SpaceX Crew Dragon 'Endeavour' Launches Four Astronauts to Space Station

Four astronauts aboard Crew Dragon Endeavour launch. (SpaceX)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Four astronauts launched aboard a reusable SpaceX Crew Dragon early Friday from America's Space Coast to begin a nearly six month stay aboard the International Space Station.

This SpaceX Crew-2 mission is the second operational commercial crewed space launch. It also marks the third time Americans have launched into space from the U.S. in last 11 months.

Riding a top a Falcon 9 rocket, the crew dragon Endeavour lifted off at 5:49:02 a.m. EDT, from the Kennedy Space Center. The Falcon 9's instantaneous launch time occurred as the space station orbited 258 miles high above the Indian Ocean.

The candle stick rocket soared up the east coast of the United States. Nearly three minutes after launch, Falcon's spent first stage separated and the second stage immediately took over.

NASA Astronauts Lift-off from America's Space Coast

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Two NASA astronauts lifted-off from the Kennedy Space Center on Saturday to begin the first U.S. crewed launch to the International Space Station in nine years.

NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken boarded the commercial spacecraft known as Crew Dragon 2 at historic launch pad 39-A. As the countdown ticked toward zero, the launch team ran a smooth count and weather was go.

SpaceX Launches Dragon Resupply Craft to Space Station

SpaceX Falcon 9's CRS-19 mission launches on Dec. 5, 2019 (Atkeison)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. --  A SpaceX Falcon 9 lifted off into the blue skies over America's Space Coast Thursday successfully placing a resupply craft on a course toward the International Space Station.

The Dragon supply craft is making its third voyage to the space station, having flown in 2014 and 2017. Loaded with 5700 pounds of science experiments, the Dragon will spend one month docked to the station.

As the countdown reached zero, the Falcon's nine engines roared to life lifting the commerical rocket off it's seaside pad at 12:29:24 p.m. EST. The white rocket thundered into the deep blue sky riding a golden flame toward space.

Space Station to Perform Three Orbit Chase of Solar Eclipse

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Astronauts aboard the International Space Station may have the best windows for viewing the Great American Eclipse as they photograph and record August's astronomical event during three consecutive orbits.

Soaring 255 miles above, the six person crew of Expedition 52 will have detailed observation objectives in place as they point cameras from the Cupola's windows while they trek across North America once every 91 minutes. They will also be the first humans to witness this solar eclipse thanks to orbital mechanics.

In May 2012, NASA astronaut Don Pettit witnessed a solar eclipse from Earth orbit. "It is amazing to see an eclipse from orbit," Pettit recalled. "The shadow on Earth looks just like what you see in the physics and astronomy books."

Newly released ground tracks by NASA provided to AvGeekery.com show the space station's three positions as it passes through the Moon's penumbra during the midday hours of August 21 -- the height of solar eclipse across America. Astronauts will attach special solar filters to their 400 mm and 800 mm cameras as they approach their first observation's over the Pacific Ocean.

First private spacecraft docks to space station

May 24, 2012 NASA / SpaceX news conference to update Dragon.

(CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.) -- Astronauts aboard the International Space Station spent Saturday unloading fresh supplies from the newly arrived commercial spacecraft Dragon.

Constructed and launched by the private company Space Exploration Technologies or SpaceX, Dragon arrived at the orbiting complex on Friday loaded with nearly 1200 pounds of clothes, food, water and a computer for the crew.

Flight engineer Don Pettit, who used the station's 57-foot robotic arm to pluck Dragon from space and berth it to Harmony, and two astronauts will begin on Monday unloading the craft.

The trio will then reload Dragon with station experiments, trash and equipment for it's return to earth.

Dragon will stay berthed to the station's Harmony node until Thursday.
"May 31st is our planned departure day," NASA lead flight director Holly Ridings explained to this aerospace reporter. "We've got a couple of days after that to work with, and then the Dragon if needed could stay after that."

The station's crew have bagged up most of what will be loaded and returned to earth.
"We're gonna have plenty of time to get Dragon unloaded and loaded back up," Pettit answered when I asked him about the short timeline.

 "There's about as much stuff in (Dragon) as I can put in the back of my pick-up truck, and I don't think there will be any issue with the three of us working and getting this thing unloaded over the next few days."

The final Dragon mission objective will come with the safe recovery of the payloads the craft returns from the orbital outpost.

Dragon is expected to splashdown in the Pacific waters at about 10:45 a.m. EDT, some 250 miles off the coast of southern California nearly five hours after leaving the space station.



(Charles Atkeison reports on science & technology for Examiner.com. Follow his updates via Twitter @AbsolutSpaceGuy.)

Legendary astronaut criticizes NASA and it's future

ATLANTA, Ga. -- A six time space shuttle astronaut spoke out on the way NASA is operating today and shared his personal feelings on commercial space travel's involvement.

"The whole thing is chaos and a cop out. The whole thing is a Washington failure," former NASA astronaut Dr. Story Musgrave said in a firm voice during a on-on-one interview at the Tellus Science Museum near Atlanta over the weekend.

"When I say Washington, I mean administration, the legislation, congress and NASA, that's what I call Washington," Dr. Musgrave continued. "It's in total failure when it comes to a space program of which COTS is apart of that failure."

 
The Commercial Orbital Transportation Services or COTS program is an agreement with several U.S. companies to build and launch spacecraft for earth orbital voyages, including to the International Space Station.

"COTS is a default program which spun out of failure," he added.

COTS program member Space X is moving toward a Saturday launch of their Falcon 9 rocket with the Dragon spacecraft atop bound for earth orbit. Two days later, Dragon is expected to rendezvous with the space station 245 miles above earth.

The station's robotic arm will then snag the cargo craft and dock it to earth's orbital outpost in space. It will become the first private spacecraft to dock with a government craft.

Musgrave, now 76, was selected by NASA in 1967 as America's Apollo moon program began. He and fellow astronauts and engineers looked toward leaders within NASA such as rocket pioneer Dr. Wernher Von Braun to lead the space program through a series of goals for landing on the moon before 1970.

Musgrave feels the space agency has no true goals or focus today.

This aerospace reporter asked what is the vision of NASA over the next decade.

"What is the space vision today? Where is the visionary? We're not going anywhere... there is no where, there is no what, and there is no when," Musgrave began. "Tell me where... there is no where."

He then firmly stated NASA has no official human moon program nor a Mars program in place for the near future.

Dr. Musgrave also wants to see a great project management team in place to make true goals for returning America back to the moon and later Mars.

"Sir, there is no Mars program, none. There is also no moon program. There is no asteroid program," Dr. Musgrave firmly stated. "There's no what we're gonna do and no when we're gonna do it. I want a what, a when and a where, and then I want a project management and make that what, when and where happen -- on cost, on schedule and meet the performance you laid down."

Musgrave said that NASA had a series of goals with the construction of the Hubble Space Telescope.

He spent eighteen years helping to design and prepare Hubble for it's launch in 1990. He then flew up to the great observatory to fix a design flaw with it's optical lens and repair twelve other issues three years later.

My Examiner.com story:  Legendary astronaut criticizes NASA 

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

Europe's Ariane 5 lifts-off on it's 60th flight

Europe's Ariane 5 lifts-off at sunset from South America. (arianespace)

An Ariane 5 rocket lifted-off on Wednesday carrying two communications satellites into earth orbit to service North America and the Middle East.

Launch of the sixtieth flight of an Ariane 5 occurred on time at 5:38:07 p.m. EDT, from the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou. It was also the fifth and final Ariane flight of the year as Arianespace turns their attention to launching Russia's Soyuz 2 rocket in October and December.

The launch was delayed one day due to a surprise union labor strike at the launch site within the company Telespazio, which handles the prelaunch processing of Ariane.

Ariane's countdown was flawless as clocks neared it's sunset departure.

Twin solid rocket boosters ignited lift-off combined with a Vulcain 2 core liquid fueled main engine to send the white rocket eastward out over the central Atlantic ocean.

As the 165-foot tall Ariane traveled higher and faster, the boosters then finished their job a little over two minutes after launch and separated as the rocket soared 43 miles high.

Meanwhile, the main engine continued it's nine minute burn.

The rocket's protective payload fairing was jettisoned three minutes into flight as it moved into the upper atmosphere.

The core engine then shutdown six minutes later at an altitude of 116 miles, and the first stage separated seconds later. The second stage's HM-7B engine then fired up for the next few minutes.

The first payload to be deployed was that of Arabsat 5C which rode to orbit on the top of the two satellite stack.

Built by Thales Alenia Space and Europe’s EADS Astrium, the Arabsat 5C will be used for both private and government communications using both Ka-Band and C-band range.

Thales Alenia Space designed and constructed nearly fifty percent of the International Space Station's living area for the crew; and, the European Automated Transfer Vehicles which delivered supplies to the outpost from Kourou.

The satellite is intended to operate for nearly 15 years from a position of 20 degrees East providing communications from north Africa and the Middle East region.

Arabsat 5C separated from the upper stage at 6:05 p.m., at an altitude of 605 miles.

Ariane's second payload, the Orbital Sciences built SES-2 will support both high definition television and communications for North America and the Caribbean over a planned 15 years.

SES-2 then separated and flew free at 6:14 p.m. from an altitude of 1,725 miles.

Once on orbit 22,300 miles above a position at 82 degrees East over the equator, the nearly 78-foot long satellite will undergo a few weeks of testing before becoming operational.

Next up for Arianespace will be the inaugural launch of a Soyuz rocket from Kourou.

The Soyuz launch complex is located seven miles northwest of the Ariane complex, and is mostly based on the configuration of Russia's Soyuz launch pad in Kazakhstan.

The first launch of the Soyuz 2 is planned for just after sunrise on October 20, with a pair of European Galileo navigation satellites.

Arianespace then hopes to get a second Soyuz off the ground before 2011 concludes.

Several Ariane 5 flights in 2012 will deploy several satellites and a European cargo craft bound for the space station in February.

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

 

NASA launches online music channel Third Rock Radio

ATLANTA -- NASA on Tuesday launched a new rock space station on the Internet designed to incorporate music for those in technology fields.

"Your connected to America's space station... this is Third Rock!," the new station announced which blends new rock music with Indie and some Alternative.

"No one knows more about discovering new rock than NASA," states RFC Media co-founder and president known simply as Cruze. "Exciting new music is being discovered online through specialty sites like Third Rock America's Space Station where listeners will hear about great new artists way before their friends hear of them."

The Houston-based radio station's commercial free first day incorporated music with short interview clips from NASA employees, such as "Carly" who described her job tasks.

NASA hopes to use the station to promote new discoveries in both music and new tech and engineering jobs across America.

RFC Media will add iPhone and Android Third Rock Radio apps in the near future. NASA will also add a link on their popular NASA app.

Space station astronaut calls iPhone 4 from 240 miles up

(HOUSTON) -- Orbiting 240 miles high above earth, astronauts aboard the International Space Station use huge satellites in orbit to talk with controllers back at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

On July 19, one astronaut aboard the orbiting complex called an iPhone 4 located in Mission Control to chat.

NASA astronaut Ronald Garan called an employee of the space center's iPhone to chat with a group of thirty visiting space tweeps -- those who use Twitter to chat and discuss space and science interests.

Garan, who is known as @Astro_Ron on the social network site, spoke for nearly two minutes to the group who threw questions at comments his way.

This aerospace reporter (@AbsolutSpaceGuy) was among those who spoke with the astronaut who commented at one point that it was past his bedtime.

This space tweep also recorded the conversation via his own iPhone 4, and is attached to this article.

Typhoon on course to strike Japan's space program

Powerful typhoon Ma-on is forecast to strike Japan Tuesday. (NASA)

A powerful typhoon is on a forecast path to make landfall over central Japan on Wednesday, a strike which could damage the heart of the island nation's space program.

Typhoon Ma-On is currently located several hundred miles to the southeast of Japan's southern tip at 20.6 North and 140.4 East.

Several tracking and communication antennas and launch sites for their unmanned space program could see damage from the storm's 140 m.p.h. winds, with gusts approaching 160 m.p.h.

Winds and high surf could begin pounding southern Japan's coastline as early as Monday, with the eye expected to make landfall on Tuesday night.

Japan's space agency JAXA communicates regularly with their lone astronaut aboard the orbiting International Space Station, Satoshi Furukawa.

Furukawa has been busy performing several experiments in the Japanese Kibo module, and most recently assisting the visiting crew of space shuttle Atlantis as they unstow fresh supplies and equipment.

SpaceLaunch News spoke with JAXA and NASA's Lead Shuttle Flight Director Kwatsi Alibaruho, and they had no comment on the impending storm's effect on contingency plans.

Weather forecasters in Tokyo are issuing updates on the storm's progress every six hours.

Ma-On's news comes today as Japan was jolted once again with a 5.5 magnitude earthquake.

Astronauts inspect shuttle Atlantis for thermal damage

Astronauts scanned Atlantis today for thermal damage. (NASA)

Astronauts aboard the space shuttle Atlantis spent Saturday surveying their spacecraft for possible damage on her thermal skin and maneuvering to a higher orbit to prepare for Sunday's docking to the International Space Station.

Atlantis' commander Chris Ferguson and pilot Doug Hurley moved the ship's 50-foot robotic arm over to grapple an extension boom to assist in performing scans of the tiles and blankets which cover Atlantis.

Attached to the end of the robotic arm, the orbiter boom sensor system allows laser sensors and intensified television camera are used to look for any nicks or damaged tiles underneath the wing leading edges, over the nose region and across the spacecraft.

As the robotic operations occurred, mission specialists Rex Walheim and Sandy Magnus worked to set up an exercise bicycle on the shuttle's middeck.

Magnus then floated up to the flight deck to assist Hurley with the inspections of the starboard wing's trailing edge and reenforced carbon-carbon survey by the OBSS at 7:46 a.m.

Earlier in the morning, Ferguson and Hurley performed a few burns by Atlantis smaller engines to keep the spacecraft on course for an 11:07 a.m. docking to the space station on Sunday.

Once docked, Atlantis' crew on Monday will grapple and swing a bus sized cargo module from the shuttle's payload bay over to and dock it to the station.

Crews will then begin unloading the several tons of supplies and equipment off the 21-foot long Raffaello module, and later store several hundred pounds of packing supplies and trash into the cargo carrier.

Flight controllers could elect to keep Atlantis docked to the space station one additional day, thereby extending the mission one day so that the shuttle's crew of four can assist the station's crew of six with unloading of the cargo module and the storage of trash and old equipment for the return to earth.

Atlantis lifted-off yesterday at 11:29 a.m. to begin this final space shuttle mission, and the 135th flight in the program's thirty year history.

Atlantis lifts-off on the final space shuttle mission

Space shuttle Atlantis lift-off today on 12-day flight. (NASA)

Space shuttle Atlantis launched this morning to begin a twelve day mission to resupply the International Space Station.

Nearly 900,000 spectators around the Kennedy Space Center and along the Space Coast witnessed the final launch of a space shuttle today.

NASA's final shuttle countdown was not without a few minutes of drama in the final seconds.

Lift-off occurred two minutes late and with only 58 seconds left in the launch window, due to the need for controllers to inspect that the gaseous vent arm, which retracts away from the top of the huge rust-colored fuel tank, was indeed fully retracted.

Atlantis' solid rocket boosters ignited at 11:29 a.m. EDT, and launching for the last Americans from American soil for several years.

In earth orbit 240 miles above, the crew of the space station watched the lift-off live on a computer laptop attached the wall.

Nine minutes after launch, Atlantis arrived in earth orbit at an altitude of 140 x 36 miles. An engine firing thirty-six minutes later of her twin OMS engines raised the shuttle orbit to 143 x 98 miles.

Atlantis will continue to increase her altitude over the next two days as her crew nears the station.

Atlantis commander Chris Ferguson leads this final shuttle crew. Pilot Doug Hurley, and mission specialists Rex Walheim and Sandy Magnus round out the all veteran crew.

Walheim thanked Pratt-Whitney and the space shuttle main engine team for the group's work on the three powerful engines which helped get the shuttle to space.

Atlantis is carrying a bus size cargo module known as Raffaello loaded with tons of fresh supplies for the space station, and a storage rack which includes spare parts and hardware.

The 21-foot long Raffaello module will be plucked from the aft section of Atlantis payload bay at 5:36 a.m. on Monday, and docked to the station's Node 2.

A pair of apple iPhone 4's will travel aboard Atlantis for a series of tests by the station's crew for improving future technologies with the popular phone.

Each iPhone 4 model will have a special application loaded to test the calibration of the smart phone in space, and uses for it's camera as the crew aims it toward the earth in a series of photography tests.

The twin iPhones will be housed inside a NanoRacks cube carrier when shuttle Atlantis lifts-off on July 8 from the Kennedy Space Center.

Experimental tests also include how solar radiation effects the smart phone's memory, and test how it may aide in navigation by photographing a series of locations on earth.

The duel phones are intended for tests by NASA astronauts Ron Garan and Mike Fossum, and several of the six space station crew members following Atlantis' departure on July 18.

A one day mission extension is likely and will be added a few days after the shuttle docks.

Atlantis is due to separate from the space station for the final time at 1:59 a.m. on July 18.

Pilot Hurley will fly Atlantis out to a distance of 400-feet and then begin a 360-degree fly around of the complex, while Magnus and Walheim use digital cameras to photograph the space station in detail.

The final two days of Atlantis' flight will focus on stowing equipment and to share with the world one final end-of-shuttle ceremony.

Atlantis crew will discuss on NASA TV the history of what shuttle has done for not just America but the entire planet, and take a look into the future of human space flight.

Landing is planned back at Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility Runway 15/33 on July 20 at 7:06 a.m.

Shuttle Atlantis crew departs for launch pad

Atlantis' crew boards today for the ride to shuttle Atlantis. (NASA)

As NASA's launch team watches the weather, a crew of four astronauts suited for flight and departed for their spacecraft this morning for the final mission of the space shuttle program.

Low clouds and a chance for more rain has the current weather chances at only 30% favorable for today.

The crew departed their living quarters at 7:36 a.m. EDT, to make the twenty-minute ride over to their ocean side launch pad to board the shuttle Atlantis.

Atlantis commander Chris Ferguson leads this last shuttle crew are all space veterans and include pilot Doug Hurley, and mission specialists Rex Walheim and Sandy Magnus.

The crew were awoken today at 4:30 a.m. EDT in the crew quarters of the operations & checkout building located 10 miles from the launch pad. An hour later, the crew headed over for breakfast, their last one on earth for thirteen days.

The crew later received a weather briefing before suiting up in their orange partial pressure suits at 6:50 a.m.

NASA launch director Mike Leinbach received a full weather briefing as the crew departed for the launch pad.

The launch team will take the count down to the T- 9 minute hold, and perform a final weather check to determine if today is a good day to fly.

Weather likely will delay final shuttle launch

Final space shuttle crew stands ready for launch on Friday. (NASA)

A tropical wave will bring showers and low clouds to the American Space Coast on Thursday and the system's effect will likely delay Friday's launch attempt of the final space shuttle mission.

Air Force weather officer Kathy Winters and her group issued a 30% chance that weather will be favorable for Friday morning's launch attempt by Atlantis, with not much of an improvement on Saturday with only a 40% of good weather.

"Our primary concerns for launch are showers and thunderstorms within 20 nautical miles of the Shuttle Landing Facility (runway), flight through precipitation, and cumulus clouds," Winters stated this morning from Cape Canaveral.

If weather keeps the space shuttle grounded, then NASA has only Sunday and maybe Monday to launch before standing down several days due to an Air Force rocket launch in the early hours of July 14.

The Eastern Test Range has always needed two full days to turn around following a Cape launch or a shuttle landing before moving on to the next launch.

NASA thus must launch Atlantis by Monday or face a five day delay for the Delta 4 rocket launch.

Rain showers could even delay the retraction of the protective service structure on Thursday afternoon, a planned prelaunch event which allows the space shuttle to be exposed to the elements.

Currently, launch remains planned for Friday at 11:26:46 a.m. EDT, from launch complex 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center.

A launch attempt on Saturday would see mission STS-135's solid rocket boosters ignite for launch at 11:04:15 a.m.

Launch time on Sunday would see Atlantis lift-off at 10:38:31 a.m., and for Monday 10:15:58 a.m.

Sunday's launch forecast currently improves to 60% favorable.

"With the launch time moving earlier and a slightly dryer atmosphere each day, the threat of weather decreases each day," Winters added this morning.

On Tuesday, the last shuttle launch countdown began on time at 1:00 p.m. at the T-43 hour mark. Several planned holds in the count will carry that time down to zero on Friday, for now.

Space shuttle Atlantis nears her final voyage

Final Mission: Atlantis will fly the 135th space shuttle flight. (NASA)

The theater of American space flight will change forever as NASA concludes the final space shuttle mission this month while preparing the new replacement rocket for future human space travel away from earth orbit.

Following thirty years of space shuttle flights, Atlantis' mission will mark a historic benchmark as she set sails on the sunset of the program's 135 flights.

Led by commander Chris Ferguson, the last shuttle crew are all space veterans and include pilot Doug Hurley, and mission specialists Rex Walheim and Sandy Magnus.

Standing a top her launch pad, technicians are working around the clock to ensure this mission reaches orbit and her port-of-call in good shape.

NASA is watching the weather as a tropical wave moves west and effects the weather during Friday. Air Force weather officer Kathy Winters stated today only a 40% chance of favorable weather around launch time.

Thunderstorms the day before will likely slow down work to a stop as technicians work to ready the ship, including the retraction of the rotating service structure at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday.

Atlantis will carry a bus size cargo module known as Raffaello loaded with tons of fresh supplies for the space station, and a storage rack which includes spare parts and hardware.

"I certainly feel honored to be part of the last crew," Magnus said recently. "And the thing I think that I feel the most honored about is it requires a special skill set to operate with a crew of four and I’m very flattered that it’s felt that I have that skill set that is needed to do that."

NASA's final space shuttle flight will launch on Friday morning with a crew of four veteran astronauts to begin a twelve day voyage to the International Space Station. Launch time is planned for 11:26:46 a.m. EDT from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Two days after launch, the orbiter will dock with the orbiting outpost at 11:09 a.m. on Sunday, followed by hatch opening between the two spacecraft 75 minutes later.

The 21-foot long Raffaello module will be plucked from the aft section of Atlantis payload bay at 5:36 a.m. on Monday, and docked to the station's Node 2.

A pair of apple iPhone 4's will travel aboard Atlantis for a series of tests by the station's crew for improving future technologies with the popular phone.

Each iPhone 4 model will have a special application loaded to test the calibration of the smart phone in space, and uses for it's camera as the crew aims it toward the earth in a series of photography tests.

The twin iPhones will be housed inside a NanoRacks cube carrier when shuttle Atlantis lifts-off on July 8 from the Kennedy Space Center.

Experimental tests also include how solar radiation effects the smart phone's memory, and test how it may aide in navigation by photographing a series of locations on earth.

The duel phones are intended for tests by NASA astronauts Ron Garan and Mike Fossum, and several of the six space station crew members following Atlantis' departure on July 18.

A one day mission extension is likely and will be added a few days after the shuttle docks.

Atlantis is due to separate from the space station for the final time at 1:59 a.m. on July 18.

Pilot Hurley will fly Atlantis out to a distance of 400-feet and then begin a 360-degree fly around of the complex, while Magnus and Walheim use digital cameras to photograph the space station in detail.

The final two days of Atlantis' flight will focus on stowing equipment and to share with the world one final end-of-shuttle ceremony.

Atlantis crew will discuss on NASA TV the history of what shuttle has done for not just America but the entire planet, and take a look into the future of human space flight.

Landing is planned back at Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility Runway 15/33 on July 20 at 7:06 a.m.

This mission will be known not for the science and engineering support it provided for the space station, but for one thing -- the final space shuttle flight.

The last time humans will soar through space in a winged spacecraft and then land on a runway for years to come.

As July closes so does this chapter of the space program as NASA turns to the private sector for a space craft to carry Americans back into space.

Private space companies such as SpaceX will need around five years to be ready with a suitable manned space craft to launch. In the meantime, NASA will be paying Russia nearly $45 million each time to send an American to the space station thru 2016.

It was also one warm July in which American space travel stopped in 1975, for six years, as NASA prepared for the space shuttle's arrival.

Now, fade out shuttle - Fade in the future.

NASA hopes that the Orion multi-purpose crew vehicle will be America's next spacecraft to carry humans out of low earth orbit such as the Moon.

NASA projects the Orion vehicle will not be ready for it's first flight until around 2016 as NASA decides what rocket it will launch a top.

Then there is the need to build the launch pad around the rocket's size and fueling specifications.

MPCV is built by Lockheed Martin Corp. in Colorado, the module will have a separate service module which will be jettisoned prior to it's return to earth. NASA states "this module can also transport unpressurized cargo and scientific payloads" during flights.

The 23 ton crewed vehicle will launch on a heavy-lift rocket toward a destination past the space station and beyond low earth orbit to the moon.

NASA hopes to announce what that large multi-stage rocket will be later this year.

(Follow Charles Atkeison via Twitter @AbsolutSpaceGuy for real time aerospace news and updates.)

Two iPhone 4's headed to space station on final shuttle flight

A pair of apple iPhone 4's will launch into earth orbit in July aboard the final space shuttle flight and will be used by astronauts during a series of experiments aboard the International Space Station.

Each iPhone 4 model will have a special application loaded to test the calibration of the smart phone in space, and uses for it's camera as the crew aims it toward the earth in a series of photography tests.

The application, a thumb-nail logo located on the front of the touch screen device, was designed in conjunction with NASA and created by Odyssey Space Research, who is paying the space agency for their application "SpaceLab for iOS" to be tested.

“The revolutionary iPhone 4 offers an extraordinary opportunity to demonstrate serious functions previously reserved for more expensive, purpose-built devices,” Odyssey's Chief Executive Officer Brian Rishikof stated recently.

The application is available for download here on earth for .99 cents by iPhone owners via apple's app store.

IPhone 4 owners at the apple retail store in Alpharetta, Georgia, spoke with surprise and excitement upon learning of the next space shuttle flight's special payload.

"I just hope it leads to improved technologies for future iPhones," said Dale Shepard, a customer who had just bought a new iPhone for his wife on Thursday. "I look forward to taking my iPhone with me into space one day."

The iPhone tests will not use cellular service nor the data services during the four multi-step experiments aboard the space station.

Each crew member will enter their name and answer a series of questions related to the experiment, as they work in either the U.S. laboratory or the Cupola module which provides a 360-degree field of view of the earth.

“The potential for using iPhone 4 to both conduct and support in-space research and operations is enormous. The opportunity to make the experience accessible to anyone via the App Store will attract a new generation of space supporters,” Rishikof added.

The twin iPhones will be housed inside a NanoRacks cube carrier when shuttle Atlantis lifts-off on July 8 from the Kennedy Space Center.

Experimental tests also include how solar radiation effects the smart phone's memory, and test how it may aide in navigation by photographing a series of locations on earth.

The duel phones are intended for tests by NASA astronauts Ron Garan and Mike Fossum, and several of the six space station crew members following Atlantis' departure on July 18.

Russian Progress cargo craft docks to space station

Progress craft sails to a docking with space station. (NASA)

A Russian cargo craft loaded with equipment and supplies successfully docked to the International Space Station today.

The 24-foot long spacecraft spent two days traveling up to the orbiting outpost with fresh supplies for the crew of six living and working aboard.

Live video sent down by the supply craft's docking camera showed a nearly 910,000 pound space station alone in earth orbit draped with the blackness of space.

As the cargo craft passed the 3,280 foot distance point, Progress slowed down to a .5 m.p.h. closing rate and then down to .15 m.p.h. rate as the distance closed.

The craft then held a brief station-keeping position 540 feet from it's planned docking port on the Zvezda module, so that Russian ground controllers could ensure a safe docking.

Progress M-11M automatically docked to the Russian Zvezda module at 12:37 p.m. EDT (20:37 Moscow time) as the two crafts soared 235 miles above Kazakhstan.

"Once again, congratulations on the automatic docking," the Russian flight control team radioed the cosmonauts ten minutes later.

The station's Expedition 28 crew includes Russian cosmonaut and commander Andrey Borisenko, Alexander Samokutyaev, Sergei Volkov, NASA astronauts Ron Garan and Mike Fossum, and Japanese astronaut Satoshi Furukawa.

A mass of 5893 pounds, including water, oxygen, propellant, medical supplies, hardware, video and photography equipment and personal crew items arrived following the relatively smooth docking.

Brief communication issues with the spacecraft, including loss of video and target information caused the station's crew to pay closer attention to Progress' approach.

As the craft neared it's arrival, Russian mission control had no data on the retraction of communications antenna on Progress.

Cosmonauts are scheduled to open the hatches leading into the Progress at 3:30 p.m., following a brief meal and leak checks between the docking port's seals.

Russia launches supply craft to space station

Russia's Soyuz U rocket lifts a cargo craft to space today. (RSA)

An unmanned spacecraft filled with fresh supplies, fuel and hardware lifted off a top a Russian rocket today bound for the International Space Station.

Clear skies and warm temperatures favored the rocket's departure from western Kazakhstan.

The Progress M-11M supply craft -- loaded with nearly 2.6 tons of food, water and equipment, including supplies for NASA and Japan's astronauts -- lifted-off on time at 10:38 a.m. EDT (1438 GMT) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

Launch occurred from the same traditional launch pad #1 which has supported most of the Russian Space Agency's manned and unmanned flights, including the first human space flight fifty years ago and the expedition crew's trip's to the space station.

The Progress craft, according to the Russian Space Agency, settled into an initial orbit of 120 x 149 miles.

The Progress M will orbit earth for two days as ground controllers steer the craft toward a docking, the first space craft docking to the space station at it's new altitude of 230 miles.

Progress will slowly guide itself in and dock to the Russian Zvezda module on Thursday at 12:37 p.m. (1637 GMT).

Aboard the orbiting lab are Russian cosmonauts commander Andrey Borisenko, Alexander Samokutyaev, Sergei Volkov, NASA astronauts Ron Garan and Mike Fossum, and Japanese astronaut Satoshi Furukawa.

During the docking phase, Samokutyaev and Volkov will monitor the Progress' progress with a computer program called Russian telerobotically operated rendezvous system or TORU.

The duo will use TORU to help pilot the craft in to dock if Progress' on board computer fails.

Georgia Tech graduate to return to space station in July

Sandy Magnus will fly aboard the final space shuttle flight. (NASA)

Veteran space flier Sandy Magnus is no stranger to the city of Atlanta, nor is she to living in space, and is preparing this week for her flight aboard the final space shuttle mission in July.

The former aircraft engineer carried with her aspirations of becoming an astronaut, however she did not feel she was ready to apply just yet.

Magnus needed one more educational milestone before applying at NASA, and she looked to Atlanta to lead her into an astronaut career.

The Illinois native began attending the Georgia Institute of Technology located in downtown Atlanta in 1994. Two years later, she graduated with a Ph.D. from the School of Material Science and Engineering.

"I wandered off to Georgia Tech and did my Ph.D. in materials," Magnus said of her time in Atlanta. "At that point, I think my resume looks all right so I can apply to NASA and see what happens. And what happened was I got selected."

Weeks following her graduation, Magnus was accepted by NASA's Johnson Space Center near Houston for their astronaut program.

Dr. Magnus added, "I just didn’t feel ready to apply (at NASA) until I was nearing the completion of my Ph.D."

Today, she is a two-time shuttle astronaut and space station crew member and is just days away from her historic next spaceflight.

Magnus' first voyage upon the ocean of space was aboard space shuttle Atlantis in 2002, delivering a Starboard truss segment and fresh supplies for the crew aboard the International Space Station.

Her eleven day flight included her using the station's robotic arm during three days to assist fellow crew members spacewalking outside the complex.

Dr. Magnus' second spaceflight began with her launch from the Kennedy Space Center aboard Endeavour, to begin a nearly five month stay aboard the space station.

During Endeavour's two day trip to the outpost, she was joined by fellow Georgia Tech graduate, pilot Eric Boe.

The soccer enthusiast worked aboard the outpost by helping install new sleeping quarters, a new toilet and several new experiment and storage racks as the station was prepared to support crews of six.

Commander Chris Ferguson, pilot Doug Hurley, mission specialists Rex Walheim and Dr. Magnus are due to lift-off aboard shuttle Atlantis on July 8 to begin the final flight of the space shuttle program.

The crew of four will spend eight days docked to the space station, as they deliver new hardware and supplies inside a cargo module tucked in the shuttle's payload bay.

Twelve days later Atlantis is due to land back at the Kennedy Space Center.

"I certainly feel honored to be part of the last crew," Magnus said. "And the thing I think that I feel the most honored about is it requires a special skill set to operate with a crew of four and I’m very flattered that it’s felt that I have that skill set that is needed to do that."

Magnus has traveled nearly 55,000,000 miles during her two spaceflights, logging 145 days in earth orbit.

Atlantis final orbit of the earth will be a busy time as the crew prepares to land. She hopes to reflect on the moment as the shuttle makes her victory lap around the planet.

New crew ready for exciting time aboard space station

New space station residents prepare for busy space flight. (NASA)

The next crew members bound for the International Space Station are in their final hours before launch to begin nearly six busy months of living and working in earth orbit.

Two space station veterans and a first time space flier will link up with the orbiting complex 222 miles above earth to begin a marathon mission.

Russia's Soyuz commander Sergei Volkov, along with NASA astronaut Mike Fossum and Japan's Satoshi Furukawaare are due to lift-off aboard a Soyuz FG rocket on Tuesday at 4:12:45 p.m. EDT (2012 GMT) from launch pad 1 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in western Kazakhstan.

Launch will occur from the very same launch pad which sent Yuri Gagarin aloft on mankind's first voyage into space fifty years earlier.

The boyish looking Volkov was born in 1973, and has logged nearly 200 days in space in 2008 as he flew his first spaceflight as commander of the 17th space station crew. He will perform his third spacewalk seven weeks after launching to the outpost.

His father is cosmonaut Alexander Volkov who spent 391 days in space on three spaceflights, including being aboard the Mir space station the months leading up to and after the fall of the Soviet Union.

The younger Volkov states that it was not his dream of being a cosmonaut as a child, as he sat and watched his father study all the time for exams associated with his flights and training.

"When I was a kid it was more minuses than pluses (to being a cosmonaut). Always busy, studying all day long, exams," Volkov explained.

He did want to become a pilot since an early age graduating from Tambov Air Force Pilot School in 1995, and that led him to cosmonaut training two years later.

Two time shuttle flier Mike Fossum has logged nearly 27 days in space, and has made six spacewalks outside the space station. He will perform his seventh orbital walk one month into his stay aboard the complex.

Japanese astronaut Furukawaare will serve as the Soyuz craft's co-pilot, and will be the only rookie riding into space this week.

A medical doctor from the University of Tokyo, Furukawaare began training to learn the Soyuz spacecraft in 2003 at Star City near Moscow; and the following year moved to Houston to begin Astronaut Candidate Training at the Johnson Space Center.

"My crew’s just awesome," Fossum stated recently as he spoke of his crew mates. "I’ve know Sergey Volkov for 11 years... he’s one of my best friends in the cosmonaut corps. I’ve known and worked with Satoshi since he showed up here to begin training."

"We’re three guys from three different countries and three different corners of the globe, but we get along great. We have a lot of fun working together," Fossum added.

Powered by a central core engine and four booster engines, the Soyuz FG will launch to the east, inclined 51.6 degrees to the earth's equator.

The space trio will ride inside their Soyuz TMA-02M spacecraft, a new version of the older Soyuz crafts in which Russia will consider this flight a test flight.

Two days later, the Soyuz will slowly glide in and dock to the Russian Rassvet Module at about 5:00 p.m.

The new crew will join the three existing residents of station commander Andrey Borisenko, Alexander Samokutyaev and NASA astronaut Ron Garan two hours after arriving.

It will be the start of a busy second half of 2011 aboard the orbiting complex.

On June 23, a Russian resupply craft Progress M-11M is due to arrive and dock to the Zvezda service module, loaded with over two tons of fuel, water, fresh food and items for the crew of six.

NASA will launch the final space shuttle to the space station on July 8 to deliver supplies and help with stowage of new equipment brought up by Atlantis.

Fossum and Garan will perform a single six hour spacewalk on July 12 beginning at 8:00 a.m. during Atlantis' eight day stay.

The pair will remove a 1,400 pond failed ammonia pump module tank for storage inside the back section of the shuttle's payload bay.

NASA wants to learn why the pump failed very early in it's life for possible redesign.

"We’re going to the pump module right now is sitting on a stowage platform very close to the space station’s airlock, and Ron’s going to be getting onto the space station’s robot arm and we’re going to get this pump module ready to go," Fossum said of his single spacewalk's start.

Garin will ride the station's arm while holding on to the tank, while Fossum traverses over to a storage platform in Atlantis' bay.

Once latched down, the spacewalkers will switch places to begin the next task.

"I’ll jump on the arm, Ronnie will take the pedestrian route and then we’re going to pick up the RRM (Robotics Refueling Mission)," Fossum explained. "It’s a new kind of science payload that the shuttle’s bringing up, and we’ll put that onto a temporary stowage location on the station for a later install out at its permanent location."

The Goddard Space Flight Center's RRM will demonstrate the refueling of a spacecraft with a robot, likely DEXTRE. It will use fluids and not actual fuel for this experiment.

Two weeks later, Russian cosmonauts Borisenko and Volkov will venture outside to relocate a cargo platform from a Russian docking compartment to the Poisk module; and will they will deploy a mini transmitter containing messages of congratulations related to the golden anniversary of human kinds first voyage into space.

The docking compartment known as Pirs will be unlatched from the station and sent to a destructive reentry in Autumn of 2012.

The space duo will also install several experiments on Pirs to study how biological materials react to being exposed to space, and install a laser-based communications device to the Russian Zvezda module.

Russia's twenty-ninth space station-based spacewalk is planned for July 26.

Two more resupply Progress crafts are scheduled to arrive at the station on September 1 and October 28, stepping up from their traditional launch of every three months to two months following the July retirement of the space shuttle.

Borisenko, Samokutyaev and Garan will depart their home in space for their return to earth aboard their Soyuz TMA-21 craft on September 16. The trio left earth on April 5, arriving in time for the Gagarin anniversary one week later.

On the day prior to Soyuz undocking, Fossum will become the new space station commander. As the spacecraft undocks, Fossum will then become the commander of the new Expedition 29 crew.

Two weeks later, a new crew of three will replace the departed crew as they lift-off to earth's orbital outpost on Sept. 30 to begin their nearly six month stay.

Volkov, Fossum and Furukawaare will conclude their expedition aboard the space station on November 16 and land three hours later in a cold central Kazakhstan desert.