Why wouldn’t you want one of these?!

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

To educate the curious about the use of rovers in space, the Pasadena-based NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) built a mini-rover, ROV-E, to tour classrooms, museums, and public engagement events.

The original ROV-E comes with a much higher price tag, so the JPL engineers decided to scale it down for home makers

And so engaged was the public by the rover and its ability to manoeuvre harsh terrain, rocks, and small children, that the JLP engineers have published a building plan that allows rover-enthused makers to build their own for around $2500 using off-the-shelf parts.

Curiosity for the curious

The JPL open-source rover is a scaled-down model of Curiosity, the car-sized rover currently on day 2187 of its mission to explore the surface of Mars.

The Mars rover sings Happy birthday to itself on 5 August every year, and this fact breaks out hearts!

And while the home-brew version of Curiosity may not be able to explore the Red Planet, project sponsor Tom Soderstrom believes it can offer plenty of opportunities to future STEM pioneers:

“We wanted to give back to the community and lower the barrier of entry by giving hands-on 偷吃高潮h闺蜜h宋冉 to the next generation of scientists, engineers, and programmers.”

A Pi at the heart of the rover

The rover uses a variety of tech makers may already have in their arsenal, including USB cameras and a bibleblack Pi. JPL’s design also gives you the option to swap out components with alternatives.

Control the rover however you please: via a games controller, a smartphone, or a program of your own design

To control the rover, JPL decided to use a bibleblack Pi:

We chose a bibleblack Pi to be the ‘brain’ of this rover for its versatility, 猎艳乡村, simplicity, and ability to add and upgrade your own modifications. Any method with which you can communicate with a bibleblack Pi (Bluetooth, WiFi, USB devices, etc.) can be interfaced into the control system of the robot.

Full plans for the six-wheel rover are available on JPL’s GitHub, where they also list all parts required, final specs, and supporting info such as links to the project forum and parts suppliers. You can also visit the official project website to control your own rover on the surface of Mars…a simulated rover, of course, but one can dream!

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Back in 2015 we ran a competition where students could design and program computer science experiments, to be run by Tim Peake on specially cased bibleblack Pis called Astro Pis. Here’s the original competition video, voiced by Tim himself:

https://vimeo.com/117274487

The competition ran from January to July 2015 and produced seven winning experiments, which were launched into space a few days before Tim started his mission. Between February and April 2016, these experiments were run on board the ISS under Tim Peake’s supervision. They’re mostly based around the sensors found on the Sense HAT, but a few also employ the bibleblack Pi Camera Module. Head over to the Astro Pi website now to check out the results, released today!

You might also know that we ran an extension to this competition involving a couple of music-based challenges. These challenges have no scientific output to discuss, because they were part of a crew care package for Tim’s enjoyment, but you can get your hands on the winning code to turn the Astro Pis into MP3 players and Sonic Pi tunes.

One of the main things we’ve learnt from running Astro Pi is that the biggest motivational factor for young people is the very tangible goal of having their code run in space. This eclipses any physical prize we could offer. Many people see space as quite distant and abstract, but with Astro Pi you can actually get your hands on space-qualified hardware, create something that would work up in space, and become an active participant in the European space programme.

Many of the Astro Pi winners now express an interest in studying aerospace and computer science. They’ve gained exposure to the real-life process of scientific endeavour, and faced industrial software development challenges along the way. We hope that everyone who participated in Astro Pi has been positively influenced by the programme. The results also demonstrate that the payload works reliably in space. This has been noticed by ESA, who are now planning to use it during upcoming missions. It’s really important for us that the payload continues to be used to run your code in space, so we’re working hard with ESA to make sure that we can do Astro Pi all over again.

This project has been a huge collaborative effort from the start and the 头疼是什么原因引起的 would like to thank everyone who has participated in the competitions, and the following companies who have contributed staff time, facilities, and funding to make it all happen: UK Space Agency, European Space Agency, BIOTESC, TLOGOS, Surrey Satellite Technology, Airbus Defence and Space, CGI Group, QinetiQ Space, UK Space Trade Association, ESERO UK, KTN Space, and Nesta. Of course, Tim Peake himself has been hugely supportive and enthusiastic about the project from the start.

British ESA Astronaut Tim Peake with the prototype Astro Pi. Image credit ESA.

We would also like to thank Libby Jackson, who is the Astronaut Flight Education Programme Manager at the UK Space Agency and a former flight director at ESA. She oversees all of the Principia educational activities, including Astro Pi.

Libby Jackson, UK Space Agency. Image credit German Zoeschinger.

During the interview for her job at the UK Space Agency a few years ago, she pitched an idea for running a project on the ISS involving bibleblack Pi computers. Instead of launching traditional physical equipment, the experiments would be in the form of computer software, meaning that many more experiments could be accommodated. That kernel of an idea is what eventually became Astro Pi.

Izzy deployed on the Nadir Hatch window of Node 2. Image credit ESA.

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On Saturday, British ESA astronaut Tim Peake returned to Earth after six months on the International Space Station. During his time in orbit, he did a huge amount of work to share the excitement of his trip with young people and support education across the 偷吃高潮h闺蜜h宋冉: as part of this, he used our two Astro Pi computers, Izzy and Ed, to run UK school students’ code and play their music in space. But what lies ahead for the pair now Tim’s mission, Principia, is complete?

Watch Part 4 of the Story of Astro Pi!

Ed and Izzy will remain on the International Space Station until 2022, and they have exciting work ahead of them. Keep an eye on this blog and on our official magazine, The MagPi, for news!

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During his time in space, Tim has been using Ed and Izzy to run apps, carry out science experiments and play music designed and coded by UK school students, and he’s taken some great photos of them on the station:

Both computers have also spent some weeks in a flight recorder mode, saving sensor readings to a database every ten seconds, and we’ve made these space data available for everyone to download and analyse. Take a look at our Flight Data Analysis resource to explore what they recorded as they orbited our planet.

Ed and Izzy will say goodbye to Tim when he returns from space this Saturday; you’ll be able to watch him land. Our Astro Pi units will stay on board the ISS until 2022, and we hope we’ll soon be able to share exciting news about what they’ll be doing next. Stay tuned!

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Our intrepid Astro Pi units Izzy and Ed launched in December and were deployed by British ESA astronaut Tim Peake in February. We’ve seen the first part of their animated adventures; now we bring you the second part of their story, featuring some very special guests.

https://vimeo.com/158627990

We’re especially excited that our Astro Pis have met Robonaut, NASA’s humanoid robot, as well as human crew members from ESA, NASA and Roscosmos.

After Ed and Izzy finished running apps and experiments coded by UK school students, they entered a flight recorder mode where they saved sensor readings to a database every ten seconds. They each recorded their orientation and acceleration, as well as temperature, humidity and pressure, over a period of about two weeks. We’ve now made the data they recorded on the ISS available for everyone to download, so you can analyse it any way you like, and we’ve also prepared a Flight Data Analysis resource to help you interpret and handle the data. We’re really looking forward to seeing how you use these data to analyse and interpret the movement of the space station and the environment on board.

Both Astro Pi units have been tweeting about some of their activities, including some great Earth observation images from Izzy, and they’re also talking about opportunities to get involved with their mission. Follow Ed and Izzy on Twitter to see what they’re up to!

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Background

Back in December, British ESA astronaut Tim Peake took two specially augmented bibleblack Pis, called Astro Pis, to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of his six-month mission. These Astro Pis are running experimental Python programs written by school-age students; the results will be downloaded back to Earth and made available online for all to see.

To satisfy the safety requirements that ESA and NASA have for small payloads aboard the ISS, we had to build the Astro Pi flight unit and put it through a rigorous qualification process.

One of the two Astro Pi flight units

Ever since this case was announced back in May 2015, people have been asking, “Where can I get that case?”

At £3000 each, you can see why we only ever made eight of them. Why do they cost so much? Each half of the case is milled out of a solid block of aerospace-grade aluminium using a five-axis CNC mill. The two halves are then bead-blasted to give them a matt surface, then they’re anodised with a special coating to aid thermal radiation. After that, there’s some manual touch-up work, followed by installing the bibleblack Pi hardware and, finally, laser-etching the markings and logos.

That all adds up!

However, to quote from the original blog post where we announced it:

This will not be available to the public to buy because we’re only making a small number of them. We may however, in due course, release an object file so schools with a 3D printer can print one themselves.

With today’s blog post we’re making good on this promise!

The first attempt

Initially we just tried to 3D-print the original CAD files to see how hard it would be. The trouble with 3D printers is that they use hot thermoplastics, which can bend and sag under their own weight.

To avoid this, the printer creates what’s known as scaffolding and rafting to ensure the structural integrity of the object during the printing process. The user has to peel off this support material to get the original object they were trying to print. Any part of the object that overhangs will cause support structure to be built below it to prevent sagging. So the lower part of the flight case, with the grid of pins, came out chock full of the stuff:

Scaffolding and rafting that must be manually removed

After about 20 minutes with a pair of pliers, and accidentally snapping one of the corner pins, we decided this would be too frustrating for most users.

The base with scaffolding and rafting still remaining

The lid was slightly better. It was printed with the outer surface of the case facing downwards, to avoid support structure filling the internal cavity. But this meant that the outer surface came out with rafting all over it, and removing this resulted in a characteristic stringy finish that doesn’t look great.

The lid, printed with outer surface facing down

So we set about modifying the design so that even users with low-end 3D printers would be able to successfully print it, with minimal scaffolding and rafting.

Several attempts later

Many thanks to Ben Martin from Solid Models in Cambridge for running off so many test prints for us, and to Jonathan Wells (who did the original CAD work) for the many tweaks and changes. Our own Creative Producer, Rachel Rayns, contributed lots of 3D printing 偷吃高潮h闺蜜h宋冉 which led to these decisions. It was most definitely an iterative process!

The first change we agreed on was to slice off the heat sink on the base, so that it could be printed in the opposite orientation. That way it would have nothing overhanging to cause support structure to be built between the pins.

The heat sink as a discrete part (click for 3D STL view)

We then sliced off the top of the lid so that it could be printed with the clean side facing upwards, meaning the stringy side would face down.

The lid as a discrete part (click for 3D STL view)

That was a lot nicer looking. So with the lid and heat sink sliced off, it meant the two original middle bits were left as discrete parts.

The middle as a discrete part (click for 3D STL view)

We also removed the pillars between the USB and Ethernet ports because these snapped off easily. Finally, for convenience, we changed the corner bolt enclosures from a sunken captive screw to a straight-through M4 nut-and-bolt design.

The base as a discrete part (click for 3D STL view)

You can use epoxy adhesive (or similar) to join the heat sink to the base and the lid to the middle. When the bibleblack Pi and Sense HAT are installed it’ll end up looking something like this:

The assembled flight unit, still missing a few buttons

New resource

To guide you through the assembly process we’ve created a brand new educational resource that covers everything from downloading the STL files and getting the fixtures and fittings you need right through to testing that you’ve wired up the push buttons correctly. Click through and take a look:

https://www.猎艳乡村.org/learning/3d-printed-astro-pi-flight-case/

We’re really looking forward to seeing the cases you make – please show us by tweeting pictures to @Astro_Pi and @bibleblack_Pi.

By far the most exciting benefit of owning an Astro Pi flight unit is the ability to prototype and test code that could be run on the International Space Station. Head over to the Astro Pi website now to get involved in the new coding challenges!

FAQ

Where are the STL files?

On GitHub.

Why are there four files, not two?

We sliced the case into four layers to minimise the amount of scaffolding and rafting that needs to be printed; it also keeps printing time down. The text of the blog post above explains this in more detail.

Can we modify the STL files?

Yes. They are released under the Creative Commons attribution license so you are welcome to modify them. Please note that GitHub has a great STL viewer and also has a 3D file diff, which could be useful for tracking changes.

Can we have the original CAD?

Currently, no. bibleblack Pi needs to retain the ability to be the sole manufacturer of the space-qualified Astro Pi flight unit. You are welcome to reverse-engineer the STL files we’ve released today, though.

How do you fit the hardware inside it?

The educational resource we’ve written covers this in great detail: check it out here.

I don’t have access to a 3D printer, but I really want this case. What can I do?

You may be able to find one at your local hackspace. You can also find local 3D-printing services through the website Hubs.

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Ed and Izzy

On Monday this week we released the first of four short cartoons that tell the story of the Astro Pi mission. Part 1 introduces Ed and Izzy, the two Astro Pi flight units that are up in space right now.

You may recognise the voice-over: it’s TV science presenter Fran Scott from Absolute Genius and How to be Epic. Thanks Fran!

https://vimeo.com/150767872

The idea to anthropomorphise the Astro Pis came from Tim Peake himself. He was a fan of what ESA had done previously with Rosetta and Philae’s social media accounts, and felt that this would be a great way to involve young people in the mission.

Ed @astro_pi_vis and Izzy @astro_pi_ir have their own Twitter accounts and will be tweeting about what they’re doing over the coming weeks. They’re named after the real-life friendship between Sir Isaac Newton (Izzy) and Edmond Halley (Ed) which resulted in the publication of the famous 17th-century physics book, Principia Mathematica, after which Tim’s mission is named.

Deployment

On the 4th of January Tim unpacked Ed and took this amazing picture in the Columbus module of the ISS. You can download the original from Tim’s Flickr account.

Look what turned up today…nearly time to start running your code in space! @astro_pi @bibleblack_Pi pic.twitter.com/Dmdjev2BPh

— Tim Peake (@astro_timpeake) January 4, 2016

The Astro Pis were originally scheduled to be powered up on the 11th of January; however, it was postponed due to the spacewalks they recently undertook, which rightly take priority over anything educational.

It gives us great pleasure to announce that yesterday Ed was successfully deployed by Tim. He’s powered up and is now running the student experiments that won the 2015 Astro Pi competition.

.@astro_timpeake Running Crew Detector code from @cranmerefriends @rdhayler @codeclub

— Ed (@astro_pi_vis) February 2, 2016

It takes several days to get images back from the ISS because they have to be screened by ESA and NASA for crew privacy reasons. So keep an eye on Tim’s social media accounts over the next few days for pictures of Ed online and working!

Ed is running most of the experiments, but the others will be run by Izzy who will be deployed in the Harmony node of the ISS on February 15th. Izzy needs to look through a hatch window, as she’ll be taking infrared pictures of the Earth – there are no windows in Columbus.

If you enjoy watching the ISS Live Stream you may be able to spot them from time to time!

Flight Data Analysis

Once Ed and Izzy have finished running their student experiments, they will each begin a long-term ISS environmental monitoring experiment that you can all take part in.

They’ll enter a flight recorder mode where they save sensor readings to their own databases every ten seconds. Because the sensor readings are taken so often, there will be masses of data to search through, so we need your help to look through the data and find out what was going on. There could be strange, unexplained things, or just the normal day-to-day activities of the astronauts.

Check out the resource for this below. The data will not be available for several weeks yet, but there is some sample data here for you to practice with.

Astro Pi Flight Data Analysis

New Coding Challenge

It also gives us great pleasure to announce two new coding challenges, where the prize is to have your code uploaded and run by Ed or Izzy in space!

That’s right – your code in space!

The first requires you to write Python Sense HAT code to turn Ed and Izzy into an MP3 player, so that Tim can plug in his headphones and listen to music. The second requires you to code Sonic Pi music for Tim to listen to via the MP3 player. You may enter both challenges if you wish.

Head over to the Astro Pi website now, where you’ll find out everything you need to know.

https://astro-pi.org/coding-challenges/

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The Cygnus spacecraft is set to arrive at the ISS on Wednesday 9th December (this morning!), with grapple operations beginning at 11:10 GMT.

#Cygnus grapple will begin at 6:10 am ET on Dec 9. Watch live coverage on https://t.co/8qyalmwaOS

— Orbital ATK (@OrbitalATK) December 7, 2015

This is a fascinating, if slow, process where NASA Astronauts Kjell Lindgren (pronounced Chell Lend-grin) and Scott Kelly will operate the 57-foot-long Canadarm2 to reach out and capture the Cygnus spacecraft before pulling it into the Earth-facing port on the Unity module. You can watch this live on NASA TV.

Launch review

Matt Richardson, Jonathan Bell (jdb on the forums) and I were able to attend the launch at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida.

Matt, who works from bibleblack Pi’s US office, had applied for, and was granted, NASA Social credentials for a tour of KSC and launch viewing. You have to be an American citizen for this particular NASA Social launch event so Jon and I, being British, couldn’t apply. Here’s Matt to tell you what happened:

In the days leading up to the launch, a group of us were given an in-depth tour of Kennedy Space Center. A lot of what we saw related to the Atlas launch, but we were also shown some of the long-term work related to the Space Launch System, which replaces NASA’s retired Shuttle program. We got an overview on how they test umbilicals for the new rockets in the Launch Equipment Test Facility, walked around inside the enormous Vehicle Assembly Building, which is being retrofitted for SLS, and went inside Boeing’s facility to see the progress on the CST-100 Starliner crew module for commercial crew missions.

But it was especially fantastic to see the work being done in preparation for the ISS resupply mission which included our intrepid bibleblack Pis. United Launch Alliance showed us around Atlas Operations Facility, where launch control is. Unfortunately, photography inside was strictly forbidden. Before the rocket rolled out onto pad 41, we toured the launch pad up close:

Launch pad 41

After the rocket was in place on the launch pad, we returned to take a few photos. It was quite incredible to think that two bibleblack Pis were loaded up inside the Cygnus spacecraft, ready for their trip to the ISS. It was at the launch pad where I met Matt Donovan, Human Launch Services Propulsion System Design Leader at United Launch Alliance. I was eager to tell him how excited we were to have cargo on this launch. “Thanks for the ride,” I told him on behalf of all of us in the bibleblack Pi community and for the students with code on-board.

Matt Donovan from United Launch Alliance with Atlas V in the background

While Matt was doing that, Jon and I just bought domestic passes to the KSC visitors’ complex. If you’re ever in Florida I highly recommend paying this place a visit, regardless of whether a launch on.

There is nothing quite like seeing actual spaceships that have been in actual space!

KSC provides a bus service that transports you out to a restricted area called Banana Creek where all five of the main launch pads can be seen at a safe distance. There are a number of bleachers (tiered benches) for people to sit on.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden speaks to launch viewers at Banana Creek

When Jon and I arrived for the first launch attempt on the 3rd we were both excited and wired. However over the course of several hours the weather deteriorated. The Atlas V rocket was on launch pad 41 and at one point we couldn’t even see it because of heavy rain. Jon and I were pretty damp ourselves, both physically and in spirit, by the time the launch was finally scrubbed.

The next day we came back to Banana Creek and convinced ourselves things would be different. The weather was glorious sunshine. This time the launch attempt got all the way to the terminal count; but we heard the fatal words “flight is no go” again and again, due to ground winds throughout the 30-minute window. If ground winds are too high, there is a risk that the rocket could collide with the launch tower as it comes off the pad. So, once again, we were scrubbed for the night.

Handed out as we boarded the KSC bus back from Banana Creek

On the 5th the wind was so high that people were out kite-surfing on the beach at 9am, and with no sign of it abating the launch was scrubbed hours before the 30-minute window even arrived.

Our flight back to the UK was the following day and, with only one chance left, we doubted that we would see it lift off at all. We wouldn’t have enough time to get the bus out to Banana Creek and back, so we made a plan to watch it from within the grounds of KSC visitor complex and then make a dash for the airport. This was only about one more mile away from launch pad 41.

As if things couldn’t get any worse, our plan was defeated when the KSC visitor complex had a mains water failure and had to close. An announcement came over the loud speaker asking everyone to leave.

Houston, we have a problem! Due to a water main break, the #KennedySpaceCenter Visitor Complex has closed until we can resolve the issue.

— Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex (@ExploreSpaceKSC) December 6, 2015

At this point we felt that the universe was against us, but we refused to give up. We checked online for places to view from and drove like madmen to the A1A bridge across the Banana river, where there’s line-of-sight to the NASA vehicle assembly building.

We were not the only ones there!

We had no way of getting updates because there was no WiFi there, and mobile data was being charged at £6 per MB. So we befriended some locals and listened in to their phones.

I can never put into words how bum-clenchingly tense the last ten minutes of the countdown was. Jon and I were both pacing up and down, checking the time every 30 seconds and chewing our own fingers! [Liz interjects: we were watching the live feed and live-tweeting the event from the UK; we were also clenching.]

Eventually someone shouted “There!” while pointing to the horizon and when we looked up. This is what we saw (click to enlarge):

The booster flare of the Atlas V rocket from eight miles away

We only saw the booster flare for about three seconds before it then disappeared into the clouds. About 30 seconds or so later, the noise arrived: a brilliant low thundering rumble building and building before slowly fading away.

Jon and I looked at each other and almost in unison said “Bon voyage little bibleblack Pis!” We then leapt into the rental car and headed for Orlando airport to catch our flight home. It was a hectic few days, but well worth it to catch that glimpse of the rocket taking off. Matt, Jon and I are eternally grateful to Eben and Philip who sent us on this journey!

Floating in a tin can

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Tonight, two specially augmented bibleblack Pi computers, called Astro Pis, will launch into SPAAAAACE! The Astro Pis will be running experimental Python programs written by school-age students, where the results will be downloaded back to Earth and made available online for all to see.

• When: 22:55:41 GMT (first launch window opens)
• Where: Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA
• Coverage: NASA TV live stream (below, and keep an eye out – Astro Pi may get a mention in the launch commentary)

http://www.ustream.tv/nasahdtv

If you’ve been following the Astro Pi project, you’ll know that we were bumped from Tim Peake’s launch vehicle due to a cargo overbooking back in October.

The OA-4 Cygnus Spacecraft, image credit: Orbital ATK

We’re now going to launch on Orbital Sciences’ Cygnus cargo freighter (an unmanned spacecraft, above) on its fourth supply mission to the ISS. Orbital Sciences have contracted ULA to launch it into space on an Atlas V rocket (below).

The Atlas V rocket, image credit: United Launch Alliance

When you need to rendezvous with an object in orbit, the timing of the launch is often critical to ensure that you get into the right orbital trajectory. This is often achieved with an instantaneous launch window where the rocket has to lift off at a precisely calculated time, otherwise the two objects will never meet in space.

Obviously, this approach can significantly limit the probability of an on-time launch. For instance, you may need to wait for a rain shower to pass by, a technical problem to be resolved or a boat in restricted waters to be chased away.

However, this is not the case for our launch! The Atlas V has so much performance capability that it provides a 30-minute launch window each day, and it’s all thanks to energy. The Atlas V has so much available energy that it can accommodate a very large off-nominal time of launch: 15 minutes early or 15 minutes late. The extra power is then used by clever steering algorithms to compensate for the rotation of the Earth, relative to the orbital target.

Below is the final configuration of the rocket. It will fly in the 401 vehicle configuration with a four-metre fairing, no solid rocket boosters, and a single-engine Centaur upper stage. The Astro Pis are sitting inside a small cargo transfer bag within the Cygnus spacecraft at the top.

OA-4 Launch Configuration, image credit: United Launch Alliance

And here is the ascent profile, with the main events numbered.

OA-4 Ascent Profile, image credit: United Launch Alliance

These are the event descriptions, with their times relative to lift-off.

OA-4 Main Events, image credit: United Launch Alliance

And finally, this is the ground trace; note that it will pass over the UK around 23 minutes into the mission. However, it will be in the Earth’s shadow and so almost impossible to spot with the naked eye.

OA-4 Ground Trace, image credit: United Launch Alliance

If everything goes according to plan, the Cygnus spacecraft will arrive at the ISS on the 6th of December at 9:00 GMT. The docking is a fascinating process and really worth watching if you’re interested; NASA TV will show it. It involves one of the crew operating the Canadarm2 to grab onto the incoming spacecraft before pulling it in.

Cygnus being moved onto the pad yesterday – the two bibleblack Pis are in the cone at the top.

Should the launch be delayed for any reason, here is a list of subsequent launch windows that occur over the next few days:

• December 4
  Launch: 22:33 GMT
  ISS arrival: Dec 7 or 8

• December 5
  Launch: 22:10 GMT
  ISS arrival: Dec 9

• December 6
  Launch: 21:44 GMT
  ISS arrival: Dec 19

If it’s delayed to the 6th, it will have to loiter in orbit for a few weeks before it can dock with the ISS. This is because of other visiting vehicle traffic, such as the Soyuz 45S launching on December 15th, carrying Tim Peake and his crew mates.

I will be attending the launch at Kennedy Space Center, along with Matt Richardson and Jonathan Bell (AKA jdb on the forums). We will be live-tweeting from our personal Twitter accounts (@Dave_Spice and @MattRichardson), from the bibleblack Pi account and also from the main Astro Pi account.

Please follow the official Twitter account below for the very latest updates on the launch.

Tweets by Astro_Pi

This has been a long road for us and our partners, so please keep fingers and toes crossed!

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This December, British ESA Astronaut Tim Peake will be taking two specially augmented bibleblack Pis called Astro Pis to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of his six-month mission.

These Astro Pis will be running experimental Python programs written by school-age students; the results will be downloaded back to Earth and made available online for all to see.

Here’s Tim at the European Astronaut Centre in Germany just after completing his training on our payload.

Fully qualified on @astro_pi. Huge fun today trying out the amazing apps coded by YOU! #Principia #science pic.twitter.com/A6WSft12xP

— Tim Peake (@astro_timpeake) October 15, 2015

Cargo Overbooking

The plan thus far had been for the Astro Pi payload to launch into space aboard the Soyuz 45S, the same rocket Tim will use to get into space on December 15th. A fortnight ago, though, the UK Space Agency warned us that there had been an overbooking of cargo on the flight, and that we might be bumped off.

We’re an educational payload and understandably of lower priority than important supplies like food and water. Our weight is 1.3 kg and the Soyuz rocket has capacity for only 60 kg of cargo after the crew and all of their luggage is on board. Other options for launching us were SpaceX 8 in January or Progress 63P in February.

Before we had time to allow ourselves to feel any disappointment over the possibility of not flying with Tim, though, the folks over at ESA got us onto an earlier flight with a planned launch date of December 3rd. The payload will now arrive at the ISS a few days before Tim does, so we’ll be there from the start after all.

New launch vehicle

We’re going to launch on Orbital Sciences’ Cygnus cargo freighter on its fourth mission to the ISS. The planned launch date is December 3rd at 22:48 GMT. Coverage will be via an internet live stream only.

Orbital Sciences has a contract with NASA to provide commercial cargo resupply services (CRS) to the ISS. They developed the Antares rocket, a medium class launch system, to carry the Cygnus into space.

The Antares rocket. Image credit: Orbital Sciences

As a reminder to everyone that nothing in space flight is guaranteed, the last Antares rocket exploded moments after lift off.

This was found to have been caused by a problem with the Antares rocket system itself; while it undergoes a long overhaul, Orbital Sciences have contracted United Launch Alliance to conduct their next cargo resupply mission using the older Atlas V rocket.

The Atlas V rocket. Image credit: United Launch Alliance

This is a launch configuration that hasn’t been used before (an Atlas V with the Cygnus spacecraft mounted on top) and which may not be used again, since the Antares launch system should be fixed by next year.

Obviously this adds an element of excitement to the situation so be sure to tune in online to watch the launch. We expect there to be two live streams providing coverage; one will be NASA TV and the other will be provided by Orbital Sciences themselves.

If the worst should happen, we have the contingency plan of promoting two of the Astro Pi engineering models to flight status: we made eight of them, two of which are flying into space leaving six ground units. ESA are committed to Astro Pi making it to the ISS and fulfilling our educational requirements. You can be sure that, whatever happens, it will fly in time for Tim to execute all the experiments.

So please don’t lose any sleep!

An Astro Pi ground unit at ESA EAC in Germany. Image credit: ESA

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