In 2012, over a dozen missions, launched from five spaceports, may fly to the International Space Station (ISS).
Two American robotic resupply ships, Dragon and Cygnus, are scheduled to fly their inaugural ISS mission this year. Both spacecraft were developed under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services, or COTS, program. Initiated in 2006 , the COTS program sought to develop alternative resupply spacecraft. If their upcoming test flights are successful, additional missions could be flown by the end of the year. These missions will represent the first space station launches for two spaceports. SpaceX will launch their Dragon capsule from Cape Canaveral, while Orbital will launch their Cygnus spacecraft from Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. All previous American launches to Skylab, Mir, and ISS have lifted off from Kennedy Space Center. With the recent retirement of the space shuttle, the extra lift provided by Dragon and Cygnus will be welcomed.
By far the most frequent visitors to the ISS will continue to be Russian spacecraft. A total of nine Russian missions are planned in 2012. Five Progress resupply ships will fly to the station with pressurized cargo and fuel. Four Soyuz spacecraft will fly to the station to facilitate crew rotation.
For over three decades, Progress spacecraft have been the workhorse of space station resupply. Capable of automatic docking and equipped for refueling, Progress spacecraft have flown over 130 missions in support of Salyut 6, Salyut 7, Mir, and currently the International Space Station.
Soyuz capsules, qualified for 6 months in space, serve both as crew transports and as space station lifeboats.
Both Europe and Japan operate large resupply ships. The European ATV-3, launched on 23 March 2012, is currently docked to the Zvezda service module. The third Japanese H-II HTV is scheduled to launch this summer.
NOTE: Additional Dragon and Cygnus missions may be flown later this year.
Posted 31 March 2012
With the recent conclusion of the space shuttle program, I thought I would create a graphic representing all 135 launches.
Seeing a graphic like this really conveys the scope of the space shuttle program. Despite its problems, the shuttle was a superbly capable low Earth orbit spacecraft. The shuttle, able to transport some of the largest payloads while supporting a crew on missions lasting several weeks, served as the backbone of Americas human spaceflight effort for 30 years.
This illustration has graphics representing all 135 shuttle missions. The flight designation is given for each mission. Included are the words "135 Space Shuttle Launches" and "1981-2011".
The artwork is available in several formats, including a framed print and a 23" x 35" poster.
This design features graphics of all American orbital manned launches flown between 1962 and 2011. Included are 4 Mercury, 10 Gemini, 15 Apollo, and 135 space shuttle missions.
Included are the words "The First 50 Years of American Orbital Launches".
The artwork is available in several formats, including two sizes of framed prints and as a 23" x 35" poster. The prints can be purchased at the Historic Spacecraft Store.
Proceeds from the sale of these prints helps pay for bandwidth and content development at Historic Spacecraft.
Posted 27 March 2012
Many new graphics have been added to the Robotic Lunar Probes page. Descriptions for the Ranger and Surveyor series missions have been expanded.
A graphic including illustrations of thirteen Venus probes has been added to the Venus Probes page.
I'm starting to create interactive graphics for inclusion on some pages. For now, these graphics include an image of a rocket or spacecraft and a list of component parts. When a user positions their mouse pointer over a component name, the graphic will change to highlight that component.
See the Mir space station graphic below for an example. I have created similar graphics for the Saturn 5 Rocket, the Skylab space station, and the Gemini spacecraft. I'm currently working on more sophisticated interactive graphics for future updates.
Position mouse pointer over the module names to see their location.
Posted 29 January 2012
A variety of humorous mug and t-shirt designs for engineers.
Find dozens of space exploration gifts at the Historic Spacecraft Store.
29 Jan. 2012
The Lunar probes and Venus probes pages have been updated with new graphics.
14 Jan. 2012
New graphics added to the Mir, Skylab and Saturn 5 pages.
10 Jan. 2012
The Saturn Rockets page has now been split into a Saturn I and IB page, and a Saturn 5 page.
31 Dec. 2011
New graphics added to the ISS page, and to the space telescopes page.
31 Dec. 2011
A Store page has been created. Featuring space-themed mugs and t-shirts. Proceeds from the sale of these items help support this web page.
