2 pieces of news here.

SpaceX makes another launch attempt to ISS

SPACEX is shooting for another launch attempt on Friday to deliver supplies to the International Space Station.

NASA confirmed the launch date on Wednesday, two days after a last-minute rocket leak delayed the mission. Stormy weather, however, is forecast for Friday. Saturday is the backup launch date.

Mission Control has rescheduled urgent spacewalking repairs because of the new launch time.

And.

SpaceX Leases Apollo 11 Launchpad for 20 Years

According to Space.com, SpaceX will lease Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida in a 20-year agreement with NASA. The launchpad will be modified for SpaceX's purposes while also preserving the historic aspects.

Cheers.

Thanks Wiggo.

Ditto :)

Thanks Wiggo.

Ditto :)

+2

---

rOZZ
Music
Pictures

Thanks Wiggo.

Ditto :)

+2

+3

---

Thanks Wiggo.

Ditto :)

+2

+3

+4

---

Do we know if it's being launched today yet? Or have I got my days muddled up... :/

As I understand it was launched Friday and docked at the ISS today.

---

As I understand it was launched Friday and docked at the ISS today.

Thanks Betreger - just as well my finger isn't needed on any pulses :)

Here ya go Annie. ;-)

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/apr/20/international-space-station-easter-cargo-spacex

The crew of the International Space Station on Sunday took delivery of a special Easter treat: a cargo ship full of supplies.

The SpaceX company's cargo ship, Dragon, spent two days chasing the ISS following its launch from Cape Canaveral. Astronauts eventually used a robot arm to capture the capsule, 260 miles above Egypt.

More than two tons of food, spacewalking gear and experiments fill the Dragon, including mating fruit flies and legs for the station's resident robot. Nasa also packed family care packages for the six spacemen.

Cheers.

Here ya go Annie. ;-)

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/apr/20/international-space-station-easter-cargo-spacex

The crew of the International Space Station on Sunday took delivery of a special Easter treat: a cargo ship full of supplies.

The SpaceX company's cargo ship, Dragon, spent two days chasing the ISS following its launch from Cape Canaveral. Astronauts eventually used a robot arm to capture the capsule, 260 miles above Egypt.

More than two tons of food, spacewalking gear and experiments fill the Dragon, including mating fruit flies and legs for the station's resident robot. Nasa also packed family care packages for the six spacemen.

Cheers.

Those fruit flies get everywhere! :) Thanks Wiggo.

SpaceX Files Protest Against U.S. Air Force Space Launch Monopoly.

http://www.dailytech.com/SpaceX+Files+Protest+Against+US+Air+Force+Space+Launch+Monopoly/article34799.htm#sthash.dFmk7olR.dpuf

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced that his company is in the process of filing a protest against the United States Air Force, targeting the military branch’s contracting procedures, with the case slated for the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

Specifically, Musk says the Air Force’s purchase of 36 Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles (EELV), which is headed by the United Launch Alliance as the core providers of the launches, “blocks companies like SpaceX for competing for national security launches. We feel that this is not right. National security launches should be competitive and not sole-sourced.”

Cheers.

SpaceX's Falcon 9-R reusable rocket has completed its 2nd test flight which saw the rocket reach 1000 metres and then make a controlled landing.

http://www.dailytech.com/Second+Flight+of+SpaceXs+Falcon+9R+Soars+to+3280ft+Makes+Controlled+Powered+Landing/article34847.htm

Cheers.

Very cool, thanx Wiggo

---

Very cool, thanx Wiggo

+1 Elegant! :)

SpaceX's Falcon 9-R reusable rocket has completed its 2nd test flight which saw the rocket reach 1000 metres and then make a controlled landing.

That's nice; is the rocket supposed to be reusable? If they put shoulder straps on it I would buy one.

---

That's nice; is the rocket supposed to be reusable?

As I understand it that's the point, a big time cost reduction.

---

That's nice; is the rocket supposed to be reusable?

As I understand it that's the point, a big time cost reduction.

Interesting as they get paid by the pound delivered and having to carry fuel and equipment up for a landing cuts way back on what can be delivered. That's why the space shuttles glide back home. It seems SpaceX and the USAF have different ideas on how this should be done.

---

Interesting as they get paid by the pound delivered and having to carry fuel and equipment up for a landing cuts way back on what can be delivered.

I am sure they have crunched the numbers and came up with a viable plan or they wouldn't be doing it.

---

SpaceX Dragon Spacecraft Returns Critical NASA Science from Space Station

SpaceX's Dragon cargo spacecraft splashed down at 3:05 p.m. EDT Sunday, in the Pacific Ocean, approximately 300 miles west of Baja California, returning more than 3,500 pounds of NASA cargo and science samples from the International Space Station.

A boat will carry the Dragon spacecraft to a port near Los Angeles, where it will be prepared for a return journey to SpaceX's test facility in McGregor, Texas, for processing. Some cargo, including a freezer packed with research samples collected aboard the space station, will be removed at the port in California and returned to NASA within 48 hours.

http://www.nasa.gov/press/2014/may/spacex-dragon-spacecraft-returns-critical-nasa-science-from-space-station/

---

Meanwhile, why is the US government allowing itself to be held to ransom to a group of large USA companies using RUSSIAN rocket engines to push just one-way launches at greatly greater cost than the home-grown USA SpaceX can do?


Old cronies and corrupt politics and real innovation be damned and grounded?...


Excellent work there from SpaceX!

Only in the USA?
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)