CREW AND SHUTTLE IN FINAL PREP STAGES - Beginning Friday night the crew for space shuttle Endeavour’s STS-126 mission will be quarantined to their quarters at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston to help minimize the possibility of getting sick before launch. But that doesn’t mean they are finished training and preparing for their upcoming flight to the International Space Station.    More
(Source: International Space Fellowship - Nov 8)

ILS PROTON SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES ASTRA 1M SATELLITE - A Proton Breeze M launch vehicle successfully lifted the ASTRA 1M satellite into orbit today, marking the fifth mission of the year for International Launch Services (ILS). The Proton vehicle lifted off from Pad 39 at the cosmodrome at 2:44 a.m. today local time (3:44 p.m. EST Wednesday, 20:44 GMT Wednesday). After a 9-hour-12-minute mission, the launcher released the satellite into a geosynchronous transfer orbit. The satellite will eventually go into operation at 19.2 degrees East longitude for SES ASTRA of Luxembourg.    More
(Source: MarketWatch.com - Nov 6)

ISS SPACE JUNK RE-ENTRY - More than a year ago, in July 2007, International Space Station astronauts threw an obsolete, refrigerator-sized ammonia reservoir overboard. Ever since, the 1400-lb piece of space junk has been circling Earth in a decaying orbit - and now it is about to re-enter. If predictions are correct, the 'Early Ammonia Servicer' (EAS for short) will turn into a brilliant fireball as it disintegrates in Earth's atmosphere during the early hours of Monday, November 3rd.    More
(Source: The Southgate Amateur Radio Club - Nov 3)

VENEZUELAN SATELLITE IS LAUNCHED FROM CHINA - Chinese and Venezuelan scientists hovered over radar screens, a Russian combat jet flew overhead and satellite dishes tilted toward the skies as Venezuela tracked the launch of its first satellite on Wednesday. President Hugo Chavez has increasingly turned toward the East for help in technological development, and his latest endeavor — at a cost of some $406 million — will help him spread his revolutionary message across Latin America.    More
(Source: Associated Press - Oct 30)

CHINESE SATELLITES LAUNCHED - China deployed two research satellites (SHIJIAN-6E and SHIJIAN-6F) early Saturday in a super-secret launch from a space center in the northeastern part of the country. The two spacecraft blasted off on a Long March 4B rocket at 0115 GMT Saturday (9:15 p.m. EDT Friday) from the Taiyuan launch site in Shanxi province in northeastern China, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.    More
(Source: SpaceFlightNow.com - Oct 29)

STATION PREPARATIONS FOR ARRIVAL OF SHUTTLE CONTINUE - The Expedition 18 crew of the International Space Station focused Tuesday on science experiments, routine maintenance and preparations for the arrival of space shuttle Endeavour in November. Commander Mike Fincke completed activities with an experiment that studies the impacts of long-duration spaceflight on heart function and the blood vessels that supply the brain. Learning more about these effects could lead to specific countermeasures that might better protect future space travelers.    More
(Source: The Space Fellowship - Oct 29)

PENTAGON CONFIRMS COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE DELAY - The Defense Department confirmed Friday it has no firm deadline for awarding a multibillion-dollar satellite contract, saying it needs time to work up new requirements on what is expected to be a scaled down version of the original program. The Pentagon still plans to award a contract "as soon as possible" to either Boeing Co. or Lockheed Martin Corp. for the Transformational Communications Satellite, known as TSAT, but the award date is still "undetermined," according to a statement released Friday.   More
(Source: Forbes.com - Oct 25)

UNITED LAUNCH ALLIANCE SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES 3RD ITALIAN COSMO SATELLITE - A United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket, on behalf of Boeing Launch Services, successfully launched the third Italian-built Constellation of Small Satellites for Mediterranean Basin Observation or COSMO-SkyMed 3 satellite at 7:28 p.m., today. ULA successfully launched the first two Cosmo satellites on Delta II vehicles June 7, 2007 and Dec. 8, 2007   More
(Source: SpaceRef - Oct 25)

SOYUZ CAPSULE CARRYING AUSTIN MILLIONAIRE LANDS SAFELY - A Soyuz capsule carrying Austin computer game designer Richard Garriott and two Russian cosmonauts descended safely into remote Kazakhstan late Thursday, ending a worrisome string of two jarring landings by the venerable spacecraft. Garriott, the 47-year-old son of a former NASA Skylab astronaut, paid $30 million for a round-trip flight to the international space station that began with an Oct. 12 launching of another Russian Soyuz.    More
(Source: Houston Chronicle - Oct 24)

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