CHINESE CREW RETURNS TO EARTH AFTER SPACE STATION TEST FLIGHT - China's Shenzhou 9 spacecraft parachuted to a jolting rocket-assisted landing in Inner Mongolia on Friday, safely returning three astronauts to Earth after nearly 13 days in orbit. Landing occurred at around 0202 GMT (10:02 p.m. EDT; 10:04 a.m. Beijing time) in Siziwang Banner, a county in northern China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region. Commander Jing Haipeng and crewmates Liu Wang and Liu Yang, China's first female space flier, were helped from the capsule about one hour later. The astronauts were placed in chairs and carried nearby for a photo opportunity. More (Source: Spaceflight Now - Jun 29)
AIR FORCE LAUNCHES US SPY SATELLITE ON SECRET MISSION - A new U.S. spy satellite launched into orbit Wednesday (June 20), kicking off a clandestine national security mission for the National Reconnaissance Office. The NROL-38 reconnaissance spacecraft lifted off at 8:28 a.m. EDT (1228 GMT) from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, atop a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas 5 rocket. It marked a milestone flight for the rocket company, a partnership between Lockheed Martin and Boeing. More (Source: Fox News - Jun 29)
CHINA'S FIRST PILOTED DOCKING TEST GOES SMOOTHLY IN SPACE - Three Chinese astronauts will temporarily depart their quarters inside the orbiting Tiangong 1 space lab early Sunday, backing away inside a Shenzhou spacecraft before pilot Liu Wang takes control of the capsule to complete the first manual docking in China's burgeoning space program. The maneuver is planned for about 0400 GMT (12 a.m. EDT) Sunday, according to the China Manned Space Engineering Office, a division of the Chinese military responsible for the country's human space endeavors. More (Source: Spaceflight Now - Jun 25)
MEASAT TO LAUNCH THREE SATELLITES IN NEXT TWO YEARS - Measat Satellite Systems Sdn Bhd (Measat) plans to launch three satellites in the next two years to provide customers with innovative and 'best-in-class' satellite solutions. Its Senior Vice-President for Space Systems Development Dr Ali R. Ebadi said AFRICASAT-1a is scheduled for launch in February next year, MEASAT-3b at the end of 2013 and MEASAT-3C in 2014. More (Source: Bernama - Jun 24)
SPACE STATION LIVE! NASA APP PUTS ORBITING LAB AT YOUR FINGERTIPS - Ever wonder what the crew on board the International Space Station is doing right now? Or what is the temperature of each of the orbiting outpost's modules? Or how much power is being generated at this very instant by the space station's solar array wings? If so, NASA has an app for that. The agency's Space Station Live! website and companion ISSLive! mobile application offers the public a new inside look at what is happening aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and in the Mission Control Center at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. More (Source: Space.com - Jun 23)
NASA FUNDS SATELLITE MISSION TO MEASURE HURRICANE WINDS - NASA's decision this week to fund a University of Michigan proposal to build a small satellite constellation, the first full mission award in the agency's low-cost Venture-class Earth science program, could help forecasters predict the intensification of tropical cyclones. Data from the mission will help researchers study how tropical cyclones grow stronger over warm ocean waters, and meteorologists could use real-time information to help formulate hurricane forecasts. More (Source: Spaceflight Now - Jun 23)
UK COMPANY PROMISES MOON TOURISM BY 2015 - Britain could become the first country to fly a tourist around the moon, after an Isle of Man-based company announced that it would be ready to take passengers on private lunar expeditions by 2015. Excalibur Almaz will charge wannabe astronauts an average of £100 million for a six to eight month journey exploring deep space. Three wealthy individuals, or astronauts from emerging powers, will be crammed into a reusable capsule the size of a waste skip and launched by rocket to a space station. After the two vehicles link up, they will travel on to the Moon. More (Source: CNBC - Jun 21)
SHHH — AIR FORCES LAUNCHES SECRET US SPY SATELLITE - A new U.S. spy satellite launched into orbit Wednesday, kicking off a clandestine national security mission for the National Reconnaissance Office. The NROL-38 reconnaissance spacecraft lifted off at 8:28 a.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, atop a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas 5 rocket. It marked a milestone flight for the rocket company, a partnership between Lockheed Martin and Boeing. "Congratulations to the NRO and to all the mission partners involved in this critical national security launch," Jim Sponnick, ULA vice president for Mission Operations, said in a statement. More (Source: MSNBC - Jun 21)
SHENZHOU-9 DOCKS WITH TIANGONG-1 - China's Shenzhou-9 capsule, with its crew of three, has docked with the Tiangong-1 space lab. The coupling of the vehicles occurred just after 14:00 Beijing time (06:00 GMT; 07:00 BST) over China itself. The latest Shenzhou mission was launched on Saturday, taking the nation's first female astronaut into orbit. Thirty-three-year old Liu Yang flies with Commander Jing Haipeng, 46, and fellow flight engineer, Liu Wang, 42. More (Source: BBC News - Jun 18)
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