UNH INSTRUMENTS TO LIFT OFF ON SATELLITE MISSION - A satellite launch from NASA scheduled Thursday will contain instruments constructed or coordinated by University of New Hampshire researchers. More than half of the key instruments that populate four satellites were worked on for nearly a decade by scientists, engineers and students from UNH's Institute for the Study of Earth Oceans and Space. Each of the four satellites, flying together as a tightly coordinated, pyramid-shaped fleet, will study electromagnetic fields and "space weather" patterns that can impact communication satellites, GPS navigation, and Earth-based power grids. More (Source: WMUR Manchester - Mar 9)
SPACE STATION LAUNCHES SET TO RESUME FROM VIRGINIA NEXT MARCH - Mark your calendar and cross your fingers — an upgraded Antares rocket is expected to launch again from Virginia's spaceport this time next year. If and when that happens, it will mark the final recovery of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) from the worst disaster in its short history. The state-owned spaceport is located at NASA Wallops Flight Facility on the Eastern Shore. But many things must still go right in order for that to happen, said Barron "Barry" Beneski at Orbital ATK, formerly known as Orbital Sciences Corp. More (Source: Daily Press - Mar 9)
NASA ORDERS MISSIONS TO RESUPPLY SPACE STATION IN 2017 - NASA has ordered four additional launches to deliver cargo to the International Space Station in 2017 — three from SpaceX and one from Orbital ATK — to cover the research lab’s logistics needs until a new set of resupply contracts take effect. The extra missions for SpaceX and Orbital ATK will serve as a bridge between the contractors’ current contracts and new commercial cargo deals that will cover resupply missions launching from 2018 through at least 2020. SpaceX and Orbital ATK won Commercial Resupply Services contracts from NASA in December 2008, covering 12 cargo deliveries by SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft and eight missions with Orbital ATK’s Cygnus supply ship. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 8)
CHINA TO LAUNCH TIANZHOU-1 CARGO SHIP IN 2016 TO RENDEZVOUS WITH SPACE LAB - China will send a cargo ship into the space in 2016 to dock with a future space module scheduled to be launched earlier the same year, a leading Chinese space scientist said Friday. The Tianzhou-1, which literally means "heavenly vessel", will carry propellants, living necessities for astronauts, research facilities and repair equipment to China's second orbiting space lab Tiangong-2, said Zhou Jianping, chief engineer of China's manned space program. More (Source: Xinhua - Mar 8)
ISRO RACES TO FIX GLITCH IN NAVIGATIONAL SATELLITE SO THAT IT CAN BE LAUNCHED IN TIME - The Indian space agency is deliberating the ways and means of setting right a glitch in its fourth regional navigation satellite with minimum effort so that it can be launched early, said an official. The 1,425kg satellite - Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System-IRNSS-1D - was supposed to be launched on the evening of 9 March by an Indian rocket called Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-XL). The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) on 4 March, however, deferred the launch after it discovered that one of the telemetry transmitters in the IRNSS-1D was not working properly. More (Source: Firstpost - Mar 7)
NASA’S CHIEF CONFIRMS IT: WITHOUT RUSSIA, SPACE STATION LOST - NASA's Administrator Charles Bolden acknowledged Wednesday there is no back-up plan to fly the International Space Station if Russia cuts off U.S. access to space. "We would make an orderly evacuation," Bolden said during a U.S. House Appropriations subcommittee hearing. Because both countries are dependent upon one another, the $140 billion station would be lost. It was a frank admission from Bolden who, during the last year as U.S. and Russia diplomatic relations have deteriorated, has sought to sidestep the question. More (Source: Chron.com - Mar 6)
NASA DEPLOYS SATELLITE DESIGNED TO RE-ENTER ATMOSPHERE USING REVAMPED DRAG DEVICE - NASA mission controllers confirmed that a small satellite launched from the International Space Station at 5:30 p.m. PST on Tuesday, March 3, has successfully entered its orbit, setting the stage to test technology that could enable rapid return of payloads from space. Over the next four weeks, the TechEdSat-4 satellite will deploy a second-generation exo-brake, an aerodynamic drag device, to perform a maneuver that will cause the satellite to de-orbit and re-enter Earth's atmosphere. More (Source: Space Ref - Mar 6)
GLITCH PUTS OFF LAUNCH OF FOURTH INDIAN NAVIGATION SATELLITE - A telemetry glitch has forced the Indian space agency to defer the launch of the fourth regional navigation satellite scheduled for March 9 onboard a lower-orbital rocket from its spaceport in Andhra Pradesh. "Launch of the fourth Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS-1D) onboard the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C27) scheduled for March 9 has been postponed due to an anomaly in one of its telemetry transmitters," the state-run Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said in a statement here on Wednesday. More (Source: Zee News - Mar 5)
POWER SYSTEM FAILURE LIKELY CAUSE OF MILITARY SATELLITE EXPLOSION - The U.S. Air Force says a temperature spike in the power system of a nearly 20-year-old weather satellite may have led to the spacecraft’s explosion in orbit, scattering more than 40 fragments of debris that could be flying around Earth for decades. “The Defense Meteorological Satellite Program Flight 13 (DMSP 13) reached end of life Feb. 3, 2015, at 2:39 p.m. MST (2139 GMT),” Air Force Space Command said in a statement. “The decision was made to render the vehicle safe after DMSP operators discovered a sudden spike in temperature in the power subsystem of the nearly 20-year-old weather satellite followed by an unrecoverable loss of attitude control.” More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 5)
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