There are 2 messages totalling 102 lines in this issue

Topics of the day:

1. Orbital Sciences Launch to Space Station with NASA Research Reset for Thursday
2. New Science, NASA Cargo Launches to Space Station Aboard Orbital-1 Mission

Date: Thu, 9 Jan 2014 10:19:59 -0600 From: info@JSC NASA GOV Subject: Orbital Sciences Launch to Space Station with NASA Research Reset for Thursday

January 8, 2014

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

Trent J Perrotto Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1100

Report #M14-008

Orbital Sciences Launch to Space Station with NASA Research Reset for Thursday

Orbital Sciences has confirmed it will proceed with a launch attempt from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Va at 1:07 p m EST Thursday, Jan 9 of its cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station, pending closeout of all remaining prelaunch reviews and tests

NASA Television launch coverage begins at 12:45 p m A post-launch news conference would follow at approximately 2:30 p m

Wednesday's launch of Orbital's Cygnus cargo spacecraft on an Antares rocket was scrubbed because of high levels of space radiation that exceeded established rocket constraints Orbital conducted a comprehensive review Wednesday of data related to the radiation environment in space, the rocket�s avionics systems, and weather forecast at Wallops Following the review, Orbital�s engineering team, in consultation with NASA, determined the risk to launch success is within acceptable limits established at the outset of the Antares program

A Thursday launch would result in the Cygnus spacecraft arriving at the space station early Sunday, Jan 12 NASA TV coverage of rendezvous and berthing will begin at 5 a m for a 6:02 a m capture Coverage of Cygnus' installation will begin at 7 a m

For the latest information on news conference and coverage times, visit:

http://www nasa gov/ntvnews

For more information about Orbital's cargo mission and International Space Station, visit:

http://www nasa gov/station

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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: Thu, 9 Jan 2014 13:41:29 -0600 From: info@JSC NASA GOV Subject: New Science, NASA Cargo Launches to Space Station Aboard Orbital-1 Mission

January 9, 2014

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

Trent J Perrotto Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1100

Report #14-009

New Science, NASA Cargo Launches to Space Station Aboard Orbital-1 Mission

Another NASA commercial space partner officially has begun contracted cargo flights to the International Space Station Dozens of new NASA investigations and other science experiments from across the country are headed to the station aboard Orbital Sciences Corp 's Cygnus spacecraft as part of the agency's commercial partnerships with U S aerospace companies

The launch aboard Orbital's Antares rocket took place from NASA's Wallop's Flight Facility in Virginia Thursday, at 1:07 p m EST

The Orbital-1 mission began the company's first contracted cargo delivery flight to the station through a $1 9 billion NASA Commercial Resupply Services contract Orbital will fly at least eight cargo missions to the space station through 2016

"Today's launch demonstrates how our strategic investments in the American commercial spaceflight industry are helping create new jobs here at home and keep the United States the world leader in space exploration,� NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said "American astronauts have been living and working continuously in space for the past 13 years on board the International Space Station, and we�re once again sending them supplies launched from U S soil In addition to the supplies, the passion and hard work of many researchers and students are being carried by Cygnus today I congratulate Orbital and the NASA teams that made this resupply mission possible "

The pressurized Cygnus can accommodate a variety of scientific payloads The Orbital-1 mission is carrying 2,780 pounds of supplies to the station, not including the weight of packaging materials This cargo includes vital science experiments, crew provisions, spare parts and other hardware More than 10,000 students will be involved with 23 experiments they designed One NASA experiment will study the decreased effectiveness of antibiotics during spaceflight Another will examine how different fuel samples burn in microgravity, which could inform future design for spacecraft materials

A portion of the space station had been designated a U S National Laboratory, managed by the Center for Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) CASIS selects and funds new research to use the national lab's unique microgravity environment to conduct experiments not possible on Earth In one educational experiment selected by CASIS, students will compare how ants' behavior differs in space and on Earth

Small, relatively inexpensive satellites collectively referred to as CubeSats will provide a variety of technology demonstrations They will be launched using the NanoRacks Smallsat Deployment Program from the station�s Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) airlock The NanoRacks CubeSats will be deployed with the JEM Small Satellite Orbital Deployer ArduSat-2 is a CubeSat built and operated by NanoSatisfi of San Francisco, which will help determine potential commercial applications for CubeSat data collection and commercial off-the-shelf electronics Testing sensors through this mini-satellite format may help lower the cost of applications that use low-Earth observation techniques

Cygnus will be grappled at 6:02 a m Sunday, Jan 12, by Expedition 38 Flight Engineer Michael Hopkins of NASA, who will use the station's robotic arm to take hold of the spacecraft Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency will support Hopkins in a backup position Wakata will serve as the primary crew member to berth the spacecraft to the station NASA's Rick Mastracchio will support him in a backup position The capsule is scheduled to depart the station in February and burn up during reentry in Earth�s atmosphere

Orbital Sciences is one of two companies that built and tested new cargo spacecraft under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program COTS was completed late last year with an Orbital Sciences demonstration mission to the space station Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), the other company that partnered with NASA under COTS, also is providing commercial resupply services for the agency

In addition to cargo flights, NASA's commercial space partners are making progress toward a launch of astronauts from U S soil within the next three years

The International Space Station is a convergence of science, technology and human innovation that demonstrates new technologies and makes research breakthroughs not possible on Earth The space station has been continuously occupied since November 2000 In that time, it has been visited by more than 200 people and a variety of international and commercial spacecraft The space station remains the springboard to NASA's next great leap in exploration, including future missions to an asteroid and Mars

For more information about the Orbital-1 mission and the International Space Station, visit:

http://www nasa gov/station

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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 - 7 Jan 2014 to 10 Jan 2014 (#2014-2)