October 2015 – Spaceflight Now

Recap story: Three Atlas 5 launch successes in one month

October 31, 2015 Justin Ray

Completing an October to remember, the third Atlas 5 rocket launch in just 29 days thundered into space Saturday, this time to replace an aging satellite in the Global Positioning System.

Cassini images just a taste of Enceladus flyby science return

October 31, 2015 Stephen Clark

Days after a fleeting plunge through the icy plumes of Saturn’s moon Enceladus, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft is broadcasting tantalizing data back to Earth for scientists eager to address the moon’s prospects for life.

Video: Halloween liftoff of Atlas 5 with GPS 2F-11

October 31, 2015 Justin Ray

A replay of the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket launching the Global Positioning System 2F-11 navigation spacecraft from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

STS-114 Post-Flight Presentation

October 31, 2015 Spaceflight Now

The crew of STS-114, the first shuttle flight after the 2003 Columbia accident, present video from their mission and answer questions from the audience at Space Center Houston. (Membership required.)

ULA’s Atlas 5 wins contract to launch NASA data relay satellite

October 30, 2015 Stephen Clark

The last of NASA’s current-generation tracking and data relay satellites designed to link mission control with the International Space Station has been assigned for launch on a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket in October 2017, officials announced Friday.

OTD…Oct. 30 and STS-61A

October 30, 2015 Justin Ray

#OTD in 1985…Challenger launched the first German Spacelab

A crescent Pluto shines like a jewel in the Kuiper Belt

October 29, 2015 Stephen Clark

An image released Thursday, taken by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft minutes after zipping past Pluto in July, shows the backlit world on a new scale, revealing rugged mountains, glacial plains and deep layers of atmospheric haze.

Inaugural launch of small-class rocket on hold in Hawaii

October 29, 2015 Stephen Clark

The maiden test flight of a new rail-guided launcher from the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility in Hawaii, which was scheduled for Thursday, has been delayed while engineers resolve issues encountered in pre-launch preparations, a U.S. Air Force spokesperson said.

Live coverage: Atlas 5 countdown and launch journal

October 29, 2015 Justin Ray

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral at 12:13 p.m. EDT (1613 GMT) Saturday to deploy a new Global Positioning System satellite.

Photos: Thursday’s Atlas 5 rollout to launch pad

October 29, 2015 Justin Ray

The Atlas 5 rocket emerges from the Vertical Integration Facility for rollout to Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral in preparation to launch GPS 2F-11 on Friday at 12:17 p.m. EDT.