March 2015 – Page 6 – Spaceflight Now

SpaceX puts off next Falcon 9 launch

March 17, 2015 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s next launch with a European-built communications satellite has been delayed to no earlier than March 28 to study a problem with a helium pressurization system on the Falcon 9 rocket, officials said Tuesday.

Innovative satellites begin maneuvers with all-electric thrusters

March 17, 2015 Stephen Clark

Two ion-driven communications satellites launched from Cape Canaveral on March 1 have begun novel maneuvers using electric propulsion to reach operating posts 22,300 miles over the equator.

Lockheed Martin throws its hat into ISS cargo competition

March 17, 2015 Stephen Clark

Lockheed Martin has proposed a semi-reusable resupply platform to send up cargo to the International Space Station beginning in 2018, adding another competitor to a crowded list of companies bidding to win multibillion-dollar contracts from NASA.

More views of Thursday night’s Atlas 5 launch

March 15, 2015 Stephen Clark

Spaceflight Now’s readers sent in photos from Thursday night’s launch of four NASA satellites aboard an Atlas 5 rocket, marking a fiery start to a mission probing the fundamental workings of the magnetic bubble shielding Earth from cosmic radiation.

Delta/GPS 2F-9 launch timeline

March 15, 2015 Justin Ray

This is the ascent timeline to be followed by the United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket in launching the Air Force’s GPS 2F-9 navigation satellite on March 25 at 2:36 p.m. EDT.

On This Date…March 15 and STS-119

March 15, 2015 Justin Ray

#OTD in 2009, shuttle Discovery delivers power payload to space station.

Rosetta begins listening for signs of life from comet lander

March 13, 2015 Stephen Clark

Europe’s Rosetta spacecraft is trying to contact the Philae landing probe for the first time since the robot fell silent after a bouncy landing on a comet in November.

Hubble observations reveal ocean on Ganymede

March 13, 2015 Stephen Clark

Scientists using the Hubble Space Telescope have found the best evidence yet of a salty ocean of liquid water lurking beneath the surface of Jupiter’s largest moon Ganymede, ripening the icy world’s allure as mission planners design probes for more detailed exploration.

Rocket-mounted cameras show Atlas rising into the night

March 13, 2015 Justin Ray

The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket that successfully hauled a NASA satellite quartet into a highly elliptical Earth orbit Thursday was fitted with three onboard video cameras that captured some of the major events of ascent.

Snapshots from Atlas 5 launch

March 13, 2015 Justin Ray

The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket blasted off Thursday night with NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale satellite quartet in a successful flight from Cape Canaveral.