WATCH THE LATEST WATER SATELLITE UNFOLD ITSELF IN SPACE - The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite launched into Earth orbit on Friday, Dec. 16, from Vandenberg Space Force Base in central California, and engineers are working to prepare the mission to begin measuring the height of water on over 90% of Earth’s surface, providing a high-definition survey of our planet’s water for the first time. But before it can do that, the satellite would need to unfold its large mast and antenna panels (see above) after successfully deploying the solar panel arrays that power the spacecraft. The mission monitors and controls the satellite using telemetry data, but it also equipped spacecraft with four customized commercial cameras to record the action.   More
(Source: Jet Propulsion Laboratory - NASA - Dec 30)

RUSSIA'S 'FINAL DECISION' ON LEAKY SOYUZ SPACECRAFT AT SPACE STATION TO COME IN JANUARY - Russian space officials will make their "final decision" in January about whether to let a leaky Soyuz bear its crew back to Earth, according to state media. The Russian federal space agenc Roscosmos said it is awaiting the results of a working group investigating the findings of a severe Soyuz spacecraft leak on the International Space Station on Dec. 15 that spewed coolant into space.   More
(Source: Space.com - Dec 30)

SATELLITE DESIGNED BY FAIRFAX CO. STUDENTS TO DEPLOY FROM INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - A satellite designed and built by high school students in Fairfax County will be deployed Thursday from the International Space Station. The satellite traveled into space last month. Students at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology worked on the 2U CubeSat, called TJREVERB for seven years, designing the mission, creating circuit boards, wiring and developing the software.   More
(Source: WJLA - Dec 29)

SPACEX LAUNCHES FIRST MISSION FOR STARLINK GEN2 CONSTELLATION - SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Wednesday with 54 more Starlink internet satellites, a mission to begin populating a new orbital shell authorized by federal regulators earlier this month for the company’s Starlink Gen2 network. Liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on SpaceX’s Starlink 5-1 mission occurred at 4:34 a.m. EST (0934 GMT) Wednesday, about six minutes earlier than previously announced.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 28)

SPACEX BEGINS LAUNCHING STARLINK SECOND GENERATION CONSTELLATION - SpaceX is set to launch a batch of 54 Starlink internet satellites – Starlink Group 5-1 – into low Earth orbit (LEO) this Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2022. Liftoff is scheduled to occur at 4:40 AM EST (09:40 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) in Florida. Starlink Group 5-1 is the first flight dedicated to the second generation (Gen 2) Starlink constellation. Previous flights have been filling the first generation (Gen 1) Starlink constellation, which SpaceX began launching in May 2019.    More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Dec 28)

2022’S EXTRAORDINARY COSMIC REVELATIONS AND MOMENTS IN SPACE EXPLORATION - This year, humankind glimpsed the universe in ways that were never before possible, and space missions took unprecedented leaps forward in unraveling the mysteries of the cosmos. We witnessed the first mission to the International Space Station funded entirely by space tourists. A new space-based internet service played a key role in the war in Ukraine. And there were historic launches of spacecraft and technology by NASA and its international partners that could one day be used to land humans on Mars.    More
(Source: CNN - Dec 28)

CHINA LAUNCHES NEW EARTH OBSERVATION SATELLITE - China sent a new Earth observation satellite into space from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China's Shanxi Province at 3:37 p.m. Tuesday (Beijing Time). The satellite, Gaofen-11 04, was launched aboard a Long March-4B carrier rocket and entered its planned orbit successfully. It is an Earth observation satellite that will be used in diverse fields, including land resources surveying, urban planning, road network design, crop yield estimation and disaster relief.    More
(Source: Xinhua - Dec 28)

10 WEIRD THINGS ABOUT SPACEX'S STARLINK INTERNET SATELLITES - SpaceX's Starlink satellites are among the most well-known spacecraft in the world. There are currently over 3,000 Starlink satellites in orbit, and SpaceX plans to launch many more. The satellites are primarily designed to provide broadband internet to remote or underserved locations, yet there are many other uses for the revolutionary constellation both planned and already in use.   More
(Source: Space.com - Dec 28)

NEW SPACECRAFT, NEW FIRSTS, NEW HARDWARE – INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION WRAPS UP A BUSY AND HISTORIC 2022 - 2022 has marked another busy chapter for the International Space Station (ISS). Along with its constant plethora of scientific and engineering experiments, the Station saw the first docking of Starliner, the all-private Axiom-1 mission, and new hardware installed to increase the lifespan of humanity’s collaborative space laboratory. The year onboard the Station began during Expedition 66, followed by Expedition 67, and has continued with the ongoing Expedition 68. “Expeditions” are approximately 6-month time periods on the ISS that begin and end with certain crew rotations.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Dec 26)

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