There are 2 messages totalling 125 lines in this issue

Topics of the day:

1. NASA PARTNER ORBITAL TESTS ROCKET, NEWEST U S LAUNCH PAD
2. NASA COVERAGE SET FOR MARCH 1 SPACEX MISSION TO SPACE STATION

Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2013 10:16:08 -0600 From: info@JSC NASA GOV Subject: NASA PARTNER ORBITAL TESTS ROCKET, NEWEST U S LAUNCH PAD

February 22, 2013

Josh Byerly Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111

Trent J Perrotto Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1100

Jeremy L Eggers Wallops Flight Facility, Va 757-824-2958

Report #13-053

NASA PARTNER ORBITAL TESTS ROCKET, NEWEST U S LAUNCH PAD

WALLOPS ISLAND, Va -- NASA commercial partner Orbital Sciences of Dulles, Va , successfully conducted an engine test of its Antares rocket Friday at the nation's newest launch pad

The company fired dual AJ26 rocket engines for the full duration 29 seconds while the rocket was bolted down on the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) Pad-0A at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Va Known as a "hot fire" test, it demonstrated the readiness of the rocket's first stage and launch pad fueling systems to support upcoming test flights

"This pad test is an important reminder of how strong and diverse the commercial space industry is in our nation," said Phil McAlister, director of Commercial Spaceflight Development at NASA Headquarters in Washington "A little more than one year after the retirement of the space shuttle, we had a U S company resupplying the International Space Station Now, another is taking the next critical steps to launch from America's newest gateway to low-Earth Orbit Today marks significant progress for Orbital, MARS and the NASA team "

Orbital is building and testing its new rocket and Cygnus cargo spacecraft under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program A demonstration flight of Antares and Cygnus to the space station is planned for later this year After the successful completion of the COTS demonstration mission to the station, Orbital will begin conducting eight planned cargo resupply flights to the orbiting laboratory through NASA's $1 9 billion Commercial Resupply Services contract with the company

Wallops, which has launched more than 16,000 rockets in its 67-year history, provided launch range support for the hot-fire test, including communications, data collection, range safety and area clearance

NASA initiatives like COTS are helping to develop a robust U S commercial space transportation industry with the goal of achieving safe, reliable and cost-effective transportation to and from the International Space Station and low-Earth orbit NASA's Commercial Crew Program also is working with commercial space partners to develop capabilities to launch U S astronauts from American soil in the next few years

For more information about the upcoming Orbital test flights, and links to NASA's COTS and Commercial Crew programs, visit:

http://www nasa gov/orbital

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NASA Johnson Space Center Mission Status Reports and other information are available automatically by sending an Internet electronic mail message to listserv@listserver jsc nasa gov In the body of the message (not the subject line) users should type "subscribe hsfnews" (no quotes) This will add the e-mail address that sent the subscribe message to the news release distribution list The system will reply with a confirmation via e-mail of each subscription Once you have subscribed you will receive future news releases via e-mail To unsubscribe, send an e-mail to listserv@listserver jsc nasa gov with the following command in the body of your e-mail message: "unsubscribe hsfnews" (no quotes) or from another account, besides the account used to subscribe: "unsubscribe hsfnews youremail@yourdomain com" (no quotes)

Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2013 10:20:17 -0600 From: info@JSC NASA GOV Subject: NASA COVERAGE SET FOR MARCH 1 SPACEX MISSION TO SPACE STATION

February 22, 2013

Josh Byerly Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111

Trent Perrotto Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100

George Diller Kennedy Space Center, Fla 321-867-2468

Report #M13-037

NASA COVERAGE SET FOR MARCH 1 SPACEX MISSION TO SPACE STATION

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla -- The second SpaceX mission to the International Space Station under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services contract is scheduled to launch Friday, March 1, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida NASA Television coverage begins at 8:30 a m EST

The company's Falcon 9 rocket carrying its Dragon cargo capsule will lift off at 10:10 a m If needed, a backup launch opportunity is available on March 2 with launch time at 9:47 a m and NASA TV coverage beginning at 8 a m

The mission is the second of 12 SpaceX flights contracted by NASA to resupply the space station It will mark the third trip by a Dragon capsule to the orbiting laboratory, following a demonstration flight in May 2012 and the first resupply mission in October 2012

The capsule will be filled with more than 1,200 pounds of scientific experiments and cargo It will remain attached to the space station's Harmony module for more than three weeks The Dragon capsule will splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California on March 25, returning more than 2,300 pounds of experiment samples and equipment, which will be recovered for examination by scientists and engineers

In advance of the launch, NASA will host a briefing on NASA's human deep space exploration progress at 2 p m , Wednesday, Feb 27, at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida On Thursday, Feb 28, NASA will host a mission science briefing at 1 p m and a prelaunch news conference at 3 p m All three briefings will be carried live on NASA TV and the agency's website

Media may request accreditation to attend the prelaunch news conferences and launch by going online at:

https://media ksc nasa gov

The deadline for U S media to apply for accreditation is Feb 25 The deadline has passed for international news media to apply

Media credentials will be valid at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida and Johnson Space Center in Houston for mission activities from launch through splashdown

For more information about media accreditation, call Jennifer Horner at 321-867-6598 or 321-867-2468

For an updated schedule of prelaunch briefings, events and NASA TV coverage times, visit:

http://go nasa gov/13hO0IY

For NASA TV schedule and video streaming information, visit

http://www nasa gov/ntv

For countdown coverage, NASA's launch blog and more information about the mission, visit:

http://go nasa gov/spacex2

For more information about the International Space Station, research in low-Earth orbit, NASA's commercial space programs and the future of American spaceflight, visit:

http://www nasa gov/exploration

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NASA Johnson Space Center Mission Status Reports and other information are available automatically by sending an Internet electronic mail message to listserv@listserver jsc nasa gov In the body of the message (not the subject line) users should type "subscribe hsfnews" (no quotes) This will add the e-mail address that sent the subscribe message to the news release distribution list The system will reply with a confirmation via e-mail of each subscription Once you have subscribed you will receive future news releases via e-mail To unsubscribe, send an e-mail to listserv@listserver jsc nasa gov with the following command in the body of your e-mail message: "unsubscribe hsfnews" (no quotes) or from another account, besides the account used to subscribe: "unsubscribe hsfnews youremail@yourdomain com" (no quotes)

End of HSFNEWS Digest - 23 Feb 2013 to 27 Feb 2013 (#2013-7)

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