2014 – Page 23 – Spaceflight Now

Russian cosmonauts wrap up successful spacewalk

October 22, 2014 William Harwood

Two cosmonauts ventured outside the International Space Station, jettisoning three no-longer-needed components and carrying out a photo survey of the Russian segment of the lab complex in the seventh and final spacewalk planned by the station crew this year.

Return of SpaceX’s Dragon cargo craft delayed

October 21, 2014 Stephen Clark

Rough seas in the Pacific Ocean will keep SpaceX’s Dragon cargo capsule in space a few days longer than planned, with the unpiloted supply ship’s return to Earth now set for Saturday hauling a load of research specimens from the International Space Station back to the ground.

Proton rocket blasts off with Russian telecom satellite

October 21, 2014 Stephen Clark

Russia’s Express AM6 communications satellite lifted off aboard a Proton rocket Tuesday and reached its targeted geostationary transfer orbit after a nine-hour climb thousands of miles above Earth.

Mars spacecraft safe after fortuitous comet encounter

October 20, 2014 Stephen Clark

A fleet of robotic spacecraft orbiting Mars got a front row seat to space history and lived to tell about it, giving scientists their first close-up look at a comet fresh from a cloud of primordial mini-worlds at the outer reaches of the solar system.

China puts government surveillance satellite in orbit

October 20, 2014 Stephen Clark

China sent a reconnaissance satellite into orbit from the Taiyuan space center, expanding the country’s network of intelligence-gathering spacecraft.

Orbital selects future Antares engine, but withholds details

October 19, 2014 Stephen Clark

Orbital Sciences Corp. has selected a new first stage propulsion system for its Antares rocket that will offer improved performance for launches beginning in 2017, the company’s chief executive said.

Last-ditch search finds fresh targets for New Horizons

October 19, 2014 Stephen Clark

Scientists using the powerful Hubble Space Telescopes have identified three tiny objects at the frontier of the solar system that NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft could visit after making an historic flyby of Pluto next summer.

Comet’s flyby of Mars a boon for scientists

October 19, 2014 William Harwood

The red planet’s brush with Comet Siding Spring was a close encounter of the best kind for science, a once-in-a-lifetime chance to study a pristine remnant of the solar system’s birth 4.6 billion years ago as it makes its first and possibly last visit to the warmth of the inner solar system.

U.S. military’s X-37B space plane lands in California

October 17, 2014 Stephen Clark

The U.S. Air Force’s X-37B space plane concluded its third mission, streaking through the atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean and gliding to an automated landing on a runway at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., after spending a record 675 days in orbit.

Ariane 5’s sky-lighting blastoff

October 17, 2014 Stephen Clark