CHINA TO LAUNCH NEW REOMOTE SENSING SATELLITE - China is scheduled to launch a new remote sensing satellite "Yaogan V" on Monday at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China's Shanxi Province. The satellite is to be launched into the space on a Long March-4B carrier rocket "at an appropriate time", China News Service reports on Sunday. At present, both the rocket and the satellite were in good condition and the preparation went on well, according to the launch center.    More
(Source: Xinhua - Dec 14)

ILS PROTON SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES CIEL II SATELLITE - International Launch Services (ILS), a world leader in providing mission and launch services to the commercial satellite industry, successfully carried the Ciel II satellite into space for the Ciel Satellite Group of Canada today on Russia's premier heavy-lift launch vehicle, the Proton Breeze M. This was the sixth launch of the year, and 49th overall, for ILS. It is the 340th launch for the Proton system since its inception. The Proton Breeze M vehicle is built by Khrunichev Space Center of Moscow.    More
(Source: Market Watch - Dec 11)

SPACE SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR MAKES STOP IN FORT WORTH - The space shuttle Endeavour made a pit stop in Texas en route to Florida on Wednesday afternoon and will probably continue its cross-country trek this afternoon, authorities said. A modified 747 jet brought the shuttle piggyback to the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in Fort Worth about 3:15 p.m. The shuttle made a quick stop in El Paso earlier in the day.    More
(Source: Dallas News - Dec 11)

NASA SETS TARGET SHUTTLE LAUNCH DATE FOR HUBBLE SERVICING MISSION - NASA announced last Thursday that space shuttle Atlantis' STS-125 mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope is targeted to launch May 12, 2009. The final servicing mission to Hubble was delayed in September when a data handling unit on the telescope failed. Since then, engineers have been working to prepare a spare for flight. They expect to be able to ship the spare, known as the Science Instrument Command and Data Handling System, to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida in spring 2009.    More
(Source: About.com - Dec 9)

CHINA LAUNCH REMOTE SENSING SATELLITE YAOGAN-4 - WITH POTENTIAL MILITARY USE - According to the state media, the Yaogan-4 satellite “will be used for scientific research, land resources surveying, crop yield estimate and disaster prevention and relief, having a positive role in the country’s economic development.” The satellite was developed by the China Academy of Space Technology. The lack of information about this new bird raises the questions about its military nature. Announced as a remote sensing and disaster relief satellite series, the Yaogan satellite has an obscure mission.    More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Dec 2)

U.S. MISSILE-WARNING SATELLITE FAILS - A Northrop Grumman Corp U.S. military satellite used to track enemy missiles stopped working in mid-September, underscoring the urgent need to keep a program for replacement satellites on track, a defense official and several analysts said on Monday. The U.S. Air Force had no comment, but Space News reported on Monday that the Pentagon's chief weapons buyer John Young has signed a memorandum asking Congress to provide $117 million in funding in fiscal 2009 for a new satellite to hedge against a potential gap in satellite coverage around 2014    More
(Source: Reuters - Nov 25)

NATIONS AROUND THE WORLD MARK 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - Nations around the world will join together to mark a milestone in space exploration this week, celebrating the 10th birthday of a unique research laboratory, the International Space Station. Now the largest spacecraft ever built, the orbital assembly of the space station began with the launch from Kazakhstan of its first bus-sized component, Zarya, on Nov. 20, 1998. The launch began an international construction project of unprecedented complexity and sophistication.    More
(Source: NASA - Nov 20)

ASTRONAUT WHO LOST TOOL BAG ADMITS MAKING MISTAKE - The astronaut who lost her tool bag on a spacewalk admitted Wednesday that she made a mistake by not checking to see if the sack was tied down, and said she's still smarting over the whole thing. Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper said in an interview with The Associated Press that it was "very disheartening" to lose her bag full of tools. She was trying to clean up grease that had oozed out of a grease gun in the backpack-size bag, when the tote and everything in it floated away Tuesday. The bag was one of the largest items ever lost by a spacewalking astronaut. NASA put the price tag of the tool bag at $100,000.    More
(Source: Associated Press - Nov 20)

ASTRONAUTS RESUME SPACEWALK AFTER TOOLS LOST - Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper has resumed work on SARJ cleanup and lubrication. At approx. 3:33 p.m. EST, Piper reported that one of the Braycote lubrication guns had released grease into her toolbag. As she was cleaning the bag and wiping the tools and equipment inside, the bag floated away. Another bag carrying identical equipment is now being shared by Piper and Bowen. EVA officers in Mission Control believe there is enough equipment for the spacewalkers to complete the planned SARJ trundle bearing assembly removal and race ring cleaning.    More
(Source: NASA - Nov 18)

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