2011 In Spaceflight
The year 2011 saw a number of significant events in spaceflight, including the retirement of NASA's Space Shuttle after its final flight in July 2011, and the launch of China's first space station module, Tiangong-1, in September. A total of 84 orbital launches were conducted over the course of the year, of which 78 were successful. Russia, China and the United States conducted the majority of the year's orbital launches, with 35, 19 and 18 launches respectively; 2011 marked the first year that China conducted more successful launches than the United States. Seven crewed missions were launched into orbit during 2011, carrying a total of 28 astronauts to the International Space Station. Additionally, the Zenit-3F and Long March 2F/G carrier rockets made their maiden flights in 2011, while the Delta II Heavy made its last. Overview of orbital spaceflight A total of 84 orbital launches were attempted in 2011, with 78 being reported as successful; 80 launches reached orbit. 35 la ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Shuttle Landing Facility
The Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) also known as Launch and Landing Facility (LLF) is an airport located on Merritt Island in Brevard County, Florida, United States. It is a part of the Kennedy Space Center and was used by Space Shuttle for landing until July 2011. It was also used for takeoffs and landings for NASA training jets such as the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft and for civilian aircraft. Starting in 2015, Space Florida manages and operates the facility under a 30-year lease from NASA. In addition to ongoing use by NASA, private companies have been utilizing the SLF since the 2011 end of the Space Shuttle program. Facilities The Shuttle Landing Facility covers and has a single runway, 15/33. It is one of the longest runways in the world, at , and is wide. (Despite its length, astronaut Jack R. Lousma stated that he would have preferred the runway to be "half as wide and twice as long") Additionally, the SLF has of paved overruns at each end. The Mate-Demate Device ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Carrier Rocket
A launch vehicle or carrier rocket is a rocket designed to carry a payload (spacecraft or satellites) from the Earth's surface to outer space. Most launch vehicles operate from a launch pad, launch pads, supported by a missile launch control center, launch control center and systems such as vehicle assembly and fueling. Launch vehicles are engineered with advanced aerodynamics and technologies, which contribute to large operating costs. An orbital spaceflight, orbital launch vehicle must lift its payload at least to the boundary of space, approximately and accelerate it to a horizontal velocity of at least . Suborbital spaceflight, Suborbital vehicles launch their payloads to lower velocity or are launched at elevation angles greater than horizontal. Practical orbital launch vehicles are multistage rockets which use chemical propellants such as Solid-propellant rocket, solid fuel, liquid hydrogen, kerosene, liquid oxygen, or Hypergolic propellants. Launch vehicles are cla ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Soyuz TMA-02M
Soyuz TMA-02M was a space mission that transported three members of the Expedition 28 crew to the International Space Station. TMA-02M was the 110th flight of a Soyuz spacecraft (first launched 1967) and the second flight of the improved Soyuz-TMA-M series (first launched 7 October 2010). The Soyuz remained docked to the space station for the Expedition 28 increment to serve as a potential emergency escape vehicle. The Soyuz spacecraft launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Tuesday, 7 June 2011 at 20:12 UTC (8 June 2011, 02:12 local time).Soyuz Blasts Off To International Space Station. Irish Weather Online, 8 June 2011. Accessed 8 June 2011 Originally expected to dock with the [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Soyuz TMA-20
Soyuz TMA-20 was a human spaceflight to the International Space Station (ISS) and was part of the Soyuz programme. It lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on December 15, 2010, and docked with the ISS two days later. The three-person crew of Soyuz TMA-20 – Dmitri Kondratyev, Catherine Coleman and Paolo Nespoli – represented the ISS partner organizations of Roscosmos, NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA). Soyuz TMA-20's crew represented half of the members of Expedition 27; the other three members of the expedition arrived at the station on board Soyuz TMA-21 on April 6, 2011. The COSPAR ID of Soyuz TMA-20 was 2010-067A. It is ISS flight 25S. On May 24, 2011, after spending 159 days in space, the Soyuz TMA-20 descent module landed safely in Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, carrying Kondratyev, Coleman and Nespoli. Crew The Soyuz TMA-20 crew was confirmed by NASA on November 21, 2008. Backup crew Tallest-ever crew member European astronaut Paolo Nespoli ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Expedition 28
Expedition 28 was the 28th long-duration expedition to the International Space Station, and began on 23 May 2011 with the departure of the members of Expedition 27. The first three members of Expedition 28 arrived on the ISS aboard the Soyuz TMA-21 spacecraft on 4 April 2011, and were joined on 9 June 2011 by the three other crew members, who arrived aboard Soyuz TMA-02M. The expedition saw a number of significant events, including the final Space Shuttle mission, STS-135, which took place in July 2011. Expedition 28 was superseded by Expedition 29 on 16 September 2011. Crew ;Source: NASA Mission highlights Soyuz TMA-20 undocking Expedition 28 began with the undocking and departure of the crew of Expedition 27 on 23 May 2011 at 21:35 UTC. The crew of Soyuz TMA-20 landed safely with Expedition 27 crew members Dmitri Kondratyev, Catherine Coleman and Paolo Nespoli aboard at 2:27 UTC on 24 May. Before departing the vicinity of the International Space Station, the crew of TM ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer
The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS-02) is a particle physics experiment module that is mounted on the International Space Station (ISS).Kristine Rainey (April 2, 2013)Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS): How It Works NASA. Retrieved June 2, 2019. The experiment is a recognized CERN experiment (RE1). The module is a detector that measures antimatter in cosmic rays; this information is needed to understand the formation of the Universe and search for evidence of dark matter. The principal investigator is Nobel laureate particle physicist Samuel Ting. The launch of flight STS-134 carrying AMS-02 took place on May 16, 2011, and the spectrometer was installed on May 19, 2011. By April 15, 2015, AMS-02 had recorded over 60 billion cosmic ray events and 90 billion after five years of operation since its installation in May 2011. In March 2013, Professor Ting reported initial results, saying that AMS had observed over 400,000 positrons, with the positron to electron fraction increa ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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STS-134
STS-134 ( ISS assembly flight ULF6) was the penultimate mission of NASA's Space Shuttle program and the 25th and last spaceflight of . This flight delivered the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer and an ExPRESS Logistics Carrier to the International Space Station. Mark Kelly served as the mission commander. STS-134 was expected to be the final Space Shuttle mission if STS-135 did not receive funding from Congress. However, in February 2011, NASA stated that STS-135 would fly "regardless" of the funding situation.STS-134 Mission Status Spaceflight Now. STS-135, flown by ''Atlantis'', took advantage of the processing for STS-335 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Soyuz TMA-21
Soyuz TMA-21 ("Gagarin") was a Soyuz spacecraft, Soyuz flight to the International Space Station (ISS). It transported three members of the Expedition 27 crew to the ISS, and docked at the station on April 6, 2011. TMA-21 is the 109th flight of a Soyuz spacecraft, the first of which launched in 1967. The Soyuz remained attached to the space station as a lifeboat, throughout the remainder of Expedition 27 and through the end of Expedition 28, and returned to Earth on September 16, 2011. The launch of Soyuz TMA-21 was devoted to the 50th anniversary of the first crewed space mission, which was conducted by Yuri Gagarin on April 12, 1961. The COSPAR International ID of Soyuz TMA-21 is 2011-012A. Crew Backup crew Mission insignia In December 2010, the Head of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Anatoly Perminov approved the patch of the Soyuz TMA-21 mission. The patch was designed based on a drawing by young artist Marciel Santos Kayle, a 12-year-old from French Guiana. Accor ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Soyuz TMA-01M
Soyuz TMA-01M was a Soyuz flight that transported three members of the Expedition 25 crew to the International Space Station. TMA-01M was the 107th flight of a Soyuz spacecraft, and the first flight of the modernized TMA-M series. The spacecraft remained docked to the space station during Expedition 25, to serve as an emergency escape vehicle. The spacecraft's COSPAR ID was 2010-052A. Crew The Soyuz TMA-01M crew was confirmed by NASA on 21 November 2008. Backup crew Spacecraft Soyuz TMA-01M is the first spacecraft of the new modernized Soyuz TMA-M series, developed and built by RKK Energia as an upgrade of the baseline Soyuz-TMA, which has been in use since 2002. 36 obsolete pieces of equipment have been replaced with 19 new-generation devices and the vehicle's total mass has been reduced by 70 kilograms (154 lbs). In particular, the old Argon-16 computer control system, which has been used on Soyuz ships for more than 30 years, has been replaced with a new digita ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Expedition 27
Expedition 27 was the 27th long-duration expedition to the International Space Station (ISS), starting on 16 March 2011. Expedition 27 saw numerous notable events, including the undocking of the Progress M-09M and Kounotori 2 spacecraft, the arrival of the Soyuz TMA-21 and Progress M-10M spacecraft, and the final rendezvous with the ISS of NASA's Space Shuttle ''Endeavour, on its last mission, STS-134. The expedition ended on 23 May 2011 with the departure of the Soyuz TMA-20 spacecraft, although command of the station was ceremonially handed over to the crew of Expedition 28 on 22 May. Crew ;Source: NASA Mission highlights Kounotori 2 undocking After an extended two-month stay, Kounotori 2 was detached from the nadir docking port of the ''Harmony'' module by the Canadarm 2 robotic arm at 15:29 UTC on 28 March 2011, and released at 15:46 UTC. Launched in January 2011 to resupply the ISS, Kounotori 2 (also known as HTV-2) was the second Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Leonardo (ISS Module)
The ''Leonardo'' Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM) is a module of the International Space Station. It was flown into space aboard the Space Shuttle ''Discovery'' on STS-133 on 24 February 2011 and installed on 1 March. ''Leonardo'' is primarily used for storage of spares, supplies and waste on the ISS, which was until then stored in many different places within the space station. It is also the personal hygiene area for the astronauts who live in the US Orbital Segment. The ''Leonardo'' PMM was a Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) before 2011, then was modified into its current configuration. It was formerly one of two MPLM used for bringing cargo to and from the ISS with the Space Shuttle. The module was named for Italian polymath Leonardo da Vinci. Like the other Multi-Purpose Logistics Modules, it was constructed by the Italian Space Agency, who chose to name it after Leonardo da Vinci. Construction began in April 1996, and the module was delivered to NASA at the Kennedy ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kennedy Space Center
The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten field centers. Since December 1968, KSC has been NASA's primary launch center of human spaceflight. Launch operations for the Apollo, Skylab and Space Shuttle programs were carried out from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39 and managed by KSC. Located on the east coast of Florida, KSC is adjacent to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS). The management of the two entities work very closely together, share resources and operate facilities on each other's property. Though the first Apollo flights and all Project Mercury and Project Gemini flights took off from the then-Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the launches were managed by KSC and its previous organization, the Launch Operations Directorate. Starting with the fourth Gemini mission, the NASA launch contro ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |