March 2016 – Page 2 – Spaceflight Now

Japan’s newest space telescope goes silent

March 27, 2016

Japan has lost contact with the newly-launched Hitomi space telescope, and ground observations indicate the satellite has shed debris and may be tumbling in orbit more than 350 miles above Earth.

Photos: Cygnus goes from Cape Canaveral to the space station

March 26, 2016

This collection of official NASA photographs captures the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket rolling to the pad on Monday, successfully blasting off Tuesday and the Cygnus freighter arriving at the International Space Station on Saturday morning.

Traveling Cygnus pulls into port at International Space Station

March 26, 2016

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station used the robotic arm to snare a commercial cargo ship and bring it aboard this morning while traveling at five miles per second.

Video: Cygnus freighter arrives at orbital destination

March 26, 2016

The International Space Station crew reaches out with the Canadian robotic arm and grabs the Cygnus OA-6 commercial cargo ship filled with 7,485 pounds of supplies, food and science gear.

Live coverage: Cygnus cargo ship arrives at International Space Station

March 26, 2016

The commercial Cygnus freighter carrying over 7,000 pounds of food, supplies and science experiments completed a flawless rendezvous with the International Space Station on Saturday morning. It was captured by the robotic arm at 6:51 a.m. EDT (1051 GMT).

Videos: Preparing Atlas 5 and Cygnus for trip to space station

March 25, 2016

These narrated videos show the pre-launch preparations that readied the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket and the Orbital ATK Cygnus commercial cargo-delivery spacecraft for flight and rolling to Complex 41 for liftoff to the International Space Station.

Reviewers approve early design work on new Vulcan rocket

March 24, 2016

Work to create a new all-American rocket, the United Launch Alliance Vulcan-Centaur, has passed its first major hurdle for its first flight in three years, officials announced Thursday.

Pentagon opens investigation into contracts with ULA

March 24, 2016

The U.S. Defense Department’s internal watchdog has opened a probe into whether the Pentagon’s contracts with United Launch Alliance were properly awarded after a former ULA executive implied the government rigged a recent procurement in favor of the company.

Soyuz launcher puts Russian military spy satellite in orbit

March 24, 2016

A Russian military spacecraft with a high-resolution digital mapping camera is in orbit Thursday after a successful ascent aboard a Soyuz rocket.

Atlas 5 forced to improvise during Tuesday’s climb to orbit

March 24, 2016

The Centaur upper stage launching the Cygnus space freighter Tuesday persevered through a velocity shortfall from the first stage of the Atlas 5 rocket, improvising with a longer firing to reach the correct orbit.