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Tune in, Starliner! How NASA’s Near Space Network Powers Communications
On May 19, 2022, our partners at Boeing launched their Starliner CST-100 spacecraft to the International Space Station as a part of our Commercial Crew Program. This latest test puts the company one step closer to joining the SpaceX Crew Dragon in ferrying astronauts to and from the orbiting laboratory. We livestreamed the launch and docking at the International Space Station, but how? Let’s look at the communications and navigation infrastructure that makes these missions possible.
Primary voice and data communications are handled by our constellation of Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS), part of our Near Space Network. These spacecraft relay communications between the crewed vehicles and mission controllers across the country via terrestrial connections with TDRS ground stations in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and Guam, a U.S. territory in the Pacific Ocean.
TDRS, as the primary communications provider for the space station, is central to the services provided to Commercial Crew vehicles. All spacecraft visiting the orbiting laboratory need TDRS services to successfully complete their missions.
During launches, human spaceflight mission managers ensure that Commercial Crew missions receive all the TDRS services they need from the Near Space Operations Control Center at our Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. There, communications engineers synthesize network components into comprehensive and seamless services for spacecraft as they launch, dock, undock, and deorbit from the space station.
Nearby, at our Flight Dynamics Facility, navigation engineers track the spacecraft on their ascent, leveraging years of experience supporting the navigation needs of crewed missions. Using tracking data sent to our Johnson Space Center in Houston and relayed to Goddard, these engineers ensure astronaut safety throughout the vehicles’ journey to the space station.
Additionally, our Search and Rescue office monitors emergency beacons on Commercial Crew vehicles from their lab at Goddard. In the unlikely event of a launch abort, the international satellite-aided search and rescue network will be able to track and locate these beacons, helping rescue professionals to return the astronauts safely. For this specific uncrewed mission, the search and rescue system onboard the Boeing Starliner will not be activated until after landing for ground testing.
To learn more about NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) services and technologies, visit https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/heo/scan/index.html. To learn more about NASA’s Near Space Network, visit https://esc.gsfc.nasa.gov/projects/NSN.
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Get to Know the 9 Astronauts Set to #LaunchAmerica
Our Commercial Crew Program is working with the American aerospace industry to develop and operate a new generation of spacecraft to carry astronauts to and from low-Earth orbit!
As we prepare to launch humans from American soil for the first time since the final space shuttle mission in 2011, get to know the astronauts who will fly with Boeing and SpaceX as members of our commercial crew!
Bob Behnken
Bob Behnken served as Chief of the NASA Astronaut Office from July 2012 to July 2015, where he was responsible for flight assignments, mission preparation, on-orbit support of International Space Station crews and organization of astronaut office support for future launch vehicles. Learn more about Bob.
Eric Boe
Eric Boe first dreamed of being an astronaut at age 5 after his parents woke him up to watch Neil Armstrong take his first steps onto the lunar surface. Learn more about Eric.
Josh Cassada
Josh Cassada holds a Master of Arts Degree and a Doctorate in Physics with a specialty in high energy particle physics from the University of Rochester, in Rochester, New York. He was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2013, and his first spaceflight will be as part of the Commercial Crew Program. Learn more about Josh.
Chris Ferguson
Chris Ferguson served as a Navy pilot before becoming a NASA astronaut, and was commander aboard Atlantis for the final space shuttle flight, as part of the same crew as Doug Hurley. He retired from NASA in 2011 and has been an integral part of Boeing's CST-100 Starliner program. Learn more about Chris.
Victor Glover
Victor Glover was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2013 while working as a Legislative Fellow in the United States Senate. His first spaceflight will be as part of the Commercial Crew Program. Learn more about Victor.
Mike Hopkins
Mike Hopkins was a top flight test engineer at the United States Air Force Test Pilot School. He also studied political science at the Università degli Studi di Parma in Parma, Italy, in 2005, and became a NASA astronaut in 2009. Learn more about Mike.
Doug Hurley
In 2009, Doug Hurley was one of the record-breaking 13 people living on the space station at the same time. In 2011, he served as the pilot on Atlantis during the final space shuttle mission, delivering supplies and spare parts to the International Space Station. Now, he will be one of the first people to launch from the U.S. since that last shuttle mission. Learn more about Doug.
Nicole Mann
Nicole Mann is a Naval Aviator and a test pilot in the F/A-18 Hornet. She was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2013, and her first spaceflight will be as part of the Commercial Crew Program. Learn more about Nicole.
Suni Williams
Suni Williams has completed 7 spacewalks, totaling 50 hours and 40 minutes. She’s also known for running. In April 2007, Suni ran the first marathon in space, the Boston Marathon, in 4 hours and 24 minutes. Learn more about Suni.
Boeing and SpaceX are scheduled to complete their crew flight tests in mid-2019 and April 2019, respectively. Once enabled, commercial transportation to and from the International Space Station will empower more station use, more research time and more opportunities to understand and overcome the challenges of living in space, which is critical for us to create a sustainable presence on the Moon and carry out missions deeper into the solar system, including Mars!
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Want to Send Your Art to the International Space Station?!
For children ages 4-12, we’re hosting an art contest! Get the details:
We are working with Boeing and SpaceX to build human spaceflight systems, like rockets and spacecraft, to take astronauts to the International Space Station. These companies will fly astronauts to orbit around Earth while we focus on plans to explore deeper into our solar system.
Get out your art supplies and use your creative imagination to show us the present and future of traveling in space!
There are no grocery stores in space, but there may soon be farms. Very small farms that are important to a crew conducting a mission to deep space. That’s because our astronauts will need to grow some of their own food. Researchers on Earth and astronauts on the International Space Station are already showing what is needed to grow robust plants in orbit.
What would you take to space? Astronaut Suni Williams took a cutout of her dog, Gorbie, on her first mission to the International Space Station.
Kids 4 to 12, draw what you would take and enter it in our Children’s Artwork Calendar contest! Your entry could be beamed to the space station!
Go to http://go.nasa.gov/2fvRLNf for more information about the competition’s themes, rules and deadlines plus the entry form.
Get your parent's permission, of course!
Email your entry form and drawing to us at: ksc-connect2ccp@mail.nasa.gov
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Getting ready for the launch of Boeing’s Starliner to the ISS! #boeing #starliner #boeingstarliner #nasa #solarsystemambassador https://www.instagram.com/p/CR2yJ7TDAIj/?utm_medium=tumblr
LOT - Dreamliner
15 - 08-2019
Warsaw (WAW) Frankfurt (FRA)
LO379 SP-LSA Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner
Landed 19:41 h
A snapshot of Asiana HL7742 on 02/28/2012 coming into LAX 24 R - About 17 months before the event at SFO. I was eating a Double-double.
NASA, Air Force Perform Rescue Operations on Boeing Starliner
NASA astronaut Suni Williams cannonballs off a Boeing CST-100 Starliner test article after NASA engineers and Air Force pararescuemen climbed aboard the spacecraft to simulate rescuing astronauts in the event of an emergency during launch or ascent.
The Starliner is designed for land-based returns, but simulating rescue operations at NASA’s Langley Research Center’s Hydro Impact Basin in Hampton, Virginia, ensures flight crew and ground support are versed in what to do during a contingency scenario.
For more information about rescue and safety operations, see Commercial Crew: Building in Safety from the Ground Up in a Unique Way.
Credit: NASA/David C. Bowman
We do the coolest tests here! Check out the Boeing Commercial Crew CST-100 Starliner drop:
Engineers from NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., and Boeing dropped a full-scale test article of the company’s CST-100 Starliner into Langley’s 20-foot-deep Hydro Impact Basin at the Landing and Impact Research Facility. Although the spacecraft is designed to land on land, Boeing is testing the Starliner’s systems in water to ensure astronaut safety in the unlikely event of an emergency. This test happened Feb. 9, 2016.
Check out what goes on at our Hydro Impact Basin Facility at the NASA Langley Research Center! This steel structure was once our Lunar Landing Research Facility for the Apollo missions.
Commercial Crew Partner Boeing Tests Starliner Spacecraft
Engineers from NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, and Boeing dropped a full-scale test article of the company’s CST-100 Starliner into Langley’s 20-foot-deep Hydro Impact Basin. Although the spacecraft is designed to land on land, Boeing is testing the Starliner’s systems in water to ensure astronaut safety in the unlikely event of an emergency during launch or ascent. Testing allows engineers to understand the performance of the spacecraft when it hits the water, how it will right itself and how to handle rescue and recovery operations. The test is part of the qualification phase of testing and evaluation for the Starliner system to ensure it is ready to carry astronauts to and from the International Space Station.
Image Credit: NASA/David C. Bowman
Collins Station, Ready for tracking! Last mission for a while.
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Traditional Landscape Seattle Image of a medium-sized, classic gravel garden path in the front yard with some partial sun.
Commercial Space & Ocean Worlds: NASA Co-Op #3 Week 14
Did you know that at least one human has inhabited the International Space Station over 16 years?!
NASA even has a Cumulative Crew Time on Orbit clock. Frequent flyers of this blog are familiar with the giant space lab orbiting the Earth every 90 minutes, however, even some of the public within a 20 mile radius of Johnson Space Center think NASA has shut down! It's up to myself, NASA full-timers, NASA interns and the science enthused to educate the public about the continuing efforts in space exploration.
International Space Station (ISS) Program Manager Kirk Shireman hosted an all hands for NASA employees to share about achievements and future goals. NASA is leading the commercialization of space by. The media often portrays NASA as fretting space commercialization when in reality NASA is fueling it. NASA has contracted SpaceX and Orbital ATK to deliver cargo to ISS every couple of months as commercial resuppliers. Launch of ATK April 18th 9:30am-10:30am CT. Boeing and SpaceX are being contracted by NASA to develop the Commercial Crew Vehicles to transport astronauts from Earth to ISS and back. The Commercial Crew Program enables manned launches from American soil. Additionally ISS is working toward attaching station nodes built by private space companies that deploy CubeSats. NASA thinks of the private and public space company research and device developers as customers. NASA is working on making space more accessible to its "customers".
Graduate School Advice
A Co-Op student leader coordinated a graduate panel with folks with NASA experience that also completed grad school. These are some helpful anonymous quotes from the panel...
“So when you roll into my office and say you want to be an astronaut I need a PhD, remember these are seven to eight years of your life”.
“How long it takes depends on how long it takes to do new science”.
“How many papers does it take to graduate? Okay. Spit in your hand and shake”.
Student: I want to get a degree in something very different than undergrad.
Panel member: “You can do anything”.
“Most people are human.”
“The answers aren’t in the back of the book once you start full-time.”
Ocean Worlds in Our Solar System
Evidence of giant water plumes observed on one of Saturn's moon Enceladus and one of Jupiter's Europa has been found. This exploration started in the 1990s when Galileo space craft orbited Jupiter and its moons. The magnetic signature detected on Europa suggests ocean like currents underneath its icy shell. During a 2005 Cassini performed an Enceladus fly by and spotted huge plumes were observed. Recently data from these mission have been analyzed and conclusions have been reached.
Terrestrial oceans have hydro thermal activity feeding life deep 1000s of meters below the ocean. Plumes spotted on extraterrestrial worlds are believed to produce "300 pizzas per hour of energy" in calories. "The statistics tell us that plumes are real by full sigma results". However, Hubble has reached its max to detect these plumes on Europa so scientists cannot be certain yet. Bill Sparks from Goddard expanded on the uncertain of Europa's plumes, "It's not completely unequivocally but in my mind the pendulum has swung from cation to optimism. The evidence is growing. The fact we have saw a repeated the exact same location. That's one of the gold standards for dealing with a repeat phenomenon. It's not proof because we are right at the limit of what Hubble can do." He shared it is evidence rather than proof because spectrometer readings, movies and maps have been taken of Enceladus is high definition compared to the smudge of low resolution observation made by Hubble's max capacity.
WAYS TO GET INVOLVED
More reading on these ocean worlds!...
Full press conference by NASA scientists about the water plumes: https://youtu.be/3n-0CSCcJuQ
https://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/index.html
https://www.nasa.gov/specials/ocean-worlds/
This week at NASA.
NASA commercial cargo provider Orbital ATK is targeting its seventh commercial resupply services mission to the ISS for 10:11 a.m. CDT Tuesday, April 18. Coverage of the launch begins at 9 a.m. on NASA TV.
Remember earlier this year when Boeing very clearly had a whistleblower executed? And law enforcement didn't even look for anyone or release any info about it or anything?
People keep comparing Luigi Mangione's case to the subway murderer who got off because of systemic eugenics, but I think there's something more apt about the fact that a CEO had someone executed in recent memory, with zero attempts to find a culprit, while they spared no expense at all to find (and probably frame, it's beginning to look like) someone who shot a CEO. It's always fine to slaughter if you're rich, but if you kill the rich, they will hunt you down.