SPACE STATION TRIO RETURNS SAFELY TO EARTH ABOARD RUSSIAN CRAFT - A Russian space capsule touched down on the steppes of Kazakhstan in Central Asia Friday, safely returning a joint U.S.-Russian crew to Earth after months aboard the International Space Station. The Soyuz TMA-22 spacecraft landed at 7:45 a.m. ET, less than four hours after undocking from the space station. Riding home aboard the space capsule were NASA astronaut Dan Burbank and Russian cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishin, who were reintroduced to the strong tug of Earth's gravity after spending 165 days, or nearly five and a half months, in orbit. More (Source: MSNBC - Apr 28)
SPACE STATION CREW TO RETURN TO EARTH FRIDAY - Three astronauts are set to leave the International Space Station early Friday morning (April 27) to return home after living in space for nearly half a year. NASA astronaut Dan Burbank and Russian cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishin are slated to undock from the space station at 4:18 a.m. EDT (0818 GMT) Friday. They are expected to wrap up a 5 1/2-month space mission with a ride back to Earth aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule, which is due to touch down in the steppes of Kazakhstan at 7:45 a.m. EDT (1145 GMT). More (Source: Space.com - Apr 27)
INDIAN ROCKET SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES RISAT-1 SATELLITE - On an early Thursday morning, an Indian rocket successfully launched into orbit a microwave Radar Imaging Satellite (Risat-1) from the spaceport here in Andhra Pradesh, around 80 km from Chennai. The indigenous Risat-1, with a life span of five years, would be used for disaster prediction and agriculture forestry and the high resolution pictures and microwave imaging could also be used for defence purposes as it can look through the clouds and fog. More (Source: New York Daily News - Apr 27)
BOEING'S PRIVATE SPACE TAXI TO TAKE FLIGHT BY 2016 - With NASA's space shuttle fleet now permanently grounded, aerospace giant Boeing is aiming to fly astronauts to the International Space Station aboard a new private spaceship as early as 2015 or 2016, company officials say. Boeing's CST-100 capsule (short for Commercial Space Transportation-100) is being designed to ferry astronauts to and from the space station and other destinations in low-Earth orbit. The spacecraft will initially launch from Florida atop United Launch Alliance's Atlas 5 rocket, but the company is not ruling out other booster options in the future, officials have said. More (Source: Space.com - Apr 25)
SPACE SHUTTLE ENTERPRISE'S NY ARRIVAL PUSHED BACK TO FRIDAY - Grounded for more than 25 years as a museum display, the space shuttle Enterprise will need to wait just a few more days before taking to the air for one last flight. The prototype NASA orbiter, which never flew in space but was used by the space agency for approach and landing tests in the late 1970s, will now take off from Washington, D.C. for New York no sooner than Friday, if the weather cooperates. More (Source: MSNBC - Apr 25)
ATLAS 5 TOPPED WITH ANTI-JAM COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE - A gleaming new spacecraft valued at over $1 billion to serve in the top-notch mission of providing the president and military leaders a secure and survivable communications link in wartime was mounted atop its Atlas 5 rocket at Cape Canaveral today. The second Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellite, AEHF 2, is scheduled for blastoff next week, Thursday, May 3, two days earlier than expected because the Eastern Range suddenly became available. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 25)
ILS PROTON SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES Y1B SATELLITE FOR YAHSAT - International Launch Services (ILS), a leading launch services provider for the global commercial satellite industry, successfully carried the Y1B satellite into geostationary transfer orbit today on an ILS Proton for Al Yah Satellite Communications (Yahsat) of Abu Dhabi. This was third ILS Proton launch so far this year and the 72nd ILS Proton launch overall. More (Source: MarketWatch - Apr 25)
PRIVATE SPACESHIP LAUNCH TO SPACE STATION TO BE DELAYED - The first private spaceship launch to the International Space Station has been delayed, possibly by at least a week, the vehicle's makers announced Monday. The commercial spaceflight company SpaceX was set to launch its Dragon capsule atop a Falcon 9 rocket April 30 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The unmanned spacecraft will fly a demonstration mission for future cargo deliveries to the space station under an agreement with NASA. More (Source: MSNBC - Apr 24)
SPACE SYSTEMS/LORAL-BUILT SATELLITE FOR TELESAT DELIVERED TO BAIKONUR LAUNCH BASE - Space Systems/Loral, the world's leading provider of commercial satellites, today announced that the Nimiq 6 satellite, designed and built for Telesat, one of the world's leading satellite operators, has arrived at the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan, where it will be launched aboard a Proton Breeze M vehicle provided by International Launch Services (ILS). More (Source: Space Ref - Apr 24)
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