NASA SCRUBS ARES 1-X LAUNCH DUE TO WEATHER - A series of delays led NASA to postpone the launch of its new Ares 1-X rocket by 24 hours. Clouds, snagged tethers and even a misdirected cargo ship within the danger area in the Atlantic Ocean contributed to delays in the launch of the Ares 1-X, a trial version of the rocket NASA hopes will ferry astronauts to low-Earth orbit aboard an Orion spacecraft. More (Source: Fox News - Oct 28)
NASA'S ARES ROCKET SET FOR TEST FLIGHT - For the first time in decades, a rocket instead of a space shuttle is occupying launchpad 39-B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Ares 1-X is a thin, sleek, 327-foot test rocket that is scheduled to launch Tuesday between 8 a.m. and noon. It is a test that could be influential in determining NASA's next-generation space vehicle. Although NASA is billing this test launch as "the first flight of a new era," the future of the space program is under review by the Obama administration. More (Source: CNN - Oct 27)
ARES 1-X TEST FLIGHT CLEARED FOR LAUNCH TUESDAY MORNING - Senior NASA officials convened at the Kennedy Space Center on Friday and formally approved plans to launch a $445 million test flight of the next-generation Ares 1 rocket next week. "This team has done a tremendous job getting to this point in the flow," said Doug Cooke, associate administrator for NASA's exploration systems mission directorate More (Source: Space Flight Now - Oct 25)
NASA DELAYS NOV. SHUTTLE LAUNCH FOR TEST FLIGHT - NASA is delaying its November space shuttle launch by four days to provide more breathing room for a test flight of its new rocket. Atlantis was supposed to lift off Nov. 12. Now launch is targeted for Nov. 16. NASA said Monday the delay will make it easier to get the experimental Ares rocket flying next week. The Ares I-X is supposed to blast off Oct. 27 on a brief suborbital flight. NASA will move the rocket to the pad Tuesday morning. More (Source: The Associated Press - Oct 20)
U.S. MILITARY'S NEW WEATHER SATELLITE GETS FOGGY SENDOFF - An Atlas 5 rocket escaped the heavy blanket of fog smothering its launch pad this morning and successfully powered to space to deploy a new global weather observatory for America's military. Liftoff from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base came at 9:12 a.m. local (12:12 p.m. EDT; 1612 GMT) when the day's narrow launch window opened to ensure delivery of the payload into the desired polar orbit. More (Source: Space Flight Now - Oct 18)
SHUTTLE ATLANTIS MOVES TO LAUNCH PAD FOR FLIGHT - The space shuttle Atlantis rolled out toward its Florida launch pad early Wednesday to prepare for a November liftoff, even though NASA is still unsure of exactly when the spacecraft will fly. NASA is targeting a planned Nov. 12 launch from Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for Atlantis and a crew of seven to deliver a vital load of supplies and spare parts to the International Space Station. It will be the agency's fifth shuttle launch of the year — the most since 2002. More (Source: MSNBC - Oct 15)
ROMANIA TO LAUNCH ITS FIRST SPACE ROCKET IN OCTOBER - The Romanian Aeronautics and Cosmonautics Association (ARCA) announced that it will launch in October the country's first space rocket, in what is the final rehearsal for a 30 million dollar astronautic contest for landing a privately built spacecraft on the moon, initiated by the Google corporation. The rocket dubbed Helen will be launched from a Black Sea platform and is a three-stage space rocket capable of reaching the outer space in suborbital flight, ARCA president Dumitru Popescu told a press conference. More (Source: Space-travel.com - Oct 15)
NASA RETIRES 'QUEEN' OF TRACKING SATELLITE FLEET - More than a quarter-century after a hard-luck launch aboard the shuttle Challenger, the pioneer of NASA's constellation of tracking and communications satellites is being retired from service. Named TDRS 1, the satellite's last traveling wave tube amplifier recently failed, rendering the craft unable to support most of its users' Ku-band data relay and telemetry needs, according to Roger Flaherty, the Space Network project manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Oct 14)
NASA INVITES TWITTER FANS TO SPACE SHUTTLE LAUNCH - NASA on Tuesday invited fans on Twitter to get front-row seats for next month's launch of the space shuttle Atlantis from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Registration for a NASA "Tweetup" will open on Friday, and the first 100 people to sign up will get to spend two days at the space center, touring the facility, chatting with technicians and astronauts, as well as watching a launch More (Source: Space Daily - Oct 14)
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