy.)

Kenesaw State, NASA team to promote STEM education

ATLANTA -- The growth of women entering highly competitive fields in science and technology are forcing some colleges and universities to look to the preteens of today for the jobs of the next decade.

A group of sixth graders on Monday attend a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) educational workshop hosted by Kennesaw State University as the school looks to inspire girls interested in STEM-related fields.

"We are encouraging girls to think about a STEM career, and so we want to start with our middle school girls," said Gilda Lyon, STEM coordinator at the Georgia Department of Education. "We have lots of workshops that encourage girls to go into STEM careers and it's all very hands on so that girls can see that it's a lot of fun to build and create and produce things."

One of NASA's educator-astronauts was in attendance to help motivate and give advice to over two-hundred students from across north Georgia.

Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger flew aboard space shuttle Discovery for a one week visit aboard the International Space Station in 2010, and offered words of encouragement and inspiration to the students.

"We have real issues that we are dealing with in our society that have an answer in the STEM fields, and we need talented men and women to answer these question," Lindenburger pointed out to this aerospace journalist.

Soyuz thruster problem delays space station docking to Thursday

New space crew fight a thruster problem en route to space station. (NASA)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- An issue with a spacecraft thruster firing has kept an American and two Russians from docking to the International Space Station on Wednesday as planned.

NASA astronaut Steven Swanson and Russian cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsuv and Oleg Artemyev aboard a Soyuz TMA-12M spacecraft were supposed to dock with their new home in space just six hours after launch.

They will now stay aloft on orbit for another two days before attempting a docking to the station the March 28.

"Everything is scrapped! We are done for the day," Russian mission control exclaimed to the crew of three aboard the space station prior to the start of their sleep. "It's a chaotic situation now."

NASA has now said that docking will now take place at 7:58 p.m. EDT, on Thursday.
Ninety minutes later, the two space crews will open the hatches and shake hands.
"We don't exactly know what has happened," Moscow radioed the Soyuz crew an hour later. "You will have to be in flight for two days."

What Moscow does know is as the Soyuz began it's DV3 (Delta/Velocity #3) burn maneuver at 7:48 p.m., Russian Mission Control received a failure message. The burn would have increased it's speed by 10.1 meters per second.

Another burn planned for a half-hour later never occurred.

A two day docking schedule had been the normal routine by both NASA space shuttles and Russian Soyuz vehicles until last year. This flight would have been only the fifth planned fast-trek docking to the station.

NASA controllers are now working with Moscow's flight control team to share several ground stations across the Western Hemisphere to allow the Soyuz crew to communicate with Moscow.

(Charles Atkeison reports on aerospace, science and technology. Follow his updates via Twitter @AbsolutSpaceGuy.)

Joint American-Russian crew begin space station voyage

A Russian Soyuz lifts-off with a crew of three to space station. (NASA)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- An American and two Russians lifted-off into the predawn night sky over Kazakhstan on Wednesday beginning a fast voyage to arrive at their new home on the ocean of space.

The crew is scheduled to dock with the International Space Station nearly six hours after launch.

NASA astronaut Steven Swanson and Russian cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsuv and Oleg Artemyev will spend nearly six months living and working aboard the orbiting laboratory before returning to earth in September.

Stacked fifty meters high a top their Soyuz FG rocket, the crew awaited the jolt of launch by exchanging comments with Russian mission control and listening to both classical and current music which echoed inside their craft during the final hour.

As the countdown clock reached zero, the Soyuz core engine ignited followed by it's four rocket boosters at 5:17:23 p.m. EDT (3:17 a.m. local time on Wednesday), accelerating the spacecraft on an easterly track.

The co-operative mission begins amid growing tensions between the two countries over the annexation of Crimea by Russia. The United States and Russia have both placed sanctions on the others leaders.

Western allies, including space station partners Canada and England, charge that the annexation is illegal, however Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed last Tuesday the Black Sea region is under Russian control and no longer apart of the Ukraine.

NASA administrator Charles Bolden confirmed recently that political tensions between the U.S. and Russia will not have an ill-will effect as the crew works 260 miles above the planet.

NASA astronaut Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger expressed to this aerospace journalist on Monday her thoughts on how the turbulent situation on the ground plays out aboard the station.

"Quite frankly, the Russians are our friends when we are on orbit," Lindenburger said. "Our countries make political decisions we don't agree with, but when we (the international partners) are on orbit, we are colleges and we are friends and we work together, and that is how we are dealing with it right now."

As the rocket rose from it's launch pad at Baikonur Cosmodrome, a 300-foot golden flame illuminated the black night if only for a few seconds.

Nine minutes later, the Soyuz craft arrived on orbit as it separated from the rocket's upper stage to start a nearly four earth orbit chase of the station.

The Soyuz TMA-12M spacecraft is expected to dock to the space station's Poisk module at about 11:05 p.m. EDT, as the two crafts pass over Russian ground stations.

Watching from inside the orbiting laboratory will be Japan's first space station commander Koichi Wakata, and flight engineers American Rick Mastracchio and Russian Mikhail Tyurin.

The hatches are expected to open an hour later after the two crews establish that the Soyuz is completely docked with a good seal.

The newly united crew of six will begin a busy week on Monday as they prepare for Wednesday's grapple and docking of the commercial SpaceX cargo craft known as Dragon.

Loaded with 4,600 pounds of fresh supplies and hardware, Dragon is poised atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at Cape Canaveral for it's planned Sunday evening launch. Dragon's five second launch window is targeted for 10:50 p.m.

Swanson, a father of three and a four time spacewalker, will serve as the space station's commander beginning on May 13, as Wakata and his crew depart the outpost in their own Soyuz for the trip home.

A two time space shuttle astronaut, Swanson's last trip to station was exactly five years ago as his crew delivered the starboard truss segment, a set of solar arrays and batteries to increase the lab's power.

"Steve's been training for two and a half years for this mission," Metcalf-Lindenburger said. "He has also had some shuttle flights so this should really be a good experience to have Steve on orbit. He's a great space walker and he'll lead with great confidence."

During Swanson's tenure as commander, the International Space Station will mark a milestone on July 11 as it celebrates the 5000th consecutive day in which it has been manned by a crew.

The occasion will be marked by the station's crew in a brief ceremony recognizing the special milestone.

(Charles Atkeison reports on aerospace, science and technology. Follow his updates via Twitter @AbsolutSpaceGuy.)

Blue Angels airshow attendees to number 15M across America

The Blue Angels arrive at their jets on March 15 in El Centro, CA.

PENSACOLA, Fla. -- The U.S. Navy expects nearly fifteen million visitors will attend airshows across America to witness the aerobatic performances of the Blue Angels during 2014.

The Navy's Flight Demonstration Squadron began their new season in storied fashion as the team's six pilots arrived dressed in their throwback gold flight uniforms and boarded their FA-18C Hornets in El Centro, California on Saturday.

The inaugural demonstration saw an estimated 35,000 witness the Blues' forty minute performance over the city which hosts the team for six weeks during their intensive winter training.

The squadron will perform their next shows in California, Texas and Florida.

"By publicly demonstrating the skills and abilities of naval aviators, the team's goal is to inspire young men and women not just to purse a career in naval aviation or the military, but to aspire to excellence in all areas of their lives," said Blue Angels spokesperson Chief Russell Tafuri.


Angel 6 opposing solo pilot Lt. Mark Tedrow is excitied about the new season.

"It's pretty incredible being part of the solo routine for the Blue Angels," Lt. Tedrow said to this aerospace reporter. "Number five and number six pilots demonstrate the maximum performance capabilities of the FA-18. We're the ones that wow the crowd with some of the amazing maneuvers."

Tedrow added, "We fly our jets at just below the speed of sound, and pull between 7 and 8 G's during the demonstration. It's hard to describe to the person who has never felt G-forces before, but actually they're pretty painful but good at the same time."

This year will mark the Blue Angels 68th year performing to public crowds.

(Charles Atkeison reports on aerospace, science and technology. Follow his updates via Twitter @AbsolutSpaceGuy.)

Tellus Museum to display space shuttle Columbia's nose cap

Shuttle Columbia's nose cap prepares for it's display near Atlanta. (Atkeison)

ATLANTA -- The nose cap of America's first space shuttle will go on public display next week at the Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville.

The gray nose section was flown as part of Columbia during eleven of her twenty-eight missions, and was removed only a few years before her ill-fated 2003 flight which saw the spacecraft break apart during atmospheric re-entry.

The four-foot wide oval nose cap will become the only reflown section of Columbia to be placed on public display.

"It's pretty even grey in color except it does have some black scorch marks on the top of the nose cap as evidence of its re-entry," Tellus Museum's Curator Julian Gray said on Monday during a behind-the-scenes visit of the space flown artifact.

"We are working on the graphics and the base is already made for it as we put it behind acrylic because we want to protect it," Gray added as he peered over the turtle shell-like nose.

The nose cap's light green bulkhead assembly which was attached to the shuttle body is also included in the display.

The NASA Historical Artifacts Program donated Columbia's nose to Tellus, and the museum plans to have it on display in it's expanding space flight section on March 14.

"To have such an important piece of Columbia from her flying days on display is a fitting tribute to this vehicle and all the men and women who worked on her during her illustrious career," said Dr. Don Thomas, a four time shuttle astronaut and author of the new book Orbit of Discovery.

Manufactured by the Vought Corporation in Dallas, the nose cap was installed on Columbia in 1984 during her 18-month long maintenance period in Palmdale, California.

The specially flown nose was part of a NASA experiment known as Shuttle Entry Air Data System (SEADS), and was based out of Langley Research Center. SEADS looked at the air pressure surrounding a space shuttle's nose section from an altitude of 300,000 feet through touchdown.

Fourteen sensor holes in the reinforced carbon carbon coated nose cap lined up in a cross and recorded measurements of Columbia as she plunged through the earth's atmosphere. The NASA experiment was activated minutes prior to the shuttle's deorbit burn.

During reentry, the orbiter's nose reached temperatures of near 2,800 degrees Fahrenheit.

Columbia first flew with her scientific nose in January 1986 during mission STS-61C. Eleven flights later, it was used for the final time during STS-65 in July 1994.

In fact, the 61C mission emblem design was based in part on the SEADS experiment. "It may be the only shuttle patch based on aerodynamics," Columbia's pilot Charles Bolden stated in 2011.

 Thomas, a member of Columbia's crew on that 1994 flight, says he looks forward to visiting Tellus soon to view the display.

"As the first shuttle to fly, and the first on which I rode to space, Columbia will be remembered for all the incredible missions she and her crews successfully accomplished," Thomas stated to this aerospace reporter on Monday.

In all, the displayed shuttle nose section traveled 48.4 million miles through space during it's combined 117 days in earth orbit.

The shuttle program came to an end in 2011, and Columbia's sister ships Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour were placed on public display at museums across the United States.

For many space flight insiders, the artifact will serve as a tribute to her memory.

Columbia, in one small way, has a found a home in a museum.


(Charles Atkeison reports on aerospace, science and technology. Follow his updates via Twitter @AbsolutSpaceGuy.)