ATLAS 5 ROCKET SUCCESSFULLY BOOSTS CYGNUS CARGO SHIP ON TREK TO SPACE STATION - Loaded with supplies to keep the International Space Station’s crew fed, clothed and busy with new science projects, a Cygnus cargo vessel sped into orbit today atop an Atlas 5 rocket. The 194-foot-tall United Launch Alliance rocket was activated and tested during a seven-hour countdown at its Complex 41 pad, leading to cryogenic fueling with 66,000 gallons of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. With the final status check confirming readiness at T-minus 25 seconds — “Go Atlas,” “Go Centaur,” “Go OA-7” — the computer-controlled countdown proceeded flawlessly and the main engine roared to life at 11:11:26 a.m. EDT (1511:26 GMT). More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 19)
SATELLITE CRASHES 'TO SOAR BY 50%' BECAUSE CHEAPER COST OF PRODUCING CRAFT WILL LEAD TO THOUSANDS BE - The launch of 'mega-constellations' of thousands of communication satellites could lead to a rise in collisions and build-up of space junk in Earth's orbit, scientists have warned. A decrease in the cost of the manufacture of satellites is set to lead to the deployment of hundreds or thousands into space from next year, creating a massive rise in the number of active satellites from the 1,300 currently in use. But Dr Hugh Lewis, senior lecture in aerospace engineering at the University of Southampton, has warned a 200-year computer simulation has shown the creation of a mega-constellation could create a 50% increase in the number of 'catastrophic collisions' between satellites. More (Source: Daily Mail - Apr 18)
CHINA READIES FIRST SPACE STATION CARGO MISSION - China is getting ready to launch its first cargo spacecraft, Tianzhou-1, to its Tiangong-2 space station later this week. China's Xinhua news services says the launch will take place between April 20 and 24. This is a test of robotic in-orbit refueling. No one is aboard the space station or the cargo spacecraft. Tiangong-2 was launched last year and occupied by a two-man crew for 30 days. It has been empty since then. More (Source: SpacePolicyOnline.com - Apr 18)
NASA WILL WEBCAST 360-DEGREE VIEW OF CARGO SHIP LAUNCH TUESDAY: WATCH IT LIVE - You can watch the first-ever 360-degree livestream of a rocket launch on Tuesday (April 18). Orbital ATK's robotic Cygnus cargo spacecraft is scheduled to launch toward the International Space Station (ISS) Tuesday atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at 11:11 a.m. EDT (1511 GMT) from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. You can watch it live here at Space.com, courtesy of NASA TV, or directly at the space agency's YouTube channel. Cygnus has flown a number of such resupply runs in the past, but this liftoff will be special, from a viewer's perspective at least: You'll be able to get a pad's-eye view, in 360 degrees. More (Source: Space.com - Apr 18)
NO, RUSSIA ISN’T SENDING A TERMINATOR ROBOT TO THE SPACE STATION - The reports this weekend were breathless. Mashable said Russia was sending a "death dealing" robot with the power to shoot guns to the International Space Station. Pravda reported that the Russian cyborg, Fyodor, had frightened the West. It was like the Terminator, only in space, and only for reals. In reality, probably not. The stories were written after the Russian deputy prime minister overseeing military and space activities, Dmitry Rogozin, posted on Facebook and Twitter about the country's humanoid robot, Fyodor. More (Source: Ars Technica - Apr 18)
SPACE STATION CREW RUNNING LOW ON CHOCOLATE AHEAD OF EASTER - This Sunday (April 16) is Easter, but the current occupants of the International Space Station are running low on one crucial supply item for the holiday. "I think we're actually a little short on chocolate right now," NASA astronaut and current space station commander Peggy Whitson said during a media interview Thursday (April 13). Chocolate is considered by many to be a staple of the holiday, and NASA has not specified how or when it plans to amend confectionary conundrum. More (Source: Space.com - Apr 16)
CYGNUS SHIP SENDING ABUNDANCE OF SCIENCE TO INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - Carrying more science research gear to the International Space Station than ever launched before by U.S. commercial logistics vehicles, the next Orbital ATK Cygnus freighter takes flight Tuesday. The cargo ship, ceremonially dubbed the S.S. John Glenn, will be boosted into orbit atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral at 11:11 a.m. EDT (1511 GMT). A 30-minute launch window, spanning 15 minutes before and 15 minutes after the exact moment the station’s orbital plane passes over the Complex 41 launch pad, allows flexibility for the Atlas 5 to wait out unfavorable weather or seek resolution to a technical issue that could crop up in the countdown. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 16)
ISRO TO LAUNCH SOUTH ASIA SATELLITE ON MAY 5; PAKISTAN NOT ON BOARD - India plans to launch on May 5 the 'South Asia Satellite' that will benefit all the countries in the region, except Pakistan which is not a part of the project. "It's going up in the first week of May," Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman A S Kiran Kumar told PTI in a telephonic interview. According to ISRO sources, the launch of this communication satellite (GSAT-9) is scheduled for May 5 on board the space agency's rocket GSLV-09 from Sriharikota spaceport. More (Source: Economic Times - Apr 15)
ATLAS 5 ROCKET AIMS FOR TUESDAY MORNING LAUNCH OF SUPPLIES TO SPACE STATION - Air Force meteorologists on this Good Friday have released their initial forecast for Tuesday’s launch of a cargo ship to the International Space Station, predicting favorable conditions to fly the Atlas 5 booster on a commercial mission. The United Launch Alliance rocket will propel Orbital ATK’s Cygnus automated resupply freighter into low-Earth orbit from Cape Canaveral. Liftoff on Tuesday will be possible during any of five specific opportunities in a 30-minute launch window, with the rocket’s in-flight steering capabilities employed to guide Cygnus into the station’s orbital plane... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 15)
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