Новости МКС

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Возобновилась трансляция НАСА

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ISS Updates‏ @ISS101 2 мин назад

Internal leak checks between the Orbital & Entry Module are about to wrap up. Stable readings so far.

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Пока не раасстыковались - видео закрытия люков

(1:47)

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ISS Updates‏ @ISS101 1 мин назад

Ten minutes to undocking. The crew has completed all preparatory steps, ready for the undocking sequence. http://bit.ly/2djIupO 

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ISS Updates‏ @ISS101 1 мин назад

Soyuz and ISS now back in range of Russian Ground Stations.

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William Harwood‏ @cbs_spacenews 20 сек. назад

SoyuzMS02: Undocking command has been issued; hooks driving to release the Soyuz from the Poisk docking mechanism

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ISS Updates‏ @ISS101 34 сек назад

SEPARATION - Two Cosmonauts & a NASA Astronaut embark on their return to Earth aboard the Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft. http://bit.ly/2djIupO

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ISS Updates‏ @ISS101 58 сек. назад

The springs generate an initial opening rate of around 0.12m/s. Soyuz drifts away passively for 3 minutes before activating thrusters.

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С этого момента КК Союз и МКС - два различных космических объекта

РОСКОСМОС‏Подлинная учетная запись @roscosmos 2 мин. назад

#СоюзМС02: в 10:58 мск пилотируемый корабль «Союз МС-02» штатно отстыковался от Международной космической станции. Посадка в 14:20 мск

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ISS Updates‏ @ISS101 2 мин назад

#ISS has formally transitioned to Expedition 51 that will be in effect until June. A busy science increment. http://bit.ly/2djIupO 

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РОСКОСМОС‏Подлинная учетная запись @roscosmos 1 мин. назад

#СоюзМС02: вот так выглядит отстыковка космического корабля "Союз МС-02" с камер МКС

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Soyuz MS-02 Undocks from International Space Station

(8:48 )

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Undocking of Soyuz MS-02 ahead of Landing

(44:57)

[triage]

https://ria.ru/science/20170409/1491858494.html
В РКК "Энергия" рассказали о совместных с ЕС проектах
12:55 09.04.2017
СОЧИ, 9 апр — РИА Новости, Ульяна Гребенникова. Центрифугу малого радиуса и модуль для создания искусственной гравитации на космической станции разрабатывают совместно РКК "Энергия" и Европейское космическое агентство, сообщил РИА Новости генеральный директор российской ракетно-космической корпорации Владимир Солнцев.

В конце 2016 года глава Института медико-биологических проблем РАН Олег Орлов говорил, что на базе института разработали центрифугу малого радиуса для создания искусственной гравитации на разрабатываемом РКК "Энергия" трансформируемом космическом модуле. Солнцев заявлял, что такой модуль удастся создать и ввести в состав МКС при наличии должного финансирования — 6-7 миллиардов рублей, ориентировочно в 2021-2022 году. По его словам, проекта трансформируемого надувного модуля пока нет в Федеральной космической программе, и корпорация создает его на собственные средства.
"Мы работаем с Европейским космическим агентством. За ними разработка центрифуги для того, чтобы попытаться минимизировать отсутствие гравитации на низкой орбите или при полетах в дальний космос. Рассматриваем различные варианты, где мы должны разместить эту центрифугу, как она будет работать", — пояснил Солнцев.

Он уточнил, что у РКК "Энергия" есть предложения по надувному модулю, который по своим габаритам позволит разместить внутри себя герметичный объем, в том числе и центрифугу.

"Пока мы не конкретизировали даты. Сейчас идет формирование проектного облика. Это в рамках эскизного проекта происходит", — добавил генеральный директор РКК "Энергия".

За ними разработка - очень странно звучит. А когда развод и это на фоне снижения вклада в МКС (России, ЕКА) и закрытии проекта?

Стратегию мельком показали... но журналисты продолжают писать

https://rns.online/military/Roskosmos-planiruet-sokratit-rashodi-na-soderzhanie-MKS-2017-04-10/
10.04.2017
Стратегия развития госкорпорации «Роскосмос» на период до 2030 года предусматривает сокращение затрат на пилотируемую космонавтику, в том числе на содержание российского сегмента Международной космической станции (МКС).

В числе запланированных мер, в частности, перевод эксплуатации российского сегмента МКС из режима постоянного пребывания на нем космонавтов в режим посещения отдельными экспедициями для выполнения конкретных научных задач на станции, говорится в материалах Стратегии-2030, имеющихся в распоряжении RNS.

Решение о режиме эксплуатации российского сегмента может быть принято в 2020 году.

Кроме того, для сокращения расходов на МКС планируется автоматизировать подготовку и проведение некоторых научных экспериментов на борту станции, в том числе благодаря применению робототехнических средств.

Сегодня на борту МКС постоянно находится до шести космонавтов и астронавтов, в числе которых от двух до четырех россиян. Срок вахты экспедиций — примерно полгода. Для обеспечения жизнедеятельности российского экипажа на МКС отправляются грузовые корабли «Прогресс». Космонавты и астронавты доставляются на МКС только российскими кораблями «Союз». Корабли «Союз» и «Прогресс» выводятся на орбиту с помощью ракет «Союз» разработки РКЦ «Прогресс» (Самара). Стоимость одного запуска составляет $60–70 млн. При переводе российского сегмента в режим посещения понадобится меньше космических запусков для снабжения космонавтов едой, водой и воздухом.

По планам «Роскосмоса», в 2021 году партнерам МКС (РФ, США, Европа, Япония, Канада) предстоит принять решение о дальнейшей эксплуатации станции после 2024 года. Первые модули МКС были запущены в конце 90-х годов прошлого века. Ожидается, что в 2024 году сотрудничество по программе МКС завершится. В 2021 году планируется начать строить новые модули для российской орбитальной станции.

А модули планировали для новой станции запустить еще в 2019 году....

[zandr]

http://tass.ru/kosmos/4172895

Роскосмос планирует создать единого оператора экспериментов на МКС
МОСКВА, 11 апреля. /ТАСС/. Роскосмос планирует создать единую организацию для экспериментов на Международной космической станции, сообщил заместитель генерального директора АО "Российские космические системы" Евгений Нестеров.
"Сегодня речь идет о создании единого оператора по проведению экспериментов на МКС, который был бы "одним окном", чтобы любой желающий пришел и такой эксперимент заказал бы на коммерческой основе или через ведомственный заказ", - сказал Нестеров.
Сейчас портфель экспериментов российского сегмента МКС формирует Координационный научно-технический совет. В беседе с ТАСС Нестеров уточнил, что инициатива Роскосмоса "пока не имеет формального статуса", но она продиктована потребностями времени. "Американцы уже коммерциализировали это направление, нам грех этим не заниматься, поэтому мы сейчас ведем планомерную работу, чтобы оформить это как проект", - сказал Нестеров.
Ранее генконструктор по пилотируемым космическим системам и комплексам Евгений Микрин сообщал, что Россия увеличит доходы от МКС за счет коммерческих экспериментов и туризма. В качестве способов максимизации рентабельности станции он назвал услуги по доставке астронавтов на МКС, продажу мест, килограммов нагрузки на космических кораблях, проведение коммерческих экспериментов и космический туризм. Микрин добавил тогда, что снижение оперативных расходов для повышения рентабельности МКС будет достигнуто в том числе за счет автоматизации станции.

[tnt22]

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-tv-to-air-orbital-atk-resupply-mission-launch-briefings

April 11, 2017
 MEDIA ADVISORY M17-028
 
 NASA TV to Air Orbital ATK Resupply Mission Launch, Briefings

Спойлер

 In this Oct. 23, 2016 image, the International Space Station's Canadarm2 robotic arm captures Orbital ATK's Cygnus cargo spacecraft on its sixth mission to the station. The company's seventh cargo resupply mission is targeted for launch April 18 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center.
Credits: NASA

[свернуть]

NASA commercial cargo provider Orbital ATK is targeting its seventh commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station for 11:11 a.m. EDT Tuesday, April 18. Coverage of the launch begins at 10 a.m. on NASA Television and the agency's website.

Two prelaunch briefings will air the day prior to launch. At 10:30 a.m., mission managers will provide an overview and status of launch operations and at 1 p.m., scientists and researchers will discuss some of the investigations to be delivered to the station.

Dubbed S.S. John Glenn, the Cygnus spacecraft name is a tribute to the former astronaut and U.S. Senator from Ohio. It will launch on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Coverage of the spacecraft's solar array deployment will begin at 12:40 p.m. April 18, and will be followed by a 2 p.m. press conference with mission managers.

Спойлер

Under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services contract, Cygnus will carry more than 7,600 pounds of science research, crew supplies and hardware to the orbiting laboratory in support of the Expedition 50 and 51 crew members.

The new experiments will include an antibody investigation that could increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy drugs for cancer treatment and an advanced plant habitat for studying plant physiology and growth of fresh food in space. Another new investigation bound for the U.S. National Laboratory will look at using magnetized cells and tools to make it easier to handle cells and cultures, and improve the reproducibility of experiments. Cygnus also is carrying 38 CubeSats, including many built by university students from around the world as part of the QB50 program. The CubeSats are scheduled to deploy from either the spacecraft or space station in the coming months.

When it arrives to the space station, Expedition 51 Commander Peggy Whitson of NASA and Flight Engineer Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency) will grapple Cygnus. Whitson will use the space station's robotic arm, Canadarm2, to take hold of the spacecraft. After Canadarm2 captures Cygnus, ground commands will be sent for the station's arm to rotate and install it on the bottom of the station's Unity module.

Cygnus will remain on the station until July, when it will depart with several tons of trash for a fiery reentry into Earth's atmosphere. Prior to re-entry, a third experiment will be conducted to study how fire burns in space.

This is Orbital ATK's third launch from Cape Canaveral. Missions from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia are scheduled to resume for the eighth and subsequent contracted flights.

For an updated schedule of prelaunch briefings, events and NASA TV coverage, visit:

 

https://www.nasa.gov/content/orbital-atk-crs-7-briefings-and-events

For NASA TV downlink information, schedules and links to streaming video, visit:

 

https://www.nasa.gov/nasatv

Follow countdown coverage on our launch blog at:

 

https://blogs.nasa.gov/orbital

-end-

 
Cheryl Warner
 Headquarters, Washington
 202-358-1100
cheryl.m.warner@nasa.gov

Amber Philman / Stephanie Martin
 Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
 321-867-2468
amber.n.philman@nasa.gov / stephanie.a.martin@nasa.gov

[свернуть]

Last Updated: April 11, 2017
Editor: Karen Northon

[tnt22]

ULA‏Подлинная учетная запись @ulalaunch 3 ч. назад

Anyone ready for a launch? #AtlasV #OA7 set to launch April 18 at 11:11 a.m. http://bit.ly/av_oa7

http://www.ulalaunch.com/atlas-v-to-launch-oa7-for-orbital-atk-nasa.aspx

Atlas V to Launch OA-7 for Orbital ATK and NASA

Atlas V OA-7 Mission Overview

Rocket/Payload:A United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 will launch Orbital ATK's Cygnus™ spacecraft on the initial leg of its cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

Date/Site/Launch Time: Tuesday, April 18, from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The 30-minute launch window opens at 11:11 a.m. EDT.

Live Broadcast: The Live broadcast will begin at 10 a.m. EDT.

...

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https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-television-to-air-launch-of-nasa-astronaut-jack-fischer-crewmate

April 12, 2017
 MEDIA ADVISORY M17-043
 
 NASA Television to Air Launch of NASA Astronaut Jack Fischer, Crewmate

Спойлер

 In the Integration Building at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Expedition 51 crewmembers Fyodor Yurchikhin of the Russian space agency Roscosmos and Jack Fischer of NASA sit for pictures April 6, 2017, in front of their Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft as part of pre-launch preparations.
Credits: NASA

[свернуть]

NASA astronaut Jack Fischer is poised for a journey of exploration and research on the International Space Station. Extensive coverage of upcoming prelaunch activities, launch and arrival will air on NASA Television and streamed on the agency's website.

Coverage begins Thursday, April 13, with video of prelaunch activities in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, which will air on NASA TV through Wednesday, April 19.

Fischer and his Expedition 51-52 crewmate Fyodor Yurchikhin, of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, are scheduled to launch at 3:13 a.m. EDT Thursday, April 20 (1:13 p.m. Baikonur time), from the Baikonur Cosmodrome aboard a Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft. NASA TV coverage of the launch will begin at 2:15 a.m.

The pair will travel on a fast-track, six-hour course to the space station and dock to the Poisk module at 9:23 a.m. NASA TV coverage of the docking will begin at 8:30 a.m. Once at the station, they will be welcomed by Expedition 51 Commander Peggy Whitson of NASA and Flight Engineers Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos and Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency). Hatches between the Soyuz and space station will open at 11:05 a.m. NASA TV coverage of hatch opening and welcome ceremonies will begin at 10:45 a.m.

Спойлер

Expedition 51 will continue work on hundreds of experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science aboard the International Space Station, humanity's only microgravity laboratory.

Fischer, a first-time space flier, and Yurchikhin, a veteran of four spaceflights, will spend more than four months aboard the orbiting laboratory before returning to Earth in early September.

Get breaking news, images and features from the station on Instagram and Twitter.

Follow Fischer on social media at:

 

https://twitter.com/Astro2fish

https://www.facebook.com/Astro2fish/

and

https://www.instagram.com/astro2fish/

-end-

 
Tabatha Thompson
 Headquarters, Washington
 202-358-1100
tabatha.t.thompson@nasa.gov

Dan Huot
 Johnson Space Center, Houston
 281-483-5111
daniel.g.huot@nasa.gov

[свернуть]

Last Updated: April 12, 2017
Editor: Karen Northon

[tnt22]

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2017/04/12/expedition-51-ramps-up-for-new-crew-and-cargo/

Expedition 51 Ramps Up for New Crew and Cargo
Posted on April 12, 2017 at 12:32 pm by Mark Garcia.

Спойлер

Expedition 51 crew members Fyodor Yurchikhin and Jack Fischer pose in front of the Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft they will launch in April 20. Credit: NASA/Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center/Andrey Shelepin

[свернуть]

The three Expedition 51 crew members aboard the International Space Station are waiting for a new cargo shipment and a new crew to arrive next week. The orbiting trio are also performing human research and working on U.S. spacesuits.

A pair of spaceships are due next week at the space station. The Orbital ATK Cygnus will launch April 18 on a four-day trip to deliver over 7,600 pounds science gear and crew supplies. On April 20, a pair of new Expedition 51 crew members will blast off in the Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft on a six-hour ride to the station's Poisk module.

Спойлер

Commander Peggy Whitson is continuing to explore how new lights installed in the station are affecting crew health and wellness. She is documenting her sleep patterns and participating in cognition and visual tests for the Lighting Effects study.

European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet started his day conducting a Fine Motor Skills test. The study is helping scientists understand how astronauts adapt to touch-based technologies that could influence the development of mobile devices and spacecraft piloting interfaces.

Pesquet turned his attention to spacesuit maintenance Wednesday afternoon. He dumped cooling water and purged gas buildup from the water tanks inside the suits. The work is being done ahead of a planned May 12 spacewalk to replace an avionics box to control science experiments installed outside the station.

[свернуть]

This entry was posted in Expedition 51 and tagged European Space Agency, Expedition 51, International Space Station, NASA, Roscosmos, Soyuz on April 12, 2017 by Mark Garcia.

[tnt22]

https://spaceflightnow.com/2017/04/12/cygnus-freighter-to-make-science-enabling-delivery-to-the-space-station/

Cygnus freighter to make science-enabling delivery to the space station
 April 12, 2017 Justin Ray


The Orbital ATK and NASA logos for the OA-7 Cygnus mission. Credit: Orbital ATK and NASA

CAPE CANAVERAL — Loaded with investigations into chemotherapy drugs with reduced side effects and radiation detectors for homeland security, a plant-growing chamber to promote future food harvesting in space and a technology demonstration for sample-return capsules, a commercial Cygnus cargo vessel will be sent to the International Space Station next week.

Built in the U.S. and Italy and operated by Orbital ATK of Dulles, Virginia, the eight-ton ship will be heaved into orbit by a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket.

Liftoff fr om Cape Canaveral is planned for Tuesday at 11:11 a.m. EDT (1511 GMT).

"The ISS program is very excited to see the seventh Cygnus spacecraft arrive at the station. This unmanned cargo vehicle will bring nearly 3,500 kg scientific supplies and additional hardware necessary to support ongoing research efforts conducted by the crew members aboard. ISS and our sustained human presence in space is a valuable stepping-stone for future exploration activities that provides an opportunity to develop new technologies that benefit all of humanity," said Holly Vavrin fr om the International Space Station Program Office at NASA's Johnson Space Center.

"After departing from ISS, Cygnus will performance additional science objectives including third spacecraft fire safety experiment, called SAFFIRE, additional cubesat deployments and a re-entry data collection."

Just some of the new research launching aboard Cygnus includes:

** Antibody-Drug Conjugates in Microgravity **

Спойлер

This test could yield better drug designs for cancer patients to deliver targeted chemotherapy directly to cancerous cells and avoid healthy cells to reduce side effects.

 
Credit: Oncolinx

"When cancer cells are in a petri dish, they lay flat and you have a 2-D structure of cancer. That's not how cancer grows in the body and solid tumors are 3-dimensional...In this study in the microgravity environment, the cancer cells will form spheric balls wh ere they will more accurate represent solid tumors. From there, we will be able to understand how these drugs metabolize different, how they more or less advantageous, and hopefully that will give us more insight how we plan to treat solid tumors with this novel-class of drugs," said Principal Investigator Sourav Sinha from Oncolinx LLC of Boston.

Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) are therapeutics that target tumors through receptors on the surface of cancer cells. By testing the drugs in space, they will be applied to cells that grow more life-like than can be created on Earth. The 3-D structure of tumors cultured in microgravity result in accelerated drug testing and bringing new therapeutics to the market quicker.

"There is a significant amount of crew time involved in this because we have a number of different variables that we are testing — dosages of the drug, controls of the drug and time points," Sinha said.

The cells are launched frozen, then thawed once in orbit to begin the research. It will be performed in the Expedite the Processing of Experiments to the Space Station (EXPRESS) rack.

[свернуть]

** Crystal Growth of Cs2LiYCl6:CE (CLYC) Scintillators in Microgravity **

Спойлер

This experiment aims to grow a new type of scintillator crystal for use in portable radiation detectors employed by Homeland Security. Scintillators excite when exposed to certain types of radiation. Four experiment runs are planned inside the Solidification Using a Baffle in Sealed Ampoules (SUBSA) furnace of the Microgravity Science Glovebox.

 
Credit: Radiation Monitoring Devices

"The main advantage of microgravity for crystal growth, in general, is the absence of buoyancy-driven convection. On Earth, hot fluids rise up and cold fluids sink down due to density differences. In microgravity, this doesn't happen, and it affects how fluid in our molten material transports, how molecules and atoms of material assemble into the crystal. It's significantly different in microgravity than on Earth," said Alexei Churilov, Ph.D., the experiment's principal investigator from Radiation Monitoring Devices, Inc. of Watertown, Massachusetts.

The space research will inform ways for the company scale-up its production of the crystals on Earth.

"Even though we are continuing research to improve these crystals in our production, there are still challenges and defects in crystals that include cracks, grain boundaries, bubbles and secondary phase inclusions which will be affected to one degree or another by growing these crystals in microgravity without convection."

If successful, small and inexpensive instruments could be made to detect both gamma rays and neutrons.

"These detectors are used to distinguish between harmless sources of radiation and radiation from, for example, enriched uranium from a nuclear bomb. The advantage of CLYC crystals is you can detect both gamma rays and neutron in one detector."

[свернуть]

** Advanced Plant Habitat **

Спойлер

A stepping-stone to food production in deep space is the Advanced Plant Habitat launching on OA-7 to take up residence aboard the International Space Station. About the size of a mini-refrigerator, it features 180 sensors to carefully measure light, water and the atmosphere in the plant-growing chamber.

 
Credit: NASA/Bill White

"It's really the culmination of four-to-five years of developmental effort that will result in the largest and most sophisticated apparatus for growing plants on the International Space Station," said Howard Levine, project scientist at NASA's Kennedy Space Center.

A science carrier, roughly the size of a large pizza box, will be launched on this Cygnus with seeds of wheat and Arabidopsis, a small flowering plant. A seed wetting and germination is planned to demonstrate the performance of the hardware before peer-reviewed plant bioscience launches in November.

"One of the main advantages of the hardware is it has precise controls of all different kinds of environmental parameters, so you can do controlled experiments with plants under different temperature, relative humidity and CO2 concentration values," Levine said.

[свернуть]

** Cubesats **

Спойлер

There are 38 cubesats being launched aboard this Cygnus, 34 that will be transferred over to the space station for eventual deployments from the Japanese Kibo module's airlock and four that are mounted externally to the cargo ship. After Cygnus departs the station in July, it will climb to a higher altitude, around 310 miles, and eject them into space.

 
Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, technicians to install the external cubesat deployer onto Cygnus. Credit: NASA/Cory Huston

A vast majority of station-deployed cubesats are part of the QB50 project to study the science of the atmosphere. A constellation of 28 cubesats will be launched as part of a European Union research program involving universities on five continents. The craft will probe the gas molecules and electrical properties in the poorly-studied region of the upper fringes of the atmosphere called the thermosphere.

"Small satellites are well poised to research the lower thermosphere because you need small sensors and many in-situ measurements at multi points along the way. So cubesats, which started about 15 years ago, are perfect for this project," said Henry Martin, external payloads coordinator from NanoRacks in Houston.

The six other cubesats going to the station include four from NASA, one from the Defense Department and one commercial. They include a mission to measure the cosmic X-ray background, one to test a new light-weight, longer-life battery system designed for the cold temperatures of space and another to measure ice particles within clouds.

The four riding in the Cygnus external deployer are LEMUR-2 cubesats for meteorology and ship tracking.

[свернуть]

** Spacecraft Fire Experiment-3 **

Спойлер

After departing from space station, Cygnus will host the third spacecraft fire safety experiment, called SAFFIRE, to study the behavior of flames and combustion in microgravity for future capsule designers.

 
The SAFFIRE experiment. Credit: NASA

Cygnus conducted SAFFIRE burns on its two flights last year. This test will use one large piece of material to burn, but apply lessons from the earlier experiment runs.

"They've adjusted the airflow rate and ignition sequence based on the results seen on the last two," said Vavrin.

SAFFIRE is a large, self-contained experiment stowed in the back of the Cygnus module. The blaze is ground-commanded.

Sensors will record the ambient temperature and the oxygen and carbon dioxide concentrations, two video cameras provide top views of the entire sample, thermocouples are woven into the sample and a radiometer measures the heat given off.

The flame propagates over a panel of thin material approximately 0.4 m wide by 0.94 m long (15.7 x 37 inches) to quantify flame development over a large sample in low-gravity.

Cygnus will remain in orbit for several days until all of the data and video recorded during the experiment are downlinked to the ground.

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** Thermal Protection Material Flight Test and Reentry Data Collection (RED-Data2) **

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A company wanting to develop a family of re-entry vehicles to return scientific research samples to Earth from the space station will get a demonstration test at the end of the Cygnus flight when it brakes from orbit.

 
One of the probes. Credit: Terminal Velocity Aerospace

"For this experiment, we are flying three different probes and we have three new heat shield materials that NASA is wanting to get flight-test data for," said John Dec, principle investigator of the RED-Data 2 experiment at Terminal Velocity Aerospace in Atlanta.

"The primary data that we are attempting to collect is temperature data from thermocouples that are embedded in the heat shield of each probe."

The three materials being put to the test: A new form of Avcoat that will be used on Orion human spacecraft, the others, developed by the NASA Ames Research Center, are the lightweight Conformal Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator (C-PICA) and Conformal Silicone Impregnated Refractory Ceramic Ablator (C-SIRCA).

"It's kind of like a lawn dart without the stick," Dec said of the probes. "The RED-Data probes are only about 9 inches in diameter and weigh about 5.5 kilograms."

Kept inside the Cygnus throughout its mission, the three soccer ball-sized RED-Data-2 probes will be dispersed once the freighter breaks up during atmospheric re-entry at the conclusion of its three-month mission. Each probe will record vehicle location, temperature, acceleration, pressure and gyroscopic data seen during the fiery plunge back to Earth.

"When Cygnus does its de-orbit burn, it will start to re-enter the atmosphere and that's when we begin to collect our data. We use the accelerations to determine whether or not we're actually starting to re-enter. When Cygnus breaks up, our vehicles are then released into the free-stream flow and that's really when our experiment begins," Dec said.

"We have to wait to emerge from the ionization blackout, up until then we are storing data onboard. As soon as we emerge from the blackout, we use the Iridium satellite network to transmit all of our data from our vehicles to the Iridium network and then down to us at the ground station. We never physically recover vehicles, they land in the ocean, but we do get the data back."

The probes use a 45-degree sphere-cone geometry that is designed to always right itself and orient nose-first within a couple of seconds.

"This shape is very easily scaled up in size. So what we foresee in the future is to have a sample-return capability. It would be an on-demand type of down-mass capability for the space station...That's really wh ere our future direction is going is to develop a vehicle big enough to bring samples back," said Dec.

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