VIRGIN GALACTIC’S ROCKET PLANE CLIMBS CLOSER TO SPACE - Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo rocket plane, built to eventually carry commercial passengers to the edge of space, accomplished another powered test flight into the rarefied upper atmosphere Thursday with two pilots on-board. The two-man team in the cockpit helmed the SpaceShipTwo vehicle, dubbed VSS Unity, as it dropped from the belly of a jet-powered carrier aircraft and ignited for a 42-second firing of its rear-mounted rocket motor, burning a mixture of rubber-based solid fuel — called HTPB — and nitrous oxide.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jul 30)

ASTRONAUTS CAPTURE THE BLOOD MOON FROM SPACE, AND THE PHOTOS ARE BREATHTAKING - The majority of the world was lucky enough to witness a total lunar eclipse a few hours ago - and not just any lunar eclipse, the longest lunar eclipse of the 21st century. Incredibly, the Moon was entirely in Earth's shadow (totality), turning it a dark blood red, for a full 1 hour and 43 minutes. Usually a lunar eclipse totality only lasts for around an hour. Throw in the fact that Mars was hanging around nearby and shining brighter than it has in our night sky in 15 years, and it was a pretty spectacular show.   More
(Source: ScienceAlert - Jul 30)

TESS’S PLANET HUNT BEGINS - NASA’s newest observatory in space has started its search for planets around other stars, officials said Friday, as astronomers zero in on worlds that are ripe for research by follow-up missions like the James Webb Space Telescope. The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite officially began a two-year science mission Wednesday, around three months after its blastoff from Cape Canaveral aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jul 28)

ISS SLOW SCAN TV (SSTV) - Slow Scan Television (SSTV) is transmitted by the ARISS Russia Team from the amateur radio station in the Russian Service Module of the International Space Station using the callsign RS0ISS. The equipment used is a Kenwood D710 transceiver running about 25 watts output which provides a very strong signal enabling reception using simple equipment.   More
(Source: AMSAT UK - Jul 27)

SPACEX LAUNCHES 10 MORE IRIDIUM SATELLITES - Just three days after launching a heavyweight communications satellite from Cape Canaveral, SpaceX fired off another Falcon 9 rocket from California early Wednesday carrying 10 Iridium NEXT satellites, the latest additions to a nearly complete $3 billion network of satellite telephone relay stations. The rocket's first stage, meanwhile, the third enhanced "block 5" version of the booster, flew itself to a landing on a SpaceX droneship "Just Read The Instructions," a company spokesman said, chalking up the California rocket builder's 15th successful recovery and 27th overall.   More
(Source: CBS News - Jul 26)

ARIANE 5 ROCKET LAUNCHES 4 NAVIGATION SATELLITES FOR EUROPE - An Ariane 5 rocket launched four European navigation satellites into orbit today (July 25), bringing the total number of satellites in Europe's Galileo navigation system up to 26. The two-stage rocket, built by the European launch provider Arianespace, lifted off from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, at 7:25 a.m. EDT (1125 GMT, 8:25 a.m. local time). A few minutes later, the rocket's two solid boosters separated and fell into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Peru, and the payload fairing jettisoned from the rocket's second stage. [   More
(Source: Space.com - Jul 25)

NOAA: ISSUES WITH NEW WEATHER SATELLITE 'DISAPPOINTING' BUT CONFIDENT IT'LL MEET NEEDS - Scientists with NOAA say they've got a good plan in place to deal with issues that cropped up on the new GOES-17 weather satellite that launched earlier this year. GOES-17 is the second of four planned new advanced weather satellites giving weather forecasters a treasure trove of new data at higher resolutions and more frequent updates. GOES-16 successfully launched in 2017 and went operational last fall over the East Coast and has already paid great dividends, among other things, helping save lives during Hurricane Harvey. GOES-17 is tasked to cover the West Coast.   More
(Source: Fox Baltimore - Jul 25)

BOEING FACES SIGNIFICANT SETBACK WITH SPACECRAFT IT'S DESIGNING TO FLY NASA ASTRONAUTS - The spacecraft Boeing plans to use to fly NASA astronauts to the International Space Station suffered a significant setback when, during a test of its emergency abort system in June, officials discovered a propellant leak, the company confirmed. In a statement to The Washington Post, Boeing said that is has "been conducting a thorough investigation with assistance from our NASA and industry partners. We are confident we found the cause and are moving forward with corrective action." The leak is likely to delay its launch schedule, and is another setback for a program that has faced a series of problems. It also comes as Vice President Mike Pence is expected to announce the crews for the first missions during a ceremony in early August at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.   More
(Source: Chicago Tribune - Jul 25)

SPACEX DELIVERS FOR TELESAT WITH SUCCESSFUL EARLY MORNING LAUNCH - An upgraded model of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket fired into orbit early Sunday from Florida’s Space Coast, hoisting a record-setting 7.8-ton (nearly 7.1-metric ton) communications satellite for Telesat toward its planned perch more than 22,000 miles over the equator. Riding a red-hot rocket plume from its nine Merlin 1D engines, the 229-foot-tall (70-meter) Falcon 9 rocket climbed away from Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad at 1:50 a.m. EDT (0550 GMT) Sunday.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jul 23)

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