2016 – Page 73 – Spaceflight Now

Scott Kelly leaving NASA after record-setting space station flight

March 12, 2016 William Harwood

Astronaut Scott Kelly, just back from a record 340-day stay aboard the International Space Station, is leaving NASA at the end of the month, but he said Friday he will continue participating in ongoing medical research to study the effects of long-duration spaceflight.

Photos: Cygnus encapsulated for journey into space atop Atlas 5

March 11, 2016 Justin Ray

United Launch Alliance workers encapsulated the freighter on Wednesday with the 14-foot-diameter, 45-foot-long extra extended payload fairing (XEPF) at Kennedy Space Center’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility.

Photos: Regional navigation aid blasts off from India

March 11, 2016 Stephen Clark

The sixth satellite in a series of seven orbiting navigation aids lifted off from India on Thursday, streaking into orbit aboard a 145-foot-tall Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle.

Proton rocket reaches launch pad with Mars probe

March 11, 2016 Stephen Clark

A Russian Proton rocket rolled out to its launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Friday, riding a specially-built rail car with Europe’s ExoMars mission bound for the red planet.

PSLV deploys next satellite for Indian navigation network

March 10, 2016 Stephen Clark

An Indian navigation satellite lifted off Thursday aboard a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, heading for a perch more than 22,000 miles over Africa to grow the country’s independent space-based positioning fleet.

MUOS 5 satellite comes to Florida on way to geosynchronous orbit

March 9, 2016 Justin Ray

The fifth and final satellite for the U.S. Navy’s new mobile network to provide rugged smartphone communications to all branches of the military has arrived at the launch site for blastoff in May.

InSight Mars lander escapes cancellation, aims for 2018 launch

March 9, 2016 Stephen Clark

The InSight Mars lander has won a reprieve from NASA’s top managers after persistent problems with one of the probe’s science instruments caused the mission to miss a narrow launch window planned for this month.

New GPS satellite begins transmitting to users around the globe

March 9, 2016 Justin Ray

Air Force ground controllers have activated service aboard the newest Global Positioning System satellite, achieving that milestone for the final spacecraft in a dozen built in a manufacturing batch to update the constellation.

OTD…March 9 and STS-133 landing

March 9, 2016 Justin Ray

Today in 2011, shuttle Discovery made a graceful landing at Kennedy Space Center, returning from her final voyage after a remarkable three-decade life of service.

Communications satellite launched to cover Rio Olympics

March 9, 2016 Stephen Clark

If you plan to watch athletes compete on the track or in the water during this year’s Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, there’s a good chance the television signals will be relayed from Brazil using a new Eutelsat communications satellite launched Wednesday aboard an Ariane 5 rocket.