ATLANTIS UNDOCKS FROM STATION - At 11:22 a.m. EDT, space shuttle Atlantis undocked from the International Space Station. Atlantis spent 7 days, 0 hrs, and 54 minutes docked to the orbiting laboratory. At undocking, the spacecraft were 220 miles above the Indian Ocean, southwest of Australia.    More
(Source: NASA - May 23)

SECRET X-37B SPACE PLANE SPOTTED BY AMATEUR SKYWATCHERS - While the U.S. Air Force is mum about the orbital whereabouts of its X-37B mini-space plane, a dedicated band of amateur skywatchers has got its cross-hairs on the spacecraft. The unpiloted X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle 1 was lofted on April 22 atop an Atlas launcher. It is being flown under the auspices of the U.S. Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office. In U.S. military tracking parlance, when the space plane reached orbit it became identified as Catalog Number 36514, 2010-015A, OTV-1 (USA 212).    More
(Source: Space.com - May 23)

ASTRA 3B SATELLITE SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHED - Satellite operator SES Astra has announced the successful launch of the Astra 3B satellite. Astra 3B was launched by Arianespace from French Guiana on Saturday night. It will gradually be moved to its permanent in-orbit position during the next few weeks with commercial services expected to begin in June. “The launch of Astra 3B is another important milestone in our long-term strategy to develop and deploy our fleet and secure additional growth potential,” said Ferdinand Kayser, president and CEO, SES Astra.    More
(Source: DigitalProductionME.com - May 23)

DELTA 4 POISED TO LAUNCH WITH NEXT GENERATION GPS SATELLITE - The launch of a Delta 4 rocket carrying the first in a new series of next generation GPS satellites has been rescheduled for Sunday night (May 23) at 11:17 PM EDT from Cape Canaveral, Florida after the countdown was halted barely 4 minutes prior to liftoff, shortly before midnight on Friday (May 21). The last minute countdown scrub was called after loss of "the telemetry signal between the GPS and the satellite ground support equipment," according to a statement issued by the Air Force and United Launch Alliance (ULA).    More
(Source: Space Ref - May 23)

LAUNCH OF NEW GPS SATELLITE DELAYED BY 1 DAY - The Air Force has delayed the launch of the latest Global Positioning System satellite by one day due to faulty launch tower equipment. While prepping the Delta IV rocket that will carry the GPS IIF-01 satellite aloft, “mission managers determined a piece of ground support equipment used to control one of the swing arms on the [launch] tower was not operating correctly and needed replacing,” according to an announcement released Wednesday by Air Force Space Command.    More
(Source: AirForceTimes.com - May 20)

SHUTTLE ATLANTIS, SPACE STATION VISIBLE THIS WEEK - Look! Up in the sky! It's not a bird. It's not a plane. It's the Space Shuttle Atlantis and the International Space Station. From now until Sunday, as the two spacecraft circle the Earth every 90 minutes, they should be visible to sky gazers across the globe. And that's especially true given that the shuttle is docked with the space station during its current mission.    More
(Source: CNET - May 20)

ATLANTIS DOCKS WITH STATION, CREWS BEGIN JOINT OPERATIONS - Space shuttle Atlantis docked with the International Space Station Sunday at 10:28 a.m. EDT. After a series of leak checks, the Expedition 23 crew, Commander Oleg Kotov, and Flight Engineers Alexander Skvortsov, Mikhail Kornienko, Soichi Noguchi, T.J. Creamer and Tracy Caldwell Dyson, welcomed the shuttle crew, Commander Ken Ham, Pilot Tony Antonelli and Mission Specialists Garrett Reisman, Michael Good, Steve Bowen and Piers Sellers, onboard and provided them with a station safety briefing before beginning the first tasks of the joint mission.    More
(Source: NASA - May 17)

SPACE JUNK MAY MAKE SHUTTLE ATLANTIS' ARRIVAL AT STATION TRICKIER - A piece of space junk near the International Space Station this weekend may force the massive orbiting laboratory to dodge out of the way, adding a bit more complexity to the shuttle Atlantis' planned arrival at the outpost on Sunday. The chunk space debris is expected to zip by the station Sunday morning. To dodge it, the orbiting lab may fire its Russian thrusters Saturday at about 9:08 p.m. EDT (0108 Sunday GMT), NASA officials said.    More
(Source: Space.com - May 15)

ATLANTIS IN ORBIT! - Space shuttle Atlantis is officially in orbit, kicking off its STS-132 mission and the pursuit of its target, the International Space Station. Atlantis lifted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center right on time at 2:20 p.m. EDT, rising into a picture-perfect Florida sky and capping a relatively problem-free countdown.    More
(Source: NASA - May 14)

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