Gemini VIII - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2015-05-15 | Facebook. Advances, pictures, details, comments: http://www.facebook.com/orbiterfilmmakerGemini 8 (officially Gemini VIII) was the sixth manned spaceflight in NASA's Gemini program. The mission conducted the first docking of two spacecraft in orbit, but suffered the first critical in-space system failure of a U.S. spacecraft which threatened the lives of the astronauts and required immediate abort of the mission. The crew was returned to Earth safely.Gemini 8 launch and ascent were nominal, was successful on March 16, 1966, 16:41:02 UTC. The crew, Neil Armstrong and David Scott.The rendezvous radar acquired the Agena Target Vehicle at a distance of 332 km. At 3 hours, 48 minutes and 10 seconds into the mission they performed another burn that put them in a circular orbit 28 km below the Agena. They first sighted it when they were 141 km away, and at 102 km they gave the computer automatic control. After several small burns they were 46 m away and with no relative velocity. After 30 minutes of visually inspecting the Agena to make sure that it had not been damaged by the launch, they were given the go for docking. Armstrong started to move towards the Agena at 8 centimeters per second. In a matter of minutes, the Agena's docking latches clicked and a green light indicated that the docking had been successfully completed. "Flight, we are docked! Yes, it's really a smoothie," Scott radioed to the ground.After the Agena began execution of its stored command program, which instructed the Agena to turn the combined spacecraft 90° to the right, Scott noticed that they were in a roll. Armstrong used the Gemini's Orbit Attitude and Maneuvering System (OAMS) thrusters to stop the roll, but after the roll stopped, it immediately started again. Gemini 8 was out of range of ground communications at this time. Armstrong reported that the OAMS fuel had dropped to 30%, indicating that the problem could be on their own spacecraft. With concern that the high spin rate might damage one or both spacecraft or even lead to the propellant-heavy Agena rupturing or exploding, they decided to undock from the Agena so they could analyze the situation. Without the added mass of the Agena, the Gemini's rate of spin began to accelerate quickly. Soon after this, they came in range of the ground communications ship Coastal Sentry Quebec. By now the spin rate had reached one revolution per second, causing the astronauts' vision to become blurred and putting them in danger of losing consciousness or suffering vertigo. Armstrong decided to shut down the OAMS and used the Re-entry Control System (RCS) thrusters to stop the spin. After steadying the spacecraft, they tested each OAMS thruster in turn and found that Number 8 had stuck on. Almost 75% of the reentry maneuvering fuel had been used to stop the spin,[9] and mission rules dictated that the flight be aborted once the RCS was fired for any reason. Gemini 8 immediately prepared for an emergency landing.It was decided to let the spacecraft reenter one orbit later so that it could land in a place that could be reached by the secondary recovery forces. The original plan was for Gemini 8 to land in the Atlantic, but that was supposed to be three days later. So USS Leonard F. Mason started to steam towards the new landing site 800 kilometers east of Okinawa and 1,000 kilometers south of Yokosuka, Japan. Reentry took place over China, out of range of NASA tracking stations.
Safir Launcher: Omid - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator 2016 Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2020-09-12 | Omid was Iran's first domestically made satellite. Omid was a data-processing satellite for research and telecommunications, Iran's state television reported that it was successfully launched on 2 February 2009. After being launched by an Iranian-made carrier rocket, Safir 1, the satellite was placed into a low Earth orbit. The launch, which coincided with the 30th anniversary of the Iranian Revolution and was supervised by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was also verified by NASA the following day as a success.The Safir is the first Iranian expendable launch vehicle that is able to place a satellite in orbit. The first successful orbital launch using the Safir launch system took place on 2 February 2009 when a Safir carrier rocket. The satellite was launched southeast over the Indian Ocean to avoid overflying neighboring countries and was placed into an orbit with an inclination of 55.5 degrees, with a perigee of 246 km, an apogee of 377 km, and a period of 90.76 minutes.
SS-520 Nano Satellite Launcher - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator 2016 Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2019-12-01 | S-Series is a fleet of sounding rockets funded by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) that have been in service since the late 1960s. Manufactured by IHI Aerospace and operated by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS). The nomenclature of the S-Series rockets is the number of "S"s indicates the number of stages, and the following number details the diameter of the craft in millimeters. On January 14, 2017, the SS-520-4 rocket (modified sounding rocket) attempted to become the lightest and smallest launch vehicle to send a payload to orbit, however, the rocket failed to reach orbit. A second attempt was made on February 3, 2018. This time, the rocket reached orbit and successfully deployed TRICOM-1R (Tasuki), a 3U CubeSat. Its 2019 launch made it the smallest orbital rocket both in mass and height.
Long March 2D / VRSS-1 & VRSS-2 - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator 2016 Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2019-09-29 | The Long March 2D, also known as the Chang Zheng 2D, CZ-2D and LM-2D, is a Chinese orbital carrier rocket. It is a 2-stage carrier rocket mainly used for launching LEO and SSO satellites. It is mainly launched from areas 2B and 4 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The Long March 2D made its maiden flight on 9 August 1992. It is most commonly used to launch FSW-2 and -3 reconnaissance satellites.VRSS-1 (Venezuelan Remote Sensing Satellite) is the first Venezuelan remote sensing satellite, and the second Venezuelan satellite after VENESAT-1. It will be used to study the territory of Venezuela and help with planning, agriculture and disaster recovery. It was built and launched by the Chinese and has been named after Venezuelan revolutionary Francisco de Miranda. The satellite contains two different resolution cameras. The highest resolution ones have a resolution of 2.5 metres in panchromatic mode, and 10 metres in multispectral mode. The lower resolution cameras have a resolution of 16m. The satellite was launched on 29 September 2012 at 4:12 UTC from pad 603 at launch complex 43 at Jiuquan Launch Centre in China. It was launched by a Long March 2D rocket which put the satellite into low earth orbit. VRSS-2 (Venezuelan Remote Sensing Satellite-2) is the second Venezuelan remote sensing satellite, and the third Venezuelan satellite after VRSS-1. It will be used to study Venezuelan territory and support planning, agriculture and disaster recovery. It was built and launched by the Chinese and has been named after Venezuelan revolutionary Antonio Jose de Sucre. The satellite contains two different cameras, High Resolution Camera (HRC) and Infrared Camera (IRC). The highest resolution band 0.98 mt GSD in panchromatic, and 4 mts GSD in multispectral. The Infrared cameras have a resolution of (Long Wave) 60 mts and (Short Wave) 30 mts GSD, totaling 10 spectral bands. The satellite was launched October 9, 2017 at 4:12 UTC from Jiuquan Launch Centre in P.R China by a Long March 2D rocket, into a Sun Synchronous Descending Orbital node at 10:30am low earth orbit.
Long March 3B / Venesat-1 - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator 2016 Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2019-07-23 | Long March 3B (Chang Zheng 3B), also known as the CZ-3B and LM-3B, is a Chinese orbital carrier rocket. Introduced in 1996, it is launched from Launch Area 2 and 3 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan. A three-stage rocket with four strap-on liquid rocket boosters, and is mainly used to place communications satellites into geosynchronous orbits.Venesat-1, also known as Simón Bolívar, is the first Venezuelan satellite. It was designed, built and launched by the CGWIC subsidiary of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. It is a communications satellite, which will be operated from a geosynchronous orbit. It was launched on a Chinese Long March 3B carrier rocket, from LA-2 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre, at 16:53 UTC on 29 October 2008.
Dong Fang Hong 1 DFH-1 - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2019-04-24 | Dongfanghong I was the first space satellite of the People's Republic of China, launched successfully on 24 April 1970. At 173 kg, it was heavier than the first satellites of other countries. The satellite carried a radio transmitter which broadcast the song of the same name, Dōngfānghóng or "The East Is Red"; the broadcast lasted for 20 days while in orbit. The satellite remains in an orbit with a perigee of 442 kilometres, an apogee of 2046 kilometres and inclination of 68.42 degrees
SpaceX Crew Dragon - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator 2016 Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2019-03-02 | Dragon 2 o Crew Dragon is a class of reusable spacecraft developed and manufactured by American aerospace manufacturer SpaceX, conceived as the successor to the Dragon cargo spacecraft. The spacecraft are designed for launches atop a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket. The first flight launched on March 2, 2019 from Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center.
Parker Solar Probe - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2018-01-16 | Parker Solar Probe (previously Solar Probe, Solar Probe Plus, or Solar Probe+) is a planned NASA robotic spacecraft to probe the outer corona of the Sun. It will approach to within 8.5 solar radii (5.9 million kilometers) to the 'surface' (photosphere) of the Sun.The spacecraft trajectory will include seven Venus flybys over nearly seven years to gradually shrink its elliptical orbit around the Sun, for a total of 24 orbits. The science phase will take place during those 7 years, focusing on the periods when the spacecraft is closest to the Sun. The near Sun radiation environment is predicted to cause both spacecraft charging effects, radiation damage in materials and electronics, and communication interruptions, so the orbit will be highly elliptical with short times spent near the Sun.
Orbital ATK pegasus XL - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2017-09-01 | The Pegasus is an air-launched rocket developed by Orbital ATK, formerly Orbital Sciences Corporation. Capable of carrying small payloads of up to 443 kilograms into low Earth orbit, Pegasus first flew in 1990 and remains active as of 2016. The vehicle consists of three solid propellant stages and an optional monopropellant fourth stage. Pegasus is released from its carrier aircraft at approximately 12,000 m, and its first stage has wings and a tail to provide lift and attitude control while in the atmosphere.
LRO/LCROSS - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2017-06-17 | The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter was a NASA spacecraft that comprehensively mapped the lunar surface at a resolution of up to 0.5 m and determined the extent of water ice for possible use by future manned bases. Lunar lander built by Goddard Space Flight Center for NASA, USA.LRO launched along with its companion spacecraft, the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS), from Kennedy Space Center on 18 June 2009 on an Atlas 5 401 launch vehicle at 21:32 UT (5:32 p.m. EDT). LRO and LCROSS separated at 22:16:43 UT. LRO was put into a direct insertion trajectory and reached the Moon on 23 June at 09:43 UT (5:43 a.m. EDT). It entered an initial 5 hour orbit with a periselene altitude of roughly 100 km which was lowered into a 50 km circular orbit. The mission spent one year in a 30 - 70 km altitude lunar polar orbit, called the exploration phase of the mission. In September 2010 it started the science phase, where it was put into a quasi-stable, low-maintenance ~30 x 180 km orbit. As of September 2015 it was in its second extended science mission. The satellite had a launch mass of about 1846 kg, and a dry mass of less than 949 kg. The platform is three-axis stabilized and power of about 1850 W (end-of-life), giving 800 W average over each orbit, will be provided by a 10.7 square meter solar array and stored in an 80 A-hr Li-ion battery. Communications are via S-band for uplink and low rate downlink and Ka-band for high rate downlink (100-300 Mbps). The spacecraft carries 92 kg of scientific payload composed of: Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC), two narrow-angle (1 m resolution) monochromatic cameras and one wide-angle (100 m resolution) color and UV camera to acquire images of small scale landing site hazards and document lighting conditions at the lunar poles; Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA), a laser altimeter to measure landing site slopes and search for polar ices; Lunar Exploration Neutron Detector (LEND), a neutron detector to search for water ice and characterize the space radiation environment; Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment (DLRE), a radiometer to map the temperature of the lunar surface to identify cold traps and possible lunar ice deposits; Lyman-Alpha Mapping Project (LAMP), a Lyman-alpha mapper to observe the lunar surface in the far ultraviolet, looking for surface ices and frosts and imaging permanently shadowed regions; and Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation (CRaTER), a device to investigate background space radiation using tissue-equivalent plastics. NASA has also signed an agreement with the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office to cooperate on the development of Mini-RF, a miniature synthetic aperture radar sensor to map the Moon's surface. Total payload power requirement is about 125 W. The total estimated total cost for the mission is roughly $460 million.LCROSSThe Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) was launched along with the LRO spacecraft. LCROSS is designed to search for water ice on the Moon's surface. The mission consists of a Shepherding Spacecraft (S-S/C) attached to the Centaur upper stage. The S-S/C guided the Centaur after orbital insertion through two highly eccentric 40 day earth orbits. The S-S/C then guided the Centaur into a trajectory to impact Cabeus, a permanently shadowed site on the Moon, chosen for its likelihood of containing water ice. The S-S/C separated from the Centaur and performed a delay burn to follow ten minutes behind. The Centaur impacted the lunar surface at 11:31 UT on 9 October 2009, throwing up a cloud of debris. The S-S/C took images and collected other data on the impact and cloud of ejecta before also striking the Moon at 11:36 UT. The S-S/C was built on an EELV Secondary Payload Adaptor (ESPA) ring with a dry mass of approximately 534 kg and 300 kg of hydrazine propellant. Power is supplied by a 420 W solar array charging a 40 A-h Li-Ion battery. Propulsion is through two 8-thruster pods and communications will be via two omnidirectional and two horn antennas. The S-S/C was equipped with two visible cameras, three infrared cameras, three spectrometers, and a photometer for observations.
H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV), Kounotori - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2017-06-02 | H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV), also called Kounotori. Japanese unmanned spacecraft designed for launch by the H-IIB launch vehicle for International Space Station resupply. The HTV carried International Standard Payload Racks, and was docked using the ISS robot arm after rendezvous with the station. The HTV did not dock itself with the station. Instead it made rendezvous with the station, after which the station's Canadian robotic arm grappled it and moved it to one of the Space Station's docking ports. After the unloading process is completed, the HTV will be loaded with waste and undocked. The vehicle will then deorbit and be destroyed during reentry, the debris falling into the Pacific Ocean.
Dnepr Launch Vehicle - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2017-05-17 | The Dnepr rocket is a space launch vehicle named after the Dnieper River. Is based on the R-36MUTTH Intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) – called the SS-18 Satan by NATO – used for launching artificial satellites into orbit, operated by launch service provider ISC Kosmotras. The first launch, on April 21, 1999, successfully placed UoSAT-12, a 350 kg demonstration mini-satellite, into a 650 km circular Low Earth orbit. On a typical mission the Dnepr deploys a larger main payload and a secondary payload of Miniaturized satellites and CubeSats.
Grand Explorations: Cassini-Huygens - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2017-05-02 | Cassini–Huygens is an unmanned spacecraft sent to the planet Saturn. It is a Flagship-class NASA–ESA–ASI robotic spacecraft. Cassini is the fourth space probe to visit Saturn and the first to enter orbit. It has studied the planet and its many natural satellites since arriving there in 2004. Development started in the 1980s. Its design includes a Saturn orbiter (Cassini) and a lander (Huygens) for the moon Titan. The mission consists of two main elements: the ASI/NASA Cassini orbiter, named for the Italian-French astronomer Giovanni Domenico Cassini, discoverer of Saturn's ring divisions and four of its satellites; and the ESA-developed Huygens probe, named for the Dutch astronomer, mathematician and physicist Christiaan Huygens, discoverer of Titan. The mission was commonly called Saturn Orbiter Titan Probe (SOTP) during gestation, both as a Mariner Mark II mission and generically.Cassini was conceived to be the second spacecraft in the “Mariner Mark II Series.” NASA was planning a long list of planetary Mariners for the nineties and hoped to dig into planetary explorations. This was not to be completely, however, because of budget limitations. Cassini’s original mission to Saturn was axed, along with the CRAF (Comet Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby) mission, both using the Mariner Mark II Bus. The spacecraft launched on October 15, 1997 aboard a Titan IVB/Centaur and entered orbit around Saturn on July 1, 2004, after an interplanetary voyage that included flybys of Earth, Venus, and Jupiter. On December 25, 2004, Huygens separated from the orbiter, and it landed on Saturn's moon Titan on January 14, 2005. It successfully returned data to Earth, using the orbiter as a relay. This was the first landing ever accomplished in the outer Solar System.The total cost of this scientific exploration mission is about US$3.26 billion, including $1.4 billion for pre-launch development, $704 million for mission operations, $54 million for tracking and $422 million for the launch vehicle. The United States contributed $2.6 billion (80%), the ESA $500 million (15%), and the ASI $160 million (5%).Cassini continued to study the Saturn system in the following years. However, since November 30, 2016, due to the spacecraft's dwindling fuel resources for further orbital corrections, Cassini entered the final phases of the project. Cassini passed close to the outer ring of Saturn 22 times, once every seven days, getting the closest look ever at Saturn's outer rings. The first pass of the rings took place on December 4, 2016.On April 22, 2017, a final flyby of Titan changed the orbit again, sending Cassini through the gap between Saturn and the inner ring; it survived the first pass through the gap on April 26, 2017. After a further 21 orbits through the gap, Cassini will be destroyed by diving into Saturn's atmosphere on September 15, 2017. The decision to end Cassini's mission in 2017 was made in 2010, to prevent the spacecraft from crashing into one of Saturn's moons notably Enceladus or Titan, with possible biological contamination.
SpaceX Dragon to Mars - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2017-01-02 | On 27 April 2016 SpaceX announced that they will proceed with the robotic mission for a 2018 launch and NASA will be providing technical support.SpaceX's 2018 trip would use what the company calls its Dragon spacecraft boosted into space by Falcon Heavy, a massive rocket powered by 27 first-stage engines. Falcon Heavy would have more than 5 million pounds of thrust at liftoff, or about the equivalent of 18 747 airplanes.Mars launch opportunities occur every 26 months, and the next launch window opens in May 2018. If SpaceX misses that chance, the next Mars window comes in July and August of 2020.
Lockheed Martin VentureStar - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2016-12-17 | VentureStar was a single-stage-to-orbit reusable launch system proposed by Lockheed Martin and funded by the U.S. government. The goal was to replace the Space Shuttle by developing a re-usable spaceplane that could launch satellites into orbit at a fraction of the cost. While the requirement was for an unmanned launcher, it was expected to carry passengers as cargo. The VentureStar would have had a wingspan of 20.7 m, a length of 38.7 m, and would have weighed roughly 1000 t. VentureStar was intended to be a commercial single-stage-to-orbit vehicle that would launch vertically, but return to Earth as an airplane. Flights would have been leased to NASA as needed. After failures with the X-33 subscale technology demonstrator test vehicle, funding was cancelled in 2001.
Mars Observer - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2016-11-17 | Mars Observer was a NASA mission to study the surface, atmosphere, interior and magnetic field of Mars from Martian orbit.The mission was designed to operate for one full Martian year (687 Earth days) to permit observations of the planet through its four seasons.Contact with Mars Observer was lost on August 21, 1993, three days before scheduled orbit insertion, for unknown reasons and has not been re-established. It is not known whether the spacecraft was able to follow its automatic programming and go into Mars orbit or if it flew by Mars and is now in a heliocentric orbit. Later investigation concluded the most probable cause of the mishap was a fuel line rupture during fuel tank pressurization which would have caused the spacecraft to spin uncontrollably. Although none of the primary objectives of the mission were achieved, cruise mode data were collected up to loss of contact. The total cost of the Mars Observer mission including development, construction, launch, and ground support is estimated at $813 million. Later investigation indicated this was due to a propulsion system explosion caused by propellants leaking past faulty valves.
Sputnik-2 - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2016-11-01 | After the surprise public impact of Sputnik 1, the satellite and launch teams were called back from vacation and in one month assembled Sputnik 2 (using equipment already developed for dog sounding rocket flights). The spacecraft, which remained attached to the upper stage, carried the dog Laika. No recovery was possible, and the dog perished in orbit due to higher-than-expected temperatures.The life-support system and the consumables were designed for a 7-day flight. Control of the internal atmosphere was provided by a carbon dioxide absorbing device, an oxygen generator, an oxygen regulator, and a fan that activated when the cabin temperature went above 15 deg C. Food and water were ejected by tube directly into the stomach in jelly form, and wastes were removed by another implanted tube. Restraints kept Laika from moving far -- she could not even turn around. Her electrocardiogram, and data on respiration rate and maximum arterial pressure, were radioed to the ground when over the Soviet Union. Some kind of device (a crude television monitor?) allowed her movements in the cabin to be seen.Three dogs -- Albina, Laika and Mushka -- were involved in flight preparations. Albina was the back-up dog, and had survived earlier sounding rocket flights into space. Mushka was the stand-in for tests. All the dogs had been trained to survive in small cages in preparation for the flight. Laika was sealed into her cramped cabin four days before launch.Despite her ordeal on the ground she survived the launch and her heart rate returned to normal after a time. She had proven that an animal could survive in sustained spaceflight. But in practice the environmental control system was not up to the task. Telemetry showed that temperature and humidity increased relentlessly. By the fourth orbit none of the physiological sensors were returning data -- Laika had evidently died. This fact was not revealed until the 21st Century.
ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2016-10-18 | The ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) is a collaborative project between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) to send an atmosphere research orbiter and the Schiaparelli demonstration lander to Mars in 2016 as part of the European-led ExoMars Programme. The Trace Gas Orbiter delivered the ExoMars Schiaparelli EDM lander and will start atmospheric mapping in 2017. A key goal is to gain a better understanding of methane (CH4) and other atmospheric gases present in the Martian atmosphere that could be evidence for possible biological or geological activity. The programme will follow with the Surface Science Platform and the ExoMars rover in 2020, which will search for biomolecules and biosignatures; the TGO will also operate as a communication link with Earth, and various landers and rovers. After Mars orbit injection, the orbiter will undergo several months of aerobraking to adjust its speed and manoeuvre into a 400 km-high circular orbit above the planet, with actual science activities beginning in late 2017.
Grand Explorations: Galileo - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator 2016 Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2016-10-04 | Galileo was an unmanned spacecraft sent by NASA to study the planet Jupiter and its moons. Named after the astronomer and Renaissance pioneer Galileo Galilei, it was launched on October 18, 1989 by the Space Shuttle Atlantis on the STS-34 mission. It arrived at Jupiter on December 8, 1995, a little more than six years later, via gravitational assist flybys of Venus and Earth.Galileo conducted the first asteroid flyby, discovered the first asteroid moon, was the first spacecraft to orbit Jupiter, and launched the first probe into Jupiter's atmosphere.On September 21, 2003, after 14 years in space and 8 years of service in the Jovian system, Galileo's mission was terminated by sending the orbiter into Jupiter's atmosphere at a speed of nearly 50 kilometres per second to avoid any chance of it contaminating local moons with bacteria from Earth. Of particular concern was the ice-crusted moon Europa, which, thanks to Galileo, scientists now suspect harbors a salt water ocean beneath its surface.
Exploration Mission 1 or EM-1 - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator 2010 Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2016-09-16 | Exploration Mission 1 or EM-1 (previously known as Space Launch System 1 or SLS-1) is the first planned flight of the Space Launch System and the second uncrewed test flight of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle. The launch is planned for September 30, 2018 from Launch Complex 39B at the Kennedy Space Center. The Orion spacecraft is planned to spend approximately 3 weeks in space, with 6 days of this in a retrograde orbit around the Moon.
Manned Venus Flyby (remastered) - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator 2010 Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2016-08-19 | A manned Venus flyby was considered by NASA in the mid 1960s as part of the Apollo Applications Program, using hardware derived from the Apollo program. Launch would take place on October 31, 1973, with a Venus flyby on March 3, 1974 and return to Earth on December 1, 1974.By means of Saturn V technology, would be sent three men toward the interior of the Solar System in a journey of a year of duration, flyby Venus. The spacecraft, similar in design to that later would be sent to the space like the Skylab space station, it was thought so that the astronauts could travel "comfortably" during so much time, returning home in the same way to as the lunar Apollo.The S-IVB stage would be a 'wet workshop' similar to Skylab, first using the S-IVB engine to launch the mission on course to Venus, and then vented of any remaining fuel to serve as home for the crew for the duration of the mission. The Apollo SM engine would be used for course corrections on the way to Venus and back to Earth, and for a braking burn before the Command Module re-entered Earth's atmosphere. As a bonus to the mission, a flyby of 500 km above the Earth that SIVB, approaching the planet Mercury 4 months later (exactly one year after the encounter with Venus).
Skylon - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator 2010 Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2016-08-01 | Skylon is a design for a single-stage-to-orbit spaceplane by the British company Reaction Engines Limited (REL), using SABRE (Synergistic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine), a combined-cycle, air-breathing rocket propulsion system, potentially reusable for 200 flights. The vehicle design is for a hydrogen-fuelled aircraft that would take off from a purpose-built runway, and accelerate to Mach 5.4 at 26 kilometres (16 mi) altitude using the atmosphere's oxygen before switching the engines to use the internal liquid oxygen (LOX) supply to take it into orbit. Once in orbit it would release its payload (of up to 15 tonnes). The vehicle will be unpiloted, but also be certified to carry passengers. All payloads could be carried in a standardised container compartment. The relatively light vehicle would then re-enter the atmosphere and land on a runway, being protected from the conditions of re-entry by a ceramic composite skin. When on the ground, it would undergo inspection and necessary maintenance. If the design goal is achieved, it should be ready to fly again within two days.
Apollo Soyuz Test Project - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator 2010 Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2016-07-16 | The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) was the last mission in the Apollo program and was the first joint flight of the U.S. and Soviet space programs. The mission took place in July 1975. For the United States of America, it was the last Apollo flight, as well as the last manned space launch until the flight of the first Space Shuttle in April 1981.Though the Test Project included several scientific missions (including an engineered eclipse of the Sun by Apollo for Soyuz to take photographs of the solar corona), and provided useful engineering information on the synchronization of American and Soviet space technology that would prove useful in the future Shuttle-Mir Program, the primary purpose of the mission was symbolic. ASTP was seen as a symbol of the policy of détente (relaxing or easing) that the two superpowers were beginning to adopt at the time, and as a fitting end to the tension of the Space Race.This was the first flight of Deke Slayton, who was chosen as one of the original Mercury Seven Astronauts in April 1959.The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) entailed the docking of an American Apollo spacecraft with the Soviet Soyuz 19 spacecraft. Whilst the Soyuz was given a mission designation number as part of the ongoing Soyuz program, it was referred to simply as "Soyuz" through the duration of the joint mission. The Apollo mission was officially not numbered, though some sources refer to it as "Apollo 18".Apollo crewThomas P. Stafford - CommanderVance D. Brand - Command Module PilotDonald K. Slayton - Docking Module PilotSoyuz crewAlexei Leonov - CommanderValeri Kubasov - Flight EngineerMusic from "Trinity and Beyond" Soundtrack William T Stromberg.
Juno - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator 2010 Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2016-07-02 | Juno is a NASA New Frontiers mission. Juno was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on August 5, 2011 and is projected to arrive on July 4, 2016. The spacecraft is to be placed in a polar orbit to study Jupiter's composition, gravity field, magnetic field, and polar magnetosphere. Juno will also search for clues about how the planet formed, including whether it has a rocky core, the amount of water present within the deep atmosphere, mass distribution, and its deep winds, which can reach speeds of 618 kilometers per hour.
Scaled Composites SpaceShipTwo - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator 2010 Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2016-06-17 | American manned spaceplane. Study 2009. Development of the much larger SpaceShipTwo suborbital commercial manned spacecraft was announced in July 2005.The reusable, six-passenger spacecraft was to begin flight test in 2007 and begin commercial operations from New Mexico in 2008.In July 2005 Scaled Composites and Virgin Galactic, a subsidiary of the Virgin Group of Companies, announced the formation of a joint venture called The Spaceship Company. The purpose of The Spaceship Company was to oversee the development and production of SpaceShipTwo, a commercial suborbital spacecraft based on technology developed for SpaceShipOne. The joint venture would contract out the production of up to five SpaceShipTwo vehicles to Scaled Composites; those vehicles would be sold to Virgin Galactic, which planned to put them into commercial service offering suborbital space tourism flights starting in 2008. The venture would also develop a carrier aircraft, White Knight 2, that would be used to air-launch SpaceShipTwo in much the same manner that the original White Knight aircraft air-launched SpaceShipOne. The spacecraft was a scaled-up version of SpaceShipOne, capable of carrying 2 pilots and six passengers on suborbital spaceflights to altitudes over 100 kilometers.On 13 December 2005, it was announced that Virgin Galactic would undertake a joint venture with the New Mexico state government to construct Spaceport America, a $225 million facility to be located near Upham, New Mexico. The venture was approved by the state legislature and the funding plans signed into law by governor Bill Richardson on 1 March 2006. Virgin Galactic was to be the first customer to operate manned spacecraft from this facility.Six months of intensive testing of the spacecraft (comprising at least 50-100 test flights) was planned for 2007. Suborbital flights would last three hours overall, with seven minutes of weightlessness. It was intended that passengers would be able to release themselves from their seats and float around the cabin to truly experience weightlessness.Contrary to press reports, the hybrid rocket engine for SpaceShipTwo was being developed internally by Burt Rutan Scaled Rocket Propulsion Team.SpaceShipTwo is carried to its launch altitude by a Scaled Composites White Knight Two, before being released to fly on into the upper atmosphere powered by its rocket engine. It then glides back to Earth and performs a conventional runway landing. The spaceship was officially unveiled to the public on 7 December 2009 at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California. On 29 April 2013, after nearly three years of unpowered testing, the first one constructed successfully performed its first powered test flight.Virgin Galactic plans to operate a fleet of five SpaceShipTwo spaceplanes in a private passenger-carrying service and has been taking bookings for some time, with a suborbital flight carrying an updated ticket price of US$250,000. The spaceplane could also be used to carry scientific payloads for NASA and other organizations.On 31 October 2014 during a test flight, VSS Enterprise, the first SpaceShipTwo craft, broke up in-flight and crashed in the Mojave desert. A preliminary investigation suggested the feathering system, the craft's descent device, deployed too early. One pilot was killed; the other was treated for a serious shoulder injury after parachuting from the stricken spacecraft.The second SpaceShipTwo spacecraft, VSS Unity, was unveiled on 19 February 2016, and the vehicle is currently undergoing ground system integration testing.
Dream Chaser - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator 2010 Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2016-06-01 | Dream Chaser, a private spacecraft that looks like a stubby version of the space shuttle, is a concept being tested by Sierra Nevada Corp. based on NASA designs of a 1980s spacecraft prototype.The spacecraft, which originally was developed by a company called SpaceDev, is among a group of ships that vied for private flights to the International Space Station. NASA funded SpaceX's and Boeing's concepts in 2014 for the last round of Commercial Crew Program development, sparking a formal protest from Sierra Nevada. In 2016, however, NASA selected Sierra Nevada, SpaceX and Orbital ATK for anticipated cargo missions to fly between 2019 and 2024. No specific flight awards have been made yet.Once ready, Dream Chaser will carry up to seven people to the orbiting complex. It will launch vertically upon an Atlas rocket and then, like the shuttle, land on a runway horizontally. The spacecraft has a bit of a tangled history. Its design is based mainly on the HL-20 — a NASA spacecraft design from the 1980s that was itself based on a Soviet spacecraft called the BOR-4. But the HL-20 design was never used for space. SpaceDev resurrected the design. According to Ars Technica, in 2006 the firm signed a licensing agreement with NASA to reuse HL-20 for the Dream Chaser concept. Sierra Nevada purchased SpaceDev in 2008, which added a new space systems business area to Sierra Nevada's divisions.In August 2012, Sierra Nevada was one of three companies that received money under the Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) award. CCiCap was the third phase of commercial crew development, and was supposed to help companies in the latter stages of spacecraft work to get their ships ready for flight. Sierra Nevada's contract, which was worth up to $212.5 million, paid out money as the company progressed through certain milestones. In September 2014, NASA announced the next and final phase of the commercial spaceflight program would see SpaceX's Dragon and Boeing's CST-100 spacecraft funded for the Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap). The goal is to have the spacecraft ready to fly the International Space Station by 2017. In early 2016, NASA announced that Sierra Nevada (along with SpaceX and Orbital ATK) would all be listed as possible providers for cargo missions to ISS between 2019 and 2024.
North American X-15 - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator 2010 Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2016-05-16 | The North American X-15 was a hypersonic rocket-powered aircraft operated by the United States Air Force and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration as part of the X-plane series of experimental aircraft. The X-15 set speed and altitude records in the 1960s, reaching the edge of outer space and returning with valuable data used in aircraft and spacecraft design. As of September 2015, the X-15 holds the official world record for the highest speed ever recorded by a manned, powered aircraft. It could reach a top speed of 4,520 miles per hour (7,274 km/h), or Mach 6.72.The X-15 was to explore the problems of ballistic flight, winged reentry, and gliding recovery from space. It was a stepping stone to later developments - either an X-15 launched atop Navaho G-26 boosters, an X-15 scramjet version, or the X-20 - that would lead to manned orbital spaceflight. This stepping-stone approach was abandoned and the crash programs of Mercury and Apollo initiated instead, using ballistic capsules for crew recovery. Once these projects were over America returned to its original course and developed the winged space shuttle as its manned spacecraft.
Hubble Space Telescope: Launch - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator 2010 Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2016-05-01 | The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990, and remains in operation. Although not the first space telescope, Hubble is one of the largest and most versatile, and is well known as both a vital research tool and a public relations boon for astronomy. The HST is named after the astronomer Edwin Hubble, and is one of NASA's Great Observatories, along with the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, the Chandra X-ray Observatory, and the Spitzer Space Telescope. . On April 24, 1990, shuttle mission STS-31 saw Discovery launch the telescope successfully into its planned orbit.In 1946 American astrophysicist Lyman Spitzer was the first to conceive the idea of a telescope in outer space, 11 years before the Soviet Union launched the first satellite, Sputnik 1, in October 1957. Spitzer's proposal called for a large telescope that would not be hindered by Earth's atmosphere. After lobbying in the 1960s and 70s for such a system to be built. Spitzer's vision ultimately materialized into the Hubble Space Telescope. Although not the first space telescope, Hubble is one of the largest and most versatile and is well known as both a vital research tool.
A.R.T: Apophis Rendezvous and Tagging - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator 2010 Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2016-04-16 | Based on the mission proposal to The Planetary Society by V.T.Thu. Small, low cost mission to rendezvous and "tag" near-Earth asteroid Apophis in order to precisely measure it's orbit. Apophis has a small chance of impacting Earth in 2037.This Orbiter add-on was created in order to investigate the possibilities for launch windows, launch vehicle selection and transfer trajectory.
Grand Explorations: Pioneer 11 (remastered) - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator 2010 Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2016-04-02 | http://www.facebook.com/orbiterfilmmakerFacebook. Advances, pictures, details, comments.The Pioneer series, carried out by NASA Ames Research Center, in the sixties and seventies, was a grand set of probes that ventured ever farther and higher in Earth's space environment and even out to Venus and into the outer planets. In 1967 proposals were requested for the first investigations of the gas giants. After many ideas, NASA tasked Ames with the job, requesting they fabricate and build a spacecraft using proven technology from previous Pioneer Spacecraft, to travel to Jupiter. Later, when gravity assists were evaluated, this Spacecraft would be tasked with slinging on to Saturn after the Jovian encounter (barring failure due to known Jovian radiation belts, at this point, unmeasured, untested).TRW and its Redondo Beach California Plant was tasked with assembly of the vehicles that were first known as Pioneers F and G. This new craft had to be very very light, because available, cost effective, lift capacity could only be found in the Atlas Centaur Space Launch vehicle, at the time very limited in Jovian throw capacity. Light meant simple, and these spacecraft were not wonders of computer wizardry as Voyager and Viking would become later. Advanced sequencing with automatic program operations could not be carried out, so the Spacecraft relied on individual commands for each operation, and the JPL controller team would have to learn to send scripted sequences all on a tight schedule preempting time delays in the Outer Solar System.As for instruments, these spacecraft were tasked not only with Jovian and Saturanian observation, but mapping solar wind and magnetic fields in the unexplored transition region between us and Jupiter. They carried simple magnetometers and Geiger counters, particle detectors, and impact plates along the high gain antenna. As for cameras, they didn't carry them. However, they carried a device known as a photorimeter. These simple plated "light detectors" were intended only to measure brightness of clouds on Jupiter to determine patterns and composition. The beauty of it was, the Pioneer team figured if they took strips of "brightness" measurements and strung them in lines and columns, they could use computer mainframes to put together "pixels" and get an image. This technique was used to take the first close uppictures of Jupiter, Saturn, the Great Red Spot, and Saturn's rings.On March 2, 1972 Pioneer 10 was launched. It flew to Jupiter and then on out into interplanetary space.On April 5, 1973 Pioneer 11 was launched. It repeated Pioneer 10s Jupiter encounter, and used a gravity assist to encounter Saturn.
Orbital Cygnus - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator 2010 Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2016-03-17 | The Cygnus spacecraft is an American automated cargo spacecraft developed by Orbital ATK as part of NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) developmental program. It is launched by Orbital's Antares rocket or Atlas V and is designed to transport supplies to the International Space Station (ISS) following the retirement of the American Space Shuttle. Since August 2000 ISS resupply missions have been regularly flown by Russian Progress (spacecraft), as well as by the European Automated Transfer Vehicle, and the Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle. With the Cygnus spacecraft and the SpaceX Dragon, NASA seeks to increase its partnerships with domestic commercial aviation and aeronautics industry.Cygnus is the Latinized Greek word for swan and a northern constellation.
Hermes - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator 2010 Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2016-03-01 | Hermes was a proposed spaceplane designed by the French Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES) in 1975, and later by the European Space Agency. It was superficially similar to the US X-20. France proposed in January 1985 to go through with Hermes development under the auspices of the ESA. Hermes was to have been part of a manned space flight program. It would have been launched using an Ariane 5. The project was approved in November 1987, with an initial pre-development phase from 1988 to 1990, with a green light for full-rate development depending on the outcome of the phase. The project suffered numerous delays and funding issues. It was canceled in 1992 since neither cost nor performance goals could be achieved. No Hermes shuttles were ever built.
NEAR Shoemaker - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator 2010 Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2016-02-21 | The Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous – Shoemaker (NEAR Shoemaker), renamed after its 1996 launch in honor of planetary scientist Eugene Shoemaker, was a robotic space probe designed by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory for NASA to study the near-Earth asteroid Eros. The NEAR mission was the first launch in NASA's Discovery Program. The spacecraft's mission was to rendezvous with and achieve orbit around the asteroid Eros in January, 1999, and study the asteroid for one year. However as it flew by the Earth on 23 January 1998, a problem caused an abort of the first encounter burn. The mission had to be rescoped for a later encounter, but NEAR successfully entered orbit around Eros on 14 February 2000 and ended the mission by gently landing on its surface on 12 February 2001.Launch date 20:43:27 UTC 1996-02-17On 27 June 1997, NEAR flew by Mathilde within 1200 km at 12:56 UT at 9.93 km/s, July 3, 1997 NEAR executed the first major deep space maneuver, a two-part burn of the main 450 N thruster. This decreased the velocity by 279 m/s and lowered perihelion from 0.99 AU to 0.95 AU.The Earth gravity assist swingby occurred on January 23, 1998 at 7:23 UT. The closest approach was 540 km, altering the orbital inclination from 0.5 to 10.2 degrees, and the aphelion distance from 2.17 to 1.77 AU, nearly matching those of Eros.The first of four scheduled rendezvous burns was attempted on December 20, 1998 at 22:00 UT. The original mission plan called for the four burns to be followed by an orbit insertion burn on January 10, 1999, but the abort of the first burn and loss of communication made this impossible. A new plan was put into effect in which NEAR flew by Eros on December 23, 1998 at 18:41:23 UT at a speed of 965 m/s and a distance of 3827 km from the center of mass of Eros. A rendezvous maneuver was performed on January 3, 1999 involving a thruster burn to match NEAR's orbital speed to that of Eros. A hydrazine thruster burn took place on January 20 to fine-tune the trajectory. On August 12 a two-minute thruster burn slowed the spacecraft velocity relative to Eros to 300 km/h.Orbital insertion date 2000-02-14 at 433 ErosNEAR went into a 321 x 366 km elliptical orbit around Eros on February 14. The orbit was slowly decreased to a 35 km circular polar orbit by July 14. NEAR remained in this orbit for 10 days and then was backed out in stages to a 100 km circular orbit by September 5, 2000. Maneuvers in mid-October led to a flyby of Eros within 5.3 km of the surface at 07:00 UT on 26 October.Landed on 433 Eros 2001-02-12At 7 pm EST on February 28, 2001 the last data signals were received from NEAR Shoemaker before it was shut down.
SpaceX Dragon - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator 2010 Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2016-02-11 | Dragon is a spacecraft developed by SpaceX, launched into space by the SpaceX Falcon 9 two-stage-to-orbit launch vehicle. SpaceX's CEO, Elon Musk, named the spacecraft after the 1963 song "Puff, the Magic Dragon" by Peter, Paul and Mary, reportedly as a response to critics who considered his spaceflight projects impossible.Falcon 9 is a family of two-stage-to-orbit launch vehicles, named for its use of nine engines, designed and manufactured by SpaceX. The Falcon 9 versions are the Falcon 9 v1.0 (retired), Falcon 9 v1.1 (retired), and the current Falcon 9 full thrust, a partially-reusable launch system. Both stages are powered by rocket engines that burn liquid oxygen (LOX) and rocket-grade kerosene (RP-1) propellants. The first stage is designed to be reusable, while the second stage is not reusable.
Explorer 1 - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator 2010 Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2016-02-01 | Explorer 1 was launched on January 31, 1958 at 22:48 Eastern Time (equal to February 1, 03:48 UTC) atop the first Juno booster from LC-26 at the Cape Canaveral Missile Annex, Florida. It was the first spacecraft to detect the Van Allen radiation belt, returning data until its batteries were exhausted after nearly four months. It remained in orbit until 1970, and has been followed by more than 90 scientific spacecraft in the Explorer series.The Juno I putting Explorer 1 into orbit with a perigee of 358 kilometers (222 mi) and an apogee of 2,550 kilometers (1,580 mi) having a period of 114.8 minutes. At about 1:30 a.m. ET, after confirming that Explorer 1 was indeed in orbit, a news conference was held in the Great Hall at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC to announce it to the world.Mercury batteries powered the high-power transmitter for 31 days and the low-power transmitter for 105 days. Explorer 1 stopped transmission of data on May 23, 1958 when its batteries died, but remained in orbit for more than 12 years. It reentered the atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean on March 31, 1970 after more than 58,000 orbits.
Five Planets Align in the Sky - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator (beta) 2016 Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2016-01-24 | Five bright planets will appear together in the sky from about January 20 to February 20, 2016.Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Venus and Mercury...It is not the type of video that I do, but it is explanatory because many misunderstand this astronomical phenomenon ..
Clementine - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator 2010 Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2016-01-16 | Clementine (officially called the Deep Space Program Science Experiment (DSPSE)) was a joint space project between the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO, previously the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization, or SDIO) and NASA. The objective of the mission was to test sensors and spacecraft components under extended exposure to the space environment and to make scientific observations of the Moon and the near-Earth asteroid 1620 Geographos. The spacecraft was launched on 25 January 1994The Geographos observations were not made due to a malfunction in the spacecraft.The lunar observations made included imaging at various wavelengths in the visible as well as in ultraviolet and infrared, laser ranging altimetry, gravimetry, and charged particle measurements. These observations were for the purposes of obtaining multi-spectral imaging of the entire lunar surface, assessing the surface mineralogy of the Moon, obtaining altimetry from 60N to 60S latitude, and obtaining gravity data for the near side. There were also plans to image and determine the size, shape, rotational characteristics, surface properties, and cratering statistics of Geographos.Clementine carried 7 distinct experiments on-board: a UV/Visible Camera, a Near Infrared Camera, a Long Wavelength Infrared Camera, a High Resolution Camera, two Star Tracker Cameras, a Laser Altimeter, and a Charged Particle Telescope. The S-band transponder was used for communications, tracking, and the gravimetry experiment.The project was named Clementine after the song "Oh My Darling, Clementine" as the spacecraft would be "lost and gone forever" following its mission.
MESSENGER - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator 2010 Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2016-01-01 | MESSENGER (a backronym of MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging, and a reference to the Roman mythological messenger, Mercury) was a NASA robotic spacecraft that orbited the planet Mercury between 2011 and 2015. The spacecraft was launched aboard a Delta II rocket in August 2004 to study Mercury's chemical composition, geology, and magnetic field.The instruments carried by MESSENGER were used on a complex series of flybys – the spacecraft flew by Earth once, Venus twice, and Mercury itself three times, allowing it to decelerate relative to Mercury using minimal fuel. MESSENGER became the second mission after Mariner 10's 1975 flyby to reach Mercury during its first flyby of the planet in January 2008.MESSENGER entered orbit around Mercury on March 18, 2011, becoming the first spacecraft to do so. It successfully completed its primary mission in 2012. Following two mission extensions, the MESSENGER spacecraft used the last of its maneuvering propellant and deorbited as planned, impacting the surface of Mercury on April 30, 2015.
VEGA: VEnera-GAllei - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator 2010 Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2015-12-21 | Facebook. Advances, pictures, details, comments: http://www.facebook.com/orbiterfilmmakerThe Vega program was a series of Venus missions that also took advantage of the appearance of Halley's Comet in 1986. Vega 1 and Vega 2 were unmanned spacecraft launched in a cooperative effort among the Soviet Union (who provided the spacecraft and launch vehicle) and Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, the German Democratic Republic, Poland, Czechoslovakia, France, and the Federal Republic of Germany in December 1984. They had a two-part mission to investigate Venus and also flyby Halley's Comet.The flyby of Halley's Comet had been a late mission change in the Venera program following on from the cancellation of the US Halley mission in 1981. A later Venera mission was cancelled and the Venus part of the Vega 1 mission was reduced. Because of this, the craft was designated Vega, a contraction of "Venera" and "Gallei" (Russian words for "Venus" and "Halley", respectively). The spacecraft design was based on the previous Venera 9 and Venera 10 missions.The two spacecraft were launched on December 15 and 21, 1984, respectively. With their redesignated dual missions, the Vega probes became part of the Halley Armada, a group of space probes that studied Halley's Comet during its 1985/86 perihelion.Vega 1 (along with its twin Vega 2) is a Soviet space probe part of the Vega program. The spacecraft was a development of the earlier Venera craft. They were designed by Babakin Space Centre and constructed as 5VK by Lavochkin at Khimki.The craft was powered by twin large solar panels and instruments included an antenna dish, cameras, spectrometer, infrared sounder, magnetometers (MISCHA), and plasma probes. The 4,920 kg craft was launched by a Proton 8K82K rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Tyuratam, Kazakh SSR. Both Vega 1 and 2 were three-axis stabilized spacecraft. The spacecraft were equipped with a dual bumper shield for dust protection from Halley's comet.Vega 1 arrived at Venus on June 11, 1985 and Vega 2 on June 15, 1985, and each delivered a 1,500 kg, 240 cm diameter spherical descent unit. The units were released some days before each arrived at Venus and entered the atmosphere without active inclination changes. Each contained a lander and a balloon explorer.After their encounters, the Vega motherships were redirected by Venus's gravity to intercept Comet Halley.Vega 1 made its closest approach on March 6, around 8,890 km from the nucleus, and Vega 2 made its closest approach on March 9 at 8,030 km. The data intensive examination of the comet covered only the three hours around closest approach. They were intended to measure the physical parameters of the nucleus, such as dimensions, shape, temperature and surface properties, as well as to study the structure and dynamics of the coma, the gas composition close to the nucleus, the dust particles' composition and mass distribution as functions of distance to the nucleus and the cometary-solar wind interaction.
Star Wars: Imperial Fleet - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator 2010 Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2015-12-11 | This is an experimental video, there are about 7 effects I wanted to try in Sony Vegas. . Incredibly flying those big ships at close range and maintain formation is very difficult.
RTLS (Return To Launch Site) - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator 2010 Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2015-12-01 | The RTLS (Return To Launch Site) abort mode is designed to allow the return of the orbiter, crew, and payload to the launch site, Kennedy Space Center, approximately 25 minutes after lift-off. The RTLS profile is designed to accommodate the loss of thrust from one space shuttle main engine between liftoff and approximately four minutes 20 seconds, at which time not enough main propulsion system propellant remains to return to the launch site.An RTLS can be considered to consist of three stages -- a powered stage, during which the main engines are still thrusting; an ET separation phase; and the glide phase, during which the orbiter glides to a landing at the KSC. The powered RTLS phase begins with the crew selection of the RTLS abort, which is done after SRB separation. The crew selects the abort mode by positioning the abort rotary switch to RTLS and depressing the abort push button. The time at which the RTLS is selected depends on the reason for the abort. For example, a three-engine RTLS is selected at the last moment, approximately 3 minutes, 34 seconds into the mission; whereas an RTLS chosen due to an engine out at liftoff is selected at the earliest time, approximately two minutes 20 seconds into the mission (after SOR separation).After RTLS is selected, the vehicle continues downrange to dissipate excess main propulsion system propellant. The goal is to leave only enough main propulsion system propellant to be able to turn the vehicle around, fly back towards KSC and achieve the proper main engine cutoff conditions so the vehicle can glide to the KSC after external tank separation. During the downrange phase, a pitch-around maneuver is initiated (the time depends in part on the time of a main engine failure) to orient the orbiter/ external tank configuration to a heads up attitude, pointing toward the launch site. At this time, the vehicle is still moving away from the launch site, but the main engines are now thrusting to null the downrange velocity. In addition, excess orbital maneuvering system and reaction control system propellants are dumped by continuous orbital maneuvering system and reaction control system engine thrustings to improve the orbiter weight and center of gravity for the glide phase and landing.The vehicle will reach the desired main engine cutoff point with less than 2 percent excess propellant remaining in the external tank. At main engine cutoff minus 20 seconds, a pitch-down maneuver (called powered pitch-down) takes the mated vehicle to the required external tank separation attitude and pitch rate. After main engine cutoff has been commanded, the external tank separation sequence begins, including a reaction control system translation that ensures that the orbiter does not recontact the external tank and that the orbiter has achieved the necessary pitch attitude to begin the glide phase of the RTLS.After the reaction control system translation maneuver has been completed, the glide phase of the RTLS begins. From then on, the RTLS is handled similarly to a normal entry.
MAVEN - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator 2010 Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2015-11-22 | Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN Mission (MAVEN) is a space probe designed to study the Martian atmosphere while orbiting Mars. Mission goals include determining how the planet's atmosphere and water, presumed to have once been substantial, were lost over time.MAVEN was successfully launched aboard an Atlas V launch vehicle at the beginning of the first launch window on November 18, 2013.On September 22, 2014, MAVEN reached Mars and was inserted into an areocentric elliptic orbit 6,200 km (3,900 mi) by 150 km (93 mi) above the planet's surface.
Venus Express - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator 2010 Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2015-11-11 | Venus Express was the first Venus exploration mission of the European Space Agency (ESA). Launched in November 2005, it arrived at Venus in April 2006 and began continuously sending back science data from its polar orbit around Venus. Equipped with seven scientific instruments, the main objective of the mission was the long term observation of the Venusian atmosphere. The observation over such long periods of time had never been done in previous missions to Venus, and was key to a better understanding of the atmospheric dynamics. It was hoped that[dated info] such studies can contribute to an understanding of atmospheric dynamics in general, while also contributing to an understanding of climate change on Earth. ESA concluded the mission in December 2014.
Fobos-Grunt - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator 2010 Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2015-11-01 | Fobos-Grunt or Phobos-Grunt (Russian: Фобос-Грунт, literally "Phobos-Ground") was an attempted Russian sample return mission to Phobos, one of the moons of Mars. Fobos-Grunt also carried the Chinese Mars orbiter Yinghuo-1 and the tiny Living Interplanetary Flight Experiment funded by the Planetary Society.It was launched on 8 November 2011, 20:16 UTC from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, but subsequent rocket burns intended to set the craft on a course for Mars failed, leaving it stranded in low Earth orbit. Efforts to reactivate the craft were unsuccessful, and it fell back to Earth in an uncontrolled re-entry on 15 January 2012, over the Pacific Ocean west of Chile. The return vehicle was to have returned to Earth in August 2014, carrying up to 200 g of soil from Phobos.Before reentry, the spacecraft still carried about 7.51 metric tonnes of highly toxic hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide on board. This was mostly fuel for the spacecraft's upper stage. These compounds, with melting points of 2 °C and −11.2 °C, are normally kept in liquid form and were expected to burn out during re-entry.
Mir - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator 2010 Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2015-10-21 | Mir (Russian: Мир; lit. Peace [homonym: world]) was a space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, owned by the Soviet Union and later by Russia. Mir was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to 1996. It had a greater mass than any previous spacecraft. Until 21 March 2001 it was the largest artificial satellite in orbit, succeeded by the International Space Station after Mir's orbit decayed. The station served as a microgravity research laboratory in which crews conducted experiments in biology, human biology, physics, astronomy, meteorology and spacecraft systems with a goal of developing technologies required for permanent occupation of space.
Luna 3 - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator 2010 Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2015-10-11 | Luna 3, or E-2A No.1 was a Soviet spacecraft launched in 1959 as part of the Luna programme. It was the first-ever mission to photograph the far side of the Moon. It was also the third space probe to be sent to the neighborhood of the Moon. Though it returned rather poor pictures by later standards, the historic, never-before-seen views of the far side of the Moon caused excitement and interest when they were published around the world, and a tentative Atlas of the Far Side of the Moon was created after image processing improved the pictures.Luna 3 was designed to operate more than the few hours of its predecessors, so a new design was needed involving solar cells to re-charge its chemical batteries during its flight around the Earth-Moon system.The probe was a cylindrically shaped canister which was equipped with radio communication and telemetry systems, an imaging system with an automatic film processing unit, a set of scientific instruments, three solar cells for electric power supply, and a temperature control system.The probe was 130 cm long and 120 cm at its maximum diameter at the flange. Most of the cylindric section was roughly 95 cm in diameter. The canister was hermetically sealed and pressurized to about 0.22 atmosphere (23 kilopascals).It had gas jets for stabilization and photoelectric cells to maintain orientation with respect to the Sun and Moon. This spacecraft was controlled by radio command from Earth. It was launched on a figure-eight trajectory which brought it over the Moon (closest approach to the Moon was 6200 km) and around the far side, which was sunlit at the time. It was stabilized while in optical view of the far side of the Moon. The spacecraft returned very indistinct pictures, but, through computer enhancement, a tentative atlas of the lunar farside was produced. These first views of the lunar far side showed mountainous terrain, very different from the near side, and two dark regions which were named Mare Moscovrae (Sea of Moscow) and Mare Desiderii (Sea of Dreams).The space probe passed within 6200 km of the Moon near its south pole at the closest lunar approach at 14:16 UT on 6 October 1959, and continued on over the far side. On 7 October, the photocell on the upper end of the space probe detected the sunlit far side of the Moon, and the photography sequence was started. The first picture was taken at 03:30 UT at a distance of 63500 km from the Moon, and the last picture was taken 40 minutes later from a distance of 66700 km.A total of 29 pictures were taken, covering 70% of the far side. After the photography was complete the spacecraft resumed spinning, passed over the north pole of the Moon and returned towards the Earth. Attempts to transmit the pictures to the Soviet Union began on October 8 but the early attempts were unsuccessful due to the low signal strength. As Luna 3 drew closer to the Earth, a total of about 17 viewable but poor quality photographs were transmitted by the 18th of October. All contact with the probe was lost on 22 October 1959. The space probe was believed to have burned up in the Earth's atmosphere in March or April 1960. Another possibility was that it might have survived in orbit until 1962 or later.
Sputnik 1 - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator 2010 Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2015-10-01 | Sputnik 1 (Спутник-1 [ˈsputnʲɪk] "Satellite-1", or ПС-1 ["PS-1", i.e. Russian: Простейший Спутник-1 "Elementary Satellite 1"]) was the first artificial Earth satellite. The Soviet Union launched it into an elliptical low Earth orbit on 4 October 1957. It was a 58 cm (23 in) diameter polished metal sphere, with four external radio antennas to broadcast radio pulses. It was visible all around the Earth and its radio pulses were detectable. Sputnik 1 was launched during the International Geophysical Year from Site No.1/5, at the 5th Tyuratam range, in Kazakh SSR (now at the Baikonur Cosmodrome). The satellite travelled at about 29,000 kilometres per hour (18,000 mph; 8,100 m/s), taking 96.2 minutes to complete each orbit. It transmitted on 20.005 and 40.002 MHz which were monitored by amateur radio operators throughout the world. The signals continued for 21 days until the transmitter batteries ran out on 26 October 1957. Sputnik 1 burned up on 4 January 1958, as it fell from orbit upon reentering Earth's atmosphere, after travelling about 70 million km (43.5 million miles) and spending 3 months in orbit.
Luna 2 - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator 2010 Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2015-09-21 | Luna 2 (E-1A series) was the second of the Soviet Union's Luna programme spacecraft launched to the Moon. It was the first spacecraft to reach the surface of the Moon, and the first man-made object to land on another celestial body. On September 14, 1959, it successfully impacted east of Mare Imbrium near the craters Aristides, Archimedes, and Autolycus.
Grand Exploration: New Horizons - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator 2010 Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2015-09-10 | New Horizons is an interplanetary space probe that was launched as part of NASA's New Frontiers program. Engineered by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), with a team led by S. Alan Stern, the spacecraft was launched to study Pluto, its moons and the Kuiper belt, performing flybys of the Pluto system and one or more other Kuiper belt objects (KBOs).New Horizons was launched on January 19, 2006, from Cape Canaveral, directly into an Earth-and-solar-escape trajectory with an Earth-relative speed of about 16.26 kilometers per second (58,536 km/h; 36,373 mph); it set the record for the highest launch speed of a human-made object from Earth.After a brief encounter with asteroid 132524 APL, New Horizons proceeded to Jupiter, making its closest approach on February 28, 2007, at a distance of 2.3 million kilometers (1.4 million miles). The Jupiter flyby provided a gravity assist that increased New Horizons speed by 4 km/s (14,000 km/h). The encounter was also used as a general test of New Horizons scientific capabilities, returning data about the planet's atmosphere, moons, and magnetosphere.On July 14, 2015 11:49 UTC, it flew 12,500 km above the surface of Pluto, making it the first spacecraft to explore the dwarf planet. Thirteen hours later at 00:52:37 UTC NASA received the first communication from the probe following a flyby at the time expected. Engineering data indicated that the flyby was successful and the probe operated in all respects as expected.Having completed its flyby of Pluto, New Horizons will be maneuvered for a flyby of Kuiper belt object 2014 MU69. New Horizons is expected to encounter 2014 MU69 on 1 January 2019 when it is 43.4 AU from the Sun.
STS-1 Columbia - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator 2010 Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker 2015-09-01 | Facebook. Advances, pictures, details, comments: http://www.facebook.com/orbiterfilmmakerSTS-1 was the first orbital spaceflight of NASA's Space Shuttle program. The first orbiter, Columbia, launched on 12 April 1981 and returned on 14 April, 54.5 hours later, having orbited the Earth 37 times. Columbia carried a crew of two – mission commander John W. Young and pilot Robert L. Crippen. The launch occurred on the 20th anniversary of the first-ever human spaceflight, Vostok 1. This was a coincidence rather than a celebration of the anniversary; a technical problem had prevented STS-1 from launching two days earlier, as was planned. Landing occurred on Runway 23 at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on 14 April 1981. Columbia was returned to Kennedy Space Center from California on 28 April atop the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.
