ANTARES ROCKET LAUNCHES CYGNUS CARGO SHIP ON MARATHON MISSION FOR NASA - An Antares rocket soared into the afternoon sky over Virginia on Wednesday (April 17) carrying tons of NASA supplies — and 40 intrepid mice — to the International Space Station. The Northrop Grumman Antares rocket and its uncrewed Cygnus spacecraft launched into the cosmos from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility, kicking off a two-day voyage to the space station. Liftoff occurred at 4:46 p.m. EDT (2046 GMT). "A beautiful day, a fantastic launch," NASA's deputy space station program manager Joel Montalbano said after the successful liftoff. More (Source: Space.com - Apr 18)
WHY WE NEED TO AVOID MORE ANTI-SATELLITE TESTS - India announced three weeks ago that it had joined an “elite club of space powers,” having destroyed one of its own satellites with a hit-to-kill missile defense interceptor. With “Mission Shakti,” India became the fourth country to intentionally destroy a satellite on orbit. Only three other states—the Soviet Union, the United States, and China—have deliberately destroyed orbiting satellites. No state has destroyed another state’s satellite. This extraordinary restraint is worth preserving and expanding. More (Source: Space News - Apr 17)
TINY ROBOTS, WEARABLE TECH AND MORE WEIRD SCIENCE WILL LAUNCH TO SPACE STATION WEDNESDAY - The strange experiments will launch from Virginia this Wednesday. Tomorrow (April 17), Northrop Grumman's Antares rocket will launch its Cygnus spacecraft to the space station, carrying supplies as well as a set of strange and innovative experiments that could support future missions to space. Among them will be two different tiny robots that will practice helping astronauts with space station maintenance; a study that will assess the artery health of astronauts using wearable tech; and a test for a new method for removing carbon dioxide from the air on board the space station... More (Source: Space.com - Apr 17)
AMATEUR RADIO IN SPACE PIONEER ASTRONAUT OWEN GARRIOTT, W5LFL, SK - The US astronaut who pioneered the use of Amateur Radio to make contacts from space — Owen K. Garriott, W5LFL — died April 15 at his home in Huntsville, Alabama. He was 88. Garriott’s ham radio activity ushered in the formal establishment of Amateur Radio in space, first as SAREX — the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment, and later as ARISS — Amateur Radio on the International Space Station. “Owen Garriott was a good friend and an incredible astronaut,” fellow astronaut Buzz Aldrin tweeted. “I have a great sadness as I learn of his passing today. Godspeed Owen.” More (Source: ARRL - Apr 16)
TAX DAY 2019 REACHES ASTRONAUTS IN SPACE, TOO - For U.S. citizens, there's no escaping Tax Day — not even if you've left planet Earth. Millions of Americans are expected to have filed their taxes for 2018 by midnight tonight today, and the three NASA astronauts currently living and working at the International Space Station are no exception — even if they are orbiting 250 miles (400 kilometers) from the nearest H&R Block. Tax Day can be a big source of anxiety for those of us who waited until the last minute to get started (you know who you are), but NASA's astronauts are no procrastinators on filing their taxes. More (Source: Space.com - Apr 16)
DEBRIS: THE PLASTIC OF THE SKY - Over recent months, there has been a sudden wave of public awareness relating to the massive and growing problem of plastic in our seas. Mainly thanks to a remarkable BBC documentary featuring Sir David Attenborough highlighting the problem and the ensuing awareness campaigns, plus, the advent of alternatives to plastic. When you think about it, the same analogy can be applied to space with different effects. Our increased dependency on space capabilities demands an understanding of the associated vulnerabilities in what has become an increasingly congested Earth-orbiting space environment. More (Source: Via Satellite - Apr 16)
ALTA DEVICES SOLAR ON UPCOMING SATELLITE LAUNCH - This week, the NG-11 mission will launch from the NASA Wallops Flight Facility carrying the Cygnus cargo spacecraft. This spacecraft will deliver supplies to the International Space Station (ISS) and transport 60 small satellites, called ThinSats, into space. These satellites are powered by Alta Devices gallium arsenide solar cells and will carry various electromagnetic, radiation and inertial sensors for scientific analysis of the atmosphere. More (Source: Associated Press - Apr 16)
DIWATA-2 DESIGNATED PHILIPPINES-OSCAR 101 (PO-101) - On October 29, 2018, the Diwata-2 microsatellite was launched on a H-IIA launch vehicle from the Tanegashima Space Center, Tanegashima, Japan. Diwata-2 was developed by the University of the Philippines Dillman (UPD) and the Advanced Science and Technology Institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-ASTI) under the PHL-Microsat program (now succeeded by the STAMINA4Space program), and in cooperation with Tohoku University and Hokkaido University. More (Source: AMSAT - Apr 14)
WORLD’S LARGEST PLANE, DESIGNED TO CARRY SATELLITE-LOADED ROCKETS, TAKES OFF FOR 1ST TEST FLIGHT - After years of development in the desert north of Los Angeles, a gigantic, six-engined mega jet with the wingspan of an American football field flew Saturday morning for the first time. “We finally did it,” said Stratolaunch Systems CEO Jean Floyd at a news conference from the hangar at Mojave Air & Space Port. “It was an emotional moment to watch this bird take flight.” Stratolaunch, the company founded in 2011 by the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, conducted the first test flight of the world’s largest plane. More (Source: KTLA - Apr 14)
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