BLACK MOLD DELAYS SPACE STATION CARGO LAUNCH FROM CAPE CANAVERAL - NASA is investigating the source of black mold that contaminated cargo bags bound for the International Space Station, delaying the next launch of supplies from Florida's Space Coast. News 6 partner Florida Today reported that an Orbital ATK Cygnus craft, which had been scheduled to launch March 10 atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, now is targeting a liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station no earlier than March 22. NASA said microbial analysis during a routine inspection of cargo bags at Kennedy Space Center found evidence of common black mold on two bags. The space agency decided to disinfect all bags, which required removing cargo that had been packed in the Cygnus.   More
(Source: WKMG Orlando - Feb 11)

JAPANESE SATELLITES CARRYING AMATEUR RADIO PAYLOADS TO LAUNCH ON FEBRUARY 12 - Three Japanese satellites - ChubuSat-2, ChubuSat-3, and Horyu-4 - carrying Amateur Radio payloads are expected to launch between 0845-0930 UTC on Friday, February 12 into a 575 kilometer, 31° inclination orbit. ChubuSat-2 and ChubSat-3 are message store-and-forward Amateur Radio payloads. Horyu-4 will transmit a telemetry in the 70 centimeter band. According to Yasutaka Narusawa, JR2XEA, Nagoya University and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries cooperated in developing the 50 kg ChubuSat-2 (JJ2YPN) and ChubuSat-3 (JJ2YPO) microsatellites.    More
(Source: ARRL - Feb 11)

DELTA 4 GOES AGAINST THE GRAIN TO BACKWARDS ORBIT FOR SPY BIRD - Soaring in fine fashion before daybreak, a United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket maneuvered a new spy satellite into a unique retrograde orbit this morning to join an expanding constellation of radar-imaging spacecraft. The 217-foot-tall orange and white vehicle used its hydrogen-fueled main engine and a pair of side-mounted solid rocket boosters to fire away from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 3:40:32 a.m. local time (6:40:32 a.m. EST; 1140:32 GMT), an exacting moment required by the clandestine payload.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Feb 10)

SPACEX TARGETING FEB. 24 FALCON 9 LAUNCH OF SATELLITE - SpaceX is targeting a Feb. 24 launch of a Falcon 9 rocket carrying a European communications satellite from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Luxembourg-based SES, the owner of the SES-9 satellite, on Monday announced the launch plans, which include a backup opportunity on Feb. 25. The launch window will open around 6:45 p.m. ET. The mission has been delayed since December while SpaceX readies an upgraded version of the Falcon 9 that will be launching for the second time.   More
(Source: First Coast News - Feb 10)

WATCH: TIME LAPSE OF SPACE STATION ORBITING EARTH SHOWCASES OUR DAZZLING PLANET - Providing further proof that living in space is amazing, British astronaut Tim Peake shared a time lapse of Earth as seen from his office: the International Space Station. The beautiful video shows the thin veil of our atmosphere protecting us from the harshness of outer space. As the orbiting laboratory passes across North Africa over Turkey and towards Russia, bright flashes of light illuminate the planet below as a series of thunderstorms pass over the region.   More
(Source: Globalnews.ca - Feb 10)

NORTH KOREAN SATELLITE TUMBLING IN ORBIT, RENDERING IT USELESS - The North Korean satellite launched this weekend is tumbling in orbit, rendering it useless, just like another one of the country's satellites launched in December, 2012. A U.S. official told ABC News that while the Unha 3 rocket was able to get its payload into orbit, it has been tumbling ever since. While the North Korean satellite may not work, the U.S. official said North Korea considers the launch to have been a success because the payload reached orbit. That is of most concern, said the official, since the same technology used to get a payload into orbit is the same needed for a nuclear armed intercontinental ballistic missile to reach the continental United States.    More
(Source: ABC News - Feb 9)

NORTH KOREA'S NEW SATELLITE FLEW OVER SUPER BOWL 50 - Here's a bit of Super Bowl trivia: North Korea's newest satellite passed almost right over the stadium just an hour after it ended. Whatever motives Pyongyang may have about using its rocket launches to develop nuclear-tipped long-range missiles, it now has two satellites circling the Earth, according to NORAD, the North American Aerospace Command, which monitors all satellites in orbit. Both of the Kwangmyongsong, or "Shining Star," satellites complete their orbits in about 94 minutes and based on data released by international organizations tracking them, the new one passed almost right over Levi's Stadium about an hour after the Super Bowl ended.    More
(Source: NBC News - Feb 9)

RUSSIAN COSMONAUT FINDS TIME FOR SELFIE WHILE ON SPACEWALK - Serious experiments are all well and good, but while on a spacewalk outside the International Space Station, you shouldn't miss the opportunity to take a spectacular selfie - and this Russian cosmonaut certainly didn't. Flight Engineer Sergey Volkov posted the astonishing cosmic views after a spacewalk he undertook on Wednesday with colleague Yuri Malenchenko. The 4 hour and 45 minute jaunt in open space was the sixth for Malenchenko and the fourth for Volkov.   More
(Source: RT - Feb 9)

JAPANESE HAM RADIO SATELLITE LAUNCH - ChubuSat-2, ChubuSat-3 and Horyu-4 are expected to launch between 0845-0930 UT on Friday, February 12 into a 575 km, 31 degree inclination orbit. Yasutaka Narusawa JR2XEA provides the following information on ChubuSat-2/3: Nagoya University(NU) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries(MHI) developed 50kg microsatellite ChubuSat-2(NU) and ChubuSat-3(MHI). These satellites have amateur VHF receiver and amateur UHF transmitter, and will be launched on Feb. 12 2016 from Tanegashima, Japan. Komaki Amateur SATCOM Club operates these satellites from Komaki, Japan.   More
(Source: QRZ Now - Feb 9)

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