Behind the Scenes of NASA's Orbital ATK ISS Resupply Mission (hothardware.com) 25
Reader MojoKid sheds more light on NASA's unmanned cargo ship: The Orbital ATK CRS-6 mission that launched last week at NASA Cape Canaveral, Florida not only delivered supplies to the International Space Station (ISS), but also carried a number of research projects on NASA's Cygnus spacecraft. On board the CRS-6 were Gecko Grippers, which attempt to mimic the adhesion properties of gecko feet. Through the use of nanomaterials, Gecko Grippers can be repeatedly applied and removed from a surface without losing their adhesive properties via the use of van der Waals forces. They are also unaffected by temperature, pressure or radiation. Also in tow for the mission are supplies for the Saffire Experiment, which will be the largest man-made fire in space with data beamed back to earth so researchers can understand its properties and results. It's also impressive to see the NASA VAB (Vehicle Assembly Building), which is one of the biggest structures in the world covering 8 acres and measuring 525 ft tall, as well as the SLS Crawler, which is designed to move large spacecraft components supporting up to 18 million pounds and has been utilized for the Apollo and Space Shuttle programs.
Need mod points [Re:fp -- IDEA FOR WHIPLASH] (Score:3, Funny)
If only I had mod points, I'd mod this down.
Ob: https://www.penny-arcade.com/c... [penny-arcade.com]
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Frankly, if you look into it, all space missions were done by private companies....
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$10-$20 is certainly for fedex :) The price range is more in the 4.000$ to 13.000$ per Kg for sending stuff at LEO [stackexchange.com]. It has been said that spaceX could break the 1.000$/Kg barrier [buildtheenterprise.org].
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They are done by the private industry...
The Cygnus spacecraft is owned by Orbital, not NASA (the article summary used here isn't very clear on that). NASA contracts ALL U.S. resupply missions out to Orbital ATK and SpaceX.
Link: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/launch/index.html
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They are done by the private industry... The Cygnus spacecraft is owned by Orbital, not NASA (the article summary used here isn't very clear on that). NASA contracts ALL U.S. resupply missions out to Orbital ATK and SpaceX.
So far.
But they just added Sierra Nevada to the list of commercial resupply providers:
https://www.nasaspaceflight.co... [nasaspaceflight.com]
http://www.sncorp.com/AboutUs/... [sncorp.com]
PHAH! (Score:3)
These government contractors are featherbedding and milking a sweet deal.
and FURTHERMORE (Score:2)
ATK says they're sending 4400 lbs, but when it gets there, what does it weigh? ZERO! So (0 + 4400)/2 * $/lb means there additionally soaking our government for TWICE the weight of cargo actually shipped. These villains have no shame about raping the public purse of the Republic.
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Hey dumbass, this was a private industry launch. NASA has been contracting with independent companies for cargo to the ISS since the Space Shuttle stopped flying - both to Russian space firms, and to several American ones.
For this flight, the contract was to Orbital ATK, but due to the grounding of the Antares 100 lift vehicle (after one exploded in late 2014), Orbital ATK subcontracted the launch vehicle (at their own cost) to United Launch Alliance. The Cygnus spacecraft is also made by Orbital ATK, and
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Reality is not responsible for living up to your ill-informed fantasies.
What is a Titan V? (Score:1)