April 2015 – Page 9 – Spaceflight Now

OTD…April 6 and STS-41C

April 6, 2015 Justin Ray

#OTD…Launch of the first shuttle mission to service a satellite in space in 1984

Rosetta probe disoriented by comet dust

April 5, 2015 Stephen Clark

Ground controllers are analyzing a fault aboard Europe’s Rosetta spacecraft after an encounter with comet dust confused the probe’s navigation system, leaving the robot explorer in a temporary safe mode and halting regular science operations.

Launch of BepiColombo mission to Mercury slips to 2017

April 5, 2015 Stephen Clark

The launch of a nearly $2 billion joint mission robotic mission to Mercury by Europe and Japan will be delayed from next year to early 2017 to account for late deliveries of critical components and scientific instrumentation, according to the European Space Agency.

OTD…April 5 launches of STS-37 and 131

April 5, 2015 Justin Ray

#OTD…Gamma Ray Observatory launched in 1991 on Atlantis and Discovery’s 2010 ISS flight

OTD…April 4 launches of STS-6 and 83

April 4, 2015 Justin Ray

#OTD…The first launch of Challenger in 1983 and Columbia’s shortened Spacelab mission in 1997

SpaceX, Sierra Nevada get more time to finish flight tests

April 2, 2015 Stephen Clark

NASA has extended development agreements with SpaceX and Sierra Nevada Corp. past a March 31 deadline, giving the companies more time to complete delayed tests on commercial spacecraft intended to one day ferry astronauts into space.

Same day rollouts and launches could return to Atlas 5 program

April 1, 2015 Justin Ray

Returning to the days of rollouts and launches in a span of only a few hours, the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 program is looking to resume this whirlwind experience.