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

Cosimo

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An unpiloted Russian resupply ship --- the ISS Progress 50 --- launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 9:41 a.m. EST (8:41 p.m. Baikonur time) on Feb. 11, bound for a docking to the Pirs Docking Compartment on the Russian segment of the International Space Station six hours later. Loaded with almost three tons of food, fuel, supplies and experiment hardware for the six crewmembers on the complex, the new Progress vehicle was launched on an accelerated rendezvous to the station, the third consecutive Progress craft to test the fast track approach to arrive at the orbital laboratory.
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Cosimo

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Away we go. :D
 

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Curiosity Rover's Self Portrait at 'John Klein' Drilling Site, Cropped

725560mainpia16764selfi.jpg

This rectangular version of a self-portrait of NASA's Mars rover Curiosity combines dozens of exposures taken by the rover's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) during the 177th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars (Feb. 3, 2013).

The rover is positioned at a patch of flat outcrop called "John Klein," which was selected as the site for the first rock-drilling activities by Curiosity. The self-portrait was acquired to document the drilling site.

The rover's robotic arm is not visible in the mosaic. MAHLI, which took the component images for this mosaic, is mounted on a turret at the end of the arm. Wrist motions and turret rotations on the arm allowed MAHLI to acquire the mosaic's component images. The arm was positioned out of the shot in the images or portions of images used in the mosaic.

Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, developed, built and operates MAHLI. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project and the mission's Curiosity rover for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The rover was designed and assembled at JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

Image Credit:NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
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Orbital successfully conducts first stage "hot fire" test of the Antares Space Launch Vehicle at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility yesterday:

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(Dulles, VA 22 February 2013) -- Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE: ORB), one of the world’s leading space technology companies, today announced it successfully conducted an extended-duration “hot fire” test of the first stage propulsion system of its new Antares™ medium-class rocket. Developed over a four-plus-year period, Antares will be used to launch cargo supply missions to the International Space Station as part of a $1.9 billion contract with NASA.

The 29-second hot fire test took place at 6:00 p.m. (EST) on February 22, 2013 at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s (MARS) Pad 0A, which was designed and built over the last several years to accommodate liquid-fuel space launch vehicles. The primary goals of the test were to ensure that the launch complex’s fueling systems and the Antares stage one test article functioned properly in a fully operational environment, that engine ignition and shut down commands operated as designed, and that the dual AJ26 first stage engines and their control systems performed to specifications in the twin-engine configuration. The test included a full propellant loading sequence, launch countdown and engine ignition operation. The pad’s high-volume water deluge system flowed throughout the entire period of the test to protect the pad from damage and for noise suppression.
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http://www.orbital.com/NewsInfo/release.asp?prid=847

Antares Brochure
 
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