Latest news with #DanaWeigel
Gizmodo
05-08-2025
- Science
- Gizmodo
The World's First Commercial Spaceplane Won't Be Launching Anytime Soon
The highly anticipated launch of the Dream Chaser spaceplane may be delayed yet again as Sierra Space continues to test its experimental vehicle. The inaugural Dream Chaser, named Tenacity, is slated for a launch date in 2025. However, recent comments by a NASA official revealed that there's a lot more work to be done before the spaceplane is ready to fly to the International Space Station and that it's highly unlikely to meet its deadline. 'We still have some of our integrated safety reviews to do, and we're in the process with updating both of our schedules to try to understand where does that really put us,' Dana Weigel, the program manager for the ISS, said during a recent media briefing, according to Aerospace America. 'Sierra's working on that, and so I need to wait and just get information back from them to see where they think some of that work lines out.' Dream Chaser has been years in the making. NASA awarded Sierra Space a Commercial Resupply Services 2 (CRS-2) contract in 2016 to provide at least seven cargo deliveries to the ISS. The Colorado-based company originally intended for Dream Chaser's inaugural flight to take place in 2020, but the spaceplane suffered several delays due to technical issues and certification hurdles. Although its 2025 launch date still appears on NASA's schedule, Weigel's recent comments don't sound too promising. Dream Chaser is designed to launch to low Earth orbit atop a rocket but survive atmospheric reentry and perform runway landings on the surface upon its return, similar to NASA's Space Shuttle. The futuristic-looking vehicle has foldable wings that fully unfurl once it's in flight, generating power through solar arrays. The spaceplane is also equipped with heat shield tiles to protect it from the high temperatures of atmospheric reentry. 'I think everyone really underestimates what it takes to put together a complex spacecraft. I mean, you're watching it right now with Boeing Starliner, you're watching it with Sierra, but if we remind ourselves on average it takes eight to 10 years for a spacecraft to get ready and fly,' Weigel told reporters during the briefing. Apart from SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, NASA hasn't had any luck in moving forward with an alternative means of transportation for its crew and cargo to the ISS. Following lessons learned from Boeing's Starliner fiasco, which left a crew stranded on the space station for nine months, NASA may be taking extra precaution before launching Tenacity to the ISS. One of the remaining tasks to be completed before its debut launch is a certification of Dream Chaser's software. Starliner experienced significant software issues during its first orbital test flight in December 2019, which pointed to problems with the spacecraft's software certification. Another hurdle that stands in Dream Chaser's way to space is its designated launch vehicle. For its debut flight, Tenacity will launch atop United Launch Alliance's Vulcan Centaur rocket. The 200-foot-tall (61-meter) rocket experienced a booster anomaly during its second flight in October 2024, which delayed its certification process for national security missions. Vulcan is still awaiting certification from the U.S. Space Force and has a backed-up schedule to attend to once it's ready to fly those missions. Dream Chaser is the next-generation reincarnation of Space Shuttle that spaceflight enthusiasts have been waiting for, but they may have to wait a little bit longer to see it fly.
Time of India
20-06-2025
- Science
- Time of India
‘Tarikh pe Tarikh': What if Shubhanshu Shukla-led Axiom mission 4 misses its June 30 launch deadline?
NASA has postponed the much-anticipated launch of Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) to the International Space Station (ISS), originally set for June 22. In a post on X, the ISS confirmed that the mission team—comprising NASA, SpaceX, and Axiom Space—is standing down from the launch to assess recent technical developments and operational constraints. The Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla-led mission was earlier rescheduled for June 22 (Sunday). '@NASA, @Axiom_Space, and @SpaceX continue reviewing launch opportunities for Axiom Mission 4,' the post read. 'NASA is standing down from a launch on Sunday, June 22, and will target a new launch date in the coming days.' The delay follows recent repair work on the Russian Zvezda service module's aft segment, which has prompted NASA to conduct additional evaluations of station operations. The ISS's complex and tightly integrated systems mean the arrival of any new crew must be carefully coordinated to avoid disrupting ongoing missions. Clock Ticking on a Tight Launch Window The urgency stems from the mission's narrow launch window—available only until June 30. Beyond that, opportunities dry up due to a combination of scheduled undocking/docking of Russian cargo vehicles and a high solar beta angle period, during which the station receives continuous sunlight, complicating thermal management and operations. NASA's ISS program manager Dana Weigel had earlier reportedly said that while launch options remain open through June 30, the next available window would only open in mid-July. Live Events Delays Could Derail Months of Preparation Ax-4 is no ordinary mission. It carries a four-member crew—each of whom has been under strict quarantine for nearly three weeks—to conduct 60 tightly timed science experiments, including seven backed by ISRO. Further delays could affect crew health and degrade experiment viability. Compounding matters, a previous launch attempt was aborted after a liquid oxygen leak was detected during a hot test of the Falcon 9 booster. The leak, found in the rocket's propulsion bay, forced SpaceX and Axiom to fix and revalidate the system before attempting another launch. With the weather currently favorable over Florida, all eyes are on meteorologists and mission managers for a green light. The stakes are particularly high for countries like India, Hungary, and Poland, who are hoping to send their first astronauts to the ISS. If Axiom Mission 4 can't get off the ground by June 30, not only will it face a minimum two-week delay, but it may also risk losing critical resources, scheduling priority, and even experiment success. For now, it's a high-stakes waiting game at the launchpad—where every minute counts.
Gizmodo
05-06-2025
- Business
- Gizmodo
ISS Conference Scrapped as NASA Budget Cuts Threaten Crew and Cargo
The International Space Station (ISS) still has a few years left in orbit before it's due for retirement, but the future of the orbital lab is looking a little shaky as NASA is forced to tighten its purse strings. The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), which operates the ISS National Lab, is canceling an upcoming space station research conference, SpaceNews reported. The ISS Research and Development Conference was due to be held at the end of July in Seattle, but CASIS announced this week that, after consulting with NASA, 'the current regulatory and budgetary environment does not support holding' the annual conference this year. The announcement comes a little over a month after the release of the current administration's so-called skinny budget, which included funding for NASA in 2026. The budget proposes a $6 billion cut to the agency, 24% less than NASA's current $24.8 billion budget for 2025. The budget also proposes reducing the size of the ISS crew ahead of its planned retirement in 2030, when it's expected to be replaced by multiple commercial space stations. Funding for the ISS could be reduced by a quarter, from $1.24 billion to $920 million, according to the proposed budget for 2026. 'Crew and cargo flights to the station would be significantly reduced,' the budget proposal read. 'The station's reduced research capacity would be focused on efforts critical to the Moon and Mars exploration programs.' During a briefing held in late May, Dana Weigel, NASA's ISS program manager, revealed that the space agency had already been facing resource issues regarding the space station before the 2026 budget proposal. 'The station has been faced with a cumulative multi-year budget reduction,' Weigel is quoted in SpaceNews as saying. 'That's the challenge that I've had that we've been managing through today. That has left us with some budget and resource challenges that result in less cargo.' The cargo includes supplies for onboard crew members. For more than two decades, the space agency has maintained a crew of at least four NASA astronauts on board the ISS, along with international crew members from Russia, Japan, Canada, and other countries. NASA has previously flown four or five cargo missions a year, but the agency has only planned for three drop-offs in 2025. 'We're evaluating the potential for moving to three crew,' Weigel said during the briefing. 'That's something that we're working through and trying to assess today.' NASA is also considering extending the duration of missions on the ISS from six to eight months, Ars Technica previously reported. Meanwhile, five commercial space stations, including Orbital Reef, Axiom Station, and Starlab, are currently in the works but nowhere near being ready to host astronauts in low Earth orbit. The ISS maintains a steady presence of orbital science above Earth's surface, which would leave behind a major gap to fill.
United News of India
21-05-2025
- Science
- United News of India
Flight Readiness Review for Indian Astro piloted ISS mission today
Chennai, May 21 (UNI) NASA will hold the flight readiness review mission for the AXIOM-4 mission t0 be piloted by Indian Astronaut Subanshu Shukla for the International Space Station (ISS) on June 8. According to NASA the mission will be launched on June 8, 2025 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Dana Weigel, ISS programe Manager said on May 21 the station programme will hold the flight readiness review for this mission. Apart from Group Captain Shukla who is the pilot of the Ax-4 mission the other four crew members are Commander Peggy Whitson of the U.S., Mission Specialist Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland, and Mission Specialist Tibor Kapu of Hungary. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the Ax-4 crew aboard a Dragon spacecraft to the ISS from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Sarah Walker, director, Dragon Mission Management, SpaceX, said the teams are currently carrying Dragons final integration campaign. 'We expect to transport the Dragon to our hangar next week to be integrated with the rocket for launch,' she said. The launch was scheduled for this month but was deferred by a few days due to some testing activites. Nasa and Isro will host a joint public downlink event to showcase the strength of the international collaboration and the shares commitement to expanding the access to space. As part of the mission, both NASA and ISRO will conduct five joint science investigations along with two outreach programmes. It may be noted that ISRO and the Eruopean Space AGency (ESA) have entered into an agreement to collaborate in microgrvity research in the upcoming Axion-4 mission, which will mark India's first crewed (ISS) mission. ISRO said it had recently entered into a pact with ESA to cooperate on activities related to Astronaut Training, Mission Implementation and Research Experiments. This agreement provides an opportunity for undertaking joint microgravity experiments. In this regard, microgravity research experiments by Indian Principal Investigators (PIs) have been jointly shortlisted by ISRO and ESA for implementation on ISS during Axiom-4 mission: They were Comparative growth and proteomics responses of cyanobacteria on urea and nitrate in microgravity, impact of Microgravity on Growth and Yield Parameters in Food Crop Seeds. It said currently, these shortlisted microgravity experiments are under various phases of evaluation in view of safety driven operational philosophy of human spaceflight missions. Further, ISRO and ESA will be jointly carrying out human research and other scientific and technology demonstration experiments. In addition to these, cooperation in microgravity research with other space agencies during Axiom-4 mission is also being actively pursued. The field of microgravity research with potential applications in human health research, physical sciences, material sciences, novel pharmaceutical development and biotechnology offers significant opportunities to national scientific community. The Indian Human Space Program, maiden Gaganyaan mission, aims to encourage and support the Indian scientific community in microgravity research activities through flight opportunities in ISRO's missions as well as joint international efforts. UNI GV 0630
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
NASA to Participate in Next Private Astronaut Mission Teleconference
WASHINGTON, May 14, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA will join a media teleconference hosted by Axiom Space at 10:30 a.m. EDT, Tuesday, May 20, to discuss the launch of Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4), the fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station. Briefing participants include: Dana Weigel, manager, International Space Station Program, NASA Allen Flynt, chief of mission services, Axiom Space Sarah Walker, director, Dragon mission management, SpaceX Sergio Palumberi, mission manager, ESA (European Space Agency) Aleksandra Bukała, project manager, head of strategy and international cooperation, POLSA (Polish Space Agency) Orsolya Ferencz, ministerial commissioner of space research, HUNOR (Hungarian to Orbit) To join the call, media must register with Axiom Space by 12 p.m., Monday, May 19, at: The Ax-4 launch aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft on the company's Falcon 9 rocket is targeted no earlier than 9:11 a.m., Sunday, June 8, from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. During the mission aboard the space station, a four-person multi-national crew will complete about 60 research experiments developed for microgravity in collaboration with organizations across the globe. Peggy Whitson, former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space, will command the commercial mission, while ISRO astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla will serve as pilot. The two mission specialists are ESA project astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary. The first private astronaut mission to the station, Axiom Mission 1, lifted off in April 2022 for a 17-day mission aboard the orbiting laboratory. The second private astronaut mission to the station, Axiom Mission 2, also was commanded by Whitson and launched in May 2023 for eight days in orbit. The most recent private astronaut mission, Axiom Mission 3, launched in January 2024; the crew spent 18 days docked to the space International Space Station is a springboard for developing a low Earth economy. NASA's goal is to achieve a strong economy off the Earth where the agency can purchase services as one of many customers to meet its science and research objectives in microgravity. NASA's commercial strategy for low Earth orbit provides the government with reliable and safe services at a lower cost, enabling the agency to focus on Artemis missions to the Moon in preparation for Mars while also continuing to use low Earth orbit as a training and proving ground for those deep space missions. Learn more about NASA's commercial space strategy at: View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE NASA
