RUSSIAN CARGO SHIP DOCKS AT SPACE STATION DESPITE MALFUNCTION - A new unmanned cargo ship loaded with tons of supplies successfully docked at the International Space Station Saturday despite a last-minute failure that forced a Russian cosmonaut to take control and guide the robotic freighter in manually. Russian space station commander Oleg Kotov took manual control of the automated cargo ship, called Progress 37, while it hovered about 3,280 feet (1,000 meters) away from the orbiting lab with 2.6 tons (2,359 kg) of supplies onboard    More
(Source: Space.com - May 2)

INDIAN SATELLITE LAUNCH POSTPONED TO JUNE - The Indian space agency is likely to launch its rocket, Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C15), carrying its cartography satellite Cartosat-2B and couple of other payloads, sometime in June. Originally scheduled for launch May 9, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Thursday decided to postpone the flight to a future date as it found "a marginal drop in the pressure in the second stage of the vehicle during mandatory checks".    More
(Source: Times of India - May 1)

RUSSIAN MILITARY SATELLITE SUCCESSFULLY SENT TO ORBIT - A Kosmos 3M rocket launched from northern Russia overnight to place a military navigation satellite in orbit more than 600 miles above Earth. The two-stage launcher lifted off at 0105 GMT Tuesday from pad 132 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia. The launch occurred at 5:05 a.m. Moscow time. The mission's secret payload arrived in orbit about one hour later at 0208 GMT, according to the Russian Novosti news agency. U.S. tracking data shows the satellite was released in a nearly circular orbit more than 600 miles high with an inclination of about 83 degrees.    More
(Source: Space Flight Now - Apr 29)

JAPAN TO LAUNCH SOLAR-POWERED SPACECRAFT - The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has announced plans to launch a solar-powered 'space yacht'--the first of its kind--according to various media reports on Tuesday. The Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated by Radiation of the Sun (IKAROS) satellite uses a special 66-foot (20m) sail made of thin-film solar technology that will allow the ship to use pressure, created by the reflection of sunlight off the sails, as propulsion. Furthermore, the satellite craft will also be equipped with solar cells to generate electricity, effectively making the IKAROS a hybrid spacecraft.    More
(Source: Red Orbit - Apr 29)

ATLANTIS ASTRONAUTS ENJOY SLOW RIDE TO PAD WITH SHUTTLE - The astronauts who will fly space shuttle Atlantis into orbit next month got a rare chance Thursday morning as they rode along with their spacecraft on its slow trip from the Vehicle Assembly Building to the launch pad at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. “Riding the crawler last night was absolutely fantastic,” Ham said. He said the crawler, powered by destroyer engines, reminded him of a Navy ship even though it moves across gravel instead of rolling waves. “It is incredible to see that battleship on the ground.”    More
(Source: Space Fellowship - Apr 27)

PROTON HAULS COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE TO ORBIT FOR AMERICA - A Proton rocket lifted off from Kazakhstan Saturday and delivered a new communications satellite into orbit to replace two aging spacecraft serving North America. The 18-story rocket launched at 1119 GMT (7:19 a.m. EDT) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Within less than 10 minutes, the three-stage Proton rocket completed its duties for the flight, depositing the Breeze M upper stage and the SES 1 satellite on a suborbital trajectory. The hydrazine-fueled upper stage ignited moments later to reach a parking orbit about 120 miles high.    More
(Source: Space Flight Now - Apr 25)

HUBBLE SPACE SCOPE: 20 YEARS OF COSMIC AWE - In the last 20 years, the Hubble Space Telescope has revolutionized the way humanity views the universe. In many ways, it may have been the most influential telescope since Galileo peered at the night sky with one four centuries ago. In the last 20 years, the Hubble Space Telescope has revolutionized the way humanity views the universe. In many ways, it may have been the most influential telescope since Galileo peered at the night sky with one four centuries ago.    More
(Source: Fox News - Apr 25)

X-37B ROBOTIC SPACE PLANE LAUNCHED - Thursday night the Air Force launched what looks like a smaller version of the shuttle. It's called the "baby space shuttle," a 29-foot test plane that will become the next generation of re-usable spacecraft. The X-37B blasted off from Cape Canaveral carrying a secret payload of experiments. The Air Force will not reveal what those experiments are, and they are not telling how long the craft will be in orbit. While the remote-controlled X-37B is designed to stay in orbit up to 9 months, the Air Force will only say that this will 'not' be a "quick up and down test" flight.    More
(Source: NewsChannel 9 - Apr 23)

DISCOVERY LANDS IN FLORIDA - Space shuttle Discovery landed at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to complete the STS-131 mission to the International Space Station. With Commander Alan G. Poindexter and Pilot James P. Dutton Jr. at the controls, space shuttle Discovery descended to a smooth landing at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The STS-131 crew members concluded their successful mission to the International Space Station when the shuttle touched down at 9:08 a.m. EDT.    More
(Source: NASA - Apr 20)

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