Friday, February 21, 2014
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Cygnus vs. Dragon: How two private spaceships measure up
An unmanned private spacecraft is set to launch from Virginia on Wednesday on its maiden trip to the International Space Station.
If successful, Orbital Sciences' Cygnus spacecraftwill become the second private robotic American cargo ship to dock with the orbiting laboratory. The first was the Dragon capsule, built by billionaire Elon Musk's California-based spaceflight firm SpaceX. Orbtial Sciences' first Cygnus spacecraft is scheduled to launch toward the space station Wednesday at 10:50 a.m. ET. You can watch the Cygnus spacecraft launch live on Space.com Wednesday, courtesy of NASA TV.
Both SpaceX and Virginia-based Orbital Sciences have deals with NASA to haul cargo to the International Space Station for astronauts living and working aboard the orbiting outpost. Space.com compiled this handy cheat sheet to help you keep Dragon and Cygnus straight. [Photos: Robotic Cygnus Spacecraft's 1st Space Station Test Flight]
How does it get into space?Cygnus: Orbital Sciences' vehicle will fly into space atop the company's Antares rocket, which is expected to launch from Pad 0A at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The spaceflight firm launched the first Antares test flight in April, but Wednesday's liftoff marks the debut of the fully functional Cygnus.
Karl Tate, Space.com infographics artist
How Orbital Sciences' Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft service the space station.
Antares is about the size of a 13-story building, standing 131.5 feet (40 meters) tall. The two AJ26 engines used in the rocket's first stage are based on the NK-33 engine, which was originally developed to launch Russia's giant N-1 moon rocket — the Soviet answer to America's famous Saturn V — in the 1960s. However, the Soviet heavy-lifter was never launched successfully.
Orbital Sciences is contracted for eight cargo missions with Cygnus and Antares under a $1.9 billion agreement with NASA. Wednesday's launch kicks off a demonstration flight designed to see if the company is ready to begin these contracted supply runs.
Dragon: The Dragon capsule — named for the fictional "Puff the Magic Dragon" in the song by the folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary — is launched to space using SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket. While Antares' design is modeled after a Russian rocket, the Falcon 9's Merlin engines are new. The two-stage rocket stands taller than Antares at 224.4 feet (68.4 m), and it can lift 28,991 pounds (13,150 kg) into low-Earth orbit.
Karl Tate / Space.com
Already tested as a cargo carrier, the Dragon spacecraft can also be fitted out to shuttle passengers to low orbit and to the International Space Station.
The Falcon 9 first stage has nine Merlin engines. The rocket can lose up to two of these engines and still finish a mission, SpaceX officials have said. SpaceX designers were inspired by the Saturn V, "which had flawless flight records in spite of engine losses," officials said.
SpaceX is contracted to fly 12 missions to the space station using Dragon and the Falcon 9under a $1.6 billion contract with NASA.
How do they stack up?Cygnus: Orbital Sciences has designed two Cygnus vehicles for different purposes. The standard configuration of the spacecraft's cargo module will have the ability to carry up to 4,409 pounds (2,000 kg) of cargo, while the enhanced version will carry up to 5,952 pounds (2,700 kg) of material, company officials have said.
The mission Wednesday will use the standard configuration and is expected to deliver 1,543 pounds (700 kg) of supplies to the space station. This Cygnus is 17 feet (513.6 cm) tall and will remove up to 2,425 pounds (1,100 kg) of disposable cargo from the station when it leaves about one month after docking.
Dragon: SpaceX's capsule can carry up to 13,228 pounds (6,000 kg) of supplies to the International Space Station. It became the first private American spacecraft to deliver supplies to the orbiting outpost and return cargo back to Earth during its demonstration mission in May 2012.
SpaceX has also already completed two of its 12 contracted supply runs to the International Space Station. Dragon is scheduled to make its third cargo trip for NASA in January 2014.
How do they come back from space?Cygnus: Once the Cygnus spacecraft undocks from the orbiting lab, it will burn up in Earth's atmosphere. Engineers on the ground will guide the capsule into a "destructive re-entry" above the South Pacific Ocean, according to Orbital Sciences officials.
Dragon: SpaceX's ship is the only spacecraft flying today with the ability to return substantial amounts of cargo to the Earth from the International Space Station, company officials have said. The capsule can safely return 6,614 pounds (3,000 kg) of supplies, experiments and other material to Earth.
The last Dragon to dock with the International Space Station splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of Mexico on March 25 with more than 3,000 pounds (1,361 kg) of cargo aboard.
A launch webcast is available via Space.com and NASA. SpaceflightNow is offering updates via its Cygnus Mission Status Center, which will also include a launch webcast.
Follow Miriam Kramer @mirikramer and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook andGoogle+. Original article on Space.com.
- Pushing Freight To Space Station - Antares Rocket Animation
- Now Boarding: The Top 10 Private Spaceships
- Orbital Sciences' Private Antares Rocket: 5 Surprising Facts
Source
Tweet
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Whoa: Physicists testing to see if universe is a computer simulation
Could this be a computer simulation? (Space.com)Will you take the red pill or the blue pill?
Some physicists and university researchers say it's possible to test the theory that our entire universe exists inside a computer simulation, like in the 1999 film "The Matrix."
Friday, December 14, 2012
Seven Milky Way worlds could harbour life, say astronomers
(after just a year of hunting)
(after just a year of hunting)
- Habitable Exoplanets Catalog says first year has exceeded expectations
- It was launched in December 2011 with just two entries in its database
- Finds expected to accelerate as methods become more sophisticated
Seven planets in the Milky Way outside our solar system could potentially harbour life, researchers from an ambitious project to catalogue all habitable worlds have announced.
The Habitable Exoplanets Catalog (HEC) celebrated its first anniversary with the announcement that it had exceeded expectations in its search for possible new Earths.
Lead researcher Abel Mendez, director of the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo's Planetary Habitability Laboratory, said the team had hoped to add perhaps one or two planets in the project's first year.
Scroll down for video
'Xmas Planets': A collage of computer generated images of possibly habitable worlds made to celebrate the first year of the Planetary Habitability Laboratory's Habitable Exoplanets Catalog. Earth is at the top right
Everybody DOES have a twin: Photographer creates amazing portraits of STRANGERS who look the double of each other
At first glance, it's an elegant set of portraits of twins - but look more closely and the secret is revealed.
None of the individuals captured by photographer Francois Brunelle are related by blood, their faces just have strikingly similar characteristics.
Mr Brunelle, who lives in Québec, has studied the human face since he started out as a photographer at the age of 18 in 1968.
The same...but different: Nathaniel (who did not give his last name) and Edward Toledo, pictured in Montreal in 2003, are remarkably similar but not twins
Thursday, November 29, 2012
South Korea's Insane Plan To Build A $290 Billion Resort To Rival Macau
South Korean media has been abuzz for the last few weeks with the tales of 8City, a proposed $290 billion leisure and gaming destination.
AFP reports that the building is planned for Yongyu-Muui island near the nation's main Incheon international airport, and is being funded by luxury hotel operator Kempinski, South Korea's flag carrier Korean Air and Daewoo Engineering and Construction.
The first photos of the project appeared recently:
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Oldest dental filling is found in a Stone Age tooth
You may not want to try this at home. A simple wax cap that was applied to a broken tooth 6500 years ago is the oldest dental filling on record. It adds to evidence that Neolithic communities had a surprisingly sophisticated knowledge of dentistry.
The recipient of the treatment was most likely a 24 to 30-year-old man, living in what is now Slovenia. His fossilised jawbone was found early last century near the village of Lonche. At the time, the find – one of the oldest human bones ever found in the region – was described, catalogued and filed away in a museum in nearby Trieste, Italy.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
