ASTRONAUT CAPTURES CLEAREST FOOTAGE YET OF RARE TYPE OF LIGHTNING - Generally speaking, storms seen from space are pretty breathtaking. Lightning flashes, huge thunderheads and the swirling clouds of hurricanes all take on a unique look when seen from the International Space Station orbiting 250 miles above Earth's surface. The Space Station is also an amazing place to check out weather from an angle you aren't afforded on our planet. This includes weather phenomena that have been hotly debated, but poorly observed, such as a type of lightning known as "blue jets." More (Source: Mashable - Feb 10)
LOCKHEED HIT BY U.S. AIR FORCE FOR MORE GPS III SATELLITE FLAWS - Botched testing by a Lockheed Martin Corp. subcontractor on a key component for the U.S.’s newest Global Positioning System satellites raises new questions about the No. 1 defense contractor’s supervision of the project, according to a top Air Force official. The mistake by subcontractor Harris Corp. forced another delay in the delivery of the first of 32 planned GPS III satellites until later this month, according to Major General Roger Teague, the Air Force’s chief of space programs. That will make the $528 million satellite 34 months late, according to service data. More (Source: Bloomberg - Feb 9)
TIANZHOU-1: CHINA TO LAUNCH ITS FIRST SPACE STATION RESUPPLY CRAFT IN APRIL - China is set to launch the first test of its Tianzhou-1 cargo and resupply spacecraft in April, in what will be a crucial test of key technologies needed for the country’s future space station. The 13-tonne Tianzhou-1 will be launched by a new Long March 7 rocket from Wenchang in April, and dock soon after with the orbiting Tiangong-2 space lab 390 kilometres above the Earth. The 9m long, 3.35m diameter Tianzhou spacecraft has a 6,500 kg cargo capacity and has been specifically designed for refuelling and resupplying the future Chinese Space Station (CSS), the core module of which will launch in 2018. More (Source: gbtimes - Feb 9)
NORTH KOREA PLANS TO CONTINUE SATELLITE LAUNCHES DESPITE UN OBJECTIONS - According to the newspaper Rodong Sinmun, the country will continue to launch satellites when and where its leadership determines. On February 7, 2016, North Korea put a satellite into orbit, violating UN Security Council resolutions. The move is considered threatening since the international community believes the North could use its rocket technology to develop ballistic nuclear missiles. More (Source: Sputnik International - Feb 8)
SOCCER BALL RECOVERED FROM SHUTTLE CHALLENGER NOW ON SPACE STATION - A soccer ball that was on the ill-fated launch of the space shuttle Challenger has made it to orbit 30 years later, thanks to a shared connection between one of the fallen astronauts and the current commander on the International Space Station. NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough, the commander of the station's Expedition 50 crew , posted to Twitter Friday (Feb. 3) a photo of the black and white ball floating in front of the windows in the orbiting laboratory's Cupola. His post came less than a week after the anniversary of the Jan. 28, 1986 Challenger tragedy. More (Source: Fox News - Feb 8)
NASA OKAYS COMMERCIAL AIRLOCK FOR SPACE STATION - A commercial airlock built in partnership by NanoRacks and Boeing will be connected to the International Space Station in 2019, the companies announced Monday, after the proposed project won preliminary approval from NASA managers. NanoRacks plans to deploy small commercial satellites and CubeSats from the airlock, reducing the workload currently occupying time on the smaller equipment airlock inside the Japanese Kibo laboratory module. Only half of the Kibo airlock’s capacity is allocated to NASA and commercial clients — the rest goes to Japan. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Feb 8)
RECEIVE PICTURES FROM SPACE – ISS SSTV FEB 13-14 - Slow-scan television (SSTV) transmissions are planned from the International Space Station (ISS) on February 13-14, 2017. The SSTV images will be transmitted as part of the MAI-75 Experiment on 145.800 MHz FM using the Kenwood TM-D710 transceiver located in the Russian ISS Service module. It is thought they may use the PD-180 SSTV format. More (Source: AMSAT UK - Feb 8)
JAPANESE CARGO CRAFT FALLS TO EARTH AFTER FAILED SPACE-JUNK EXPERIMENT - A Japanese cargo craft fell back to Earth Sunday, Feb. 5 after delivering supplies to the International Space Station (ISS) and attempting a novel space-junk experiment. The spacecraft, named HTV-6, arrived at the space station in December filled with 5 tons of food, water, clothes, science experiments and other gear. It intentionally burned up in Earth's atmosphere at 10:06 a.m. EST on Sunday (12:06 a.m. Japan StandardTime), according to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. The HTV-6 spent 45 days docked at the station's Harmony module while Expedition 50 crewmembers unloaded the cargo and filled the empty space with nonrecyclable trash. More (Source: Space.com - Feb 7)
IN ISRO’S LAUNCH OF 104 SATELLITES NEXT WEEK, 88 WILL BE FROM U.S. - The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is on the cusp of making history when it sends 104 satellites into orbit on its PSLV-C37 rocket on February 15. Only three of them are Indian satellites. Notably, in ISRO’s first mission of 2017, a single U.S. Earth imaging company, Planet, has made an eye-popping bulk booking for 88 of its small ‘cubesats’. No space agency has launched such a large number of satellites in a single flight so far. (While ISRO’s PSLV launched 20 satellites last year, Russia’s Dnepr launcher holds the record for lifting 37 satellites to orbit in June 2014.) More (Source: The Hindu - Feb 6)
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