February 2015 – Page 6 – Spaceflight Now

Space weather observatory blasts off after 17-year wait

February 12, 2015 Stephen Clark

An interplanetary space weather station rocketed away from Cape Canaveral aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket Wednesday, speeding toward a remote operating post a million miles from Earth to help forecasters warn of intense solar storms.

Photos: Falcon 9 launch from Press Site

February 12, 2015 Justin Ray

Launch of Falcon 9 from the Turn Basin at the NASA-KSC Press Site.

Video: Falcon 9 launch of DSCOVR

February 11, 2015 Justin Ray

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches from Cape Canaveral with the Deep Space Climate Observatory, beginning a new day in space weather forecasting. Liftoff occurred at 6:03:32 p.m. EST on Feb. 11.

SpaceX to forgo booster recovery on Wednesday’s launch

February 11, 2015 Stephen Clark

SpaceX says it is giving up on landing the Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean after Wednesday’s launch of a NOAA space weather observatory due to rough seas in the booster recovery zone off Florida’s East Coast.

European space plane flies around the world on test flight

February 11, 2015 Stephen Clark

Europe launched a sleek space plane more than 250 miles above Earth on Wednesday, testing its maneuverability, on-board guidance systems, and a next-generation heat shield as the experimental vehicle glided through the atmosphere toward a pinpoint splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

Video: Europe’s IXV prepared for launch

February 11, 2015 Stephen Clark

Watch a time lapse video chronicling several days of activity to ready the European Space Agency’s sleek IXV re-entry demonstrator for flight.

Flight timeline for ESA’s re-entry demonstrator

February 11, 2015 Stephen Clark

An automobile-sized prototype space plane is ready for an around-the-world test flight to demonstrate technologies to fly on a future orbital space plane, reusable rocket stages, and interplanetary sample return probes. Follow the 102-minute flight with this timeline.

Commercial Dragon supply ship returns to Earth

February 11, 2015 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s Dragon supply ship wrapped up a 29-day stay at the International Space Station on Tuesday, departing the complex with nearly 3,700 pounds of research specimens, a balky spacesuit and experimental 3D printed parts before re-entering the atmosphere and splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.

Falcon 9 launch scrubbed by high winds aloft

February 11, 2015 Stephen Clark

Unfavorable high-altitude winds above Cape Canaveral on Tuesday kept a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket loaded with a NOAA space weather observatory on the ground another day.

Live coverage: European mini-shuttle back on Earth

February 10, 2015 Stephen Clark

A European re-entry demonstrator launched aboard a solid-fueled Vega rocket at 1340 GMT (8:40 a.m. EST) from French Guiana, kicking off a whirlwind 102-minute around-the-world test flight to validate technologies that could be used on future reusable launchers and spaceships.