A Northrup Grumman Cygnus at the International Space Station Photo courtesy of Northrup Grumman
On Monday, January 29th, update: Tuesday, January 30th SpaceX will launch Northrup-Grumman’s Cygnus CRS-2 towards the International Space Station aboard a Falcon 9. This launch will be the 20th resupply mission carried out as part of NG’s Commercial Resupply contract with NASA, and will ferry supplies for the station’s crew, equipment, as well as new scientific experiments to the orbiting outpost.
The launch is scheduled for 12:07 PM EST with an instantaneous window from Cape Canaveral’s SLC-40. Approximately eight minutes after launching, the booster used for this mission will return to the Cape to land at LZ-1, SpaceX’s landing facility located about 5.6 miles to the south of the launch pad.
The Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft’s pressurized cargo module (PCM) for the company’s 20th commercial resupply mission is lifted and moved by crane inside the high bay in the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday, Sept. 18, 2023. Photo: NASA
With a capacity of about 5,000 kg, Cygnus is a pressurized multi-purpose logistics module with about 36 cubic meters of interior volume that can be loaded with supplies. Cygnus is compatible with multiple launch vehicles including Northrop Grumman’s Antares 330 and Medium Launch Vehicle (MLV) currently in development, and has launched on ULA’s Atlas V, Antares vehicles and SpaceX’s Falcon 9. The module is also capable of reboosting the ISS to a higher orbit, but it is not known at this time if that capability will be utilized by NG-20.
Experiments Aboard NG-20
NASA released information regarding the experiments that will be aboard Cygnus for ISS astronauts to perform:
MABL-A, Role of Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Microgravity Induced Bone Loss, Part A: This experiment aims to study the role of mesenchymal stem cells in microgravity-induced bone loss. The results could provide a better understanding of the basic molecular mechanisms of bone loss caused by spaceflight and normal aging on Earth.
APEX-10, Advanced Plant Experiment-10: This experiment will study plant-microbe interactions in space, which may support steps to optimize these beneficial interactions to increase plant productivity on Earth as well as in space.
BRIC-25, Biological Research in Canisters-25: This experiment studies how microgravity affects Staphylococcus aureus, a common and concerning bacterium. The knowledge gained from this experiment could not only safeguard astronauts’ health but also improve our understanding of bacterial adaptations on Earth.
Flight Trajectory
The flight trajectory for the NG-20 mission is to the northeast. The booster will travel southwest to return to the landing zone at Cape Canaveral.
Booster 1077 History
Booster B1077 will fly its tenth mission for this flight. B1077 has successfully completed nine previous launches and landings, and was first used for the Crew-5 mission.
“[NASA] currently [does] not have any activities underway at LC-49.”
For many years, NASA has had a potential new launch pad on its Master Plan for Kennedy Space Center: LC-49 is projected to be built on the northern end of KSC property near its border with the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.
There is also an LC-48 on the slate, located between the current LC-39A (Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy) and SLC-41 (Atlas/Vulcan) but it has not received the same amount of mention in the space community, nor the same amount of concern among some local residents as the potential LC-49.
Kennedy’s Master Plan
“One potential new vertical launch area, Launch Pad 49, could be sited to the north of Pad 39B. This location avoids overflight issues with Pad 39B and minimizes conflict with the Canaveral National Seashore, giving potential non-NASA entities a flexible set of operational options. In addition, Pad 49 could use Beach Road as an access road, allowing for more autonomous operations and the option to operate outside of KSC’s secured area.”
Annotated map from Kennedy Space Center’s Master Plan. Talk of Titusville added location names in order to clarify the geographical locations shown on this map. Map: NASA Future Land Use Map (FLUM) Retrieved 08/21/22
This has been on the site’s master plan in one form or another, dating back to the 1960s, and speculation of the potential of a new pad being built has risen lately due to SpaceX’s Starship due to come online in the near term.
1967 Plans for Pads LC-39C and LC-39D Drawing 68-DE-FAC-11 / NASA
“[Kennedy Space Center] announced last week that it was starting the process of an environmental review of the proposed Launch Complex (LC) 49 in response to an inquiry from SpaceX. The center did not disclose a timeline for conducting the review but said it would precede any agreement with SpaceX to develop the site.
“Launch Complex 49 is located to the northwest of Launch Complex 39B, the former Apollo and shuttle launch pad that will be used by the Space Launch System. The site was originally reserved in the 1960s for Launch Complex 39C but never developed.”
SpaceX Starship Facility at LC-39A
In 2021, SpaceX began building a launch tower for its future Starship operations at the Cape, but it appears that the company has taken a pause in constructing that launch tower, ostensibly to focus on completing Starship development, which will almost certainly inform the final design and construction of the new tower.
SpaceX Starship tower under construction in August 2022. At the time, construction cranes and other equipment were present at the site. LC-39A’s main tower is the the right, the VAB in the background left. Photo: Charles Boyer, Talk of Titusville
Given SpaceX’s iterative development method that makes a lot of sense and should not necessarily be considered a sign that they are abandoning any plans to complete the new pad next to LC-39A. The company has not made any public statement regarding the half-finished pad, and while work has apparently slowed on the structure, there is no sign of it being dismantled either.
SpaceX has made extensive changes to a similar launch pad at their Boca Chica orbital launch pad in recent months, so it makes sense to expect they will want to do the same to the pad at the Cape — when they are ready to bring Starship operations here to the Space Coast and the Eastern Range. That is speculation, however, and should be considered as such until concrete evidence of its accuracy is confirmed or disproven.
But What About LC-49?
Vicinity of LC-49 in 2021. NASA’s official caption for the photo reads “A view of a proposed new launch site, Launch Complex 49, on Dec. 20, 2021, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. In response to an inquiry from SpaceX, NASA is preparing to conduct environmental assessments to develop the proposed launch site. The 175-acre site, located north of Launch Complex 39B within the center’s security perimeter, would support the launch and landing of SpaceX’s Starship and Super Heavy launch vehicle. NASA and SpaceX are moving forward with the initial environmental assessment before concluding a potential agreement to develop the property.” Photo NASA, KSC-20211220-PH-KLS01_0002
At the same time, that apparent pause at LC-39A does not fully address LC-49. Talk of Titusville reached out to NASA to find out what progress is being made towards LC-49 actually being built in the relatively near future. Given that previous reports indicated that an environmental study was underway in 2021, it seems sensible that those studies would be complete or nearly so in 2024. They replied to us on January 18, 2024 and said that “[NASA] currently [does] not have any activities underway at LC-49.”
NASA added that, “all previous activities there have been suspended, including anything involving any commercial companies. We’re not currently working any NEPA or environmental actions. KSC did complete an environmental assessment in 2018-19 for the development and operations of the site, which included the construction of the existing launch pad.”
That “existing launch pad” they are referring to is almost certainly the new Starship launch pad referred to above, and that pad will not be completed for some time.
Good News For Titusville Residents and Visitors
This is likely going to be welcome news for Titusville residents. Were LC-49 built in the area planned for in the NASA Future Land Use Map (FLUM), once operational, it would likely cause repeated closings of Beach Road leading to Playalinda Beach, meaning that local beachgoers would have no route to the undeveloped beach areas located there. That is because at some points on Beach Road, an LC-49 could be as little as one mile away.
Beach Road and an LC-49 are relatively close together.
Those closures would come during fueling tests, static fires and launch activities due to Beach Road’s proximity to the LC-49 complex. Playalinda Beach is already often closed by KSC Police and the National Park Service for many launches from LC-39A and LC-39B, due to safety and security concerns during launch operations. LC-49 would result in much the same, and given SpaceX’s plans for a high cadence of Starship launches for Artemis and other commercial activities, those closures may have become a major inconvenience for residents and tourists alike.
With an estimated 1.5 – 2.0 million visitors a year, the Cape Canaveral National Seashore incorporates Playalinda Beach in its southern section as well as others (Apollo Beach) to the north. It is a major source of tourism dollars for Titusville, and it is the only beach available to local residents between Cape Canaveral’s Jetty Park and Apollo Beach in New Smyrna. In 1962, Titusville Beach was absorbed into Kennedy Space Center, leaving Playalinda, in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.
According to NASA’s statement that no activities are ongoing to build the new pad, there is little reason to worry about this happening any time in the near future.
Artist’s rendering of Astrobotics’ Peregrine Lander of the lunar surface. Courtesy of Astrobotics
Astrobotic’s Peregrine Mission One splashed down in the South Pacific yesterday around 4:04 pm local time on January 18th, completing its trip to space after launching from Cape Canaveral on January 8, 2024.
Peregrine Mission One has concluded. We look to the future and our next mission to the Moon, Griffin Mission One. All of the hard-earned experience from the past 10 days in space along with the preceding years of designing, building, and testing Peregrine will directly inform Griffin and our future missions.
Peregrine and its payload teams have made a meaningful contribution to our lunar future, and we thank everyone who supported this mission. Courtesy of United Launch Alliance, this video was captured from their Vulcan rocket’s payload fairing.
Peregrine has flown so Griffin may land.
Astrobotic: Final Update for Peregrine Mission
Great Start
Peregrine enjoyed a perfect ride to space on board United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket making its maiden voyage on January 8th. That launch was deemed a success after what ULA CEO Tory Bruno labeled as a “Bullseye” launch that ended nearly precisely in its intended orbital altitude, inclination and speed.
ULA graphic stating Vulcan launch of Peregrine and other payloads aboard CERT-1 were placed in their intended positions in space. Chart: United Launch Alliance
Shortly after being placed in orbit, communications with Peregrine was established by Astrobotic, and the spacecraft was sent on its course to the moon. Not long after that, Peregrine’s problems began. Those problems precluded completing the primary mission of a soft lunar landing, and instead, Astrobotics salvaged what science they could from the mission and prepared for an eventual conclusion.
The Axiom-3 mission lifts off aboard a Falcon 9 at Kennedy Space Center’s Pad LC-39A at 4:49 PM EST on January 18, 2024. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
Minutes before a warm front brought heavy showers to Kennedy Space Center, SpaceX launched Crew Dragon aboard a Falcon 9 for Axiom Space on a chartered flight to the International Space Station at 4:49 PM EST this evening. The all-European crew is expected to dock at ISS in two days time, and stay aboard the station until February 3, 2024.
Crew Dragon atop a Falcon 9 at Pad LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center on January 17, 2024. Photo by Charles Boyer, Talk of Titusville.
With about six hours left in the countdown to liftoff, SpaceX announced that they are canceling today’s planned launch of Falcon 9 carrying four astronauts to orbit aboard a Crew Dragon to the International Space Station. The mission on behalf of Axiom Space is dubbed Axiom-3 and will now launch NET Thursday, January 18, 2024 at 4:47 PM EST.
Artemis-1 on the launch pad at LC-39B at Kennedy Space Center in 2022. Photo: Charles Boyer
NASA announced today that the Artemis program has encountered new delays, causing a shift in the timeline of planned launches.
Artemis II is now slated for September 2025, with Artemis III now slated for September 2026 according to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson in a news conference held this afternoon. Artemis IV, the first mission to the Gateway lunar space station, remains on track for 2028. “As I continue to say, we will launch when are ready,” said NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free. Free is the third highest-ranking executive and highest-ranking civil servant. He is the senior advisor to NASA.
Originally slated for late 2024, Artemis II has been delayed due to technical issues that have cropped up in the program since the Artemis I launch in 2022. Those issues range from problems encountered with batteries for the Orion capsule during testing. Artemis III, the planned landing on the moon has also encountered delays as SpaceX works on its Starship Heavy launcher and with it the human lander needed to touch down on the lunar surface.
Artemis II
Rumors had been floating around in the space industry that NASA might choose to repeat the Artemis I mission with Artemis II, but the agency made it clear today that Artemis II will remain “the first crewed Artemis mission around the Moon.”
“[Artemis I] was so successful that additional tests were added in the course [of the mission],” remarked NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. Prior to launching, it must first solve some technical issues that have arisen since Artemis I splashed down in the Pacific Ocean near California on December 11, 2022.
Artemis II crew members, shown inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, check out their Orion crew module on Aug. 8, 2023. From left are: Victor Glover, pilot; Reid Wiseman, commander; Christina Hammock Koch, mission specialist; and Jeremy Hansen, mission specialist. Photo: NASA
Heat Shield
The Orion capsule experienced unexpected loss of char layer pieces during the re-entry phase of the Artemis I mission, prompting NASA and prime Orion contractor Lockheed Martin to open an investigation into the issue to find the root cause of the unexpected material loss, as well as develop plans to fix it.
Amit Kshatriya, deputy associate administrator, Moon to Mars Program, Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate. Photo: NASA
“From the test flight, we found one item that we need a little more time to work, and that is the thermal protection system on the […] heat shield,” said Amit Kshatriya, deputy associate administrator, Moon to Mars Program, Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate in today’s media conference.
Inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the AVCOAT block bonding is complete on the Artemis II heat shield on July 2, 2020. Photo: NASA
Kshatriya continued that the review is going “quite well” but NASA wants to assemble the data and understand it quite well before the Artemis II flight. “Before we attempty re-entry from a circumlunar mission like we’ll have from Artemis II that we’re 100% confident that we understand under those conditions.”
Orion Life Support System
“During the acceptance of some components for Artemis III we noticed a failure in some motor valve circuitry that was driving valves on the spacecraft itself,” said Kshatriya. “These components passed testing for Artemis II but did not for Artemis III. That gave us pause and caused us to examine that circuit in a more detailed way. When we examined it, we learned that there was a design flaw in that circuit. Those valve electronics affect many parts of the life support system in the spacecraft, in particular the CO2 scrubbing system. Once we recognized the design flaw […] it became very clear to us that it was unacceptable to accept that hardware and we have to replace it in order to guarantee the safety of the crew.”
“The way to replace that given the current configuration of the spacecraft, the access to those components, the access to those bays is going to take us quite a bit of time to get to,” Kshatriya continued. “Every connector that we touch as part of that replacement operation will have to be tested after we’re done and we’ll have to put the vehicle through functional testing afterwards. We know how to fix it,” Kshatriya said. “We just need to make sure that we take the time to do it according to the workmanship standards that we expect for a human-rated vehicle.”
Launch Tower
NASA has a new launch tower that they plan to use for the next Artemis mission. The 380-foot tall (115 meters) tower connects to NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS), which is set to launch the Artemis II crew of four astronauts around the moon.
Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Aug. 17, 2023. Photo: NASA
NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems team has been performing tests and applying upgrades for the new tower. They recently conducted a launch day demonstration for the Artemis II crew of NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen.
“There are new capabilities being on-ramped for the mission,” said Kshatriya. “We have new facilities at KSC to enable rapid turnaround for propellant loading, as well as [new capabilities] for the loading of the crew and the egress of the crew.”
New Abort System
The test version of Orion attached to the Launch Abort System for the Ascent Abort-2. This system will be upgraded prior to Artemis II. Photo: NASA
“For the launch vehicle, we have a new abort system that will be activated in an integrated way across the stack and of course with the spacecraft, we have a new life-support system and its ability to respond to those aborts. Those are all added, and of course those will support the crew and to support crew safety,” Kshatriya said.
“We’ve qualified Orion to survive [the abort environment.] We have, however, as part of that qualification campaign found a few cases where we believe there could be some deficiencies in the performance of the electrical system in particular some of the batteries that we need to make sure we understand how they are enduring those environments.”
“We’re still very early in that investigation. We’ve not yet developed a forward path. Multiple parallel options [exist] to fix this issue,” said Kshatriya. He added that “We also have a lot of options to determine whether or not we believe those environments are accurate and we have a lot of testing to do, and we wanted to make sure we gave ourselves the time to do that. Crew safety is going to drive our decision making there.”
NASA did not comment about any new in-flight abort systems test in today’s teleconference.
While these delays may be frustrating to the public, perhaps NASA Administrator Bill Nelson put it best today when he echoed Jim Free by saying that “we’ll fly when we are ready to fly.”
For the space agency crew safety is the first priority followed by mission assurance. The simple truth is that not many people will remember the delays five years in the future, but no one would ever forget a disaster. NASA has made mistakes rushing launches in the past and it is showing a dogged determination to not the repeat those mistakes again. That’s as it should be, not only for NASA, for America and for space exploration, but also to the crew of the Artemis missions and their families.
Vulcan lifts off the pad at 2:18 am on January 8, 2024. The spots in the photo are droplets of water blasted onto the camera lens by the rocket’s plume. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
United Launch Alliance’s new Vulcan rocket lifted off of Pad SLC-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force station at 2:18:38 EST this morning, with the rocket working in near-perfect fashion as it sent the Astrobiotics Peregrine lunar lander towards the moon, and a Celestis memorial payload on its way to permanent solar orbit.
After a countdown with no apparent problems or issues, Vulcan lifted off right on time and flew off the launch pad. Blue Origin’s BE-4 engines worked as advertised, and coupled with GEM solid rocket boosters, the first stage hoisted the payload towards space flawlessly. The second stage was also up to its task, and performed two major burns on time and for their full duration.
At 3:17 am EST, Astrobiotics established communications with the Peregrine spacecraft, and now in space, Peregrine will continue on its journey to the moon and the NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services mission can begin in earnest. While Astrobiotics work is just beginning, ULA and Blue Origin can take deep satisfaction in the first mission of Vulcan being an unqualified success.
Today’s launch marks the first successful orbital launch of the methalox-powered American rocket. Chinese company LandSpace successfully orbited the payload with its Zuque-2 rocket in July of 2023. The Relativity and SpaceX attempts were test flights, with no customer payloads aboard, while Vulcan will have at least two customers with assets on the first flight of Vulcan.
Vulcan is the first rocket designed wholly by United Launch Alliance. The Delta and Atlas family of rockets were legacy designs created by Boeing and Lockheed Martin respectively prior to the founding of the company in 2006. ULA is a joint venture between the two aerospace giants, and has successfully launched more than 155 missions since its inception.
Vulcan Cert-1 (Vulcan VC2S rocket, designated V-001) being moved to the launch pad prior to testing in 2023. Photo courtesy United Launch Alliance
United Launch Alliance (ULA) announced today that they have concluded their Launch Readiness Review for the maiden launch of their Vulcan rocket. The mission has been cleared to proceed to its planned liftoff at 2:18 am EST on Monday, January 8th.
ULA also added that the weather at liftoff time currently has only a 15% Probability of Violation at launch time, meaning that forecasters are calling for an 85% chance of acceptable launch conditions. The new rocket will carry the Astrobiotics Peregrine lunar lander built under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program and a secondary payload of memorials for Celestis.
Nichelle Nichols in her role as Lt. Uhura on the original Star Trek series. Photo: NASA
When the inaugural launch of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan happens as soon as early next Monday morning, it will carry not only the Astrobiotic Peregrine lander towards the lunar surface, it will also have ashes of some of the actors whose portrayal of the crew of the fictional USS Enterprise that was integral to stoking the imaginations of many young people that in turn became engineers, scientists and technicians working in the real-life space program — as well as more than a few astronauts.
The mission is being organized by Texas-based Celestis, Inc., a company that has been providing memorial service launches for over twenty-five years, and will also carry other peoples’ remains and/or DNA on the trip.
Enterprise Flight
Dubbed the “Enterprise Flight,” one-gram samples of the ashes of Nichelle Nichols, James Doohan, Majel Barrett Roddenberry, as well as Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and visual-effects artist Douglas Trumbull will be launched into space in small capsules as secondary payloads that will continue to solar orbit after Vulcan’s primary mission of sending Peregrine on its way to the southern polar region of the moon has concluded. The Enterprise Flight will be re-named Enterprise Station once it reaches permanent heliocentric (around the sun) orbit.
Star Trek And NASA
Star Trek and NASA have a long and mutually beneficial relationship. While the original series aired in the 1960’s, NASA was working diligently to fulfill the goal of landing on the moon set by the late John F. Kennedy. Star Trek showed a potential future that almost seemed to be the logical timeline of the space program in those heady days, and the show’s cast was an inclusive one, with people of color, a key officer from Russia as well as women in key positions. The show’s tone was an optimistic one where humanity’s best side was what won the day, and where peaceful exploration of the heavens was the norm.
After the original run of the show ended, Nichols appeared in promotional films for NASA, recruiting women and people of color to apply to be astronauts. Up to that point, those with the “right stuff” were almost exclusively white men, mainly because the agency focused on hiring test pilots as astronaut candidates. There were very few test pilots of color, and even fewer women. With the dawn of the Shuttle era, NASA wanted its roster of astronauts to be more reflective of America at large, and to achieve that Nichols lent a hand by making promotional videos on behalf of the agency.
As for Star Trek, the show lived on, first in syndicated reruns, then movies and new series that continue to this day. It’s no understatement to say that it built an enduring modern myth and that it continues to have a huge effect on American and even global culture. Nichols, Doohan and the Roddenberry’s continued working on it until the 1990’s, and appeared at fan meetings long after that.
Nichelle Nichols Legacy
After her passing in 2022, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said that “Nichelle Nichols was a trailblazing actress, advocate and dear friend to NASA. At a time when Black women were seldom seen on screen, Nichelle’s portrayal as Nyota Uhura on Star Trek held a mirror up to America that strengthened civil rights.”
He added at the time that “Nichelle’s advocacy transcended television and transformed NASA. After Apollo 11, Nichelle made it her mission to inspire women and people of color to join this agency, change the face of STEM and explore the cosmos. Nichelle’s mission is NASA’s mission. Today, as we work to send the first woman and first person of color to the Moon under Artemis, NASA is guided by the legacy of Nichelle Nichols.”
Other Enterprise Flight Participants
DNA samples of Tory Bruno and his wife Rebecca — who is also a former Lockheed Martin rocket engineer that worked on the Trident II missile system. Tory is now the CEO of United Launch Alliance, the company who designed and built the Vulcan rocket to be used for this launch.
Martin Caidin
Author, pilot, media personality, raconteur and Space Coast legend Martin Caidin will also have a portion of his remains on the flight. Caidin was the author or coauthor of more than 50 books and over 1000 magazine articles. His book “Cyborg” was the inspiration for the 1970’s television series “The Six Million Dollar Man” starring Lee Majors.
Another participant will be Australian-born American astronaut Phillip Chapman. After he left NASA in 1972, Chapman’s career continued, as president of the L5 Society (now the National Space Society) were he was key in lobbying Congress during the 1980s which would have legally prevented American-based companies from commercial activities on the moon.
Those are just the famous names seen at first glance when looking through the Celestis roster for the flight. Many other lesser known names are also there, with many interesting personalities and loved ones being represented. Celestis will provide launch viewing opportunities for families and friends of the participants, as well as a three-day memorial service to celebrate their lives before liftoff.
Falcon 9 rishing from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in 2023. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
Fans looking to the see the first launch of 2024 from the Space Coast won’t have to wait very long, as Wednesday, January 3rd, SpaceX plans to launch Ovzon-3, a mobile communication satellite for Stockholm based Ovzon. Five days after that, United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan is slated to make its debut, followed by the crewed Axoim-3 mission from Kennedy Space Center. SpaceX also has more Starlink satellite launches planned, but no dates have yet been announced.
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