August 2016 – Spaceflight Now

Astronauts set for second spacewalk in two weeks

August 31, 2016 William Harwood

Space station commander Jeff Williams and astronaut Kate Rubins plan to carry out their second spacewalk in two weeks Thursday, venturing back outside to retract a cooling radiator, install a high-definition TV camera, replace a burned-out light and inspect struts attached to a large solar array rotary mechanism.

Tropical storm could be a factor in SpaceX launch Saturday

August 31, 2016 Stephen Clark

Weather forecasters at Cape Canaveral are keeping an eye on Tropical Storm Hermine in the Gulf of Mexico in case winds and thick clouds from the cyclone threaten the scheduled launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket early Saturday.

Images from European satellite reveal possible impact with space junk

August 31, 2016 Stephen Clark

A minuscule particle of orbital debris or a pebble of space rock struck Europe’s Sentinel 1A radar imaging satellite Aug. 23, officials said Wednesday, leaving an imprint nearly twice the size of a basketball on one of the spacecraft’s solar panels.

India tests scramjet demonstrator over Bay of Bengal

August 30, 2016 Stephen Clark

India’s space agency launched a modified suborbital sounding rocket Sunday and ignited two air-breathing scramjet engines at Mach 6 for a brief five-second experiment that could pave the way for a future reusable space transport system.

SES agrees to launch satellite on ‘flight-proven’ Falcon 9 rocket

August 30, 2016 Stephen Clark

SpaceX and SES, an international communications satellite operator based in Luxembourg, have agreed to place the SES 10 television relay craft aboard the first launch of a reused “flight-proven” Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral as soon as October, the companies announced Tuesday.

Animation of OSIRIS-REx mission from liftoff to return home

August 30, 2016 Justin Ray

This NASA animation depicts the OSIRIS-REx mission to grab a sample of Asteroid Bennu and return it to Earth for study. Launch from Cape Canaveral aboard an Atlas 5 rocket is scheduled for Sept. 8 and landing in Utah is planned for Sept. 24, 2023.

Probe hoisted aboard launcher to leave Earth next week on asteroid adventure

August 29, 2016 Justin Ray

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft today moved a step closer to starting a voyage to explore an uncharted world in our solar system — the mountain-sized Asteroid Bennu — by joining the booster rocket that will propel it from Earth next week.

Juno gets its closest look at Jupiter

August 27, 2016 Stephen Clark

Nearly two months after NASA’s Juno spacecraft slipped into orbit around Jupiter, the solar-powered probe made a passage 2,600 miles over the giant planet’s colorful banded clouds Saturday, the closest planned encounter during its 20-month exploration of the solar system’s largest world.

Photos: Ariane 5 lights up the night in French Guiana

August 27, 2016 Stephen Clark

An Ariane 5 rocket ignited its hydrogen-fueled Vulcain 2 main engine and two solid rocket boosters to send two Intelsat communications satellite into orbit this week, casting a brilliant glow across its launch base carved from the jungle of French Guiana.

Dragon spacecraft splashes down with station research specimens

August 26, 2016 Stephen Clark

A SpaceX-owned Dragon cargo craft left the International Space Station on Friday and flew back to Earth for a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Pacific Ocean with a dozen mice and more than 3,000 pounds of experiment specimens and space hardware.