CHINA IS ALL SET FOR HISTORIC SPACE DOCKING ATTEMPT - A robotic Chinese spaceship is chasing down another vessel for a scheduled orbital meet-up Wednesday that could help clear the way for China's planned space station. The unmanned Shenzhou 8 spacecraft launched yesterday on a mission to locate and latch onto the prototype space lab Tiangong 1, which has been circling Earth since late September. The historic space docking, which would be a first for China, is due to occur sometime Wednesday Eastern Daylight Time (which might make it Thursday local time in China), officials have said. More (Source: MSNBC - Nov 2)
CHINESE SHENZHOU CRAFT LAUNCHES ON KEY SPACE MISSION - China has taken the next step in its quest to become a major space power with the launch of the unmanned Shenzhou 8 vehicle. The spacecraft rode a Long March 2F rocket into orbit where it will attempt to rendezvous and dock with the Tiangong-1 lab, launched in September. It would be the first time China has joined two space vehicles together. The capability is required if the country is to carry through its plan to build a space station by about 2020. More (Source: BBC News - Nov 1)
SOYUZ SUCCESSFULLY RETURNS TO FLIGHT FOR SPACE STATION - Two months after a rare Russian launch failure, an unmanned Progress cargo ship loaded with 2.9 tons of supplies and equipment bound for the International Space Station rocketed smoothly into orbit Sunday, clearing the way for the resumption of manned Soyuz flights next month, just in time for the lab's partners to avoid being forced to temporarily abandoning the complex. The Progress M-13M spacecraft took off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 6:11 a.m. EDT (GMT-4), kicking off the 45th unmanned Russian space station resupply mission. More (Source: Space Flight Now - Oct 31)
RUSSIA POISED TO RESUME SPACE STATION FLIGHTS - A Russian cargo ship is poised for liftoff on Sunday to the International Space Station following a launch accident in August that cut staffing levels aboard the orbital outpost. The Progress freighter, due to launch at 6:11 a.m. EDT (1011 GMT) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, will be the first flight to the station since an upper-stage rocket failure doomed a similar unmanned freighter on August 24. More (Source: Reuters - Oct 29)
VENERABLE DELTA 2 ROCKET LAUNCH FLAWLESS AGAIN - Not knowing if the future will bring it more launch business, the workhorse Delta 2 rocket successfully deployed a vital climate and weather observatory this morning before riding into an uncertain state of limbo. The United Launch Alliance-made rocket, one of the world's most reliable space boosters ever built, pierced a star-filled sky for its middle-of-the-night ascent to deploy the NPP spacecraft. Liftoff occurred from Vandenberg Air Force Base along California's central coastline at 2:48 a.m. PDT (5:48 a.m. EDT; 0948 GMT). More (Source: Space Flight Now - Oct 28)
CHINA TO LAUNCH UNMANNED SPACE MISSION NEXT MONTH TO PRACTICE DOCKING WITH SPACE STATION - China will launch an unmanned spacecraft early next month that will attempt to dock with an experimental module, the latest step in what will be a decade-long effort to place a manned permanent space station in orbit. In space, the Shenzhou 8 will carry out maneuvers to couple with the Tiangong 1 module now in orbit. More (Source: Washington Post - Oct 27)
BALL-BUILT NPP SATELLITE SET TO LAUNCH FROM CALIFORNIA ON FRIDAY - A satellite built by Boulder-based Ball Aerospace is scheduled to launch into space in the wee hours of Friday morning from California. The satellite -- known as the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project, or NPP for short -- will help scientists better predict the weather and build on a record of climate observations that stretch back for decades. More (Source: Daily Camera - Oct 27)
NEW SATELLITE WILL HELP FORECASTING - Our understanding of weather and our forecasting of it is about to get better. A brand new Satellite will launch early Thursday morning to enhance our forecasting and monitoring of bad weather and study of the climate. The satellite will gather data on cloud cover, ocean color, and sea surface temperatures, as well as other data. All of this new information gets incorporated in the computer models that forecast the weather into the future. More (Source: WWLP 22News - Oct 26)
IPADS AND ANGRY BIRDS LAUNCHING TO SPACE STATION - Popular tablet computers and the red feathered star of a leading video game played on them are bound for the International Space Station (ISS) aboard two upcoming Russian space launches. Two Apple iPads are packed on board the next unmanned resupply vehicle to fly to the space station, set for launch later this month. And a stuffed toy doll of the red bird from Rovio Mobile's "Angry Birds" puzzle game will accompany the next three crew members to depart Earth for the ISS next month. The iPads will augment Apple iPod music players already aboard the station, while the red Angry Bird toy will help by signaling to the launching cosmonauts and NASA astronaut that they have made it to space, when it starts to float. More (Source: Space.com - Oct 26)
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