NOW IS THE BEST TIME TO SPOT THE SPACE STATION - Step outside on a clear night over the next few days, and you’ve got a great chance of seeing the International Space Station (ISS) as it glides across the heavens. Pick the right night, and you may even see it zoom by multiple times in a row. The ISS is about the size of an American football field and is covered with shiny metal surfaces and lots of highly reflective solar panels. That makes the station easily visible with the naked eye, even from light-polluted city centers. Its brilliance is so impressive that sometimes it’s the second brightest object in the night sky, after the moon.   More
(Source: National Geographic - May 27)

SPACE STATION CREW RUNS INTO GLITCH INFLATING "BEAM" MODULE - The International Space Station crew began the process Thursday of inflating an innovative expandable space module developed by a Las Vegas billionaire, but the inflation stalled and NASA called off efforts for the day. The Bigelow Expandable Crew Activity Module, or BEAM, was supposed to grow six feet in length and three feet in diameter when it was expanded using internal tanks and station-supplied air. But in a blog post Thursday morning, NASA said that after several hours of attempts to introduce air into the module, BEAM had only expanded a few inches in both length and diameter. "Engineers are meeting to determine a forward course of action, with the possibility that another attempt could be made as early as Friday morning," the statement said.   More
(Source: CBS News - May 27)

SPACEX SCRUBS FALCON 9 ROCKET LAUNCH ATTEMPT FROM CAPE - SpaceX scrubbed a planned Falcon 9 rocket launch at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station today due to technical problems, according to CEO Elon Musk. The next attempt has tentatively been scheduled for a 24-hour delay, potentially giving it the same 5:40 p.m. to 7:40 p.m. launch window as Thursday. A glitch with an upper stage engine actuator scrubbed Thursday's attempt to launch Falcon 9 and Thaicom 8. SpaceX hopes to try again Friday, Two-hour window opens around 5:40 p.m. Weather 70% "go."   More
(Source: Florida Today - May 27)

WATCH THE FIRST EXPANDABLE HABITAT INFLATE ON THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION TODAY - The International Space Station is ready to deploy its first expandable habitat. The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM), which was delivered last month by one of Space X's rockets, will finally be inflated to its full size starting at 5:30AM ET tomorrow, according to NASA. The event will be streamed live on NASA TV. Astronauts on the space station won't enter the habitat for another week. The module, which will inflate up to four times its size, is expected to stay attached to the ISS for two years.    More
(Source: The Verge - May 26)

SOYUZ LAUNCH ADDS TWO MORE SATELLITES TO GALILEO NAVIGATION FLEET - wo more Galileo satellites successfully catapulted into space from the French Guiana jungle aboard a Soyuz rocket Tuesday, putting Europe’s multibillion-dollar navigation system on track to begin limited global service later this year. Nearly five years into Galileo’s operational deployment, the navigation system has hit a stride in satellite production and rocket launches long sought by European politicians and engineers who have worked on the ambitious project since its inception. “We are now at cruising speed as far as deployment is concerned,” said Paul Verhoef, director of the Galileo program and navigation-related activities at the European Space Agency, a senior partner on the space-based positioning project, which is led by the European Commission.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - May 25)

MIR PLUNGED INTO OCEAN BEFORE TIME - The Mir space station could have been kept aloft a little longer, although this would hardly be viable financially, a Russian space agency Roscosmos executive in charge of manned missions said. The Soviet Union began putting parts of the modular space station into low orbit in 1986. Mir was deorbited and fell into the Pacific in 2001 after 15 years in space. "It could have been maintained, although the question is whether this would have been practical," Sergei Krikalev, a former cosmonaut, told RIA Novosti.   More
(Source: Space Daily - May 25)

SPACEX WILL TRY TO LAND ON SOLID GROUND AGAIN IN JULY - SpaceX's ninth cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station will take place no earlier than 1:32AM ET on Saturday, July 16th, NASA announced today. A representative for SpaceX has confirmed to The Verge that the company will attempt to land the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket at Cape Canaveral. This will be the first time that SpaceX has attempted a landing on solid ground since the initial attempt last December, which was also the company's first successful landing. SpaceX will use its Falcon 9 rocket to launch the uncrewed version of its Dragon spacecraft to the ISS.    More
(Source: The Verge - May 25)

CHINA TO LAUNCH WORLD'S FIRST QUANTUM SPACE SATELLITE IN JULY - According to the physicist, cited by the People's Daily Online, the quantum network will connect Beijing, Jinan, Hefei and Shanghai among other cities spanning a 2,000-kilometer (1,243 miles) area. Earthrise as seen from the Moon © NASA. Space Cowboys: China Plans Manned Moon Landing by 2036 Chinese physicists reportedly inaugurated the quantum satellite development program in 2011. In 2013, quantum optical fiber communication was introduced across the Beijing-Shanghai line.    More
(Source: Sputnik International - May 24)

INDIA PERFORMS SUCCESSFUL SPACE SHUTTLE TEST LAUNCH - India performed a successful space shuttle test launch late on Sunday, marking the latest milestone for the country’s space program. The Reusable Launch Vehicle –Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD) mini-shuttle is the country’s first space plane. NASA ended its 30-year space shuttle program in 2011. India’s unmanned shuttle was launched on a HS9 booster rocket from Satish Dhawan Space Centre on Sriharikota, an island off India’s Bay of Bengal coast. The booster burnt out after a “successful flight” of 91.1 seconds, according to the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).    More
(Source: Fox News - May 24)

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