NASA ASTRONAUT SCOTT KELLY IS HAUNTING THE ISS IN A CREEPY HALLOWEEN MASK - Astronaut Scott Kelly has made it through seven months of his year-long stay on the International Space Station, and it looks like the sheer isolation of living in space — the vast, ever-expanding swirl of nothingness that completely envelopes us all and serves as a constant reminder that we live tiny, insignificant lives on a planet that doesn't matter — may be getting to him.   More
(Source: The Verge - Nov 1)

WE HAVE LIFTOFF! ROCKET DELIVERS NEW GPS SATELLITE TO ORBIT - The GPS constellation now includes 31 active satellites orbiting in six planes about 12,500 miles up. In about a month, the $245 million satellite will replace one that is 19 years old, more than twice the age it was designed to serve. The infusion of new GPS satellites in the past several years is weeding out older models, some of which have lasted far beyond the 7½ years they were designed to operate. The oldest is 25.   More
(Source: USA TOday - Nov 1)

'ROCKET-ON-A-RAIL' PREPARES TO LAUNCH SATELLITE - The US military is about to use a mindboggling set-up to launch a satellite: a rocket that whizzes along a rail before taking off. The rocket is scheduled to launch from a 41-metre-long metal rail, placed at a 45-degree angle at site on the island of Kauai in Hawaii, as soon as 1 November. If all goes well, the vehicle will carry an Earth-imaging satellite all the way to space. In some ways, the rail-guided launch system is retro — its design is based on a 1960s rocket meant to test a nuclear warhead in the high atmosphere — but it is also forward-looking.   More
(Source: Nature.com - Oct 31)

ULA’S ATLAS 5 WINS CONTRACT TO LAUNCH NASA DATA RELAY SATELLITE - The last of NASA’s current-generation tracking and data relay satellites designed to link mission control with the International Space Station has been assigned for launch on a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket in October 2017, officials announced Friday. An Atlas 5 rocket will haul the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, named TDRS M, into an elliptical geostationary transfer orbit after liftoff from Cape Canaveral. TDRS M is the last of three identical satellites built by Boeing Co., following launches of TDRS K and TDRS L in 2013 and 2014.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Oct 31)

FIRE IN ENGINE DOOMED ORBITAL ROCKET ON SPACE STATION FLIGHT - A fire and explosion in a rocket engine are being blamed for a botched commercial space station shipment last October. NASA released an investigation report this week, a full year after the Virginia launch accident. NASA’s independent review team said the initial fire was caused by friction from rubbing parts in a liquid oxygen turbopump. The pump was in one of the old Russian-built engines of Orbital Sciences Corp.’s unmanned Antares rocket.   More
(Source: - Oct 31)

RUSSIA INKS DEAL TO LAUNCH EUROPEAN SATELLITES - The subsidiary of the Russian Space Center and French satellite provider Eutelsat has signed a long-term launch contract. “Several Proton-M carrier rocket launches with Eutelsat satellites will be carried out between 2016-2023 from the Baikonur space center,” Russia’s space agency Roscosmos said on Thursday. The first launch is expected to carry the Eutelsat 9B satellite into orbit. The high-power broadcast satellite is designed to provide digital television and data services for Scandinavia and the Baltic countries.    More
(Source: RT - Oct 31)

ASTRONAUT DUO PERFORMS THEIR FIRST SPACEWALK OUTSIDE SPACE STATION - Two NASA astronauts stepped out into the void of space Wednesday to perform some maintenance on the International Space Station, marking their first spacewalk. Kjell Lindgren and yearlong Space Station crewmember Scott Kelly completed their spacewalk Wednesday at 3:19 p.m. ET after a grueling seven hours and 16 minutes of work outside the orbiting laboratory. During the spacewalk, the two Americans did some work to prepare for the installation of a docking adaptor that will allow Boeing's Starliner and SpaceX's Crewed Dragon to attach to the Space Station once they begin flying astronauts to the outpost in the not-too-distant future.    More
(Source: Mashable - Oct 31)

SPACEX EXEC SAYS THERE IS 'NOT A LOT OF EFFORT' GOING INTO SATELLITE INTERNET PLAN - SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said the company's plan to launch 4,000 internet-beaming satellites into space is "very speculative." Shotwell made the comments at the Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia conference in Hong Kong Tuesday. Elon Musk petitioned the Federal Communications Commission over the summer to launch eight prototypes into space, with the goal of eventually launching 4,000, CNN Money reported.    More
(Source: Tech Insider - Oct 29)

AIR FORCE SET TO LAUNCH NEXT-TO-LAST GPS IIF SATELLITE - Air Force Space Command's Space and Missile Systems Center and its mission partners are scheduled to launch the 11th Boeing-built Global Positioning System IIF satellite aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 launch vehicle Oct. 30 from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The launch window is set to open at 12:17 p.m. EDT and will remain open for 19 minutes. Ten GPS IIF satellites are currently on-orbit and meeting all mission requirements. Of the remaining satellites, GPS IIF-11 is awaiting launch and GPS IIF-12, the remaining IIF-series satellite, is in storage awaiting final processing and preparation for a Feb. 3 launch.   More
(Source: Air Force Link - Oct 29)

Previous Next