2016 – Page 72 – Spaceflight Now

Scientists to start fire in discarded spacecraft to study flames in weightless

March 16, 2016 Justin Ray

Working via remote control this spring, scientists will spark a fire aboard the unmanned Cygnus cargo ship that launches Tuesday to study how the deliberate flames spread in weightlessness.

Photos: Atlas 5 rocket assembled for space station resupply launch

March 15, 2016 Justin Ray

Relive the steps to stack the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket at Cape Canaveral’s Vertical Integration Facility for the Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo freighter for the International Space Station.

Massive European spacecraft launched toward Mars

March 14, 2016 Stephen Clark

Boosted off planet Earth by a Russian Proton rocket, a European-built space probe departed for Mars on Monday, beginning a mission to test future landing technologies and search for methane, a potential signature of microbial life.

Video: ExoMars mission blasts off on Proton rocket

March 14, 2016 Stephen Clark

A massive spacecraft bound for Mars lifted off on a Russian Proton rocket Monday, riding more than 2 million pounds of thrust from the launcher’s six main engines through low clouds hanging over the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Atlas 5 rocket and Cygnus freighter mated for next week’s cargo launch

March 14, 2016 Justin Ray

Bound for the International Space Station with a max load of fresh supplies, a commercially-operated cargo ship was mounted atop its booster rocket today for liftoff from Cape Canaveral on March 22.

ExoMars team has long wait to confirm launch success

March 13, 2016 Stephen Clark

It will take more than 12 hours from liftoff of the European Space Agency’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter until engineers verify the mission is on track for Mars after a series of critical in-space maneuvers by the Proton rocket’s Breeze M upper stage.

Live coverage: ExoMars mission underway after Proton launch

March 13, 2016 Stephen Clark

A powerful Russian Proton booster launched from Kazakhstan at 0931:42 GMT (5:31:42 a.m. EDT) Monday with the first part of a multibillion-dollar Mars mission led by the European Space Agency. An upper stage engine fired four times over 10 hours to send the Mars orbiter and lander away from Earth.

Russian Earth observing satellite delivered to orbit

March 13, 2016 Stephen Clark

A day after a rare last-minute abort by its Soyuz launcher, a sharp-eyed civilian-operated Russian Earth observation satellite blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Sunday on a five-year mission, giving Russia a fleet of three advanced digital imaging spacecraft in orbit.

Ambitious European-led Mars mission ready for liftoff

March 12, 2016 Stephen Clark

Humankind’s largest emissary to Mars in a generation is set for blastoff Monday, when Europe and Russia will dispatch a mission to unravel the mystery of Martian methane.

Soyuz launch halted just before engine start

March 12, 2016 Stephen Clark

The launch of a Russian Earth observation satellite aboard a Soyuz rocket has been rescheduled for Sunday after a countdown Saturday stopped less than 20 seconds before liftoff.