April 2015 – Page 7 – Spaceflight Now

ULA unveils its future with the Vulcan rocket family

April 13, 2015 Justin Ray

Meet the Vulcan, the next-generation rocket family brought to you by United Launch Alliance that comes with a bold reusability plan, multiple configurations for medium- to heavy-lift, all-American engines and serves as the eventual replacement for the historic Atlas and Delta rocket lines.

Photos: Falcon 9 rocket awaits launch from Florida

April 13, 2015 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s 20-story Falcon 9 rocket counts down to launch from Cape Canaveral on Monday with 2.2 tons of gear and experiments for the International Space Station.

SpaceX drone ship in position for daring rocket landing

April 13, 2015 Stephen Clark

Buoyed by lessons from past attempts and a forecast for calm seas, SpaceX engineers expect a good shot at landing a Falcon 9 booster on a stationary platform in the Atlantic Ocean on Monday after liftoff from Cape Canaveral.

ULA plans to introduce new rocket one piece at a time

April 13, 2015 Stephen Clark

United Launch Alliance is expected to reveal its design for a next generation satellite launcher Monday, outlining a 20-year roadmap to develop a new methane-powered first stage booster, an advanced space tug and a reusable rocket engine.

Live coverage: Dragon cargo craft arrives at space station

April 13, 2015 Stephen Clark

Loaded with mice, plant specimens and the International Space Station’s first espresso machine, a SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule arrived at the complex Friday with a fresh delivery of supplies. ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti grappled the spacecraft with the station’s robot arm at 6:55 a.m. EDT (1055 GMT).

Rosetta keeps its distance from awakening comet

April 12, 2015 Stephen Clark

Mission controllers are rethinking a series of close-up comet flybys planned for Europe’s Rosetta spacecraft after a haze of dust around the comet’s central nucleus led to navigation errors during a close encounter in late March.

OTD…April 12 and STS-1 and 51D

April 12, 2015 Justin Ray

#OTD…America’s first shuttle launch in 1981 and another in 1985

Falcon 9 rocket fires engines for prelaunch test

April 11, 2015 Stephen Clark

SpaceX engineers ran through a customary prelaunch countdown test Saturday and fired the Falcon 9 rocket’s nine Merlin main engines at Cape Canaveral ahead of liftoff Monday with 2.2 tons of supplies and experiments for the International Space Station.

NASA invites ESA to build Europa piggyback probe

April 10, 2015 Stephen Clark

After walking away from a previously planned joint mission to Jupiter, NASA has asked the European Space Agency if it can furnish a lander or ice-penetrating probe for a rejuvenated U.S.-led robotic spacecraft to visit Jupiter’s moon Europa.

Falcon 9/SpaceX-6 launch timeline

April 10, 2015 Stephen Clark

Follow the key events of the Falcon 9 rocket’s ascent into orbit from Cape Canaveral on SpaceX’s sixth operational resupply mission to the International Space Station.