SOYUZ CAPSULE DOCKS WITH INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - A Russian Soyuz spacecraft has docked with the International Space Station, delivering three new astronauts for the orbiting laboratory. The Soyuz blasted off from Kazakhstan on Wednesday carrying Catherine Coleman of the US, Russian Dmitry Kondratyev and Italian Paolo Nespoli. The docking took place 220 miles (355km) above West Africa. Two Russians and one American are already are on board the ISS, giving a total crew of six. More (Source: BBC News - Dec 19)
SOYUZ BLASTS ASTRONAUTS INTO SPACE - Soyuz blasts astronauts into space Advertisement15 December 2010 Last updated at 17:20 ET Help A Soyuz TMA-20 spacecraft carrying astronauts from the US, Russia and Italy blasted off from Kazakhstan heading towards the International Space Station. NASA astronaut Catherine Coleman, Russian cosmonaut Dmitry Kondratyev, and Italy's Paolo Nespoli of Italy are expected to dock at the Space Station on Friday. Space programs are expected to change dramatically in the coming months, with the United States having only two more space shuttle flights scheduled before retiring their shuttle program in 2011. More (Source: BBC News - Dec 17)
RUSSIA TO LAUNCH NEW GLOBAL NAVIGATION SATELLITE IN LATE DECEMBER - A Russian Glonass-K satellite has been delivered to the Plesetsk Space Center in Arkhangelsk Oblast, where it will be launched later this month. The satellite will be sent into orbit atop a modernized Soyuz rocket, RIA Novosti reports. Russia lost three Glonass-M satellites on December 5th when a Proton rocket launched from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan deviated from its course and the satellites were dropped in the Pacific Ocean. More (Source: Barents Observer - Dec 16)
SPACE SHUTTLE DISCOVERY TO BE ROLLED BACK TO VEHICLE ASSEMBLY BUILDING - NASA engineers are planning on conducting a tanking test of space shuttle Discovery’s external tank, no-earlier-than Dec. 17. Technicians have been hampered by local weather which has been extremely windy – and cold. Temperatures in the local area have fallen into the twenties. This test will work to ensure that repairs that were made to the large, orange external tank (ET) after several cracks were discovered after the launch attempt on Nov. 5. The cracks were discovered on the intertank region of the ET. These 21-foot-long aluminum brackets are called ‘stringers’ and NASA has been striving to repair the first crack, only to discover a second and third crack. Engineers are stilling trying to figure the cause of the cracks. More (Source: Examiner.com - Dec 16)
ISRO TO LAUNCH GSAT-5P COMMUNICATION SATELLITE ON DEC 20 - The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)will launch GSAT-5P, a 2,400 kg communication satellite, on December 20 from the SHAR Range at Sriharikota by a Geo-Stationary Launch Vehicle (GSLV) using Russian Cryogenic engine. ISRO sources told UNI here yesterday that the launch window for the mission will start on December 20 and it would be open for about 90 minutes. "We have fixed the date at December 20:, the sources, said,adding GSAT-5P would be launched by GSLV-F06 mission at around 1600 hours on that day. More (Source: NetIndian - Dec 12)
NASA SOLAR SAIL SATELLITE MAY NOT HAVE EJECTED FROM MOTHERSHIP AFTER ALL - A small NASA satellite carrying a folded-up solar sail may not have ejected from its mothership earlier this week after all, the space agency announced late Friday (Dec. 10). NASA had reported that NanoSail-D, which is about the size of a loaf of bread, successfully ejected from the FASTSAT satellite in low-Earth orbit in the early hours of Dec. 6. But the space agency released a status update today (Dec. 10) saying that now they're not so sure. "At this time, it is not clear that NanoSail-D ejected from the Fast, Affordable, Science and Technology Satellite (FASTSAT) as originally stated on Monday, Dec. 6," the statement reads. More (Source: Space.com - Dec 12)
SPACEX SPLASHES DOWN TO COMPLETE SUCCESSFUL DEMO FLIGHT - SpaceX's Dragon capsule fell to a soft landing in the Pacific Ocean just after 2 p.m. to complete a hugely successful first demonstration flight. The spacecraft launched from Cape Canaveral at 10:43 a.m. EST atop a Falcon 9 rocket and was deployed in orbit a little over nine minutes later. The capsule completed nearly two trips around the planet flying 186 miles high. From a mission control center in southern California, SpaceX teams tested guidance, propulsion and communications systems. More (Source: USA Today - Dec 8)
SPACEX FALCON 9 ROCKET, CAPSULE SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHED - SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and its Dragon test capsule launched successfully from Florida's Kennedy Space Center Wednesday morning. It's the first successful launch for NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program and another step for the future of commercial space flight. More (Source: PC Magazine - Dec 8)
SPACEX CRAFT MISSES INITIAL LAUNCH TIME - The launch of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket from Florida was delayed Wednesday morning. The first commercial spacecraft slated to orbit Earth and re-enter successfully was originally scheduled to lift off shortly after 9 a.m. No reason was given for the delay. Launch coordinators will try again at 10:43 a.m. Officials hope the demonstration flight of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule will still make the 9 a.m. to 12:22 p.m. ET launch window. More (Source: CNN - Dec 8)
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