STATION EXPANDS TO 11 BEFORE NEXT CREW LEAVES THIS WEEK - Four new crew members are adjusting to life on the International Space Station and gearing up for several months of microgravity research to benefit humans living on and off the Earth. Meanwhile, another quartet that has been orbiting Earth since March is packing up and handing over responsibilities to the new crew before returning to Earth this week.   More
(Source: NASA - Aug 6)

ROCKET LAB LAUNCHES PRIVATE JAPANESE RADAR SATELLITE TO ORBIT FROM NEW ZEALAND - Rocket Lab launched a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite for the Japanese Earth-imaging company iQPS early Tuesday morning (Aug. 5). An Electron rocket carrying the QPS-SAR-12 satellite, nicknamed Kushinada-I, lifted off from Rocket Lab's New Zealand site Tuesday at 12:10 a.m. EDT (0410 GMT and 4:10 p.m. local New Zealand time).   More
(Source: Space.com - Aug 5)

WHY A NASA SATELLITE THAT SCIENTISTS AND FARMERS RELY ON MAY BE DESTROYED ON PURPOSE - NASA’s critical effort to monitor Earth’s carbon emissions is now in jeopardy as budget pressures and technical setbacks force a reevaluation of the mission’s future. For years, the satellite (Orbiting Carbon Observatories) has provided essential, high-resolution data on carbon dioxide levels worldwide, setting a benchmark for climate research and policy development. Recent reports indicate that escalating costs and potential delays may risk the continuity of operations, undermining global efforts to track and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. Researchers and environmental advocates warn that any interruption could leave a significant gap in our understanding of climate dynamics at a time when precise data are more important than ever.   More
(Source: NPR - Aug 5)

STARLINK MISSION MARKS SPACEX’S 450TH FLIGHT-PROVEN FALCON BOOSTER LAUNCHED - SpaceX passed another milestone in rocket reuse when it launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in the overnight hours of Monday, Aug. 4. The mission, dubbed Starlink 10-30, features the company’s 450th launch of a flight-proven booster. That stat is a combination of both Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets. SpaceX first reused a Falcon booster with the launch of the SES-10 satellite on March 30, 2017, using the first-stage booster with the tail number 1021.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Aug 5)

SPACEX DELIVERS FOUR ASTRONAUTS TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - SpaceX delivered a fresh crew to the International Space Station on Saturday, making the trip in a quick 15 hours. The four U.S., Russian and Japanese astronauts pulled up in their SpaceX capsule after launching from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. They will spend at least six months at the orbiting lab, swapping places with colleagues up there since March. SpaceX will bring those four back as early as Wednesday.   More
(Source: PBS - Aug 4)

SPACEX'S CREW-11 ASTRONAUTS ARRIVE AT THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - The four astronauts of SpaceX's Crew-11 mission have arrived at their orbital destination. Crew-11's Crew Dragon capsule, named Endeavour, docked with the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday at 2:26 a.m. EDT (0626 GMT), less than 15 hours after it launched atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Florida's Space Coast. The hatches between the two spacecraft are expected to open around 4:45 a.m. EDT (0845 GMT), and a welcome ceremony will take place about an hour after that.   More
(Source: Space.com - Aug 3)

NASA, SPACEX ‘THREAD THE CLOUDS’ TO LAUNCH CREW-11 TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - Weather threatened to delay the Crew-11 mission for a second time, but the launch team was able to “thread the clouds” and a four-person crew lifted off on a journey to the International Space Station. Nine Merlin engines roared to life at 11:43 a.m. EDT (1543 UTC) and the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket sped away through the cloudy skies above Florida’s Space Coast. Less than 10 minutes after liftoff, the Crew Dragon spacecraft, named ‘Endeavour’, flew free from the rocket’s second stage.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Aug 2)

DEFENSE DEPARTMENT OPTS TO NOT END SATELLITE DATA FOR STORM FORECASTS - The U.S. Defense Department won't end the dispersal of key satellite weather data on Friday as planned. One month ago, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration published a notice about the change by the U.S. Navy, effective July 1. Then NOAA said the change would be delayed by one month until Thursday. In an update posted Wednesday, the phase-out plans were pushed back one year.   More
(Source: Accuweather - Aug 1)

CUMULUS CLOUDS SCRUB LAUNCH OF CREW-11 MISSION TO THE SPACE STATION - A group of astronauts and a cosmonaut originally slated to fly on other missions finally got their ticket to ride, but will have to wait at least another day before getting to launch. The quartet, led by NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, will head to the International Space Station beginning with a launch from Florida. The SpaceX Crew-11 mission was a little more than a minute away from the planned launch onboard the Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft when cumulus clouds popped up in just the right spot to trigger a scrub.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Aug 1)

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