SPACEX'S NEXT CARGO MISSION TO SPACE STATION IS MAR 16 - The next cargo supply mission to the International Space Station by the US company SpaceX has been set for March 16, NASA said Wednesday. SpaceX's unmanned Dragon capsule will launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 4:41 am (0941 GMT) on its third trip ferrying supplies and equipment to the orbiting lab, the US space agency said in a tweet. Owned by Internet entrepreneur Elon Musk, SpaceX became the first commercial entity to reach the space station with its Dragon cargo ship in 2012.   More
(Source: Phys.Org - Feb 6)

GPS SATELLITE MOUNTED ATOP BOOSTER FOR FEB. 20 LAUNCH - Beginning a slate of three launches in five months to fortify the Global Positioning System, the first craft was mounted atop its Delta 4 booster rocket Wednesday for liftoff Feb. 20. The launch is precisely timed at 8:40 p.m. EST to replace a 16-year-old member of the navigation network -- the GPS 2A-28 satellite. The evening launch opportunity extends 19 minutes. Built by Boeing, the new GPS 2F-5 satellite brings with it modernized features including greater accuracy, better anti-jamming and a civil signal for commercial aviation as the fifth Block 2F bird.    More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Feb 6)

RUSSIAN CARGO CRAFT DOCKS TO INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - Russia launched a Progress resupply freighter Wednesday on a six-hour journey to the International Space Station, delivering nearly 3 tons of fuel and supplies to the orbiting scientific research laboratory after a smooth automated rendezvous. The unpiloted Progress M-22M spacecraft lifted off on top of a Soyuz rocket at 1623:33 GMT (11:23:33 a.m. EST) in temperatures below 0 degrees Fahrenheit at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, kicking off an expedited six-hour rendezvous with the space station.    More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Feb 6)

RUSSIAN CARGO SPACESHIP UNDOCKS ISS - Russian cargo space vehicle Progress- M-20M was undocked from the International Space Station (ISS), the Mission Control said Monday. According to the Mission Control website, the undocking from the Pirs module has been executed at 20:21 Moscow time (1621 GMT). The Progress will continue its autonomous flight until Feb. 11 when it will be drowned in the Pacific Ocean. According to calculations, that will happen at 18:59 Moscow time (1459 GMT) that day.   More
(Source: Xinhua - Feb 4)

ISS SKIN PEELING UNDER IMPACT OF COSMIC RADIATION - RUSSIAN SCIENTISTS - The skin of the International Space Station (ISS) Russian segment is decaying because of the use of materials that cannot withstand cosmic radiation, Russian scientists said. "We made a project for the Khrunichev Space Center late last year and the results were astonishing - the ISS coating, its skin, is decaying under the impact of radiation.   More
(Source: The Voice of Russia - Jan 31)

CHINA TO BUILD SPACE STATION DURING THE NEXT DECADE - China plans to launch its first space station in 2020, which will allow its astronauts to stay in space for at least 180 days and will make it possible for wealthy members of the public to experience space travel, said Chen Shanguang, chief designer at China Manned Space Engineering. China invented key technology and established a fundamental system for manning spacecraft through 11 rocket launchers over a period of 21 years, Chen stated at the Beijing's National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.   More
(Source: WantChinaTimes - Jan 29)

MINI SATELLITES USED AS 'SPACE COPS' TO CLEAR DEBRIS - Space debris can damage functional satellites, which is why a team of scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory are trying to control the traffic in space using mini satellites. Researchers used a series of six images from ground based satellite taken over a period of 60 hours to show that it is possible to refine the orbit of another satellite in low Earth orbit.    More
(Source: Science World Report - Jan 25)

ATLAS V SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES FROM CAPE CANAVERAL - NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite L (TDRS-L) successfully launched atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at 9:33 p.m. EST from the Cape Canaveral Air Force. The Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System is NASA’s network of specialized communications satellites that orbit 22,300 miles above the Earth. As the name suggests, the satellites relay signals between spacecraft including the International Space Station and ground control stations on Earth.    More
(Source: SpaceCoastDaily.com - Jan 24)

NASA SET FOR A BIG YEAR IN EARTH SCIENCE WITH FIVE NEW MISSIONS - For the first time in more than a decade, five NASA Earth science missions will be launched into space in the same year, opening new and improved remote eyes to monitor our changing planet. The five launches, including two to the International Space Station (ISS), are part of an active year for NASA Earth science researchers, who also will conduct airborne campaigns to the poles and hurricanes, develop advanced sensor technologies, and use satellite data and analytical tools to improve natural hazard and climate change preparedness.   More
(Source: OfficialWire - Jan 23)

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