Cube Satellite (CubeSat) Operations: Overnight the final 7 CubeSats were successfully launched by JAXA Robotic Flight Controllers from two NanoRacks CubeSat Deployers (NRCSDs). Two Dove CubeSats and ArduSat-2, LitSat-1, LituanicaSat-1, UaPSat-1, and SkyCube CubeSats were launched. A total of 17 CubeSats have been deployed from the NRCSDs this week. The NRCSDs and Multi-Purpose Experiment Platform …
Safe Journey, GPM!
Launches are something special and this one was was spectacular. We were 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) from the launch pad, the absolute minimum safe distance at the Takesaki Observation Stand. The roof doubles as a tiered deck, and lined up at every available railing was a tripod and a camera. Since we had arrived a […]
Night Launch Beauty
On February 27, 2014, we published an Image of the Day of the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) satellite soaring above Tanegashima Space Center like a candle in the sky. However, that wasn’t the only spectacular photograph of the night launch that chief NASA photographer Bill Ingalls (@ingallsimages) captured. I collected a few of my favorites below, and […]
ISS Daily Summary Report – 02/27/14
Cube Satellite (CubeSat) Operations: Four more CubeSats were successfully launched overnight by JAXA Robotic Flight Controllers from two NanoRacks CubeSat Deployers (NRCSDs). The remaining 7 CubeSats will be deployed overnight. CubeSat format satellites are launched from the ISS for a variety of commercial and national customers. Try Zero-Gravity (Try Zero-G) Experiments: Flight Engineer (FE)-6 Wakata set …
L-1 hour: All Systems Go for Launch!
When you’re a three person team out in the field, there’s not always enough time to get it all done. We are Launch minus 1 hour. The weather is clear, the rocket is fueled, all systems are GO. In the press room, reporters are grabbing their hard hats and the cameras and heading up to […]
ISS Daily Summary Report – 02/26/14
Cube Satellite (CubeSat) Operations and Deploys: Overnight 4 CubeSats were successfully launched by JAXA Robotic Flight Controllers from two NanoRacks CubeSat Deployer (NRCSD) locations. Eleven more satellites will be deployed in the next 2 days. CubeSat format satellites are launched from the ISS for a variety of commercial and national customers. Radiation Dosimetry Inside ISS-Neutrons …
Clear Skies for GPM Launch
I hear it was snowing in Maryland last night/today. In my inbox this evening (East Coast morning), I got the boilerplate message that while Goddard Space Flight Center is open on Feb. 26, non-critical and non-emergency personal could telework or take leave to avoid the snowy roads. The GPM team members scheduled to be on […]
Blessings for a Safe and Successful Mission
The H-IIA No. 23 rocket that will carry the GPM Core Observatory into space arrived at Tanegashima Space Center on Jan. 20, 2014. The rocket has two stages, a lower first stage that, with the help of two solid rocket boosters, gets it off the ground, and an upper second stage that lights up a […]
ISS Daily Summary Report – 02/25/14
Cube Satellite (CubeSat) Operations and Deploys: This morning, Flight Engineer (FE)-6 Wakata depressurized the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) Airlock, opened the outer hatch and extended the slide table out to the JEM Exposed Facility (JEF) on the exterior of the ISS. JAXA Flight Controllers removed the 8 NanoRacks CubeSat Deployers (NRCSDs) from the slide table …
Out of the Fog
Most years, the Swiss Air Force hosts an air show in the fall that sends planes roaring over the Axalp-Ebenfluh firing range near Brienz, Switzerland. Spectators often congregate at the Axalp, a resort area on a terrace that overlooks Brienz from an elevation of about 1,500 meters (4,900 feet). While waiting for the 2013 show […]