NASA SATELLITES WATCH AS HURRICANE HARVEY INTENSIFIES OFF TEXAS COAST - Tropical storm Harvey has been gaining strength and will likely make landfall as a major hurricane, NASA satellite images revealed. What started out as the remnants of a tropical storm could become the worst hurricane to hit Texas in nearly 50 years and the first Category 3 hurricane to hit the United States in almost 12 years, the Weather Channel reports. On Wednesday (Aug. 23), the National Hurricane Center (NHC) upgraded the scattered storm remnants to a tropical depression, and by Thursday (Aug. 24) it started to shape up as a large "tropical cyclone" over the Gulf of Mexico.   More
(Source: Space.com - Aug 26)

TAIWANESE SATELLITE RIDES SPACEX ROCKET INTO ORBIT - Flying with an exceptionally lightweight payload, a Falcon 9 rocket delivered a multipurpose research satellite into a nearly 450-mile-high orbit Thursday for Taiwan following a smooth countdown and liftoff from California’s Central Coast. Weighing in at about a half-ton, or 475 kilograms, the Formosat 5 satellite doubles as an orbiting observatory to look down on Earth and as a pathfinder for Taiwan’s future space ambitions. Formosat 5 climbed into space aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, which lifted off at 11:51 a.m. PDT (2:51 p.m. EDT; 1851 GMT) from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Aug 26)

SPACEX WILL LOSE MILLIONS ON ITS TAIWANESE SATELLITE LAUNCH - SpaceX is poised to fire off a fresh Falcon 9 rocket on Thursday, delivering a comically tiny payload for Taiwan’s National Space Organization. At 1,047 pounds, the Formosat-5 Earth-observing satellite is almost light enough for a human to deadlift—but it’ll launch atop a Falcon 9 rocket with 50 times more capacity. The overkill is thanks to a years-long delay, and SpaceX will take a substantial financial hit to make good on a contract it signed in 2010. Elon Musk’s space flight company will attempt to launch the rocket from Vandenberg Air Force base in California during a 42-minute window opening at 11:51 am PDT on Thursday. https://www.wired.com/story/spacex-will-lose-millions-on-its-taiwanese-satellite-launch/   More
(Source: WIRED - Aug 25)

SATELLITES THAT CAN IMAGE EARTH AT NIGHT, AND THROUGH CLOUDS, NEAR LAUNCH - The biggest thing in aerospace these days is the trend toward small things, from small satellites to small satellite launch vehicles like those under development by Rocket Lab, Virgin Galactic, and Vector Space Systems. Now a new microsatellite company, ICEYE, says it is moving forward with development and deployment of its synthetic-aperture radar technology.   More
(Source: Ars Technica - Aug 24)

WATCH THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION TRAVEL ACROSS THE SOLAR ECLIPSE - In this video, the International Space Station is seen in silhouette as it transits the sun at roughly five miles per second during the solar eclipse on Monday near Banner, Wyoming. A high speed camera, shooting at 1,500 frames per second, was used to capture the event. The total solar eclipse was sweeping across a narrow portion of the contiguous United States on Monday, from Oregon to South Carolina. A partial solar eclipse was visible across the entire North American continent, along with parts of South America, Africa, and Europe.   More
(Source: TIME - Aug 23)

SATELLITE CAPTURES SHADOW OF ECLIPSE CROSSING THE U.S. - As millions of Americans were looking up at the total solar eclipse, the GOES-16 weather satellite was looking down at the United States. The shadow - a corridor just 60 to 70 miles (96 to 113 kilometers) wide - came ashore in Oregon and then traveled diagonally across the heartland to South Carolina, with darkness from the totality lasting only about two to three wondrous minutes in any one spot. The rest of North America was treated to a partial eclipse, as were Central American and the top of South America.   More
(Source: - Aug 22)

WHY AN ECLIPSE IS BETTER VIEWED FROM EARTH: AN ASTRONAUT'S PERSPECTIVE - In one day, we will be treated to a total eclipse of the sun over a large portion of the United States. This has not happened since 1979. I remember observing part of a total eclipse when I was in grade school, back in 1970. The next day, I saw a newspaper article about a girl who became blind because she watched it for several minutes without any eye protection (when the sun was not totally obscured). Her mother came into her room and caught her, and made her stop.    More
(Source: Space.com - Aug 22)

ORS-5 SATELLITE PREPPED FOR LAUNCH - With a Flight Readiness Review successfully concluded Aug. 17, the Air Force's Operational Responsive Space (ORS)-5 satellite is now ready for its journey to equatorial orbit from Space Launch Complex-46 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. It is scheduled for launch on Aug. 25 during a four-hour launch window that opens at 11:15 p.m., EDT, after being stacked and mated atop a five-stage Orbital ATK Minotaur IV launch vehicle. ORS-5, also known as SensorSat, was encapsulated Aug. 11 at the Astrotech Space Operations Florida processing facility in preparation for its upcoming launch. Encapsulation of ORS-5 marked the satellite's completion of all major testing prior to transfer to LC-46.   More
(Source: Space Daily - Aug 21)

EYES ON THE GROUND: NOAA SATELLITES FOCUSED ON THE GROUND DURING ECLIPSE - While nearly everyone else will have their eyes focused up in the air during Monday’s eclipse, scientists with the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration will have their weather satellites focused on the ground. “We’ll be using those to track and acquire imagery of the moon’s shadow as it crosses across the United States,” said Vanessa Griffin, the director of satellite operations for NOAA.   More
(Source: WTOP - Aug 21)

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