2015 – Page 52 – Spaceflight Now

Space Florida to take over KSC’s shuttle runway

June 15, 2015 Stephen Clark

NASA will hand over control of the Kennedy Space Center’s disused space shuttle landing strip to the state of Florida on June 22 in a major step toward repurposing the three-mile-long runway for future spacecraft, officials said Monday.

OneWeb selects Airbus to build 900 Internet satellites

June 15, 2015 Stephen Clark

Airbus Defense and Space and OneWeb, a startup backed by Richard Branson’s Virgin Group and wireless tech giant Qualcomm, announced Monday plans to set up a joint venture for the construction of 900 Internet broadcasting satellites for launches beginning in 2018.

Two ‘microprobes’ to accompany InSight lander to Mars

June 14, 2015 Stephen Clark

NASA managers have formally approved the launch of two small CubeSat-based satellites with the InSight Mars lander next year, adding an experimental data relay capability to give ground controllers news about the landing’s outcome.

Comet lander wakes up!

June 14, 2015 William Harwood

The European Philae comet lander, out of power and presumably lost after bouncing into heavily shadowed terrain last November, phoned home Saturday after finally getting enough sunlight on its solar panels to transmit data to the Rosetta orbiter for relay to Earth.

Photos: Space crew welcomed home after 199-day mission

June 12, 2015 Stephen Clark

Three space station residents crammed inside a capsule smaller than a compact car landed on the austere plans of Kazakhstan on Thursday, returning to Earth for their first taste of gravity and whiff of nature in nearly seven months.

France to privatize its Arianespace shares

June 11, 2015 Stephen Clark

The French government has signaled its intention to sell its stake in Arianespace, a major step in consolidating the European launcher industry under the control of a joint venture formed by Airbus and rocket engine manufacturer Safran.

Jack King, ‘Voice of NASA,’ dies at 84

June 11, 2015 William Harwood

John W. “Jack” King, the calm, reassuring “Voice of NASA” who held the world riveted as he counted down the final seconds of the Apollo 11 launch to the moon, died Thursday after a long illness. He was 84.

U.S.-Russian-Italian crew returns to Earth

June 11, 2015 William Harwood

A Russian cosmonaut, a NASA astronaut and an Italian wrapping up her first space flight boarded a Russian Soyuz ferry craft early Thursday, undocked from the International Space Station and plunged back to Earth, landing safely on the steppe of Kazakhstan to close out an extended 200-day mission.

Commercial crew spaceships face likely delays

June 11, 2015 Stephen Clark

NASA officials and lawmakers warned Wednesday that U.S. astronauts will continue riding to the International Space Station aboard Russian spacecraft longer than planned if a spending plan under consideration in the Senate becomes law.

Live coverage: Station crew safely lands in Kazakhstan

June 11, 2015 Stephen Clark

A U.S.-Russian-Italian space crew closed out a 199-day expedition on the International Space Station with a parachute-assisted landing Thursday on the steppe of Kazakhstan. Touchdown of the Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft occurred at 1343 GMT (9:43 a.m. EDT).