September 2015 – Page 7 – Spaceflight Now

Station crew recommends “The Martian” in plug from space

September 8, 2015 William Harwood

Space station astronaut Kjell Lindgren said Tuesday he and commander Scott Kelly are big fans of Andy Weir’s book “The Martian,” adding they’re hopeful NASA will beam up a copy of the Ridley Scott movie as soon as it’s released.

OTD…Sept. 8 and STS-106

September 8, 2015 Justin Ray

#OTD in 2000…Atlantis launched on a mission to make the International Space Station a home in orbit

Russian rocket erected for this week’s Galileo launch

September 7, 2015 Stephen Clark

The next pair of spacecraft to join Europe’s growing Galileo navigation system, a civilian-run analog to the U.S. military’s Global Positioning System, will be added to the tip of a Russian Soyuz booster overnight Monday after the rocket’s rollout earlier in the day in French Guiana.

OTD…Sept. 7 and STS-69

September 7, 2015 Justin Ray

#OTD in 1995…Endeavour launched to deploy and retrieve solar satellite and Wake Shield Facility

One-on-one with NASA’s chief space station builder

September 5, 2015 Stephen Clark

Mike Suffredini is leaving NASA after 10 years at the helm of the International Space Station program overseeing assembly of the largest spacecraft ever built. He chatted with Spaceflight Now in his final weeks as space station program manager, sharing his memories and vision for the commercialization of low Earth orbit.

Kelly assumes command of space station

September 5, 2015 William Harwood

In a brief ceremony Saturday, veteran cosmonaut Gennadi Padalka, the most experienced spaceman on or off the planet, turned over command of the International Space Station to NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, who along with cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko is midway through a nearly yearlong stay in orbit.

Enter the Starliner: Boeing names its commercial spaceship

September 4, 2015 Stephen Clark

Boeing’s commercial human-rated spaceship designed to ferry NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station will be named the CST-100 Starliner, extending the company’s naming theme to the final frontier, officials announced Friday.

Soyuz docks with space station, boosts crew to nine

September 4, 2015 William Harwood

A Russian Soyuz spacecraft docked at the International Space Station early Friday, boosting the lab’s crew to nine for the next week and providing a ride home next March for two station crew members who are only halfway through a nearly yearlong stay aboard the lab complex.

Japanese X-ray observatory completes decade-long mission

September 4, 2015 Stephen Clark

An orbiting astronomical observatory launched 10 years ago to probe violent stellar explosions and black holes has been deactivated after it stopped regularly communicating with the ground, the Japanese space agency said Thursday.

Radar on NASA’s SMAP Earth observing satellite declared lost

September 3, 2015 Stephen Clark

One-half of the instrument payload aboard NASA’s $916 million Soil Moisture Active Passive satellite has failed after collecting just two months of data, NASA announced Wednesday after weeks of troubleshooting turned up no progress in recovering the sensor.