December 2016 – Page 3 – Spaceflight Now

Timeline of events during Epsilon rocket’s launch with the ERG mission

December 19, 2016 Stephen Clark

An Epsilon rocket is set to send a Japanese space weather research probe into an orbit stretching more than 20,000 miles above Earth to investigate how the Van Allen radiation belts shrink and swell with variable solar activity.

Japan prepares launch of satellite to probe Earth’s radiation belts

December 19, 2016 Stephen Clark

Japanese engineers aim to launch an upgraded Epsilon booster Tuesday with a satellite to study the origins of powerful geomagnetic storms, phenomena that trigger picturesque polar auroras but could disrupt communications and and damage electric grids.

Photos: Atlas 5 launches EchoStar 19 broadband satellite

December 19, 2016 Justin Ray

Launching a high-capacity satellite to beam the Internet into homes across rural America, a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket thunders away from Cape Canaveral on Sunday afternoon.

EchoStar 19 launch seen from KSC Press Site

December 19, 2016 Spaceflight Now

Watch an Atlas 5 rocket launch the EchoStar 19 satellite on December 19, 2016. This view was captured by Spaceflight Now’s camera at the NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Press Site.

Photos: Final ULA mission of the year blasts off successfully

December 18, 2016 Justin Ray

Marking United Launch Alliance’s 12th and last rocket flight in 2016, the Atlas 5 rocket departed Cape Canaveral on Sunday afternoon carrying EchoStar 19 to provide Internet connectivity across North America.

Photos: EchoStar 19 launch as seen from press site

December 18, 2016 Justin Ray

As viewed from the ITL Causeway at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket departs for space with the EchoStar 19 satellite to delivery Internet connectivity across the U.S.

Atlas 5 rocket launches satellite to bring high-speed Internet to more Americans

December 18, 2016 Justin Ray

The world’s highest capacity broadband satellite, a craft that will connect rural America to high-speed Internet service, successfully rocketed into space today aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 booster.

Video: EchoStar 19 launches to space atop Atlas 5 rocket

December 18, 2016 Justin Ray

The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, standing 194 feet tall and and weighing a million pounds, unleashes two million pounds of thrust from its main engine and three solid-fuel boosters today to launch the EchoStar 19 commercial Internet broadcast satellite from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Mars rover’s drill out of action

December 18, 2016 Stephen Clark

The rock-coring drill fixed to the end of the Curiosity rover’s robot arm has suspended operations to allow engineers on the ground to diagnose, and officials hope correct, a problem traced to the mechanism that pushes the drill bit onto rocks to collect powder samples.

John Glenn remembered

December 17, 2016 William Harwood

In an emotional remembrance, John Glenn was honored Saturday for an unprecedented career in public service, from his days as a combat fighter pilot, his historic journey into space as the first American in orbit, a quarter century of service as an Ohio senator and his unlikely return to space at age 77 aboard the shuttle Discovery.