March 2016 – Page 9 – Spaceflight Now

China to launch new space lab later this year

March 3, 2016 Stephen Clark

China plans to launch a new human-rated space laboratory as soon as July and send two astronauts to visit the mini-space station by end of the year.

OTD…March 3 and Apollo 9

March 3, 2016 Justin Ray

Today in 1969, the launch of Apollo 9 and the first manned flight of all lunar hardware in Earth orbit.

Atlas 2AS rocket puts TV satellite in space

March 3, 2016 Spaceflight Now

A Lockheed Martin Atlas 2AS rocket lifts off from Launch Complex 36B at Cape Canaveral on May 19, 2004, carrying the AMC-11 high-definition TV broadcasting satellite. It was the penultimate mission for the Atlas 2AS, which was fitted with four strap-on solid rocket boosters.

Kelly in good shape after marathon mission

March 2, 2016 William Harwood

Astronaut Scott Kelly, in good spirits and looking surprisingly fit after a record 340 days in space, said Wednesday he could have stayed up longer if necessary, giving him confidence future astronauts will be up to the challenge of even longer flights to Mars and beyond.

Record-setting space station crew lands after 340-day mission

March 2, 2016 William Harwood

Astronaut Scott Kelly and cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko ended a record-setting 340-day stay in orbit with a fiery plunge to Earth Tuesday, settling to a jarring rocket-assisted touchdown in Kazakhstan to close out a medical research voyage that may help pave the way for flights to Mars.

Crew leave space station after 340-day mission

March 2, 2016 Spaceflight Now

Watch as the Soyuz TMA-18M spacecraft separates from the Space Station, setting the stage for the return to Earth of astronaut Scott Kelly and cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko, who both spent 340 days in space. The Soyuz is commanded by Sergey Volkov who joined the station crew in September.

Scott Kelly and crewmates bid goodbye to space station

March 1, 2016 Stephen Clark

In the final hours of a 340-day mission, Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko said goodbye to their crewmates and closed the hatch to the International Space Station on Tuesday, heading for a parachute-assisted touchdown in Kazakhstan a few hours later.

Watch another view of the Falcon 9’s last-second abort

March 1, 2016 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket got within a second of liftoff Sunday before a low-thrust alarm triggered an automatic abort. Watch a view of the dramatic last-second countdown cutoff at engine ignition from our camera at the launch pad.

STS 41-B Post-Flight Presentation

March 1, 2016 Spaceflight Now

The crew of Space Shuttle mission STS 41-B provide an overview of their mission. Challenger launched from the Kennedy Space Center on February 3, 1984, and although the flight was marred by the failure of two commercial satellite deployments, astronaut Bruce McCandless made history by making the first untethered spacewalk using the Manned Maneuvering Unit jet pack.

Photos: Sun sets on Falcon 9 rocket at Cape Canaveral

March 1, 2016 Stephen Clark

Check out photos of a picturesque sunset at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad, where a Falcon 9 rocket is poised for liftoff with a commercial broadcasting satellite for Luxembourg-based SES.