SPACEX LANDS THIRD CONSECUTIVE ROCKET, AND THE VIDEO IS BREATHTAKING - On Friday evening, SpaceX successfully landed another Falcon 9 rocket (or more precisely, its reusable first stage) back on Earth after a mission. These landings are a huge technical achievement, with big implications for spaceflight. But the video SpaceX released yesterday makes the equally important point t hat they’re just really, really cool. The footage is sped up (SpaceX SPACEX 0.00% doesn’t say by how much), which is a bit frustrating. But what’s on display here is nonetheless mind-boggling. We see the rocket approaching Earth at an oblique angle, firing directional thrusters as it lines itself up, then a larger blast to slow down as it approaches a drone barge off the coast of Florida.   More
(Source: Fortune - May 29)

NASA SUCCESSFULLY INFLATES NEW SPACE STATION ROOM - NASA successfully inflated a new experimental room at the International Space Station on Saturday, producing the world's first pump-it-up compartment for astronauts. The operation took much longer than expected, stretching over three days in all. But victory, when it came, was sweet. "A significant milestone has been accomplished," Bigelow Aerospace, the inflatable chamber's creator, cheered via Twitter. Astronaut Jeffrey Williams spent seven hours Saturday opening and closing an air valve to expand the compartment   More
(Source: U.S. News & World Report - May 29)

NOW IS THE BEST TIME TO SPOT THE SPACE STATION - Step outside on a clear night over the next few days, and you’ve got a great chance of seeing the International Space Station (ISS) as it glides across the heavens. Pick the right night, and you may even see it zoom by multiple times in a row. The ISS is about the size of an American football field and is covered with shiny metal surfaces and lots of highly reflective solar panels. That makes the station easily visible with the naked eye, even from light-polluted city centers. Its brilliance is so impressive that sometimes it’s the second brightest object in the night sky, after the moon.   More
(Source: National Geographic - May 27)

SPACE STATION CREW RUNS INTO GLITCH INFLATING "BEAM" MODULE - The International Space Station crew began the process Thursday of inflating an innovative expandable space module developed by a Las Vegas billionaire, but the inflation stalled and NASA called off efforts for the day. The Bigelow Expandable Crew Activity Module, or BEAM, was supposed to grow six feet in length and three feet in diameter when it was expanded using internal tanks and station-supplied air. But in a blog post Thursday morning, NASA said that after several hours of attempts to introduce air into the module, BEAM had only expanded a few inches in both length and diameter. "Engineers are meeting to determine a forward course of action, with the possibility that another attempt could be made as early as Friday morning," the statement said.   More
(Source: CBS News - May 27)

SPACEX SCRUBS FALCON 9 ROCKET LAUNCH ATTEMPT FROM CAPE - SpaceX scrubbed a planned Falcon 9 rocket launch at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station today due to technical problems, according to CEO Elon Musk. The next attempt has tentatively been scheduled for a 24-hour delay, potentially giving it the same 5:40 p.m. to 7:40 p.m. launch window as Thursday. A glitch with an upper stage engine actuator scrubbed Thursday's attempt to launch Falcon 9 and Thaicom 8. SpaceX hopes to try again Friday, Two-hour window opens around 5:40 p.m. Weather 70% "go."   More
(Source: Florida Today - May 27)

WATCH THE FIRST EXPANDABLE HABITAT INFLATE ON THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION TODAY - The International Space Station is ready to deploy its first expandable habitat. The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM), which was delivered last month by one of Space X's rockets, will finally be inflated to its full size starting at 5:30AM ET tomorrow, according to NASA. The event will be streamed live on NASA TV. Astronauts on the space station won't enter the habitat for another week. The module, which will inflate up to four times its size, is expected to stay attached to the ISS for two years.    More
(Source: The Verge - May 26)

SOYUZ LAUNCH ADDS TWO MORE SATELLITES TO GALILEO NAVIGATION FLEET - wo more Galileo satellites successfully catapulted into space from the French Guiana jungle aboard a Soyuz rocket Tuesday, putting Europe’s multibillion-dollar navigation system on track to begin limited global service later this year. Nearly five years into Galileo’s operational deployment, the navigation system has hit a stride in satellite production and rocket launches long sought by European politicians and engineers who have worked on the ambitious project since its inception. “We are now at cruising speed as far as deployment is concerned,” said Paul Verhoef, director of the Galileo program and navigation-related activities at the European Space Agency, a senior partner on the space-based positioning project, which is led by the European Commission.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - May 25)

MIR PLUNGED INTO OCEAN BEFORE TIME - The Mir space station could have been kept aloft a little longer, although this would hardly be viable financially, a Russian space agency Roscosmos executive in charge of manned missions said. The Soviet Union began putting parts of the modular space station into low orbit in 1986. Mir was deorbited and fell into the Pacific in 2001 after 15 years in space. "It could have been maintained, although the question is whether this would have been practical," Sergei Krikalev, a former cosmonaut, told RIA Novosti.   More
(Source: Space Daily - May 25)

SPACEX WILL TRY TO LAND ON SOLID GROUND AGAIN IN JULY - SpaceX's ninth cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station will take place no earlier than 1:32AM ET on Saturday, July 16th, NASA announced today. A representative for SpaceX has confirmed to The Verge that the company will attempt to land the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket at Cape Canaveral. This will be the first time that SpaceX has attempted a landing on solid ground since the initial attempt last December, which was also the company's first successful landing. SpaceX will use its Falcon 9 rocket to launch the uncrewed version of its Dragon spacecraft to the ISS.    More
(Source: The Verge - May 25)

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