RUSSIAN SUPPLY SHIP FAILS TO DOCK AT SPACE STATION - A robotic Russian cargo ship failed to dock at the International Space Station late Monday due to apparent failure in a new rendezvous system, NASA officials say. The Russian supply ship Progress 47was testing Russia's new Kurs-NA docking system when the docking failure occurred. More (Source: Fox News - Jul 25)
NASA’S LANDSAT TURNS 40 - It’s one anniversary after another at NASA, it seems. While the first moonwalk turned 43 this past Friday, Landsat, the Earth -observing satellite program, turned 40 Monday. NASA and the Interior Department announced the satellite system’s anniversary Monday, describing it as ”the world’s longest-running Earth-observing satellite program.” More (Source: Washington Post - Jul 25)
NAVIGATIONAL SATELLITE LAUNCH NEXT YEAR - Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Dr K Radhakrishnan on Sunday said that India would launch the first of the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS) satellites in 2013. Speaking at the convocation ceremony of the National College in the city, he said, “In the next two years, India will have its very own navigation satellite.” More (Source: IBNLive.com - Jul 24)
RUSSIA TESTING NEW SPACE STATION DOCKING GEAR TONIGHT - Russia will test a new spacecraft docking system at the International Space Station tonight (July 23), one that will be used on future robotic and manned missions to the orbiting outpost. The test is being performed by the unmanned Russian cargo ship Progress 47, which undocked from the space station on Sunday (July 22) to prepare for the docking demonstration. More (Source: Space.com - Jul 24)
TINY “FIREFLY” SATELLITE MAY SOLVE MYSTERY ABOUT LIGHTNING - Imagine a fully-instrumented satellite the size of a half-gallon milk carton. Then imagine that milk carton whirling in space, catching never-before-seen glimpses of processes thought to be linked to lightning. The little satellite that could is a CubeSat called Firefly, and it's on a countdown to launch next year. CubeSats, named for the roughly four-inch-cubed dimensions of their basic building elements, are stacked with modern, smartphone-like electronics and tiny scientific instruments. More (Source: R & D Magazine - Jul 22)
JAPAN LAUNCHES ROBOTIC SUPPLY SHIP TO SPACE STATION - An unmanned Japanese spaceship soared into orbit from an island launch site Friday (July 20), beginning a weeklong journey to deliver vital supplies to astronauts living on the International Space Station. The H-2 Transfer Vehicle-3 (HTV-3), nicknamed Kounotori 3 (Japanese for “White Stork 3?), is delivering student science projects, a new camera system, as well as food and spare equipment. It is due to arrive at the orbiting laboratory in about a week. More (Source: Mashable - Jul 22)
NASA AWARDS FOUR LAUNCHES TO SPACEX AND UNITED LAUNCH ALLIANCE - A lot of speculation takes place concerning what SpaceX and United Launch Alliance charge for all the various services surrounding the launch of a spacecraft. An announcement late Monday by NASA provides some more information for those who are trying to nail down the costs. More (Source: Ars Technica - Jul 20)
UNITED LAUNCH SERVICES... TRIPLE PREP FOR SATELLITE TRIO - A Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp. joint venture has won a potential $412 million contract to help NASA launch three satellites, the agency announced Monday. United Launch Services, a subsidiary of United Launch Alliance, will provide task-ordered launch services, process payloads and integrate launch vehicles. ULS will also provide provide ground support, tracking and data and telemetry services. More (Source: SatNews Publishers - Jul 20)
SKYCUBE: A WEB-FUNDED SATELLITE LETS YOU TWEET FROM SPACE - From the people that developed SkySafari, the highly popular astronomy app for iOS, Android and Mac OS X, comes the SkyCube. It's a nano-satellite measuring only 10-by-10-by-10 centimeters that will be launched on the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in the first quarter of 2013. A contribution to the SkyCube Kickstarter campaign will reserve your chance to broadcast messages or take pictures from it during its mission. More (Source: PCWorld - Jul 19)
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