SPACEX SCRUBS FALCON 9'S DSCOVR LAUNCH (AGAIN) DUE TO WINDS - SpaceX postponed the launch of its Falcon 9 rocket with the Deep Space Climate Observatory once more on Tuesday, due to unacceptable upper-level winds. The rocket was geared up to send the observatory, also known as DSCOVR, on its trek to a vantage point a million miles from Earth — and then make a second try to land the rocket's first stage on an oceangoing platform. But with 13 minutes left on the countdown clock, the upper-level winds were judged to be too high for the rocket to handle. More (Source: NBC News - Feb 10)
SPACEX DRAGON CAPSULE LEAVES SPACE STATION FOR OCEAN SPLASHDOWN - SpaceX's robotic Dragon capsule is headed back to Earth after spending one month attached to the International Space Station, marking the start of a big day for the private spaceflight company that also includes a satellite launch and bold rocket landing attempt. The uncrewed Dragon supply ship — carrying hardware and experiments back from the station — cast off from the space station at about 2:10 p.m. EST (1910 GMT) today, Feb. 10. Dragon will splash down in the Pacific Ocean at 7:44 p.m. EST (0044 Feb. 11 GMT), where a recovery ship is standing by to retrieve the capsule. If all goes according to plan, the splashdown should occur just hours after SpaceX is due to launch a Falcon 9 rocket carrying Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) space weather satellite into orbit. SpaceX also hopes to try to land the rocket on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean after delivering the satellite to space. More (Source: Space.com - Feb 10)
EUROPEAN SPACE CARGO SHIP'S FIERY DEMISE STARS IN NEW VIDEO - A stunning video shows the destruction of a robotic cargo ship re-entering Earth's atmosphere in November after delivering 7 tons of supplies to the International Space Station. The sequence of pictures shows the European Space Agency's Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) named for Albert Einstein burning up over an unpopulated area of the Pacific Ocean. The amazing ATV re-entry video, which ESA unveiled last week, shows the colorful breaking apart of the vehicle as it entered Earth's atmosphere on Nov. 2, 2013. The ship carried about 1.7 tons of waste from the station. More (Source: Space.com - Feb 10)
SPACEX LAUNCH WITH DEEP-SPACE WEATHER BUOY RESET FOR TUESDAY - ace Exploration Technologies will try again Tuesday to launch a Falcon 9 rocket with a U.S. satellite intended to watch for threatening solar storms, NASA said on Monday. Liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida had been planned for Sunday, but was called off two minutes before launch because of a problem with an Air Force radar system needed to track the rocket during flight. The launch was then postponed to Monday, but a poor weather forecast prompted SpaceX, as the California company is known, to reschedule for Tuesday. More (Source: Reuters - Feb 10)
SPACEX FALCON 9 ROCKET LAUNCH SCRUBBED, RESCHEDULED FOR MONDAY - Tonight's SpaceX Falcon 9 launch has been scrubbed. The next launch attempt has been set for 6:07 p.m. Monday. Issues with a first-stage transmitter and a range radar caused crews to scrub the launch attempt. More (Source: News 13 Orlando - Feb 8)
SPACEX TO TRY ROCKET LANDING AGAIN WITH DSCOVR SATELLITE LAUNCH - When SpaceX launches a long-delayed satellite to study space weather on Sunday, the private spaceflight company also hopes to do the amazing: return a rocket to Earth and land it on a floating platform in the Atlantic Ocean. SpaceX will attempt to land the first stage of its 14-story Falcon 9 rocket after launching the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR for short) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Base in Florida. Liftoff is set for Sunday, Feb. 8, at 6:10 p.m. EST (2310 GMT) and will be webcast live by NASA TV. It will be SpaceX's second try in two months to land a rocket on an ocean drone ship as part of company founder Elon Musk's dream of making reusable rocket technology a reality. On Jan. 10, SpaceX attempted a Falcon 9 rocket landing but the booster ran out of hydraulic fluid for its four grid steering fins on the way down. The rocket stage slammed into SpaceX's drone ship and exploded. More (Source: Space.com - Feb 8)
SATELLITE SET TO STREAM DAILY IMAGES OF EARTH FROM SPACE - There's something majestic, even awe-inspiring about the sight of planet Earth as a blue disc, hanging in the vastness of space. The three astronauts aboard Apollo 8 were the first to get that view; if all goes well, later this year everyone will be able to get it on a daily basis over the Internet. The images will come courtesy of a spacecraft called Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR). It's a mission with an unusual history. Al Gore first proposed the idea for DSCOVR back in 1998, when he was vice president. Gore was so smitten with the view of Earth from space that he put an enormous print of a picture taken by Apollo 17 on the wall of his West Wing office. "Wouldn't it be nice," Gore asked in 1998, "to have that image continuous, live, 24 hours a day?" More (Source: NPR - Feb 7)
NASA TV COVERAGE SET FOR U.S. CARGO SHIP’S DEPARTURE FROM SPACE STATION - After delivering more than 5,000 pounds of supplies and experiments to the International Space Station last month, the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft is set to leave the orbiting laboratory on Tuesday, Feb. 10. NASA Television will provide live coverage of Dragon's departure beginning at 1:45 p.m. EST. The Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to detach from the Earth-facing side of the station's Harmony module and release through commands sent by ground controllers in mission control at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston operating the Canadarm 2 robotic arm. Mission control will maneuver Dragon into place for its release, which is scheduled for 2:09 p.m. More (Source: Space Ref - Feb 7)
NASA SET TO LAUNCH SATELLITE TO DETECT DISRUPTIVE SOLAR STORMS - A satellite that had sat in storage for years will be launched this month to replace an aging satellite used to monitor space weather for the United States. The Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) will give officials a 15- to 60-minute lead time for approaching solar storms that could disrupt electric supplies, communications, GPS navigation, satellites and air travel. A severe solar event could cause up to $2 trillion in damages and other costs and take up to 10 years from which to recover, the National Research Council of the National Academies estimated in a 2008 report. More (Source: Accuweather.com - Feb 6)
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