TWO ASTRONAUTS TO MAKE FRIDAY TREK TO EDGE OF SPACE STATION - On November 13, 2015 - Friday the thirteenth, for the superstitious - one of the International Space Station's eight power channels went dark. A multitude of systems, including the laboratory's guidance and navigation controls, switched to backup power. Working through the weekend, teams at Mission Control in Houston discovered the culprit was likely a failed Sequential Shunt Unit, which regulates power flowing in from a pair of the station's solar arrays.   More
(Source: The Planetary Society - Jan 14)

SPACEX SET FOR SUNDAY SEA SATELLITE LAUNCH, BOOSTER RECOVERY ATTEMPT - SpaceX is set to launch a sea level-monitoring satellite from the California coast this Sunday, while attempting to land the rocket's spent first stage on a floating drone ship in the Pacific Ocean. The Jason-3 spacecraft is scheduled to lift off from Vandenberg Air Force Base Sunday, January 17 during a 30-second window that opens at 1:42 p.m. EST (18:42 UTC). After providing an initial boost toward orbit, the Falcon 9 rocket's first stage will separate, drop away and use a series of engine burns to fly back to one of SpaceX's autonomous landing platforms, which use thrusters to position themselves under descending rockets.    More
(Source: The Planetary Society - Jan 13)

CHINESE LONG MARCH 3B ROCKET TO LAUNCH BELINTERSAT-1 TELECOMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE - hina is looking to carry out its first launch of the year on Friday, Jan. 15, as it plans to send a Belarusian telecommunications satellite into space. The Belintersat-1 spacecraft will be lofted into orbit by a Chinese workhorse Long March 3B booster from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan Province. The 47-minute launch window for this mission opens at 12:57 EDT (16:57 GMT).   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Insider - Jan 13)

RUSSIA POSTPONES LAUNCH OF GLONASS-M SATELLITE - SOURCE - The launch of Russia’s navigation satellite Glonass-M No. 51 has been postponed from late January to February 7, a source in the space rocket industry has told TASS. The satellite was brought to the northern space site Plesetsk in late November. Originally it was to be put in orbit with a Soyuz-2.1b rocket and a Frigat booster on December 29 last year. The satellite’s manufacturer - Reshetnev Information Satellite System - eventually declared a postponement till late January. Glonass-M No. 51 is to replace a satellite which is three years past the expiry date, the manufacturer said.    More
(Source: TASS - Jan 12)

OLDEST GPS NAVIGATION SATELLITE TO BE RETIRED WITH NEXT LAUNCH - A new Global Positioning System craft will ride a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket into orbit next month to replace a satellite that has operated in space for 25 years. Stacking of the two-stage launcher for ULA’s first mission of 2016 began this morning at Cape Canaveral’s Vertical Integration Facility next to Complex 41. Liftoff is planned for Feb. 3 during a morning launch window of 8:47 to 9:05 a.m. EST (1347-1405 GMT). The three-and-a-half hour rocket flight will deliver the payload 11,000 nautical miles above Earth.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 12)

THESE ARE THE SPACE MISSIONS TO WATCH IN 2016 - Spaceflight fans will have a lot of cosmic action to keep them happy in 2016. While the coming year does not appear to promise anything quite as spectacular or awe-inspiring as 2015's signature moment - the July 14 flyby of Pluto by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft - there will still be a lot going on overhead. Here's a brief rundown of the biggest spaceflight miletones to keep an eye out for in 2016, from a NASA probe's arrival at Jupiter to the highly anticipated maiden flight of SpaceX's huge new rocket.    More
(Source: Space.com - Jan 12)

DAVID BOWIE HAD A SPECIAL PLACE ON THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - Back in 2013, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield paid homage to David Bowie with a version of the 1969 song "Space Oddity" filmed on the International Space Station. The video has some slight changes in lyrics, and Hadfield singing from orbit above Earth, all with David Bowie's blessing. It garnered more than 20 million views in the first year it was on YouTube, but was temporarily pulled after its initial year-long run, which was was the original agreement. The duo hashed out a new two-year agreement in 2014, so you can still watch Hadfield's performance, which was the first music video shot in space when Hadfield was on board during Expedition 35.   More
(Source: Orlando Sentinel - Jan 12)

HOW TO DEAL WITH A MEDICAL EMERGENCY ON THE SPACE STATION - A major medical emergency has never occurred on the International Space Station - but what would happen if it did? And what lessons could be learnt for treating similar emergencies on Earth? When Tim Peake blasted into orbit in December, he knew that the 40 hours of medical training he'd received would prepare him for most health problems during his six-month stay on the International Space Station.   More
(Source: BBC News - Jan 10)

FLORIDA SPACEPORT TALLIES HIGHEST LAUNCH RATE IN MORE THAN A DECADE - Cape Canaveral was the departure point for more space launches in 2015 than in any year since 2003, with 17 takeoffs by Atlas, Falcon and Delta rockets hoisting U.S. military satellites, commercial payloads and cargo for the International Space Station. United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 rocket flew nine times last year, including eight launches from Florida, matching its launch record from 2014. ULA’s Delta 4 launcher logged two missions in 2015, both from Cape Canaveral.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 10)

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