The Official Space Flight Thread - The Space Station and Beyond

Cosimo · 12 Oct 2016 at 08:32

Expedition 49-50 MTV Soyuz MS-02 being prepared for launch on October 19:

Cosimo · 12 Oct 2016 at 13:55

ExoMars arrival seen by Mars Express on October 19:

The relative orbital paths for ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), the Schiaparelli Entry, descent and landing Demonstrator Module and ESA's Mars Express on 19 October 2016:

Cosimo · 14 Oct 2016 at 08:21

Expedition 49-50 Soyuz Commander Sergey Ryzhikov and Flight Engineer Andrey Borisenko of Roscosmos and Flight Engineer Shane Kimbrough of NASA along with their backups, Alexander Misurkin and Nikolai Tikhonov of Roscosmos and Flight Engineer Mark Vande Hei of NASA getting ready for October 19:

Cosimo · 14 Oct 2016 at 08:46

Going to see the space station guys:

Anyone else going to one of their presentations?

Cosimo · 15 Oct 2016 at 08:22

This week:

Cosimo · 16 Oct 2016 at 09:15

Progress MS-02 departs the station on October 14:

Cosimo · 16 Oct 2016 at 09:18

ExoMars, from separation to landing starting today:

The Trace Gas Orbiter will release its Schiaparelli lander for a three day coast and a six minute descent to the Martian surface.The lander, which was designed to demonstrate technologies for entry, descent and landing on Mars, is heading for the Meridiani Planum. This is an area that is currently being studied by NASA’s Opportunity rover and Europe’s Mars Express orbiter.

On 19 October, the Schiaparelli lander will be activated a few hours before reaching the Martian atmosphere, when it will be travelling at some 21 000 km/h. The front heatshield – covered with 90 insulating tiles – will be subjected to temperatures of up to 1500 degrees Celsius.

Cosimo · 16 Oct 2016 at 10:18

We are set for Orbital ATK’s 6th Resupply Mission to Space Station:

Launch is set for 01:03 BST (20:03 ET Sunday) tonight and will be live on NASA TV.

Cosimo · 17 Oct 2016 at 06:17

Expedition 49-50 Soyuz Commander Sergey Ryzhikov, Flight Engineer Andrey Borisenko of Roscosmos and Flight Engineer Shane Kimbrough of NASA along with their backups, Alexander Misurkin, Nikolai Tikhonov of Roscosmos and Flight Engineer Mark Vande Hei of NASA preparing for launch on October 19:

Cosimo · 17 Oct 2016 at 14:17

China have successfully launched their 6th manned spaceflight mission, Shenzhou 11. Launch was at 23:30 UTC, October 16th from the Jiuquan launch site:

The Shenzhou 11 crew capsule will bring two Chinese astronauts, Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong to the Tiangong-2 space laboratory which launched last month on September 15th.

Cosimo · 17 Oct 2016 at 20:14

Soyuz rollout ahead of launch to the space station on the 19th:

Cosimo · 18 Oct 2016 at 08:24

Orbital ATK launched its Cygnus cargo spacecraft atop an Antares rocket to the International Space Station:

Cosimo · 18 Oct 2016 at 08:54

Orbital ATK’s Mission to the ISS post launch media briefing:

Cosimo · 18 Oct 2016 at 11:06

The big day at Mars is tomorrow, the 19th so we have ExoMars arrival and landing details:

19 October: TGO Mars orbit insertion and Schiaparelli entry, descent and landing on Mars (atmospheric entry expected 15:42 BST / 16:42 CEST, landing 15:48 BST / 16:48 CEST)

20 October: Update on Schiaparelli status; descent images expected

21+ October: Schiaparelli status reports until end of mission

Note: Times shown above are actual event times at Mars; the one-way signal travel time between Earth and Mars is currently just under 10 minutes.

Live mission updates can be found here:

http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/ExoMars/Live_updates_ExoMars_arrival_and_landing

Schiaparelli’s descent to Mars in real time:

Schiaparelli’s descent trajectory:

Live coverage (14:00–16:15 BST) is here with timings:

http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/ExoMars/Watch_ExoMars_arrival_and_landing

See you on Mars tomorrow!

Cosimo · 19 Oct 2016 at 07:38

Soyuz MS-02 ready for launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome this morning at 09:05 BST this morning:

Cosimo · 19 Oct 2016 at 13:29

Off to the ISS we go:

Cosimo · 19 Oct 2016 at 13:57

Live coverage of ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter arrival and Schiaparelli landing landing and arriving at Mars is about to start (14:00–16:15 BST):

http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/ExoMars/Watch_ExoMars_arrival_and_landing

Atmospheric entry expected 15:42, landing 15:48 BST.

Cosimo · 19 Oct 2016 at 14:32

Ignition of the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter is confirmed! The orbiter has started its main manoeuvre for Mars orbit insertion.

Cosimo · 19 Oct 2016 at 17:19

We have to wait for news:

End of planned Schiaparelli transmission. Initial signals were received via the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) as Schiaparelli descended to the surface of Mars, but no signal indicating touchdown yet. This is not unexpected due to the very faint nature of the signal received at GMRT. A clearer assessment of the situation will come when ESA's Mars Express will have relayed the recording of Schiaparelli's entry, descent and landing.

Cosimo · 19 Oct 2016 at 17:42

Looks as though Trace Gas Orbiter has been inserted into orbit!

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

The Official Space Flight Thread - The Space Station and Beyond