CHANDRA TURNS TEN - About ten years ago Space Shuttle Columbia launched hauling 55,000 pounds worth of astronomers’ dreams -- the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. This was the heaviest payload a space shuttle ever lifted – and one of the best day's labor the work-horse space shuttle ever put in. August 19, 2009, marks Chandra's 10 year "first light" anniversary.** Last week some Chandra team members celebrated the observatory’s past decade of dramatic discoveries.    More
(Source: RedOrbit - Aug 20)

DISCOVERY SET TO LAUNCH NEXT WEEK FOR INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - Space shuttle Discovery is set to launch next week on a mission to the international space station, NASA's Flight Readiness Review team said Wednesday. Launch is scheduled for 1:36 a.m. ET Tuesday, NASA said. However, launches often are delayed because of inclement weather or technical concerns.    More
(Source: CNN - Aug 19)

S. KOREAN LAUNCH RAISES QUESTIONS - South Korea on Wednesday plans to launch a satellite into space using technology capable, in theory, of eventually delivering nuclear warheads or other weapons of mass destruction. A successful launch from an island off South Korea's southwestern coast will add that country to an elite club of nine nations that have demonstrated the capability to orbit a satellite and -- if they choose -- to conduct long-range missile strikes against an enemy.    More
(Source: Washington Post - Aug 18)

LAST GPS IIR SATELLITE LAUNCHED ON FINAL SLC-17A DELTA II - A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta II has become the last rocket to lift off from Cape Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 17A this morning, as it launched the twenty-first and last GPS IIR satellite for the US Air Force. The 2059-kilogram GPS IIR-21(M) satellite, also known as GPS IIRM-8, was deployed following a sixty-eight minute flight. Liftoff was on schedule at 10:35 GMT (06:35 local time).   More
(Source: NASASpaceflight.com - Aug 17)

NEW ASIAN COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE LAUNCHES TO SPACE - A Proton rocket sent an Asian communications satellite on the way to orbit Tuesday, successfully completing the first leg of a 9-hour mission to deliver the four-ton craft to its new home in space. With six engines blazing a fiery trail through the night sky, the 185-foot-tall rocket lifted off at 1947 GMT (3:47 p.m. EDT) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. AsiaSat 5, a new 8,289-pound broadcasting and networking satellite for Asia, was bolted atop the Russian booster for the launch. The spacecraft will be operated by Hong Kong-based Asia Satellite Telecommunications Co. Ltd.    More
(Source: Space.com - Aug 12)

ARIANE 4 FUELS UP FOR DUAL SATELLITE LAUNCH - Both payloads for Arianespace's next Ariane 5 flight have been fueled at the Spaceport as preparations continue for the workhorse vehicle's fourth heavy-lift launch of 2009 from French Guiana. ropellant loading of the JCSAT-12 and Optus D3 spacecraft was performed in separate activity at the Spaceport's S5 satellite preparation facility, readying these relay platforms for their integration with the Ariane 5.   More
(Source: Space Daily - Aug 10)

INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION OR GRAND CENTRAL STATION? - At the end of this month and on through the next the International Space Station will seem more like a bustling airport than a lonely, wayward outpost. Currently the following countries will be launching the following vehicles station-bound. * Space Shuttle Discovery from NASA's Kennedy Space Center is currently scheduled to liftoff on Aug. 25.   More
(Source: Examiner.com - Aug 9)

TOOL KIT DROPPED FROM SPACE STATION IS ORBITAL JUNK NO MORE - A tool bag lost by a spacewalking astronaut in November appears to have met its end after more than eight months in orbit. The chief scientist at NASA's Orbital Debris Program Office says the tool kit should have reentered the atmosphere this morning. "We are waiting on a post-reentry assessment of time and location," to be completed later today by military space monitors, says Nicholas Johnson, who is based at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.   More
(Source: Scientific American - Aug 4)

SHUTTLE DISCOVERY HEADS FOR LAUNCH PAD ON TUESDAY - Engineers are readying the shuttle Discovery for rollout to pad 39A early Tuesday, one day later than planned because of work to assess the impact of a check valve failure in the steering system of the ship's left-side solid-fuel booster. The valve problem apparently caused a hydraulic system pump to spin backwards during a high-pressure leak check, possibly damaging the pump and one of the booster's hydraulic power units, officials said.    More
(Source: Spaceflight Now - Aug 4)

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