ASK AN ASTRONOMER: SPACE DEBRIS AND THREAT THEY POSE TO SATELLITES, SPACE MISSIONS - Thousands of satellites orbit the Earth to study the planet, support communication and several other purposes. However, once these satellites reach their expiry time, they become space junk or space debris and can turn into a major hazard for other multi-million dollar satellites. Recently, China’s mission Long March 5B fell into Earth in an uncontrollable manner—this event once again raised a major alarm related to the space junk floating around in space.   More
(Source: The Weather Channel - May 26)

SPACEX'S HISTORIC DEMO-2 CREW DRAGON ASTRONAUT LAUNCH: FULL COVERAGE - SpaceX is set to make history on May 27, 2020. On that date, Elon Musk's company is scheduled to launch its first crewed mission, a test flight called Demo-2 that will send NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station aboard a Crew Dragon capsule. If all goes well with Demo-2, Crew Dragon and SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket will be validated for operational crewed missions, the first of which is expected to launch later this year.    More
(Source: Space.com - May 26)

NASA INVITES PUBLIC TO BE ITS GUESTS TO CELEBRATE HISTORIC ‘LAUNCH AMERICA’ - NASA is inviting the public to help celebrate a historic milestone in human spaceflight as it prepares for #LaunchAmerica – the first flight into orbit of American astronauts on American rockets from American soil since the end of the space shuttle era in 2011. Known as NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 test flight, which is targeted for lift off at 4:33 p.m. EDT Wednesday, May 27...   More
(Source: NASA - May 25)

CHINA'S LOW-ORBIT BROADBAND COMMUNICATION SATELLITE BEARS FRUITFUL RESULTS - China's first technology experiment satellite for low-orbit broadband communication has completed more than 180 communication tests and generated fruitful results, according to its developer Friday. As the first satellite of the Hongyun Project, a low-orbit broadband communication satellite system developed by the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC), it has worked stably for more than 8,800 hours...   More
(Source: Space Daily - May 25)

NASA SPACE STATION ON-ORBIT STATUS 21 MAY, 2020 - SPACEX CREW PREPS FOR LAUNCH - The International Space Station will welcome a pair of different spaceships next week. Japan's space freighter will arrive first on Monday followed by the first crewed mission from SpaceX on Thursday. The H-II Transfer Vehicle-9 (HTV-9) is in space racing toward the orbiting lab following its launch from Japan on Wednesday. The HTV-9, nicknamed Kounotori, or "white stork", will arrive at the station Monday packed with over four tons of crew supplies, space experiments and new lithium-ion batteries to upgrade station power systems.   More
(Source: Space Ref - May 24)

VENERABLE AO-7 SATELLITE CONTINUES TO DELIVER - The nearly 46-year-old AO-7 amateur satellite made a remarkable contact possible on May 4 between Diego Feil, LW2DAF, in Buenos Aires, Argentina (GF05rk), and Tom Ambrose, ZS1TA, in Cape Town, South Africa (JF95fx). The contact spanned 4,329 miles across the South Atlantic, with both stations aiming at only 2 or 3 degrees above the horizon.   More
(Source: ARRL - May 24)

MYSTERIOUS LIGHTS OVER AUSTRALIA MAY HAVE COME FROM RUSSIAN SATELLITE - Earth has been spared yet again — from asteroids, at least. Australians in central Victoria were shocked to see streaks of fire passing through the night sky on Friday, sparking theories of meteors and aliens on social media. Sky-watchers in parts of Tasmania also reported witnessing the mysterious light show, reports the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).   More
(Source: New York Post - May 24)

RUSSIA’S SOYUZ-2-1B LAUNCHES MISSILE DETECTION SATELLITE - Russia’s Aerospace Forces launched a Soyuz-2-1b rocket Friday, carrying a satellite designed to give the Kremlin advance warning of missile attacks. Soyuz lifted off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome at about 10:31 Moscow Time (07:31 UTC), beginning a multi-hour mission to deliver the Tundra No.4 satellite into an elliptical Molniya orbit. A successful mission was declared at around 13:00 UTC.    More
(Source: NASASpaceflight.com - May 23)

THE US IS PLANNING TO BUILD A SATELLITE NETWORK TO TRACK HYPERSONIC WEAPONS FROM RUSSIA AND CHINA - The United States plans to launch 150 satellites that can track hypersonic weapons in orbit in 2024, a move observers say is aimed at helping the Pentagon control assets in space and keep a close watch on Chinese activities. According to a draft request for proposals released by the Space Development Agency (SDA) last week, it is seeking a contractor to design and build eight satellites with infrared sensors to track hypersonic weapons, US online military tech publication C4ISRNET reported.   More
(Source: Business Insider - May 23)

Previous Next