October 2016 – Page 2 – Spaceflight Now

Video: Change of command ceremony held aboard the International Space Station

October 28, 2016 Justin Ray

Departing Expedition 49 Commander Anatoly Ivanishin hands over International Space Station command to NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough.

Station crew preps for Saturday return to Earth

October 28, 2016 William Harwood

In a rapid-fire crew rotation, a NASA astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts are packing up for the trip back to Earth Saturday, leaving the International Space Station just eight days after the arrival of another three-person crew and three weeks before their own replacements arrive to boost the lab’s crew back to six.

Final Pluto data transmission received from flyby probe

October 27, 2016 Stephen Clark

The last bits of data collected during NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft’s speedy flyby of Pluto last year are back on Earth, scientists said Thursday, marking the official end of the probe’s prime mission.

New images resolve finer details of Mars lander’s crash site

October 27, 2016 Stephen Clark

Imagery captured by a sharp-eyed camera aboard a NASA orbiter shows where Europe’s Schiaparelli lander cratered on Mars last week, exploding into fine bits of shrapnel and debris after after an apparent software problem doomed the mission, officials said Thursday.

Chinese space lab deploys compact satellite for external surveys

October 26, 2016 Stephen Clark

A companion satellite ejected from China’s orbiting Tiangong 2 research module has snapped unique views of the space lab as two astronauts inside press on with experiments and other tasks in their second week aboard the mini-space station.

California Atlas 5 launch that was delayed by wildfire finally rescheduled

October 25, 2016 Justin Ray

Seven weeks to the day after their launch was postponed by a massive wildfire and the aftermath, a commercial Atlas 5 rocket and Earth-imaging satellite are scheduled to fly on Sunday, Nov. 6 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

GOES-R weather satellite’s ride to space being stacked at Cape Canaveral

October 24, 2016 Justin Ray

Technicians began the painstaking work of assembling a powerful Atlas 5 rocket today, a launcher that will deploy an advanced satellite to substantially improve U.S. weather forecasting.

Video: Latest Cygnus resupply ship arrives at the space station

October 24, 2016 Justin Ray

Orbital ATK’s Cygnus cargo freighter loaded with over 5,000 pounds of crew provisions, equipment and science gear arrived at the International Space Station.

Cygnus cargo craft snared by station’s robot arm

October 23, 2016 Stephen Clark

The International Space Station received more than 2.5 tons of fresh supplies and experiments Sunday with the arrival of a commercial Cygnus cargo vessel after an automated laser-guided rendezvous.

Photos: Antares rocket lights up eastern shore of Virginia

October 22, 2016 Stephen Clark

Orbital ATK’s Antares rocket returned to flight Oct. 17 with a successful evening launch from Virginia’s Eastern Shore, a beacon visible for hundreds of miles along the U.S. East Coast as the 13-story rocket set course for a cargo delivery to the International Space Station.