recursal/Fanatic-Fandom huggingface dataset:
Columbia (Reference Page)

***Columbia*** could refer to multiple pages. If you were directed here from a link, you can click "EDIT" above that page to change the link to go to the specific age if necessary.

### Spacecraft:

* Space Shuttle *Columbia*, the first Space Shuttle and first reusable orbital spacecraft.
* Command/Service Module *Columbia*, Apollo CSM used for Apollo 11.
SS Deke Slayton

The ***S.S. Deke Slayton*** (Orb-3) was an Cygnus spacecraft built by Northrop Grumman used to resupply the International Space Station under contract by NASA. It was destroyed in an accident during launch. It was the last of the standard Cygnus variant. It's successor, Cygnus OA-4, was named *S.S. Deke Slayton II* to make sure the moonwalker was honored.

Its cargo, an International Docking Adapter (IDA-1) was lost in the launch accident. This prompted an overhaul of the Cygnus spacecraft's design, resulting in the new 'Enhanced' Cygnus, which was used in all later missions. Due to the accident, the cargo for the next mission was instead launched on a Dragon 1 spacecraft (C107).

## Fun Facts

* Orb-3 was the last standard type Cygnus, and also the last to have an 'Orb' designation.
* Originally, the launch of Orb-3 was delayed due to a boat being in the launch zone!
Eagle (Reference Page)

***Eagle*** could refer to multiple pages. If you were directed here from a link, you can click "EDIT" above that page to change the link to go to the specific page if necessary.

## Spacecraft:

* Lunar Module *Eagle* - Used on Apollo 11 to land the first humans on the moon
* *Eagle* - Dream Chaser Space System test article
Polyus

**Polyus** was a prototype Skif orbital weapons platform launched by the Soviet Space Program. It was launched upside down (for technical reasons) on the first launch of the Energia rocket, but after separation from the rocket, it suffered a malfunction which caused it to not turn right side up properly and burned retrograde instead of prograde for its circularization burn, and was destroyed upon reentry. It was possibly intended to be the core module of Mir-2.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration

The **National Aeronautics and Space Administration** or **NASA** is the current space agency for the United States of America. They have greatly contributed to the exploration of our solar system, they put the first man on the moon with the Apollo spacecraft, and helped construct most of the International Space Station. They are possibly most famous for developing the Space Shuttles. They are currently developing the Lunar Gateway and the Orion spacecraft. They have contracted SpaceX, Boeing, Sierra Nevada and Northrop Grumman to create the Dragon 1 and 2, CST-100 Starliner, Dream Chaser and Cygnus spacecraft respectfully.

## Programs

### Apollo Program

they put the first man on the moon with the Apollo spacecraft,

### Space Shuttle Program

They are possibly most famous for developing the Space Shuttles.

### International Space Station Program

and helped construct most of the International Space Station.

### Commercial Crew Program

They have contracted SpaceX, Boeing, Sierra Nevada and Northrop Grumman to create the Dragon 1 and 2, CST-100 Starliner, Dream Chaser and Cygnus spacecraft respectfully.

### Artemis Program

They are currently developing the Lunar Gateway and the Orion spacecraft.
Neil Armstrong

> "I think we're going to the moon because it's in the nature of the human being to face challenges. It's by the nature of his deep inner soul... we're required to do these things just as salmon swim upstream." - Neil Armstrong
>
>

**Neil Alden Armstrong** was a NASA Astronaut most famous for being the first person to walk on the moon. He also served on the Apollo 13 accident investigation and on the Rogers Commission which investigated the *Challenger* disaster.

## Missions

* Gemini 8
* Apollo 11
Units of Displacement

**Units of Displacement** of **Units of Length** describe a distance in the physical world, such as low tall a rocket is or how far a rover has traveled.

## Meter

The metric unit for displacement. Abbreviated **m**.

## Foot

The imperial/English unit for displacement. Equals 12 inches. Abbreviated ft or with one quotation marks after the number like so: Rocket Length: 35**'**

## Inch

Another imperial/English unit for displacement. Abbreviated **in** or with two quotation marks after the number like so: Rocket Length: 35**''**
Atlas V

The **Atlas V** rocket was designed and operated by Lockheed Martin until control was handed over to the United Launch Alliance (ULA), a collaboration between Boeing and Lockheed Martin. It is used to launch the X-37B robotic spaceplane and the CST-100 Starliner, both spacecraft developed by Boeing, along with Dream Chaser by Sierra Nevada. It uses the Centaur upper stage.

On August 26th, 2021 ULA announced they would no longer be selling Atlas V launches, so after the existing contracts are launched, it will be retired, sometime in the 2020s.
Dynetics

**Dynetics** is an applied science and information technology company. They designed the Dynetics ALPACA Lander for NASA's Artemis HLS Contract with help from Sierra Nevada. Leidos announced it would buy Dynetics on December 17th, 2017 for $1.65 billion and Dynetics was officially transferred on January 31st, 2020.
Atlas-Able

**Atlas-Able** was an expendable launch system intended to improve the capability of the Atlas by taking an SM-65 Atlas booster and adding a Vanguard second and third stage (or Able rocket) on top, resulting in a large difference in diameter that has often earned it the title of "ugliest rocket in history". It failed on two static fires with an Atlas C booster and one with an Atlas D, and three subsequent failed launches to orbit on an Atlas D. It is a member of the Atlas family of rockets.

## See Also:

* Thor-Able, a more successful version of the Atlas-Able but with a Thor booster instead.
* Atlas-Mercury, an Atlas booster with a Mercury capsule instead of Able and payload.
European Retrievable Carrier

The **EUropean REtrievable CArrier** (**EURECA**) was an unmanned spacecraft launched on Space Shuttle Atlantis on STS-46 and was later retrieved by Space Shuttle Endeavour on STS-57. It is one of the few unmanned spacecraft to be returned to Earth unharmed.

## See Also

* Space Flyer Unit, a comparable Japanese spacecraft
Crew-3

**Crew-3** or **Crew Dragon 3** is the fifth Crew Dragon mission, the twenty ninth Dragon mission and the fourth operational Commercial Crew program flight to the International Space Station for NASA. It is scheduled to launch on October 30th, 2021 at 2:43am EDT from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center.

### Spacecraft

* Capsule *Endurance* (C210) (First Flight)
* International Space Station

### Crew

 Mission Specialist 1
 Mission Specialist 2

## European Mission Name

The European portion of the mission is called "Cosmic Kiss" This name comes from the ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer, who said it comes from a "declaration of love for space".

## See Also

* Crew-2, the preceding mission in the Commercial Crew program.
* Inspiration 4, the preceding Crew Dragon flight.
* Crew-4, the subsequent Dragon mission in the Commercial Crew program.

## Sources

* NASASpaceflight: Capsule and Booster assignment
Enhanced Cygnus

Enhanced Cygnus approaching the ISS

The **Enhanced Cygnus** spacecraft was designed by Orbital ATK based on the design they inherited when they merged with Orbital Sciences. In 2018, Northrop Grumman bought Orbital ATK and now manages all upgrades and operates launches under CRS-2 contract from NASA. It's counter part, Dragon 1 and now Cargo Dragon are reusable, unlike Cygnus, which is destroyed upon reentry, providing a necessary means of disposing of waste and garbage on the ISS.

Since every Cygnus is deorbited at the end of it's mission, they are usually packed with waste and unwanted materials before undocked from the ISS. The Cygnus has two variations, standard and enhanced. After an accident resulting in the destruction of a Standard Cygnus, the design was 'enhanced' to solved the problems, creating the newer edition now used.

Enhanced Cygnus launches on an Atlas V, while the original Cygnus launched on an Antares.

## Comparison to Standard

### Cygnus (Standard)

This is the original Cygnus spacecraft, used up until the *SS Deke Slayton* (Orb-3) was destroyed. It had a smaller cargo capacity and rectangular solar arrays. The enhanced version was used after this launch as the first enhanced version They are used to resupply and bring research and other cargo to the ISS for the United States, after the retirement of the Space Shuttle program.

### Enhanced Cygnus

Enhanced Cygnus is similar to the standard Cygnus spacecraft type, but, well, enhanced. Most Enhanced Cygnus' are named after deceased astronauts, such as the *SS Robert H. Lawrence* (NG-13). The main differences are a larger pressurized cargo section and circular solar arrays instead of rectangular ones used on the standard variant, as shown in the photos to the left. It was made as a replacement after the Orb-3 failure, the first Enhanced Cygnus mission (OA-4) was named *SS Deke Slayton II* after the Mercury Seven Astronaut and the original spacecraft.

## Spacecraft

This is a list of all Cygnus spacecraft. Instead of status being 'retired, active or destroyed' it will instead show the status of the mission, since all Cygnus are intended to be destroyed after their first mission, as they have no reentry capabilities.

* **'Success**' mean the mission went as planned, and the spacecraft was successfully orbited and destroyed.
* **'Failure'** means something went wrong with the mission, usually the spacecraft was destroyed prematurely during an accident.
* **'Planned'** means the mission has not yet happened, therefore the spacecraft is still in storage/construction.

## Gallery

A gallery of photos.

NG-13 being grappled by the Canadarm2.NG-12 berthed to the ISS
Karen Nyberg

**Karen LeBeau Nyberg** is a former NASA astronaut who retired in March 2020. She is married to Douglas Hurley with one son, Jack Hurley. Karen NyBerg was one of only 2 women in space along with Wang Yaping on Tiangong 1 during the Shenzhou 10 mission on June 16th, 2019, the 50th Anniversary of Vostok 6 when Valentina Tereshkova became the first women in space.

## Missions

* STS-124
* Soyuz TMA-09M
Artemis Program

The **Artemis Program** is the most recent space program of the United States and NASA. In 2016, President Trump directed NASA to take hardware and designs begun in the Constellation Program canceled by President Obama 8 years earlier. Some designs and hardware taken from Constellation to Artemis are SLS and Orion, while the Ares rocket was not brought back into development. The Artemis Program plans to land the first woman and the next man on the moon by 2024, aka the end of Trump's presidency. However, they aim to land in the south pole of the moon rather than in the equatorial regions as in Apollo.

The Lunar Gateway was originally an important part of NASA's 2024 south pole goal, but it was later decided this was not true. It is not canceled and is still under planning, however it will not be a part of the earlier missions.
OTV-5

**Orbital Test Vehicle mission 5** (**OTV-5**) was the fifth flight of the X-37B spaceplane and the first time it flew on a Falcon 9. It flew on the first flight of Falcon 9 booster 1040. This is also the longest X-37B mission to date with 780 days in orbit. OTV-6 is ongoing and it in unknown how long it will last.

## See Also

* Space Shuttle, a semi-contemporary and similar albeit larger spaceplane.
* X-37 Program, the program operating this flight.
* OTV-4, the preceding mission in the X-37 program.
* OTV-6, the subsequent mission in the X-37 program.
Falcon

**Falcon** is a family of rockets developed by Space Exploration Technologies Co. (SpaceX). Only 3 members (Falcon 1, Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy) have actually flown, the rest were concepts based on Falcon 1 or Falcon 9. Plans for a fully reusable Falcon-derived super heavy rocket ultimately produced the Starship system, with could be considered a member of the Falcon family or simply a successor. Due to the radical differences in design and dropping of the name, we have chosen not to include it hear, however an initial design for Starship (Big Falcon Rocket or BFR) has been included.

## Members

Below is a list of members of the Falcon rocket family.
Barack Obama

> "With his deeds, not only words, President Obama has revitalized our struggling space program." - Buzz Aldrin
>
>

**Barrack Hussein Obama** was the 44th president of the United States. The Constellation program was under way when he took office, however he thought that it was behind and over budget and established the Augustine Committee to evaluate the program. They proposed the cancellation of the Constellation Program. Obama canceled the constellation program, which was already far under way with multiple test flights already made, and ordered NASA to develop a new heavy-lift launch vehicle to replace the Ares V, the Space Launch System. The Orion capsule was saved from cancellation. However, he did not organize the remains of Constellation and the new heavy-lift rocket into a defined program, aside from a goal to "land on Mars by 2030". In 2016 President Donald Trump reorganized NASA's projects into the more clearly defined Artemis Program and gave it a goal of landing on the Moon again by 2024.
ISRO Reusable Launch Vehicle

The RLV-TD pictured in orbit.

The **Reusable Launch Vehicle** (**RLV**) is a fully reusable TSTO spaceplane under development by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). It is a similar design to the X-37B spaceplane.

## Development

The **Reusable Launch Vehicle - Technology Demonstrator** (**RLV-TD**) is a series of prototypes constructed in the development of RLV. The Hypersonic Flight Experiment (HEX-1) mission launched May 23rd was the first of four test flights in the RLV Technology Demonstration Programme. The others being the Landing Experiment (LEX), Return Flight Experiment (REX) and the Scramjet Propulsion Experiment (SPEX).

## Spacecraft

A list of RLV spacecraft.

Reusable Launch Vehicle - Technology Demonstrator
 LEX RLV

## Gallery

A gallery of RLV related images.

The HEX-1 mission launch.The RLV-TD for the HEX01 mission stacked on the HS9 booster awaiting launch.

## Sources

* ISRO.gov RLV-TD Programme

* HEX-1 nasaspaceflight.com
Chinese National Space Adminstration

The **Chinese National Space Administration** or CNSA is the space agency for China. They are not a part of the group that contributed to the ISS, and therefore do not get to send astronauts and experiments to the station. However, they are planning to launch their own station soon.

If you think this logo looks a bit familiar, this artical might interest you: https://illusorypromise.wordpress.com/2013/04/17/kind-of-hard-not-to-see-a-pattern-here/
Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage

The **Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage** (**ICPS**) is a modified version of the Delta Cryogenic Second Stage (DCSS) that will be used on the SLS Block 1. The difference includes changes to RCS and hydrogen fuel tanks and modification to fit on the 8.4 core stage diameter. The modified DCSS was chosen for SLS Block 1 to allow a more speedy development. The Exploration Upper Stage (EUS) will eventually replace the ICPS and increase SLS's capabilities upon it's completion somewhere around 2025.
RD-701

The **RD-701** (**Rocket Engine 701**) is a tri-propellant staged combustion cycle rocket engine developed by the Soviet space program. It was originally designed for the MAKS spaceplane until it was canceled with the collapse of the USSR. It used an afterburner of oxygen-rich turbine gas. It was essentially two engines with a shared hydraulic an pneumatic systems and boost pumps. It could operate under 2 Modes:

### Mode 1

* Oxidizer: Liquid Oxygen (LOX)
* Fuel: Mixture of RP-1 (Kerosene) and Liquid Hydrogen (LH2)
* Isp (SL): 330 s (3.2km/s)
* Isp (vac): 415 s (4.07 km/s)

Used for flight in lower, more dense atmosphere. The more dense fuel allowed for smaller fuel tanks, reducing mass. It also made the rocket engine more efficient at this atmospheric density.

### Mode 2

* Oxidizer: Liquid Oxygen (LOX)
* Fuel: Liquid Hydrogen (LH2)
* Isp (vac): 460 s (4.5 km/s)

Used for orbital maneuvers where atmospheric density does not aid in efficiency.

The use of these two modes gave the RD-701 a high specific impulse aka. high efficiency.

## Trivia

* It held the world record for highest pressure recorded in a combustion chamber at 300 bar until August 2020, when the experimental Raptor engine achieved 330 bar.
Antares

**Antares** is an orbital rocket designed, built and operated by Orbital Sciences, now Northrop Grumman. It was specifically built to launch the Cygnus spacecraft, however Antares is capable of carrying commercial payloads, but it's various operators have been unable to find customers. Thus, Antares has never launched anything besides Cygnus and now Enhanced Cygnus spacecraft for NASA resupply flights to the International Space Station, which have launched on Atlas V a few times as well.

It attracted a lot of attention when the rocket exploded moments after launch during the Orb-3 mission, causing the loss of the *SS Deke Slayton* and all cargo.
Columbia (CSM-107)

***Columbia*** was an Apollo Command/Service Module manufactured for and used during Apollo 11, the first mission to land human being on the Moon. Lunar Module *Eagle* actually did the landing, Columbia was what the astronauts used to carry the lander to the Moon and return home.

## Fun Fact

* *Columbia* was partly named after the space gun *Columbiad* used to travel to the Moon in Jules Verne's book *From the Earth to the Moon*.
Boeing X-37A

The **Boeing X-37A**, also known as the **Approach and Landing Test Vehicle** (**ALTV**), was a small aircraft that performed drop tests from a WhightKnightOne aircraft in Mojave and Air Force Plant 42, both in California. It was originally designed by NASA, but was transferred to DARPA and became classified. It was a prototype of the X-37 OV, an orbital spaceplane, which was also originally a part of the NASA project. It was meant to provide the same role the Space Shuttle *Enterprise* did for the Space Shuttle. The OV was canceled, however, the US Air Force developed their own spaceplane called the Orbital Test Vehicle (OVT) or X-37B, which is currently in operation.

## Sources

* Space.com X-37B 10 Interesting Facts
* Wikipedia X-37B (see Glide testing)
Jeff Bezos

> "There will always be serendipity involved in discovery" - Jeff Bezos
>
>

**Jeffrey Preston Bezos** is an American businessmen and Founder and CEO of Blue Origin. He was at one time the richest man in the world from his earnings as Founder and former CEO of Amazon until surpassed by Elon Musk. He flew to suborbital space on NS-16.
Mir Space Station

The **Mir Space Station** was a Russian owned space station built by ROSCOSMOS until it fell out of orbit and was destroyed. The International Space Station is now the only space station in space.

During the Shuttle-*Mir* program, cooperation between NASA and ROSCOSMOS was so successful that Space Station *Freedom* was changed to become the International Space Station.
Medium Lift Launch Vehicle

A **Medium Lift Launch Vehicle** (**MLLV or MLV**) or **Medium Load Lifting Vehicle** is a launch vehicle classification defined as any rocket that has a maximum payload mass from 2,000 to 20,000 kg (4,400 to 44,100 lbs) into LEO. This is more than a Small Lift Launch Vehicle and less than a Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle.

## List of Medium Lift Launch Vehicles

This list shows concepts, retired, active and in development MLLV rockets or other launch vehicles, in order of chronology. This list is incomplete.
Hydrolox

**Hydrolox** is a term used to describe a fuel system which uses Liquid Hydrogen and Liquid Oxygen (LOX) to create thrust, hence the name Hydrolox. It is often used a way of describing a spacecraft's fuel, since they need LOX and Hydrogen, although officially Hydrogen is the fuel and Liquid Oxygen is the oxidizer.

## Chemistry

The balanced chemical formula for this reaction is:

## Uses

Hydrolox is a common fuel for rockets as it has a high specific impulse. It is used in the BE-3, RS-25 and many other engines.
Reusable Launch Vehicle

A **Fully Reusable Launch Vehicle** or simply a **Reusable Launch Vehicle** is a type of launch vehicle that can be recovered and reused on a subsequent flight for a number of times. This is different from a partially-reusable Launch vehicle, in which only certain components of the vehicle can be reused, while others are expendable. The first fully Reusable Launch Vehicle flown was Blue Origin's New Shepard capsule. However, this is a suborbital launch vehicle, and no reusable orbital vehicle has been flown yet, but some are currently in development.
North American X-15

X-15 in flight

The **North American** **X-15** was a rocket-powered air-dropped suborbital spaceplane manufactured by North American Aviation and Reaction Engines operated by the USAF and NASA. It was the first aerodynamic vessel designed for flight to reach space, in other words, the first spaceplane. It dropped from a modified B-52 mothership. The X-15 was not capable of reaching orbit, similar to the SpaceShipOne and family. Many flights went above 50 miles (80 km), the Air Force's designation of space, but only two went above 100km and are recognized internationally as spaceflights. The X-15 also broke the record for fastest crewed, powered aerodynamic flight and it remains unbroken to this day.

## Spacecraft

 X-15A-2
 X-15-3
Energia

**Energia** is a rocket designed by RSC Energia to launch the Buran shuttle orbiter, among other things, such as the Polyus weapons platform. It had 4 Zenit liquid fuel boosters instead of the Space Shuttle's 2 solid fuel boosters.

It had two variants, Energia-Polyus and Energia-Buran, each flew once.
RSS First Step

The ***RSS First Step*** (NS4) is a New Shepard capsule and booster developed during the testing phase of the New Shepard Program. It was the first to carry human passengers and the first to fly a completely commercial flight (all paying customer passengers).

## Missions

 NS-15
 NS-16 | First crewed mission carrying 4 crew members including Jeff Bezos and Wally Funk.
 NS-18 | Second crewed flight, carrying 4 crew members including William Shatner. | 13 Oct 2021
 NS-19 | Third crewed flight, first flight carrying 6 crew members including Michael Strahan and Laura Shepard Churchley.
Challenger (Reference Page)

***Challenger*** could refer to multiple pages. If you were directed here from a link, you can click "EDIT" above that page to change the link to go to the right page.

### Spacecraft:

* Space Shuttle *Challenger* (OV-099)*,* the second operational Space Shuttle constructed.
* Apollo Lunar Module *Challenger* (LM-12), Lunar Module used for Apollo 17.
Super Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle

A **Super Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle** (**SHLLV**) or **Super Heavy Load Lifting Vehicle** is a launch vehicle classification defined as any rocket that can deliver 50 metric tons (110,000 lbs) or more into LEO, or more than a Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle.

Past SHLLVs are the Saturn V, N1, Energia, and STS. The only SHLLV currently operational is the Falcon Heavy. In development SHLLVs are the Starship Super Heavy and Space Launch System (SLS).

## List of Super Heavy Lift Launch Vehicles

This list shows all retired, active and in development MLLV rockets or other launch vehicles, in order of chronology. Some concepts are also included.
Ariane 6

The **Ariane 6** is an expendable heavy-lift launch vehicle under development by Arianespace. It is intended to replace the Ariane 5. It has a first stage using improved versions of the Vulcain engines used on the Ariane 5, a second stage with the new Vinci engine and 2 to 4 P120 solid rocket boosters attached to the side.

## Variants

There are two variants of the Ariane 6. The Ariane 62 has 2 P120 SRBs, while the Ariane 64 has 4 SRBs.
LauncherOne

**LauncherOne** is an air-drop SLLV rocket developed by Virgin Orbit, the rocket launching sector of the Virgin Group. The rocket is attached to the wing of a modified Boeing 747-400 aircraft named *Cosmic Girl*. Initially development was begun by Virgin Galactic, and other subsidiary of the Virgin Group, until Virgin orbit was created to allow Virgin Galactic to be focused on the SpaceShipTwo program. It is comparable to Orbital Sciences Pegasus rocket. The rocket has a mass of approximately 30 tons, or 60,000 lbs.

## Solar Electric Propulsiuon Upper Stage

Virgin Orbit was awarded a Phase II SBIRS contract to use an ExoTerra Solar Electric Propulsion Upper Stage on LauncherOne. This will most likely consist of a redesigned second stage with an ion engine in place of the NewtonFour engine and liquid fuel tanks currently on the second stage of LauncherOne. This new second stage will allow the launcher to send CubeSats to the GEO, the Moon, Mars and interplanetary destinations. Dan Hart, CEO of Virgin Orbit spoke on the contract, "This award falls squarely on our development roadmap. It’s an exciting technology they we're looking forward to integrating with LauncherOne in order to better serve customers across a broad set of communities..."

## Sources

* Virgin Orbit: ExoTerra Electric Upper Stage
* Orbital Today: ExoTerra Electric Upper Stage
Kistler K-1

The **Kistler K-1** was a multistage reusable launch vehicle designed by Kistler Aerospace (then Rocketplane Kistler). It was selected to perform cargo resupply and recovery of the ISS, as well as boosting it's orbit. However, this contract was challenged by a competitor company (SpaceX) and the selection was overturned, starting a series of events that led to the bankruptcy of Rocketplane Kistler and K-1 development ceased.

## COTS Selection, Suit and Kistler Bankruptcy

Kistler K-1 received a contract from NASA to deliver cargo to and from the ISS, as well as boost it's orbit. This was not done competitively and SpaceX challenged the selection as many former NASA engineers and administration now worked at Kistler and SpaceX had not been given a fair oppruntunity to compete for the contract. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) sided with SpaceX and the selection was overturned. NASA then initiated the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program to allow for a competitive contract awarding environment. Both SpaceX Dragon and Kistler K-1 won COTS contracts, however after failing to meet certain technical and financial deadlines, NASA canceled their contract, resulting in a decline in Kistler K-1 development ending with the bankruptcy of Rocketplane Kistler.

Note this is different then Blue Origin's suing of SpaceX over the NASA Artemis HLS contract. The difference being that in the case of the Kistler contract, SpaceX had not been given a chance at fair competition, while Blue Origin had already lost given an equal oppruntunity as it's competitors. As Elon Musk, CEO and Chief Engineer at SpaceX stated in a tweet:

> SpaceX has sued to be \*allowed\* to compete, BO [Blue Origin] is suing to stop competition." - Elon Musk, Twitter, Sept 29, 2021, 3:53pm.
>
>

## Stages

### Launch Assist Platform (Stage 1)

It used three AR26 engines in a linear arrangement. It would life the upper stage until a predetermined point in the flight where it would separate and perform a boostback burn, similar the Falcon 9 years later. It was going to be able to be reused 100 times.

### Orbital Vehicle (Stage 2)

The K-1 Orbital Vehicle was a reusable stagecraft that used 1 vacuum optimized AR26 engine. It would use RCS thrusters to deorbit, then the aerodynamic cover on top would serve as a heat protection system during a prograde reentry. It would then employ a similar recovery method to the booster at that point with parachutes and air bags.

## See Also

Falcon 9, a similar contemporary rocket design that ended up performing the task K-1 was designed for, with the Dragon 1 spacecraft.
Automated Transfer Vehicle

ATV-2 'Johannes Kepler' approaching the ISS

**Automated Transfer Vehicles** or **ATV**s are an expendable robotic cargo resupply spacecraft design by the European Space Agency (ESA) on the Ariane 5 rocket. They are designed to launch, dock with the ISS, the de-orbit and be destroyed. This allows cargo to be taken up, and unwanted material, such as waste, to be disposed of.

Despite being a robotic, cargo delivery vessel with no method of safe return to earth, it is rated to hold humans and safely take them to orbit. A crewed version of ATV was purposed, but never constructed or launched.

## Orion Design Contribution

On April 2nd, 2012, ESA announced they would be shutting down the ATV program. Since this was their way of fulfilling the ISS maintenance costs, helping design the Orion spacecraft became a replacement to fulfill that requirement. Orion's service module is based off of the ATV design. The 4 solar panels making an 'X' shape is the most obvious similarity.
Boeing X-37B

X-37B on the runway

The **Boeing X-37B** is a reusable orbital robotic spaceplane developed by Boeing for the US Air Force. In 2020, the X-37 program and all X-37 vehicles were transferred to the United States Space Force (USSF). It typically launches on an Atlas V, but is capable of launching on a Falcon 9 as it did on OTV-5. It was originally designed to be capable of staying in orbit for "270 days or greater" and has since spent up to over 2 years in space. It gets power from gallium arsenide solar arrays that deploy from the cargo bay. This is different from the Space Shuttle which used fuel cells.

It is based on the X-37A Orbital Vehicle (OV), which was canceled, but did have a successful Approach and Landing Test Vehicle (ALTV). It's crewed successor, the X-37C, was canceled. There is also an "astronaut ambulance" variant that was proposed by an engineering team at Boeing led by former NASA Astronaut Stephen Robinson.

They most likely consist of material testing among other things, which are classified. The craft will take unusually long missions, sometimes multiple years. Not much is known about this secret spaceplane. It is part of the X-37 program. More info about it's predecessors and successor can be found on that page.

There isn't much data on these spacecraft and their missions as they are classified, therefore the following lists are most likely incomplete and possibly inaccurate and represent a collection of public knowledge on the spacecraft.

## X-37B Spacecraft

A list of all X-37B spaceplanes. This is for the individual spaceplanes, not individual missions. Note that it is unknown which X-37B was used on some of the missions.

 2

## Missions

A list of all X-37 missions flown, and which plane flew it (if know) as well as other data.

## Gallery

Artist's reedition of the X-37 spacecraft in 1999.A speculated solar array and cargo bay configuration. The actual configuration is secret.
## Fun Facts

* The X-37B holds the record for longest time spent in space by a recoverable and reusable spacecraft at 780 days in orbit.

## Sources

* Air Force Fact Sheet
* Space.com 10 Interesting Facts
* Space.com "Astronaut Ambulance"
Starship Mars Program

> "I want to emphasize, this is a very hard and dangerous and difficult thing. Not for the faint of heart. Good chance you'll die. And it's going to be tough, tough going, but it'll be pretty glorious if it works out." -Elon Musk
>
>

The **Starship Mars Program** or the **Starship Program**, or the **SpaceX Mars Program**, is a spaceflight program run by SpaceX with the ultimate goal of establishing human colonies on Mars. SpaceX is currently developing the Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy booster system for this goal, however it will be used for other SpaceX operations as well. The Starship will transport crew and cargo to the red planet and establish colonies their.
Single-stage-to-orbit

An **SSTO (Single Stage To Orbit)** or **1-Stage Spacecraf**t is a spacecraft with only one stage, meaning the rocket that gets it into the air is taken to orbit with the rest of the craft. Not many SSTOs exist, since taking the extra weight of the rocket into orbit is impractical because it requires more fuel, which costs more and weighs even more.

SpaceX plans to use an SSTO on Mars with it's Starship, as it is easier there because of the lower atmosphere and gravity. Starship is NOT capable of launching as an SSTO on Earth, instead it uses the Starship Super Heavy rocket.

VentureStar (pictured) was a planned VTHL SSTO spaceplane, but was canceled due to problems with the Aerospike engine and weight of the fuel tanks.

## See Also

* Two-stage-to-orbit (TSTO)
* Vertical Takeoff, Vertical Landing (VTVL)
* Horizontal Takeoff, Horizontal Landing (HTHL)
* Vertical Takeoff, Horizontal Landing (VTHL)
Space RIDER

Artist's impression of Space RIDER deploying a payload into orbit.

**Space RIDER** (**Space** **R**eusable **I**ntegrated **D**emonstrator for **E**urope **R**eturn) is a planned reusable robotic lifting body spacecraft developed by the Italian Space Agency under the PRIDE Programme in association with the European Space Agency (ESA). Space RIDER is intended to give ESA affordable and reliable access to LEO with it's maiden flight in 2022. It will launch on the Vega-C rocket.

Space RIDER is a spaceplane in the sense that is uses lift to fly through the air, but it is actually a lifting body with no wings, so it looks very different from an airplane. This shape will slow it down upon reentry and then it will use controllable parachutes to land, similar to NASA's X-38.

The secret Chinese spaceplane has been speculated to be something like the Space RIDER or the Boeing X-37.
Vertical Takeoff, Vertical Landing

A **vertical takeoff, vertical landing** or **VTVL** (sometimes abbreviated VTOVL) spacecraft is a spacecraft that launches like a rocket vertically and then, on descent, uses it's thrusters to slow down enough so it can safely land vertically. The Apollo LM was the first crewed VTVL spacecraft, however because of the Moon's low gravity this is not as impressive. Some VTVL spacecraft in development are the New Shepard by Blue Origin and Starship by SpaceX. The first successful vertical landing of a spacecraft on Earth during an orbital mission was the Falcon 9 rocket first stage, as pictured to the right, however New Shepard and Delta Clipper had been doing it much earlier on suborbital flights.

## See Also:

* Horizontal Takeoff, Horizontal Landing (HTHL)
* Single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO)
* Two-stage-to-orbit (TSTO)
VSS Enterprise

The **Virgin Space Ship *Enterprise* (VSS *Enterpris*e)** was the first SpaceShipTwo suborbital spaceplane. It was destroyed during a test flight over the Mojave Desert.

## Fun Fact

* VSS *Enterprise* was named by the then Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger.
* It was most likely named after either the USS *Enterprise* (NCC-1701) from the Star Trek TV show or the Space Shuttle prototype *Enterprise*.
Maak

“*Izel... I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. Whatever your destiny, boy, know I'm sorry for the path I sent you and Nelli on. I didn't protect you, or them.*”
―Maak to Izel shortly before the latter leaves Ox Te' Tuun

## Appearances

### Voice Actors

Oscar Balderrama

**Maak** (aka **Nohoch Maak**, lit. "Great Person" or "Old Man" in Yucatec Maya) is a character in Onyx Equinox. He was Izel and Nelli's first guardian before selling the pair to another master who lived in Uxmal.

## History

### "Thicker Than Water"

Content from this episode to be added here

### "The Stranger"

After figuring out the direction of the second Underworld gate, a tremor briefly shakes the ground beneath the feet of Yaotl, Izel and the twins. After Yun remarks that they normally don't have earthquakes like this in the area, Yaotl clarifies that what they felt wasn't an earthquake. Looking back towards Ox Te' Tuun, a large mushroom cloud erupts over the city, in the middle of which is Mictlantecuhtli, destroying the city and killing the inhabitants for their blood as he did Dani Baán. In disbelief and worry, Yun insists on heading back to Ox Te' Tuun to save Maak, to which K'in retorts that they cannot face off against "that thing". Yaotl clarifies that the "thing" is the klng of the Underworld, and that the twins should pray for their people, as they can no longer help them. The twins reassure each other that Maak is strong, and would have seen the fall of the city coming, and that he must have survived somehow, before silently turning and walking away from their former home. In actuality, however, it's unlikely Maak would have survived the fall of Ox Te' Tuun.
Space Shuttle Program

The **Space Shuttle program** was run from 1972 to 2011 (the first launch was in 1981) by NASA and ran the Space Shuttle missions, including resupply crewed missions to the ISS, the Shuttle-*Mir* Program and creating and improving the space shuttles. The program and all of it's space shuttles have been retired.

A more detailed dialog of the course of the program is on the Space Shuttle page.
Electron

**Electron** is a partially reusable SLLV developed by RocketLab. Electron is made out of carbon composites, and is recovered by deploying a parachute. It has not yet made a flight of a reused booster, however they have successfully recovered a flown booster by splashdown and made a successful in-air helicopter recovery test of a booster. Electron has a unique black color due to the carbon composite exterior, which makes the ice formed from the cryogenic fuels extra visible.

## Gallery

The successful test of the Electron mid-air recovery system.Electron rocket at liftoff, note the white frozen condensation from the cryogenic fuel tanks..Founder, CEO and CTO of RocketLab with an Electron rocket.
Spacecraft

A **spacecraft** is a controlled man made object meant to travel through outer space. This includes automatically, remotely, or manually piloted machines or vessels. The term "spaceship" means a spacecraft that carries a human pilot, crew or passenger onboard.

## Gallery of Spacecraft

A Dragon cargo resupply spacecraft.The Space Shuttle was the first reusable spacecraft.Starship 20, the first orbital SpaceX Starship.A OneWeb internet satellite constellation spacecraft.Space Flyer Unit, a reusable unmanned spacecraft.Art of the first spacecraft: Sputnik 1.Salyut 1, the first in a class of spacecraft called space stations.The Hubble Space Telescope, a spacecraft made for observing the galaxy through optics.
Tiangong

A diagram of Tiangong 1

**Tiangong** space stations were designed and launched by the Chinese space agency, CNSA. It was be serviced by the crewed Shenzhou and robotic cargo Tianzhou spacecraft. It is equivalent to the Russian Salyut stations.

## Spacecraft of Class

 Tiangong 2 | A space laboratory planned to precede the larger modular station.
 Tiangong 3
SpaceShip III

VSS Imagine during it's rollout ceremony March 30 2021

**SpaceShip III** (**SSII**I) or **SpaceShipThree** (**SS3**) is a class of reusable suborbital HTHL spaceplanes designed and built by Virgin Galactic. It is functionally compatible with SpaceShipTwo and operates the same way, but is built for mass production and quicker turnaround times. It is really more like SpaceShipTwo Block 2.

## Development

The original plans for "SpaceShipThree" were for an orbital spaceplane, then a point-to-point suborbital passenger liner, but then became simply an upgraded version of SS2 that it is today.

The first of the class was the VSS *Imagine* unveiled March 30th, 2021, the same date as Starship SN11's flight, which more or less over shadowed the unveiling.

## Comparison to SpaceShipTwo

The most notable difference is the chrome exterior, with better aids in heat loss. Other than this and some livery changes, VSS Unity and VSS Imagine look almost identical externally, but internally, SS3 is made to allow easier access to systems, making it easier and quicker to reuse, repair and refit some aspects of SpaceShipTwo that were more time consuming to undertake.
Tenacity

***Tenacity*** (**DC01**) is the first Dream Chaser Cargo System orbiter constructed by Sierra Nevada. It is an unmanned robotic cargo craft that will be used to ferry cargo and experiments to and from the ISS. It is scheduled to be first launched sometime in 2022.

## Missions

 *(SNC CRS rotation)* | Delivering cargo to the ISS.
Shenzhou

A diagram of the spacecraft post Shenzhou 7

**Shenzhou** is a spacecraft developed by CNSA. It is based off the design of the Russian Soyuz. China eventually bought some components from Russia, furthering the similarity, however it is much bigger. It was developed as China's first spacecraft, and also to service their Tiangong space stations. They are now used to service the Chinese Space Station. Will be replaced by the Next-generation Chinese Spacecraft. Adapted as the Tianzhou cargo craft.

## Spacecraft

A list of all Shenzhou spacecraft. Missions with dates in *italics* have not happened and the planned date, if any, is shown.
Space Station

A **Space Station** is a special type of manned spacecraft designed to stay in orbit around a celestial object. They usually have thrusters to keep them in orbit, but generally they do not change their orbit or move around much. Instead, smaller spacecraft come to, or rendezvous, with them. They then usually berth or dock to the space station. **'Docking'** is when the spacecraft maneuvers itself into the docking port using thrusters on-broad.**'Berthing'** is when a spacecraft 'parks' near a space stations a robotic arm on the station grapples it and places it on the docking port. Most spacecraft have maneuvering thrusters, however robotic space craft don't have pilots, so they must have expensive AI software to autonomously dock to a station. Berthing is simply a way of getting spacecraft with out a pilot of docking software to successfully mate (or attach) with the station.
Shenzhou 12

**Shenzhou 12** is the twelfth flight of the Shenzhou spacecraft and the first mission to the Tiangong Space Station. It launched June 17th, 2021. The crew performed China's second and longest spacewalk to date.

### Spacecraft

* Shenzhou 12
* Tianhe (Chinese Space Station)

### Crew

 Operator 1
 Operator 1

## See Also

* Shenzhou 11, the preceding mission of the Shenzhou program.
* Shenzhou 13, the subsequent mission of the Shenzhou program.
SS Robert H. Lawrence

***SS Robert H. Lawrence*** is an Enhanced Cygnus, specifically Cygnus NG-13. It docked with the ISS on February 28th, 2020 and returned to earth on May 11th of the same year. It was destroyed upon reentry into Earth's atmosphere. It's mission was to bring supplies and cargo to the ISS.

## Links

* See other Cygnus spacecraft here.

* Learn about other spacecraft on the Spacecraft List.
Stargazer

***Stargazer*** is modified Lockheed L-1011 TriStar originally built in 1974, then modified in 1994 to launch the Pegasus rocket for Orbital Sciences. It was transferred along with Pegasus to Orbital ATK and now Northrop Grumman when the companies merged. It's livery has changed for each transition.
Spaceship

**Spaceships** or **Manned Spacecraft** differ from other spacecraft in that they are designed to carry humans either from the surface of a planet to orbit, from the orbit of one planet or moon to somewhere else or both. They are what most people think of when they hear spacecraft. In fact, most people don't realize that 'spacecraft' includes pretty much any man made object in space, besides debris. Spaceship is simply a more specific way if saying spacecraft designed to carry human beings safely through space. Spaceships often dock at Space Stations, which are manned spacecraft that are meant to stay in one orbit. Some commonly known spaceships are the Space Shuttle, Soyuz, Apollo, Dragon 2. Although space stations are technically manned spacecraft, they are given their own categories since they have such different functions.
Boeing Small Launch Vehicle

## Small Launch Vehicle

Computer image of the Boeing SLV mounted to it's assumed launch vehicle, the WhiteKnightTwo.

## General Statistics

### Payload Max Size

21 *(0.53m) diameter* 38 *(0.97m) length*

## Launches

### Tags

SLLV

The **Boeing Small Launch Vehicle** or **SLV** is a SLLV spaceplane under development by Boeing under contract from DARPA. It is estimated to drive small sat launch costs down to US$300,000 and come be operational by 2020. Projected to lift 100lbs or 45kg into Low Earth Orbit.

Annotated computer image of the Boeing SLV.
STS-135

**STS-135** or ISS Assembly flight **ULF7** was the last mission of the Space Shuttle Program and the last launch of a Space Shuttle *Atlantis* specifically. It was preceded by STS-134.

## Crew

* Commander - Christopher Ferguson
* Pilot - Douglas Hurley
* Mission Specialist 1 - Sandra Magnus
* Mission Specialist 2 - Rex Walheim

### Spacecraft

* Space Shuttle *Atlantis*
* International Space Station

## Fun Facts

* Douglas Hurley flew on STS-135, the last Space Shuttle mission, and Demo-2, the first Crew Dragon mission. There were no American orbital human spaceflights in-between these too missions, however they were separated by 9 years.

## See Also

* STS-134, the preceding mission in the Space Shuttle program.
* DM-2, the next American orbital human spaceflight after a 9 year gap
Wally Funk

**Mary Wallace "Wally" Funk** is an aviator and space flight participant. She is the youngest member of the Mercury 13 group of women that under went Mercury astronaut training. She applied to NASA to be an Astronaut, but she was turned down for not having an engineering degree or being a test pilot.

She flew to suborbital space on NS-16 and became the oldest person to do so at the time.
Spaceplane

A **Spaceplane** is a spacecraft that uses the forces of lift to fly or glide through the atmosphere during launch or landing. They were first designed as a way to make space technology reusable, as with the most famous spaceplane, the Space Shuttle. However, ever since the Falcon 9 demonstrated the viability and practicality of reusing rocket stages by vertically landing them, spaceplanes have started to see a decline in support due to the added weight of wings and other necessary features that do no aid in other parts of the mission. However, there is no currently no comparable to the Falcon 9 which could provide data as to whether these claims are true. Spaceplanes are still in active development. One notable example of spaceplanes besting reusable rockets is SpaceShipTwo beating New Shepard in the "fly a billionaire to space race" by 9 days, despite the program starting significantly after New Shepard.

There are many other examples of spaceplanes in the past, present and future. The Soviets designed and built their own shuttle heavily based off STS and called it Buran, however due to the collapse of the USSR, it never made anymore then one unmanned test flight. In the modern era, the Space Shuttles are retired, but American company Sierra Nevada bought the rights to the Dream Chaser spaceplane, a smaller spacecraft then the space shuttle, but similar in looks and design. The Boeing X-37B robotic spaceplane is also currently being used by Boeing for the US Air Force for classified missions, with the X-37C planned to carry a crew to orbit.

## Spaceplanes

A list of types of spaceplanes in alphabetical order.
SpaceShipOne

**SpaceShipOne (SS1)** is a suborbital spaceplane developed by Scaled Composites. In June 2004, it made the first private spaceflight in history. The WhiteKnightOne airplane is it's launch vehicle which carries it to a higher altitude before dropping it. It also won the $100 Million Ansari X Prize. SpaceShipTwo and WhiteKnightTwo by Virgin Galactic who bought SS1 and WK1 are the follow ups to SS1.
Virgin Orbit

**Virgin Orbit** is a subsidiary of the Virgin Group and launches the LauncherOne rocket from the *Cosmic Girl* airplane. They are fellow subsidiaries with Virgin Galactic, who originally started development of the LauncherOne rocket before it and the people working on it were transferred to the newly created Orbit.