RUSSIAN CARGO CRAFT UNDOCKS FROM STATION - An unpiloted Russian Progress cargo spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station Monday, completing its second and final undocking from the station since arriving in late November 2013. The ISS Progress 53 resupply craft undocked from the aft port of the Zvezda service module at 9:29 a.m. EDT as the station orbited over Mongolia. From a window in the Russian segment of the station, Expedition 40 Flight Engineer Alexander Skvortsov photographed the departing Progress cargo ship as it began a 15-second separation burn to move a safe distance away from the orbiting complex.    More
(Source: RedOrbit - Jun 10)

WHAT IS BEHIND GOOGLE INC'S SATELLITE PROJECT? - Is this more looniness from Google? There are new reports that indicate that the web search giant wants to use a network of small, low-orbit satellites to help expand Internet access across the globe. While the developed world is mostly connected, only a third of the population of developing economies, where traditional infrastructure is lacking, goes online. If Google is to continue growing its advertising revenue derived from search, part of the strategy might involve a plan to increase the number of people who surf the web.   More
(Source: Motley Fool - Jun 7)

NASA BEAMS 'HELLO, WORLD!' VIDEO FROM SPACE VIA LASER - NASA successfully beamed a high-definition video 260 miles from the International Space Station to Earth Thursday using a new laser communications instrument. Transmission of "Hello, World!" as a video message was the first 175-megabit communication for the Optical Payload for Lasercomm Science (OPALS), a technology demonstration that allows NASA to test methods for communication with future spacecraft using higher bandwidth than radio waves.   More
(Source: Jet Propulsion Laboratory - Jun 7)

INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION CAPTURED TRAVELLING ACROSS THE SKY WITH STUNNING MILKY WAY BACKDROP - A photographer managed to capture an out-of-this-world picture of the International Space Station travelling across the night sky in Wales. Drew Buckley took the beautiful image, which he had been planning since last year, of the ISS orbiting the planet – and even managed to get the Milky Way in the special shot too. But he admitted that it was not easy to get the low-orbit space station - which was launched in 1998 - into frame and that "lady luck" had been on his side.    More
(Source: Mirror.co.uk - Jun 4)

ESA SATELLITE TO REMOVE SPACE JUNK - A new European mission aims to rendezvous a satellite with the hazardous space debris to render it harmless by netting it like fish. The European Space Agency (ESA)'s ambitious mission called e.DeOrbit would use a satellite to net space debris and remove it from low Earth orbit. The agency's Clean Space initiative is studying the e.DeOrbit mission for removing debris, aiming to reduce the environmental impact of the space industry on Earth and space alike. "Decades of launches have left Earth surrounded by a halo of space junk: more than 17,000 trackable objects larger than a coffee cup, which threaten working missions with catastrophic collision. Even a 1 cm nut could hit with the force of a hand grenade," ESA said.    More
(Source: Business Standard - Jun 3)

JUNE IS OPTIMAL TIME FOR ISS VIEWING - As Earth approaches the June Solstice, viewers in the northern hemisphere will be treated to multiple passes of the ISS every night. The space station orbits the Earth at a 51.6-degree angle to the equator. This orbit aligns it with the planet’s day-night terminator, meaning for viewers in latitudes between 40 and 55 north, it remains in sunlight during the entirety of each 90-minute orbit. Viewers in these locations can see up to five passes of the ISS each night at this time of year, but only for a limited time. By June 10, that number is down to two or three passes.   More
(Source: The Space Reporter - Jun 2)

NEW NASA/JAXA PRECIPITATION SATELLITE PASSES CHECK-OUT, STARTS MISSION - The new Global Precipitation Measurement Core Observatory satellite is now in the hands of the engineers who will fly the spacecraft and ensure the steady flow of data on rain and snow for the life of the mission. The official handover to the Earth Science Mission Operations team at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, on May 29, marked the end of a successful check-out period. The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Its Core Observatory launched on Feb. 27, 2014, from Tanegashima Space Center in Japan.    More
(Source: Phys.Org - Jun 1)

SPACEX REVEALS NEW-LOOK PASSENGER SPACECRAFT - Eyeing the next step beyond launching satellites and supplies, SpaceX dropped the curtain Thursday on the design of an upgraded Dragon spacecraft, replete with 3D printed rocket engines, leather seats, and touchscreen cockpit controls for up to seven astronauts. SpaceX founder and chief executive Elon Musk debuted the space capsule from the company's headquarters here before a crowd of employees, VIPs and media.    More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - May 30)

RUSSIAN SOYUZ SPACECRAFT DOCKS AT INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - A Russian spacecraft carrying a three-man crew docked successfully at the International Space Station on Thursday following a flawless launch. The Soyuz craft, carrying NASA's Reid Wiseman, Russian cosmonaut Max Surayev and German Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency arrived at the station at 5:44 a.m. (9:44 p.m. EDT). They had lifted off less than six hours earlier from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Mission Control in Moscow congratulated the trio on a successful docking. They are joining two Russians and an American who have been at the station since March.   More
(Source: Fox News - May 30)

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