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    Centaur Liquid Hydrogen Loading Begins

    Systems are pumping liquid hydrogen into the Centaur upper stage as today’s countdown proceeds toward a liftoff at 5:42 p.m. EST. The Centaur, pictured above during stacking of the Atlas V at Space Launch Complex 41, burns liquid hydrogen fuel combined with liquid oxygen during the ascent into space. The Centaur’s liquid oxygen tank is …

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    Watch New Expedition 50 Trio Dock Today

    Expedition 50 Crew Members

    Three new crew members are set to dock to the International Space Station Saturday at 5:01 p.m. EST. Live coverage of the docking and arrival will begin at 4:15 p.m. on NASA Television and the agency’s website. NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos and Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency) launched in …

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    First Stage Liquid Oxygen Loading Beginning

    Liquid oxygen is flowing into the first stage of the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. The engine, seen above, will combine the oxygen with refined kerosene to generate about 860,000 pounds of thrust at liftoff. This Atlas V is equipped with four solid-fueled boosters that will provide extra thrust to lift the rocket and …

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    Liquid Oxygen Loading Begins for Centaur

    Supercold liquid oxygen is flowing into the tank of the Centaur upper stage for today’s launch. The Centaur’s single RL10 engine, built by Aerojet Rocketdyne, burns a combination of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen to generate thrust. The Centaur will perform three burns today to place NOAA’s GOES-R satellite into a transfer orbit that will …

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    Centaur Chilldown Begins

    The transfer lines to the Centaur’s liquid oxygen tanks have begun chilling down before the supercold propellant is pumped into the tanks for launch. The tanking will begin in a few minutes. Later, the same process will be used to load liquid oxygen into the Atlas V’s first stage. After that, the liquid hydrogen for …

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    T-2 Hours and Counting

    The countdown has resumed as scheduled for the GOES-R launch today. Engineers are beginning the preparations to load cryogenic propellants into the Atlas V rocket.

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    Go for Cryo Loading

    The launch team completed its polls confirming they are reading to begin loading supercold propellants – known as cryogenics – into the Atlas V rocket and its Centaur upper stage. The countdown is in a planned hold at T-2 hours, but everything is on schedule for liftoff at 5:42 p.m. EST. The launch window extends …

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    Countdown Proceeding Smoothly – Forecast Improves

    With less than three hours before the liftoff of the Atlas V rocket carrying the GOES-R satellite into orbit, the launch teams at Cape Canaveral, Florida, are working through a detailed timeline of tasks and checks to make everything goes smoothly. Today’s weather forecast improved to a 100 percent chance of acceptable conditions for launch. …

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    Launch Day: Forecast Remains 90 Percent go

    Good afternoon from Florida’s Space Coast! It is launch day for NOAA’s GOES-R satellite, the most sophisticated meteorological spacecraft of its kind, and the launch teams are proceeding toward an on-time liftoff at 5:42 p.m. EST from Space Launch Complex 41. A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket will launch the GOES-R satellite into geostationary …

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    ISS Daily Summary Report – 11/18/2016

    Preparation for Cygnus Unberth and Release: The crew completed configuring the Cygnus and the Node 1 vestibule in preparation for Cygnus departure on Monday, November 21st. Today’s task included removing Intermodule Ventilation and Power/Data Jumpers, installing the Common Berthing Mechanism (CBM) Center Disk Cover and four CBM Controller Panel Assemblies (CPAs) onto an Active CBM …

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