2015 – Page 51 – Spaceflight Now

OTD…June 20 and STS-78 and NROL-38

June 20, 2015 Justin Ray

#OTD in 1996…Columbia launched on a life sciences and microgravity flight.

For comet scientists, elation and redemption at Philae’s wakeup

June 18, 2015 Stephen Clark

Research teams across Europe spent the last half-year meticulously going through a wish list of experiments for the Philae comet lander without knowing whether they would ever get a chance to execute the tasks.

Jason 3 satellite shipped to Vandenberg for SpaceX launch

June 18, 2015 Stephen Clark

An international oceanography satellite arrived at its California launch base from a factory in France on Thursday for fueling, testing and other final preps before its scheduled Aug. 8 blastoff on a Falcon 9 rocket.

Saturn moon’s ice canyons viewed by Cassini

June 18, 2015 Stephen Clark

Saturn’s moon Dione received a fleeting visitor this week, when NASA’s Cassini spacecraft whizzed by to image bizarre streaks thought to be canyons with ice walls up to 100 stories tall.

OTD…June 18 and STS-7 and LRO

June 18, 2015 Justin Ray

#OTD in 1983…Challenger launched with America’s first woman astronaut. Watch the launch:

International ocean research observatory fails in orbit

June 17, 2015 Stephen Clark

An Argentine satellite hosting a NASA sensor designed to measure the saltiness of Earth’s oceans has ended its mission after four years in orbit, NASA said Wednesday.

Launch campaign underway for next Air Force Delta 4 rocket

June 17, 2015 Justin Ray

With the Delta 4 rocket now waiting on the launch pad, its Air Force Wideband Global SATCOM communications satellite payload has jetted from the Los Angeles factory to the Cape Canaveral in preparation for liftoff this summer.

OTD…June 17 and STS-51G

June 17, 2015 Justin Ray

US-French-Saudi crew launched aboard Discovery with a multi-satellite payload

Long-lived tropical weather satellite re-enters

June 16, 2015 Stephen Clark

A 2.9-ton rainfall research satellite fell into Earth’s atmosphere Tuesday for a destructive re-entry after a 17-year mission, according to NASA.

Engineers seek to stabilize radio link with comet lander

June 15, 2015 Stephen Clark

Emboldened by renewed contact with Europe’s comet lander, engineers are repositioning the mission’s Rosetta mothership this week to establish a reliable a communications link with the dishwasher-sized Philae landing craft, a prerequisite for resuming a science campaign abbreviated by a power shortfall last year.