SPACEX CARGO LAUNCH TO SPACE STATION PUSHED TO TUESDAY - SpaceX's next robotic resupply mission to the International Space Station has been pushed from Friday (Dec. 8) to next Tuesday (Dec. 12) at the earliest. "This new launch date takes into account pad readiness, requirements for science payloads, space station crew availability and orbital mechanics," NASA officials wrote in an update today (Dec. 5). During the mission, SpaceX's two-stage Falcon 9 rocket will lift off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, sending the uncrewed Dragon capsule on its way to the orbiting lab. More (Source: Space.com - Dec 6)
PRIVATE INFLATABLE HABITAT WILL STAY AT SPACE STATION FOR AT LEAST 3 MORE YEARS - The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) will stay attached to the International Space Station through at least 2020, NASA announced yesterday (Dec. 4). BEAM, which is owned by the Las Vegas-based company Bigelow Aerospace, launched toward the orbiting lab in compact form aboard a SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule in April 2016. It was attached and expanded shortly thereafter, to test the performance of such inflatable habitats — which can provide more internal volume per unit launch mass than traditional metallic modules — in the space environment. More (Source: Space.com - Dec 6)
THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION IS SUPER GERMY - Thousands of species have colonized the International Space Station — and only one of them is Homo sapiens. According to a new study in the journal PeerJ, the interior surfaces of the 17-year-old, 250-mile-high, airtight space station harbor at least 1,000 and perhaps more than 4,000 microbe species — a finding that is actually “reassuring,” according to co-author David Coil. “Diversity is generally associated with a healthy ecosystem,” said the University of California at Davis microbiologist. A varied population of microscopic inhabitants is probably a signature of a healthy spacecraft, he added. And as humanity considers even longer ventures in space — such as an 18-month voyage to Mars — scientists must understand who these microbes are. More (Source: Washington Post - Dec 6)
CYGNUS SUPPLY SHIP READIED FOR STATION DEPARTURE - After a 22-day stay at the International Space Station, an Orbital ATK Cygnus supply ship is set for departure Wednesday en route to a higher orbit for release of 14 CubeSats for commercial weather monitoring and technology demonstrations. The cargo ship was detached from the space station's Unity module via ground commanding Tuesday, and the lab's Canadian-built robotic arm maneuvered it to a release point around 30 feet (10 meters) below the complex. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 6)
PLANETARY RESOURCES’ PROTOTYPE ASTEROID PROSPECTOR SET FOR JANUARY LIFTOFF IN INDIA - Redmond, Wash.-based Planetary Resources’ technology demonstrator satellite for asteroid prospecting is due for launch in early January, along with more than two dozen other satellites, aboard India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. The latest word on the schedule for the PSLV-C40 mission came today from Seattle-based Spaceflight, which is providing launch and mission services for Planetary Resources’ Arkyd-6 and 10 other satellites. More (Source: GeekWire - Dec 5)
GORGEOUS PHOTO SHOWS SPACE STATION CROSS THE FACE OF THE MOON - The moon and International Space Station are two of the brightest objects in the night sky, so whenever they team up, it's bound to be spectacular. On Dec. 2, the Space Station passed over the face of the moon, showing off its pretty silhouette against the craters of Earth's only natural satellite. The station passed over Manchester Township, York County, Pennsylvania as a NASA photographer captured a timelapse of the orbiting space laboratory crossing over the moon's face from Earth's perspective. More (Source: Mashable - Dec 5)
LONG MARCH 2D SENDS YAOGAN WEIXING 31 SATELLITE ALOFT - Using a Long March 2D booster, China has successfully sent its newest Yaogan Weixing remote sensing satellite into orbit. The launch was conducted at 04:11 GMT on Sunday, December 3 (11:11 p.m. EST on Saturday, December 2), 2017, from the LC43 Launch Complex at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (JSLC) in China’s Gansu Province. The mission was originally scheduled for November, and the Long March 2D rocket was delivered to JSLC in mid-October. More (Source: SpaceFlight Insider - Dec 4)
US GENERAL: RUSSIA AND CHINA BUILDING SPACE WEAPONS TO TARGET US SATELLITES - A senior US general said Saturday that countries like Russia and China are actively building weapons that can target space-based US military assets like satellites. "They've been building weapons, testing weapons, building weapons to operate from the earth in space, jamming weapons, laser weapons, and they have not kept it secret," Gen. John Hyten, the head of US Strategic Command, told an audience at the Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California. "They're building those capabilities to challenge the United States of America, to challenge our allies, and to change the balance of power in the world," added Hyten, who oversees all US military operations in space. "We cannot allow that to happen." More (Source: CNN - Dec 4)
SOYUZ ROCKET DELIVERS A MILITARY SATELLITE - The Russian military personnel in Plesetsk orbited an operational spacecraft for electronic intelligence, known as Lotos-S1 or 14S145. A part of the Liana constellation, the mission lifted off on a Soyuz-2-1b rocket on Dec. 2, 2017, or just four days after another Soyuz-2 rocket lifted an ill-fated mission from Vostochny spaceport. The Lotos-S1 No. 803 mission was previously planned for Oct. 25, 2017, but had to be postponed until the beginning of November and then until November 18, at the earliest, due to problems with the satellite. More (Source: RussianSpaceWeb.com - Dec 3)
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