April 2016 – Page 4 – Spaceflight Now

Door now open to launch educational hitchhikers on Atlas 5 rockets for free

April 18, 2016 Justin Ray

United Launch Alliance has begun accepting applications from colleges and universities across the U.S. to compete for free cubesat launch slots aboard upcoming Atlas 5 rockets.

Expandable room installed on space station

April 16, 2016 Stephen Clark

The International Space Station’s robotic arm, under the control of engineers on Earth, extracted an experimental inflatable habitat from the trunk of SpaceX’s Dragon supply ship Saturday and attached it to the orbiting complex.

On this date…April 16 and Apollo 16

April 16, 2016 Justin Ray

Apollo 16 launched to the Descartes Highlands of the moon on this day in 1972 with John Young, Charlie Duke and Ken Mattingly.

Delta 4-Heavy passes countdown rehearsal for upcoming NRO launch

April 15, 2016 Justin Ray

Successfully put through its countdown paces in a critical pre-flight test Thursday, America’s largest rocket currently in service moved closer to a June launch for the U.S. intelligence community.

Swiss company to build Vulcan fairings, composite structures

April 14, 2016 Stephen Clark

United Launch Alliance plans to introduce a new payload fairing design on the next-generation Vulcan rocket, which will fly with composite parts made by Switzerland-based Ruag Space, the company’s chief executive said Wednesday.

Q&A with Tory Bruno, president and chief executive of ULA

April 14, 2016 Stephen Clark

United Launch Alliance chief executive Tory Bruno spoke with Spaceflight Now’s Stephen Clark at the 32nd Space Symposium in Colorado Springs.

April 14, 1981: Landing of Columbia on STS-1

April 14, 2016 Justin Ray

VIDEO: The winged spaceship Columbia returned to Earth with a pinpoint landing at Edwards Air Force Base on this day 35 years ago, concluding the maiden flight of the space shuttle.

Flown Falcon 9 booster hoisted off landing platform

April 13, 2016 Stephen Clark

SpaceX rocket technicians offloaded the first stage of a Falcon 9 rocket from its landing platform Tuesday, beginning a pioneering test campaign to verify its readiness for another launch later this year.

Russian billionaire devotes $100 million to star flight initiative

April 13, 2016 William Harwood

Russian billionaire Yuri Milner plans to spend $100 million over the next few years to begin developing the technology needed to build a giant laser array to propel swarms of postage stamp-size spacecraft off on 20-year-long interstellar flights to Alpha Centauri, the nearest star system to the sun, the internet investor announced Tuesday.

New views of Falcon 9 landing from on-board SpaceX’s drone ship

April 13, 2016 Stephen Clark

SpaceX has released new photos of last week’s thrilling rocket landing aboard a floating drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean, showing the 15-story Falcon 9 first stage slowing to a hover just as it touched down on the platform.