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Unmanned Cargo Ship Reaches ISS On Resupply Mission (telegraph.co.uk)
An anonymous reader writes: NASA partner Orbital ATK reports an unmanned cargo shipped has successfully docked at the ISS, delivering 7,900 lbs (3.6 metric tons) worth of supplies for the crew of six astronauts. The supplies consisted of food, water, clothes, and materials needed for scientific research such as a new 3D printer and Gecko Gripper. The operation was over by 1452 GMT as the space station's robotic arm, operated by crew members, captured Cygnus and guided it into its berthing port. Orbital has launched five supply missions to the ISS as part of a $1.9 billion contract with NASA. "Our flexible Cygnus spacecraft has a lot of work left to do. Following its stay at the ISS, and for the first time, we will undertake three experiments onboard the unmanned spacecraft," said Frank Culbertson, president of Orbital ATK's Space Systems Group.
We should not be supplying anything to ISIS. I hope none of 'their kind' are allowed to go there.
The Donald
That this is first post is awesome. It has been here for a while and nobody has commented.
Why is that awesome? It is so routine that we don't even get excited any more. I was a kid when we walked on the moon. Now, it's trivial to dock with a space station that's been in orbit for years and continuously occupied for the duration.
That's kind of neat. (I have no idea if this is still first post.)
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
The feminists have really gone too far now. They've even unmanned the space ship that resupplies the ISS.
You are welcome on my lawn.
Hopefully they will have several 4k+ cameras pointed at the module.
The Progress-M has been doing this since the 90s. Is there something extra special about this delivery ?
They have been in the game for over 30 years, so they don't need to blow their own trumpets like the new guys do.
Ah well... It's still really kind of neat that there's so little excitement about this sort of thing.
I would agree with you if it were for the fact that people are more interested in the latest Kardashian family hijinks or whatever drivel Donald Trump is spewing recently. I find it depressing that genuinely valuable engineering and science research is considered uninteresting in comparison to most of the nonsense that does actually make it into the news cycle. Of course engineering companies have never been very good at public relations so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.
I find that incredible and inspiring.
I find it depressing and pathetic.
ULA apparently spends all of their marketing money on shills.
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
The editors simply need experience:
Drone buzzes Space Station; drops off package
Amateurs.
WARNING: Smartphones have side effects--most of them undocumented.
Can't grow plants in 0G here.
Can't study.chemical reactions in 0G to see if useful compounds and such can be made in space for medicine
Cant cast metals in 0G (which we are not yet but should on ISS) to say, better metals like, let's say someone has an idea that a certain mix of metals or dirt or piss forms a unique lattice structure that allows room temperature superconductors, but the theory goes that that structure only forms in micro gravity, again, can't test it in 0G without a space station.
I am sure I could think of more but you should try it.
The mention of clothes got me wondering about laundry on the ISS. So I looked it up and there is no laundry on the ISS. Everything they wear is delivered to the station and once it becomes to pitted out to wear they put it in the trash which is loaded in a Progress capsule. Once the Progress capsule is full it is deorbited to burn up in the Earth's atmosphere. So I guess we're all breathing the ISS's burnt up dirty laundry.
Anyway they apparently have enough underwear to change it every 3 or 4 days but I have to think it smells like a gym in the ISS. Here's a story about the astronauts dirty laundry.
materials needed for scientific research such as a new 3D printer and Gecko Gripper
Why do they need to grip geckos? In space, no one can hear you grip geckos...
Garry Knight
It keeps a lot of skilled people in gov jobs or no bid contracts.
Without that gov work they may enter the real private sector. Govs and mil regulators dont like that idea of "their" nations very smart people just wondering around finding work with anyone who has cash and some related big project.
It also keeps very advanced generational skill alive that would have to be re created if lost to budget cuts within a few decades.
Nations get to work together and get to be seen to share funding and the science results.
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
God loves you in spite of your hate speech. Peace, brother.
They have been in the game for over 30 years, so they don't need to blow their own trumpets like the new guys do.
And yet - we are reading this article.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
The scientific ROI is too low. I'd much rather see more planetary or soar observation missions if there has to be a choice.
Those missions are valuable but they will tell you close to nothing about how to have living organisms (including us) living and thriving in space. You're comparing apples to oranges. Sure there is lots of value to a project like New Horizons but the second probe we send will have marginally less ROI and the third still less. This is because we've already learned some stuff and now our questions become more specific and nuanced. That's where we are in LEO manned space flight. We've figured out a lot of stuff so we're trying to fill in the cracks in our knowledge where the budget permits.
And the fact is that there doesn't have to be a choice. We have plenty of money to support manned spaceflight and robotic probes. It's not an either/or proposition the only limitation is our willingness to do it.
... so that would be "tonnes" then.