Technology Trends

Elevator to the Moon to Become Reality in 8 Years

The idea of a space elevator is not new. For the first time, it was put forward by Konstantin Tsiolkovsky in 1895. Afterwards, the idea received detailed analysis in the works of scientist Yuri Artsutanov,  the Rossiyskaya Gazeta wrote.

The LiftPort Group, a US based privately-owned company, with former NASA researcher Michael Laine at  the head, is planning to build a space elevator to the Moon. The idea of a space elevator stipulates a rocket-free way to transport people and cargoes into orbit with the use of a special cable

The California-based company founded by former NASA engineer has developed a cheap and easy way to get to the lunar surface. The project is based on a special ribbon cable, on which transport modules and autonomous robots will travel. At first, the researchers plan to test the system on the planet: the test elevator will be 2 kilometers high. Afterwards, a working system will be built. Initially, the company will use a space elevator to connect the Moon with a specially designed space station. The station will then be connected to a platform on Earth.

Company President Michael Laine believes that it will take eight years to build the elevator. The construction will require only a single launch of a spacecraft that would technically resemble the famous Soviet Sputnik-1. It is assumed that such an elevator can already become a part of modern-day reality taking into consideration the current level of the technological development.

The space elevator, scientists say, will help people build manned bases on the Earth’s natural satellite and organize the extraction of helium-3 there – a raw material that will solve global problems of the shortage of energy resources, writes EnergySafe. According to most pessimistic estimates, the reserves of helium-3 on the Moon will be enough for Earth’s population for at least 1,000 years.

LiftPort Group does not doubt its success. The company is going to attract potential investors after the tests that will be conducted on the funds raised on the Internet. NASA, where Michael Lane worked before, has already evinced interest in the project, reportsFreeSMI.by.

The Liftport Group says it plans to start small, and has already raised the money for the first stage of its plans. At a cost of just $8,000, it intends to launch a robot on a tether attached to a balloon two kilometers up, breaking its previous record by half a kilometer.

The next stage, says the company, will be to make an even higher one, to as high as three kilometers. This will mean dealing with the effects of sub-zero temperatures on equipment.

Building the real thing, though, will cost rather more - as much as $800 million, says Liftport.

A space elevator, or orbital tower, would be able to lift cargo cheaply and easily to orbit. A cable, probably made from carbon nanotubes, would stretch from the surface up to a geostationary orbit - and beyond, to create a counterweight keeping the whole thing stable.

As one 'elevator car' goes up, another descends, recovering a lot of the energy used.

"Once the Lunar Elevator is fully functioning, astronauts and equipment will be able to soft-land cargo on the lunar surface. Compared to flying the Space Shuttle, humankind will be able to travel 1,000 times farther for one-tenth the price," says the company.

"Using our models, we believe we can build a LSEI [Lunar Space Elevator Infrastructure] that can transport three dozen people to the Moon per year, before this decade is out."

Liftport's long had ambitions to build a space elevator on Earth; but the moon would make for a much easier location. There's less gravity, meaning that the cable wouldn't need to be as long, and less atmosphere - as well as a lot less politics.

Last year, Japanese construction company Obayashi announced plans to build a space elevator on Earth by 2050. The firm says it hopes that the terminal station could house tourists as well as a laboratory. 

                                                                                  Watcha video

Measuring Air Leaks Into the Vacuum Space of Large Liquid Hydrogen Tanks

Large cryogenic liquid hydrogen tanks are composed of inner and outer shells. The outer shell is exposed to the ambient environment while the inner shell holds the liquid hydrogen. The region between these two shells is evacuated and typically filled with a powder-like insulation to minimise radiative coupling between the two shells. A technique was developed for detecting the presence of an air leak from the outside environment into this evacuated region. These tanks are roughly 70 ft (≈21 m) in diameter (outer shell) and the inner shell is roughly 62 ft (≈19 m) in diameter, so the evacuated region is about 4 ft (≈1 m) wide.

A small leak’s primary effect is to increase the boil-off of the tank. It was preferable to install a more accurate fill level sensor than to implement a boil-off meter. The fill level sensor would be composed of an accurate pair of pressure transducers that would essentially weigh the remaining liquid hydrogen. This upgrade, allowing boil-off data to be obtained weekly instead of over several months, is ongoing, and will then provide a relatively rapid indication of the presence of a leak. Source 

Modular, Rapid Propellant Loading System/Cryogenic Testbed

The Cryogenic Test Laboratory (CTL) at Kennedy Space Centre (KSC) has de-signed, fabricated, and installed a modular, rapid propellant-loading system to simulate rapid loading of a launch vehicle composite or standard cryogenic tank. The system will also function as a cryogenic testbed for testing and validating cryogenic innovations and ground support equipment (GSE) components. The modular skid-mounted system is capable of flow rates of liquid nitrogen from 3.8 to 3,400 lit/min, of pressures from ambient to 1.5 MPa, and of temperatures to –195 °C. The system can be easily validated to flow liquid oxygen at a different location, and could be easily scaled to any particular vehicle interface requirements.

This innovation is the first phase of development of a smart Simulated Rapid Propellant Loading (SRPL) system that can be used at multiple sites for servicing multiple vehicle configurations with varying interface flow, temperature, and pressure requirements. The SRPL system can accommodate cryogenic components from 0.6 to 20 cm and larger, and a variety of pneumatic component types and sizes. Temperature, pressure, flow, quality, and a variety of other sensors are also incorporated into the propellant system design along with the capability to adjust for the testing of a multitude of sensor types and sizes.

The system has three modules (skids) that can be placed at any launch vehicle site (or mobile), and can be connected with virtually any length of pipe required for a complete propellant load- ing system. The modules include a storage area pump skid (located near the storage tank and a dump basin), a valve control skid (located on or near the launch table to control flow to the vehi- cle, and to return to the tank or dump basin), and a vehicle interface skid (lo- cated at the vehicle). The skids are fully instrumented with pressure, temperature, flow, motor, pump controls, and data acquisition systems, and can be con- trolled from a control room, or locally from a PDA (personal digital assistant) or tablet PC.

This work was done by ASRC Aerospace Corp., for Kennedy Space Centre.

Researchers test zero-gravity surgery device

George Pantalos tests a prototype of a surgical device  designed to        >
 aid surgery during space missions


Zero-gravity surgeryThe device: The aqueous immersion surgical system is an airtight and watertight dome or structure with surgical ports that would be attached to the wound or surgical site and filled with saline.
How it works: Surgery in zero gravity could be conducted through the ports, keeping blood and fluid from filling the spacecraft’s cabin. In addition, the pressure of the solution can be controlled to stop bleeding.

What’s next: Researchers hope to use this week’s test results to gain NASA funding to study and develop the device further.

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What happens when astronauts are hurtling toward Mars on a years-long space voyage and one is injured, requiring emergency surgery in a environment lacking gravity?

It may sound like science fiction, but it’s one of the challenges NASA faces in its goal of putting astronauts on Mars by 2035. And it has spurred a University of Louisville researcher to test a potentially lifesaving surgical device aimed at helping make zero-gravity surgery possible.

George Pantalos, a professor of surgery and bioengineering, and colleagues from Carnegie Mellon University are conducting four days of tests this week in Houston aboard a NASA zero-gravity jet known as the “vomit comet,” which flies in gut-churning parabolic arcs to generate 20 to 30 seconds of weightlessness.

They’re testing prototypes of an “aqueous immersion surgical system” — an airtight and watertight dome with surgical ports that would be filled with saline and surround a wound in a zero-gravity environment. The idea is to stop bleeding and contain fluids that would otherwise float through the spacecraft, potentially endangering the patient and crew.

To test the concept, the researchers used plastic containers inside a prenatal care box. The researchers, held in place by foot straps, successfully controlled artificial blood coursing through a simulated vein Tuesday. On Wednesday, they conducted a simulated surgical procedure on a pig’s heart.

“We’re grateful that it turned out so well,” Pantalos said by phone Tuesday night from Ellington Field at the Johnson Space Center Reduced Gravity Program, adding that he hopes the device eventually could be used in other challenging environments, such as war zones.

Pantalos, 60, is working on the device with Pittsburgh-based Carnegie Mellon bioengineering researchers James Antaki, Jennifer Hayden and James Burgess.

Although the United States has retired its space shuttle program, President Barack Obama in 2010 announced that his goal is to have a manned flight reach an asteroid by 2025 and Mars by the mid-2030s, a round-trip mission likely to take several years.

Interest in Mars has grown recently with NASA’s successful landing of the Curiosity rover, which landed on the red planet in August after an eight-month journey.

Pantalos is one of many researchers working on the challenges of extended space travel. Those include health care concerns, such as the rapid loss of bone density, wounds that heal slowly in space and the possibility of having to do medical procedures using remote-controlled robots.

“NASA is looking at all the stuff they need to develop over the next 10 to 15 years to get ready for long-duration missions,” Hayden said.

Her team’s device has no NASA funding, but the agency is helping by allowing them to use the zero-gravity aircraft.

Pantalos, attached to the University of Louisville’s Cardiovascular Innovation Institute, is a veteran of space flight research. He’s conducted tests on 28 weightless flights, in one instance developing a modified zero-gravity heart resuscitation procedure that is now part of astronaut training.

'SPACE' in News

NASA Plans Deep Space Outpost Near Moon

 One of the leading projects proposed by NASA for the agency’s next mission is the construction of a spacecraft which would hover above the far side of the moon in a location known as the Earth-Moon Lagrange Point 2, an area where the combined gravities of the Earth and moon reach equilibrium.

< The Lagrange points for the Earth-moon system. NASA is evaluating an early mission with a small station placed at Earth-moon L2

“Placing a spacecraft at the Earth-Moon Lagrange point beyond the moon as a test area for human access to deep space is the best near-term option to develop required flight experience and mitigate risk,” a recent NASA report concludes.

The crew of such an outpost could run missions like the study of nearby asteroids or the sending of robots to the moon with the aim of collecting rocks and bringing them back. The outpost could also be a potential gateway for manned missions to Mars or one of its moons. A purpose would be finally given to the Orion space capsule and the Space Launch System rocket which are currently being developed.

The funding of the project remains one of the major concerns. Due to deficit reduction initiatives across the US federal government, it is unlikely that NASA can get more in coming years than its current budget of $17.7 billion. Strong White House backing would be required to convince Congress to finance building of the outpost.

A second concern is astronaut safety. How NASA would address the dangers of deep space and radiation is not known. Neither do we know how astronauts could be rescued if something goes wrong. Orbiting at 446,000 km from Earth, the outpost would be far more remote than the International Space Station and it would take days to get back to Earth.

A first flight of NASA’s Space Launch System is planned for 2017. According to NASA planning documents, the construction of the outpost could begin two years later in 2019.

NASA Commercial Crew Partner 'Blue Origin' Completes Rocket Engine Thrust Chamber Test

NASA’s Commercial Crew Program (CCP) partner Blue Origin has successfully fired the thrust chamber assembly for its new 100,000 pound thrust BE-3 liquid oxygen, liquid hydrogen rocket engine. As part of Blue’s Reusable Booster System (RBS), the engines are designed eventually to launch the biconic-shaped Space Vehicle the company is developing. 

The test was part of Blue Origin’s work supporting its funded Space Act Agreement with NASA during Commercial Crew Development Round 2 (CCDev2). CCDev2 continues to bring spacecraft and launch vehicle designs forward to develop a U.S. commercial crew space transportation capability that ultimately could become available for the government and other customers. 

“Blue Origin continues to be extremely innovative as it develops a crew-capable vehicle for suborbital and orbital flights,” said Ed Mango, CCP manager. “We’re thrilled the company’s engine test fire was met with success.” 

The test took place early this month on the E-1 test stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Miss. Blue Origin engineers successfully completed the test by powering the thrust chamber to its full power level. 

“We are very excited to have demonstrated a new class of high-performance hydrogen engines,” said Rob Meyerson, president and program manager of Blue Origin. “Access to the Stennis test facility and its talented operations team was instrumental in conducting full-power testing of this new thrust chamber.” 

As part of CCDev2, Blue Origin also completed a system requirements review of its spacecraft. During the review, engineers and technical experts representing NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration and the company assessed the spacecraft’s ability to meet safety and mission requirements to low-Earth orbit. That review also included results from more than 100 wind tunnel tests of the vehicle’s aerodynamic design, stability during flight and cross-range maneuverability. 

All of NASA’s industry partners, including Blue Origin, continue to meet their established milestones in developing commercial crew transportation capabilities. 

While NASA works with U.S. industry partners to develop commercial spaceflight capabilities, the agency also is developing the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS), a crew capsule and heavy-lift rocket to provide an entirely new capability for human exploration. Designed to be flexible for launching spacecraft for crew and cargo missions, SLS and Orion will expand human presence beyond low-Earth orbit and enable new missions of exploration into the solar system. 

For more information about NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, please visit ...

http://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew

 Preventing the Invasion of Space Germs: Yesterday and Today

 As  prospects of a Mars sample return mission or even a manned mission to Mars are becoming increasingly realistic, the danger of biologic invasions from space or, on the other hand, the danger of contaminating other celestial bodies with terrestrial microbes attracts more of the scientific community’s attention.

   

< Apollo 11 crew arriving in a mobile quarantine facility

There is obviously reason to worry. There are many examples from the past when a microbe, plant, bug or mammal, virtually innocent in its original habitat, caused havoc when transferred to another continent: Think about rabbits in Australia, or recently, a germ decimating the population of North American bats. Or remember the case of the indigenous inhabitants of America who suffered extremely after encountering European diseases such as smallpox or measles.

Let’s try to imagine what would have happened, if such a newcomer into an ecosystem hadn’t represented a species coming “only” from another continent. What if it is was a completely alien organism from a different planet? NASA scientists and administrators were considering this threat as early as they started to think  seriously about a Moon landing.

Special suits were designed prevent potential  > microbes from spreading

The Office of Planetary Protection (OPR) was established in 1967, as a reaction to the United Nations Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Bodies. This treaty binds the party countries to avoid any harmful contamination of other celestial bodies while pursuing exploration.

As no one really knew what type of microbes or bacteria could be found out there, the precautionary approach was more than recommended.  What if the Apollo astronauts returned infected by some incurable and highly contagious space fever? Or what if, on the contrary, they infected the unspoiled lunar biosphere with dangerous earthly streptococcus? It would have been impossible to learn anything about the original life on Moon, had all the collected data been modified by the contaminants.

Several governmental agencies worked closely with NASA and decided that in case any harmful microorganism was brought back to Earth, it would most probably demonstrate itself within 21 days. The resulting solution was simple – a three week’s quarantine for the returning astronauts accompanied by regular medical check-ups.

But what to do with the landing module after its splash down in the Pacific? How to prevent the germs from spreading before it is transported to NASA? A super high-tech – for its time – bio container was created called the Mobile Quarantine Facility (MQF). It was carried aboard the USS Hornet Naval Aircraft Carrier to the site of the splashdown. The astronauts inside the module were supposed to put on special Biological Isolation Garments made from special material that prevented microorganisms from their bodies from entering the atmosphere. The astronauts were to breath through special respirators while waiting for the landing module to be lifted by a helicopter onto the Hornet and inside the Mobile Quarantine Facility.

Before leaving the landing module, the crew had to go through a sodium-hypochlorite shower and the module’s hatch was disinfected with betadine.  After that, all the equipment the crew and the module had touched was cleaned and sunk. Even the helicopter that had transported the crew aboard the Hornet was locked into quarantine.

For the whole duration of the journey from the middle of the Pacific to Houston, the astronauts were not allowed to leave the Mobile Quarantine Facility for a single moment. It was large enough for an even bigger crew. It had a built-in lounge, kitchenette, and bedrooms. Strong negative internal pressure and an ultra modern filtration system prevented airborn particles from inside the facility from spreading around. Also stored and hermetically sealed was all the biological waste.

Upon arriving at Houston, the crew would move into another specially designed habitat – the Lunar Research Laboratory. There, they would spend another 21 days, living in an area of 7700 square meters. Together with the astronauts, all the support staff including doctors, cooks and engineers lived for these three weeks inside the facility. In case an outbreak of a space disease had taken place, the astronauts would have been treated inside the facility.

As no biological material was found, the later lunar missions didn’t require such a strict regime. Today, missions are classified into six categories according to the risks of either bringing biological material to another celestial body or bringing any sort of contaminants back.

Astronomers Uncover a Surprising Trend In Galaxy Evolution

WASHINGTON -- A comprehensive study of hundreds of galaxies observed by the Keck telescopes in Hawaii and NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has revealed an unexpected pattern of change that extends back 8 billion years, or more than half the age of the universe.

"Astronomers thought disk galaxies in the nearby universe had settled into their present form by about 8 billion years ago, with little additional development since," said Susan Kassin, an astronomer at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Centre in Greenbelt, Md., and the study's lead researcher. "The trend we've observed instead shows the opposite, that galaxies were steadily changing over this time period."

Today, star-forming galaxies take the form of orderly disk-shaped systems, such as the Andromeda Galaxy or the Milky Way, where rotation dominates over other internal motions. The most distant blue galaxies in the study tend to be very different, exhibiting disorganised motions in multiple directions. There is a steady shift toward greater organisation to the present time as the disorganised motions dissipate and rotation speeds increase. These galaxies are gradually settling into well-behaved disks.

Blue galaxies -- their colour indicates stars are forming within them -- show less disorganised motions and ever-faster rotation speeds the closer they are observed to the present. This trend holds true for galaxies of all masses, but the most massive systems always show the highest level of organisation.

Researchers say the distant blue galaxies they studied are gradually transforming into rotating disk galaxies like our own Milky Way.

"Previous studies removed galaxies that did not look like the well-ordered rotating disks now common in the universe today," said co-author Benjamin Weiner, an astronomer at the University of Arizona in Tucson. "By neglecting them, these studies examined only those rare galaxies in the distant universe that are well-behaved and concluded that galaxies didn't change."

Rather than limit their sample to certain galaxy types, the researchers instead looked at all galaxies with emission lines bright enough to be used for determining internal motions. Emission lines are the discrete wavelengths of radiation characteristically emitted by the gas within a galaxy. They are revealed when a galaxy's light is separated into its component colours. These emission lines also carry information about the galaxy's internal motions and distance.

The team studied a sample of 544 blue galaxies from the Deep Extragalactic Evolutionary Probe 2 (DEEP2) Redshift Survey, a project that employs Hubble and the twin 10-meter telescopes at the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii. Located between 2 billion and 8 billion light-years away, the galaxies have stellar masses ranging from about 0.3 percent to 100 percent of the mass of our home galaxy.

A paper describing these findings will be published Oct. 20 in The Astrophysical Journal.

The Milky Way galaxy must have gone through the same rough-and-tumble evolution as the galaxies in the DEEP2 sample, and gradually settled into its present state as the sun and solar system were being formed.

In the past 8 billion years, the number of mergers between galaxies large and small has decreased sharply. So has the overall rate of star formation and disruptions of supernova explosions associated with star formation. Scientists speculate these factors may play a role in creating the evolutionary trend they observe.

Now that astronomers see this pattern, they can adjust computer simulations of galaxy evolution until these models are able to replicate the observed trend. This will guide scientists to the physical processes most responsible for it.

The DEEP2 survey is led by Lick Observatory at the University of California at Santa Cruz in collaboration with the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., the University of Chicago and the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Centre in Greenbelt, Md., manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Md., conducts Hubble science operations. STScI is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. in Washington.

For images and video related to this story, please visit:

http://go.nasa.gov/V4QJRU

For more information about NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/hubble

Russia may build rocket to destroy Earth-threatening asteroids

                          

MOSCOW, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Russia could start building a space rocket capable of destroying asteroids threatening the Earth, chief of rocket and space corporation Energia said Friday.

"There are three large asteroids, including Apophis, whose orbits cross the Earth's orbit and which could hit the Earth in the next several decades," Vitaly Lopota told the state newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

To change the orbit of a small planet of Apophis' size, a 70-ton rocket was needed to "tow" an asteroid away from Earth or to destroy it with a thermonuclear blast, Lopota said.

Apophis was discovered in 2004. It will approach the Earth dangerously close, at about 30,000 km, which is less than one-tenth of the Moon's distance from Earth, in 2029. Experts calculate impact of a collision between Apophis and the Earth will be equal to a 1,700-Megaton explosion.

Lopota said existing Russian rocket carriers with RD-171 engines could be redesigned to produce a rocket capable of destroying an asteroid. Energia was ready to build such a rocket within three to five years, he said.

Currently, RD-171 engines made by NPO Energomash have been used on Zenit-3SL missiles employed in the Russia-Ukraine-Norway-U.S. joint project Sea Launch.

"We call them Tsar Engines, which no other country possesses," Lopota said, referring to Russian artifacts, the Tsar Cannon and Tsar Bell, which were the world's largest in their time.

Rover eyes 'man-made' objects in Martian dirt

< Part of the small pit created when NASA's Mars rover Curiosity collected its second scoop of Martian soil at a sandy patch called 'Rocknest'. The bright particle of interest is at the centre of the image.

LOS ANGELES: NASA's Mars rover has swallowed its first scoopful of dirt from the Red Planet's surface – and found some bright-coloured objects that experts briefly thought might be man-made, the U.S. space agency said. In an update on Curiosity's two-and-a-half month-old mission, NASA said its Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) instrument, deep in the car-sized rover's belly, will analyse the soil to learn more about its make-up.

Some experts wondered if one of the bright-coloured objects – seen on a photo of a scoop hole in the Martian soil – could be man-made, like an object seen earlier this month thought to be plastic from the rover itself.

Strong consensus particle is Martian

"We began to see some bright flecks in the scoop areas," Curiosity's project scientist told reporters in Pasadena, California, adding: "The science team started calling them schmutz."

Some suggested they could be man-made, but following discussions between scientists and engineers, there was a "strong consensus" that they were indigenous to Mars.

This conclusion was backed by the fact that the objects were left visible at the bottom of holes left by the rover's scoop, meaning they were normally underneath the planet's surface.

"We can't rule out that they're something man-made but we don't think that they are," he said.

A major milestone

Last week, NASA determined that a bright object observed on the ground near the robot several days previously was a bit of plastic that may have dropped from the rover itself, and did not jeopardize the rover's operations.

"The rover team's assessment is that the bright object is something from the rover, not Martian material," the mission said at the time. "It appears to be a shred of plastic material, likely benign."

But for the scientists, the first use of the CheMin device, to analyse the mineral make-up of the Red Planet's soil – is a major milestone.

"We are crossing a significant threshold for this mission by using CheMin on its first sample," said Curiosity's project scientist, John Grotzinger of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

"This instrument gives us a more definitive mineral-identifying method than ever before used on Mars: X-ray diffraction. Confidently identifying minerals is important because minerals record the environmental conditions under which they form."

Curiosity is on a two-year, $2.5 billion mission to investigate whether it is possible to live on Mars and to learn whether conditions there might have been able to support life in the past.

Falcon 9, Delta 4 Investigation Boards Formed

On October 4, 2012 the launch of a GPS satellite aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta 4 rocket experienced low thrust in its upper stage, requiring compensation using reserve fuel to put the satellite in its proper orbit. On October 7, 2012 a Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Dragon cargo ship to ISS experienced loss of one of its nine engines, resulting in incorrect insertion of its secondary payload, an experimental satellite from Orbcomm. Now, investigation boards into both incidents have been formed.

ULA is conducting its own investigation into the Delta 4 anomaly, of course, but it seems the US Air Force, which relies heavily on ULA launch vehicles, was a bit concerned and launched its own investigation. Until the issue is resolved, ULA is holding off on an October 25, 2012 Atlas 5 launch using the same  RL-10 upper stage. The October 25 launch is supposed to carry the next prototype of the super-secret X-37B space plane. This will be the third orbital test of the X-37B. The last X-37B mission lasted 468 days, well beyond its designed flight duration of 270 days. The Air Force is not releasing the expected duration of this flight.

Meanwhile, following several days of public silence regarding the cause of an engine failure on Falcon 9′s October 7 launch, SpaceX has announced formation of a joint investigation board with NASA to get to the bottom of the issue. SpaceX is scheduled to launch a second supply mission to ISS on January 18, 2013 hopefully leaving plenty of time to get the engine anomaly straightened out. No further word has been released after SpaceX’s initial statement fingered a localised pressure issue that caused the engine to be shut off and its fairing to detach. It was this fairing that is presumed to have caused the debris seen in a slow motion video of the launch that led some to believe the engine had exploded.