WEBB TELESCOPE FINALLY LEAVES EARTH IN SEARCH OF LIGHT FROM FIRST GALAXIES - The James Webb Space Telescope, a NASA-led international collaboration that took nearly 30 years and $10 billion to get to the launch pad, finally left Earth with a Christmas morning rocket ride from a European spaceport in South America, setting off on a mission to hunt for the first light in the universe. That was just the easy part. “Webb’s scientific promise is now closer than it ever has been,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, head of NASA’s science division. “We are poised on the edge of a truly exciting time of discovery, of things we’ve never before seen or imagined.”   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 26)

WATCH NORAD'S SANTA TRACKER AS HE DELIVERS GIFTS AROUND THE WORLD - NORAD, which is responsible for protecting the skies over the United States and Canada, has activated its Santa tracking system for Christmas Eve. Watch NORAD's Santa tracker as he delivers gifts around the world   More
(Source: NORADSanta.org - Dec 24)

MODIFIED RUSSIAN PROPULSION MODULE DEPARTS STATION - A modified Russian Progress propulsion compartment used to deliver the five-ton Prichal docking module to the International Space Station successfully undocked from the Prichal module at 6:03 p.m. EST. The spacecraft arrived and docked to the Nauka module on the Earth-facing side of the Russian segment Friday, Nov. 26, two days after lifting off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan Wednesday, Nov. 24.   More
(Source: NASA - Dec 24)

LONG MARCH 7A LAUNCHES CLASSIFIED SHIYAN-12 SATELLITES - China launched a new-generation Long March 7A rocket Thursday, successfully sending a pair of Shiyan-12 test satellites into geosynchronous transfer orbit. The Long March 7A lifted off from the coastal Wenchang Satellite Launch Center at 5:12 a.m. Eastern, rising into a broken cloudy sky just after local sunset.    More
(Source: SpaceNews - Dec 24)

WEBB WILL TAKE NEXT LEAP IN SEARCH FOR HABITABLE WORLDS - Beginning next year, the James Webb Space Telescope will scan a sampling of the nearly 5,000 alien worlds discovered around other stars to help astronomers identify which of the rocky planets might have atmospheres that could sustain life. When scientists starting designing Webb in the 1990s, astronomers had detected only a handful of planets outside our solar system. Now, thanks largely to NASA’s retired Kepler planet-hunting observatory, there are more than 4,800 confirmed exoplanets in the catalog.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 24)

SPACEX DRAGON CARGO SHIP DELIVERS CHRISTMAS PRESENTS (AND SUPPLIES) TO SPACE STATION - A SpaceX Dragon capsule arrived at the International Space Station early Wednesday (Dec. 22), carrying with it a holiday haul of science gear and Christmas treats for the astronauts living on the orbital outpost. The autonomous Dragon resupply ship docked itself at the orbital outpost at 3:41 a.m. EST (0841 GMT), ahead of its planned 4:30 a.m. docking time. It parked itself at the space-facing port on the station's Harmony module, with NASA astronauts Raja Chari and Tom Marshburn monitoring the docking from inside the station.    More
(Source: Space.com - Dec 23)

H-IIA LAUNCHES NEXT-GENERATION INMARSAT-6 FLIGHT 1 SATELLITE - apan succesfully launched the Inmarsat-6 Flight 1 (I-6 F1) satellite Wednesday as a part of Inmarsat’s next-generation satellite broadband service. I-6 F1 launched aboard an H-IIA 204 rocket at 12:32 AM local time Thursday (15:32 UTC Wednesday). Designated H-IIA F45, Wednesday’s launch is Japan’s third orbital flight of 2021 and H-IIA’s second mission of the year, marking the 45th flight of the H-IIA vehicle overall.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Dec 23)

US SPACE FORCE TESTS ATTACK RESILIENCE OF SATELLITE NETWORK - The US Space Force has conducted a virtual exercise to test the ability of the country’s satellite network to resist various types of attack, particularly those from Russian and Chinese anti-satellite weapons. Conducted at the Schriever Space Force Base in Colorado, the 10-day trial simulated an aggressive near-peer adversary that could be pitted against the American satellite network. Simulated threats reportedly included kinetic anti-satellite interceptor missiles and a variety of electronic warfare threats such as jamming.   More
(Source: The Defense Post - Dec 23)

JAPAN WILL LAUNCH A HUGE COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE ON WEDNESDAY. HERE'S HOW TO WATCH IT LIVE. - A highly advanced commercial communications satellite will lift off from Japan on Wednesday (Dec. 22) and you can watch the action live. The huge Inmarsat-6 F1 satellite is scheduled to launch atop a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries H-2A rocket Wednesday from Tanegashima Space Center in Japan during a two-hour window that opens at 9:33 a.m. EST (1433 GMT; 11:33 p.m. local time at Tanegashima).   More
(Source: Space.com - Dec 22)

Previous Next