SpaceX postpones Falcon 9 launch by a day to maximize chances for landing
SpaceX has delayed the launch of its Falcon 9 rocket with 11 Orbcomm telecommunication satellites for a day, to wait for a better chance to land the rocket’s first-stage booster after liftoff.
The commercial rocket company’s billionaire founder, Elon Musk, said the decision to put off Sunday’s scheduled launch attempt was made after a review of the mission parameters. In a tweet, he said an analysis of probabilistic Monte Carlo simulations showed there was a “10 percent higher chance of a good landing” on Monday night.
The eight tests Major Tim Peake will undergo in space as a human guinea pig
Long-term space flight is fraught with health implications. From loss of muscle mass to brittle bones and immune system dysfunction, astronauts face a string of possible after-effects of a long stint on the International Space Station (ISS).
So one of Maj Peake’s many roles on the ISS will be human guinea pig – subjecting himself to several physiological experiments for the European Space Agency (ESA) so see just what long-term space flight does to the human body.
In total, he will undergo 23 tests including eight by the ESA and 15 where he will have a smaller role in research undertaken by US, Japanese and Canadian teams.
Russia ready to launch upgraded Progress Spacecraft
Russia’s Progress-MS cargo spacecraft, an improved version of the Progress-M vehicle, is all set to conduct its debut flight on Monday, Dec. 21. Launch will take place at 3:44 a.m. EDT (8:44 GMT) from Site 31/6 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The spacecraft will start a two-day trip to deliver supplies to the International Space Station (ISS).
The mission, Progress MS-1 (designated Progress 62 by NASA), will deliver about 2.5 tons of cargo, including dry cargo, propellant, water and compressed oxygen. It will take a standard two-day route to ISS instead of an express six-hour path because mission controllers want to perform detailed in-orbit testing of the craft prior to docking with the orbital outpost.
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Build up your space resume by participating in the CFD Launch Simulation challenge. Make a CFD model for spacecraft launching process. You can use any rocket or shuttle model that was launched already. Try to experiment with various weather conditions and find which weather is good enough for aerospace launches. More information
