Endeavour falls silent, but her accomplishments live on

The youngest orbiter in the shuttle fleet, Endeavour, was powered down for the final time this month, as she heads into the final stages of being prepared for shipping to her final resting home in California. Endeavour was put to sleep just days prior to the one year anniversary of her final launch, STS-134, a [...]

Soyuz TMA-04M launches three new crewmembers for busy mission to ISS

The Russian Soyuz TMA-04M spacecraft, known by its US designation of 30S, has launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Tuesday (local time) carrying three new crewmembers bound for the International Space Station (ISS). Liftoff was on schedule at 7:01 AM Tuesday local Kazakh time, which was 3:01 AM Tuesday GMT, or 11:01 PM [...]

SpaceX’s Dragon debut to the ISS passes software validation process

One of the key pre-launch requirements for SpaceX’s upcoming Dragon mission to the ISS – the completion of software validation tasks for the spacecraft’s approach and berthing with the orbital outpost – has been passed, pending the expected completion of “action items”. The milestone means the latest launch date target of May 19 now holds [...]

ATK announce Liberty KSC test flights, reveal crew spacecraft with MLAS

In a wide-ranging release of information, ATK have announced what is their complete crew transportation system. With the previously announced Liberty launch vehicle as the foundation, the company have now revealed that their own crewed spacecraft will fly atop of the vehicle, with the MLAS launch abort system. Test flights are set to begin in [...]

JSC conducting EFT-1 sim runs as Orion prepares for journey to KSC

Preparations for Orion’s first journey into space are accelerating, as flight controllers at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) fire up the former Shuttle Flight Control Room (FCR) for mission simulations, while Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) engineers finalize the vehicle’s baseline construction, ahead of shipping Orion to the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) for outfitting.

Latest Articles

Endeavour falls silent, but her accomplishments live on

The youngest orbiter in the shuttle fleet, Endeavour, was powered down for the final time this month, as she heads into the final stages of being prepared for shipping to her final resting home in California. Endeavour was put to sleep just days prior to the one year anniversary of her final launch, STS-134, a [...]

16 May 2012 | Read more... »
Ariane 5 ECA launches JCSAT-13 and VINASAT-2 into orbit

Arianespace have returned their Ariane 5 ECA back into action on Tuesday, launching two more telecommunication satellites into orbit – namely JCSAT-13 and VINASAT-2. Launch from the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana was on schedule at the start of a two hour launch window that opened at 10:13pm GMT.

15 May 2012 | Read more... »
Soyuz TMA-04M launches three new crewmembers for busy mission to ISS

The Russian Soyuz TMA-04M spacecraft, known by its US designation of 30S, has launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Tuesday (local time) carrying three new crewmembers bound for the International Space Station (ISS). Liftoff was on schedule at 7:01 AM Tuesday local Kazakh time, which was 3:01 AM Tuesday GMT, or 11:01 PM [...]

14 May 2012 | Read more... »
ASC’s 3D Flash LIDAR camera selected for OSIRIS-REx asteroid mission

The Advanced Scientific Concepts (ASC) 3D Flash LIDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) range cameras have been selected for the OSIRIS-REx planetary science mission that will return a sample of the carbonaceous asteroid 1999 RQ36. The mission – launching in 2016 – is aiming to return the asteroid sample to Earth in 2023.

13 May 2012 | Read more... »
SpaceX’s Dragon debut to the ISS passes software validation process

One of the key pre-launch requirements for SpaceX’s upcoming Dragon mission to the ISS – the completion of software validation tasks for the spacecraft’s approach and berthing with the orbital outpost – has been passed, pending the expected completion of “action items”. The milestone means the latest launch date target of May 19 now holds [...]

11 May 2012 | Read more... »