January 2016 – Page 4 – Spaceflight Now

SpaceX narrowly misses booster landing at sea

January 18, 2016 Stephen Clark

One of four landing legs mounted to the base of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 booster failed to engage on the rocket’s final descent to a barge in the Pacific Ocean on Sunday, leaving wreckage scattered on the football field-sized deck of the landing ship after an otherwise successful launch with an ocean research satellite.

Satellite launched to measure motions of the oceans

January 18, 2016 Stephen Clark

A new satellite built to extend a 24-year series of joint U.S.-European ocean observatories climbed away from a foggy California launch pad and sailed into orbit more than 800 miles above Earth on Sunday aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

Live coverage: Falcon 9 launches ocean study satellite, barge landing fails

January 17, 2016 Stephen Clark

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from California’s Central Coast at 10:42:18 a.m. PST (1:42:18 p.m. EST; 1842:18 GMT) Sunday with the Jason 3 oceanography satellite. A secondary objective of the mission to recover the first stage on a barge in the Pacific Ocean failed.

Photos: Falcon 9 poised on hillside launch pad in California

January 16, 2016 Stephen Clark

The first Falcon 9 flight of 2016 is ready for takeoff Sunday from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, and these photos show the rocket positioned on its launch mount overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

Launch timeline for Falcon 9/Jason 3 mission

January 16, 2016 Stephen Clark

Follow the key events of the Falcon 9 rocket’s ascent to orbit with the Jason 3 satellite, a joint project between European and U.S. weather agencies to monitor wave height and sea level in the world’s oceans.

Ideal weather predicted for Falcon 9 launch Sunday

January 16, 2016 Stephen Clark

Meteorologists predict mostly sunny skies, mild temperatures and light winds Sunday for the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from California’s Central Coast with a $364 million oceanography satellite for U.S. and European science institutions.

Jason 3 pre-launch news conference

January 16, 2016 Spaceflight Now

The pre-launch news conference for the Jason 3 ocean altimetry mission, scheduled for launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. (Membership required.)

Recovered Falcon 9 booster fires again at Cape Canaveral

January 16, 2016 Stephen Clark

The Falcon 9 booster that dramatically flew back to Earth last month following a commercial satellite launch ignited again Friday in a hold-down test at SpaceX’s Cape Canaveral launch pad, days before the company is due to launch its next mission from California, officials said.

Jason 3 Mission Science Briefing

January 16, 2016 Spaceflight Now

Watch the Jason-3 Mission Science Briefing held at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, on January 15, 2016. (Membership required.)

NASA flight director discusses curtailed spacewalk

January 16, 2016 Spaceflight Now

NASA’s lead spacewalk flight director Royce Renfrew talks with public affairs office Rob Navias about the curtailed spacewalk by astronauts Tim Kopra and Tim Peake on January 15, 2016. Although the spacewalk’s major objective to replace a failed voltage regulator was a success, the spacewalk was cut short when a small water bubble had formed inside Kopra’s helmet.