THE 10 BIGGEST SPACEFLIGHT STORIES OF 2016 - 2016 was a very busy year in space. A number of high-profile missions lifted off, others reached their destinations after long journeys through deep space, and a few, sadly, crashed and burned. Here's Space.com's look at the most important spaceflight stories of the year. 1. Rocket landings galore Some of the most exciting spaceflight action of 2016 involved rockets coming down rather than going up. California-based company SpaceX managed to land the first stage of five different Falcon 9 rockets during operational orbital launches this year...   More
(Source: Space.com - Dec 27)

PIERS SELLERS, SHUTTLE ASTRONAUT AND RENOWNED CLIMATE RESEARCHER, DIES AT 61 - Former astronaut Piers Sellers, a British-born climate scientist who flew on three space shuttle missions to help construct the International Space Station, has died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 61. Sellers revealed his cancer diagnosis in a New York Times op-ed in January, in which he recognized his own fate while wrestling with that of planet Earth. He died Friday in Houston, according to a NASA statement. “The entire NASA family mourns the passing of scientist and astronaut Piers Sellers,” said NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden. “Piers was dedicated to all facets of exploration. His curiosity and drive to uncover new knowledge was generously shared with audiences around the world, both from space and in wide travels to reach as many people as possible with an essential understanding of our fragile planet.”   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 27)

CHRISTMAS IN ORBIT: ASTRONAUTS MAKE MERRY ABOARD THE SPACE STATION - Today, astronauts on the International Space Station will celebrate the day in many of the same ways that people on Earth celebrate the holiday — relaxing, talking to friends and family, and sharing a special meal. But they do it all while weightlessly floating inside a laboratory that's whizzing around the Earth at 17,500 mph (28,000 kilometers/hour). Astronauts at the space station even have gifts from home to open this morning. The gifts were sent to space earlier this month inside a Japanese cargo supply ship. Because the spacecraft goes around the Earth every 92 minutes, its occupants will see about 15 sunrises throughout the day. That's 15 Christmas mornings in less than 24 hours!   More
(Source: Space.com - Dec 26)

AMAZING SATELLITE PICTURES LIVE FROM SANTA’S TRIP AROUND THE WORLD - The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) has been tracking Santa’s journey every Christmas Eve for the last 61 years. It’s an institution – and more than 1,000 of Santa’s little helpers are expected to answer more than 140,000 phone calls from excitable children across the globe, burning with questions. There will also be regular updates on Twitter and Facebook as the jolly man in red edges closer to your home (eek!) But how does it all work?   More
(Source: Metro - Dec 25)

LAUGHTER TO BE 3D PRINTED AND LAUNCHED INTO SPACE - Space travel remains a distant reality for most of the world's population. But, next year, the sound and shape of your laughter could make it aboard the International Space Station. A new project by Israeli artist Eyal Gever called "#Laugh" invites members of the public to download an app that generates a unique "star," or digital 3D sculpture, based on the sound of their own recorded laughter. Judged by popular online vote, the winning design will be sent to the International Space Station (ISS) and printed using a pre-installed 3D printer.   More
(Source: CNN - Dec 24)

MAKE CHRISTMAS COSMIC WITH NORAD'S TRACK SANTA & SPACE HOLIDAY CARDS - 5 20 MORE Make Christmas Cosmic with NORAD's Track Santa & Space Holiday Cards It's Christmastime, space fans! Here are three ways you can get into the holiday spirit and express your love of the cosmos. When Christmas Eve rolls around, many people will turn their eyes to the sky to try and catch a glimpse of Santa's sleigh, but we recommend taking a more high-tech approach and heading over to the NORAD Tracks Santa website. Managed by the U.S. and Canada, NORAD (which stands for the North American Aerospace Defense Command) monitors North American airspace for flying objects made by humans, or a reindeer-pulled sleigh driven by a jolly old elf.    More
(Source: Space.com - Dec 24)

RT SPACE 360: THIS IS WHAT YOUR MORNING ROUTINE LOOKS LIKE ON THE ISS - Andrey Borisenko shares one of the most intimate parts of his life on the International Space Station, and one that differs significantly from those of ours on Earth, in the latest instalment of RT’s pioneering Space 360 project. In microgravity, the only up or down is relative to the objects inside the space station, which means that cosmonauts can relax at any angle – providing that they strap themselves in so that their bodies don’t float away. In his personal sleeping pod – the only real place of privacy on the ISS, other than the toilet – Borisenko tied his sleeping bag to the “vertical” wall of his unit.   More
(Source: RT - Dec 23)

RUSSIA TESTS A NEW MISSILE THAT CAN DESTROY SATELLITES - Russian aerospace forces conducted test earlier this month of a new anti-satellite weapon system. Once it works, the weapon would be capable of targeting American military satellites, disrupting the Pentagon's satellites for navigation and communications. The test, conducted on December 16, was the fifth test of the PL-19 Nudol, according to the Washington Free Beacon. The test did not involve an intercept and may have just been to test the capabilities of the lofting rocket instead. Moscow claims the Nudol is an anti-missile system that engages enemy warheads in the so-called "midcourse phase" after separating from the missile booster needed to reach low-earth orbit. Of course, that's also where satellites are.   More
(Source: Popular Mechanics - Dec 22)

CHINA LAUNCHES SATELLITE TO MONITOR GLOBAL CARBON EMISSIONS - China Thursday launched a global carbon dioxide monitoring satellite to understand climate change, hours after it lifted nearly a week-long red alert for the worst smog that engulfed about 40 cities in the country. The 620-kg satellite TanSat was put into orbit by Long March-2D rocket from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China's Gobi Desert early Thursday morning, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. This was the 243rd mission of the Long March series rockets. Besides TanSat, the rocket also carried a high-resolution micro-nano satellite and two spectrum micro-nano satellites for agricultural and forestry monitoring.    More
(Source: Times of India - Dec 22)

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