** The Official Space Flight Thread - The Space Station and Beyond **

A Land Launch Zenit-3SLB rocket successfully launched the Intelsat 18 satellite from the Baikonur Space Centre in Kazakhstan at 22:00 BST yesterday:

intelsat18.jpg

Intelsat 18 is quite a beast at 3,200 kg and will have a life expectancy of 15 years delivering a communication bridge across the Pacific:

intelsat18.jpg

http://www.orbital.com/NewsInfo/Publications/Intelsat18_Fact.pdf
 
PermaBanned said:
Is the capsule itself actually the whole spacecraft? Even with advances in technology i doubt they could completely get rid of the bulky unpressurised service module of Apollo (and Gemini)...
Click to expand...

The exploration vehicle consists of three parts:

mpcvstack.jpg

Launch Abort System

The launch abort system (LAS), positioned on a tower atop the crew module, activates within milliseconds to propel the crew module to safety in the event of an emergency during launch or climb to orbit. The system also protects the crew module from dangerous atmospheric loads and heating, then jettisons after the Multi Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) is through the initial mission phase of ascent to orbit.

Crew Module

The crew module is the transportation capsule that provides a safe habitat for the crew, provides storage for consumables and research instruments, and serves as the docking port for crew transfers. The crew module is the only part of the MPCV that returns to Earth after each mission.

Service Module

The service module supports the crew module from launch through separation prior to reentry. It provides in-space propulsion capability for orbital transfer, attitude control, and high altitude ascent aborts. When mated with the crew module, it provides the water, oxygen and nitrogen needed for a habitable environment, generates and stores electrical power while on-orbit, and maintains the temperature of the vehicle's systems and components.

This module can also transport unpressurized cargo and scientific payloads.
Click to expand...

http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/mpcv/index.html
 
Here's an interesting one:


An attempt to win the Carmack Micro Prize (legend) at BALLS 20 (heard something about somebody making a 1:1 scale Mercury-Redstone for launch there, not sure what happened to that), which is to get an amateur rocket above 100,000ft (don't ask me why they use imperial :rolleyes:), and it's max altitude was ~121,000ft. It reached Mach 3 and melted the plastic around one of the cameras. Impressive :D

More here:

http://ddeville.com/derek/Qu8k.html
 
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Fixed, not sure what happened there :p

Amazing what people can do with readily available amateur technology nowadays. That's where the future of space flight lies, not in the private industry but in the hobbyists and back yard engineers. Speaking of which, another milestone for Copenhagen Suborbitals:

 
We are back on track with missions to the ISS. NASA has told congress that it agrees with Russia’s findings on the failure of a Soyuz rocket's third stage in August during a Progress launch to the ISS. Subject to a successful Soyuz launch on October 30th, the next mission to ISS, Expedition 29 should launch on November 14th. :)
 
Galileo:

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galileob.jpg


galileocf.jpg

The first operational satellites of Europe’s own global navigation satellite system Galileo will be launched next week. This will happen be the first Soyuz rocket to launch from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. Launch is scheduled for Thursday, 20 October at 11:34 BST (12:34 CEST, 07:34 local time).

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We have another launch. The ViaSat 1 broadband communications satellite on board a Russian Proton rocket is due to be launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome on Wednesday 19th, at 19:48 BST (22:48 local time). The rocket and its payload arrived by train at the pad on Sunday:

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