Covering All Things Florida
Kennedy Space Center, Florida — SpaceX’s ambitious plans to repurpose Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at the Kennedy Space Center for its Starship/Super Heavy launch vehicle program have sparked a wide array of concerns from various public and private stakeholders.
Though they are often taken for granted, spacesuits are a vital part of US space efforts, both now with the International Space Station, and also later, when astronauts from Project Artemis undertake their EVA duties on the lunar surface. Without spacesuits, many of the necessary maintenance and upgrade duties on ISS cannot be performed, and obviously, without spacesuits, no one will be walking on the moon.
The day is coming, sooner rather than later, when the ISS will have outlived its design life. NASA sees it coming and has already started the wheels turning to send the multi-national behemoth to a fiery end.
Only 10 minutes into Tuesday’s 2-hour launch window, a SpaceX Falcon heavy lifted off carrying the last of a series of new weather satellites to orbit. The GOES-U weather satellite launch was the last of a series designated GOES-R.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is set to launch its latest geostationary weather satellite, GOES-U, on June 25, 2024, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This mission, the final installment in the GOES-R series, will dramatically advance weather observation and environmental monitoring technology.
By any objective standard, it’s been an insane week in space….or at least far from “routine”. From a faux “ISS Emergency” to scuttled spacewalks to hints of yet more Starliner problems, the week’s news has been anything but boring.
A National Institute of Health paper released in March has identified previously unseen and unknown variants of a bacterium known for being multi-drug resistant, have been isolated from the ISS.
Thirteen strains of Enterobacter bugandensis, have mutated and became genetically distinct compared to their Earth counterparts. The study also found that E. bugandensis coexisted with multiple other microorganisms, and in some cases could have helped those organisms survive. So far, NASA, Roscosmos, or any other international partners aboard the ISS have not reported infected astronauts or, worse, transmission of the species from the ISS to Earth.
June 11, 2024 – Orbiting Earth as part of the nine-person crew of the International Space Station (ISS), NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are actively engaged in testing Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. This mission marks Starliner’s first flight with astronauts and is a critical step in the data collection process for NASA certification, aiming to establish regular crewed missions to the orbital complex.
For the first time since 1968, astronauts have been launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, marking the first-ever manned mission from a Space Force installation. On June 5, at precisely 10:52 a.m. EDT, NASA astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams lifted off from Space Launch Complex-41 aboard the Atlas V rocket, commencing the eagerly anticipated Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test (CFT) mission.
NASA Prepares for Third Attempt to Launch Boeing Crewed Flight Test
NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test mission teams are gearing up for another Starliner launch attempt, currently scheduled for 10:52 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, June 5. With a faulty ground equipment power supply repaired, the launch will take place from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. This mission, lasting approximately one week, will see NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Suni Williams aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft heading to the International Space Station (ISS).
The Boeing Starliner just can’t seem to get off of the pad. The much-publicized second launch attempt of CFT-100 was scrubbed on June 1st when a computer detected an anomaly with less than four minutes left in the countdown. The mission represents Starliner’s first crewed flight test.
After three weeks of analysis and discussion between Boeing, NASA, and United Launch Alliance following the May 6, 2024 scrub, Boeing’s long road to lofting crew aboard Starliner to low-Earth orbit took a step towards launching this morning when it was moved to its launch pad. Liftoff of Atlas V and Starliner is scheduled for 12:25 PM EDT, Saturday, June 1st, from Space Launch Complex 41.
