January 2017 – Page 3 – Spaceflight Now

Japanese spacecraft spots planet-spanning wave on Venus

January 22, 2017 Stephen Clark

Images from Japan’s Akatsuki spacecraft have revealed a gigantic wave in the atmosphere of Venus, and scientists say it may be the largest such feature in the solar system.

New Horizons to continue mission of discovery with Kuiper Belt encounter

January 22, 2017 Stephen Clark

Scientists planning the the next phase of NASA’s New Horizons mission, a robotic craft that completed the first exploration of Pluto in 2015, are going into the flyby of a frozen, faraway city-sized clump of rock on New Year’s Day 2019 armed with little knowledge of the target lurking around 4 billion miles from Earth.

Photos: Atlas 5 launches SBIRS GEO Flight 3

January 22, 2017 Justin Ray

Launching a highly sophisticated infrared surveillance satellite for the U.S. military, a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket thunders away from Cape Canaveral.

Photos: Another SBIRS soars atop Atlas 5

January 21, 2017 Justin Ray

The Atlas 5 rocket lifted the SBIRS GEO Flight 3 missile warning sentinel into orbit, advancing space technology for surveillance and security.

Photos: First ULA mission of the year blasts off

January 21, 2017 Justin Ray

Marking United Launch Alliance’s first rocket flight in 2017, beginning its year of national security and science-enabling missions, the Atlas 5 rocket departs Cape Canaveral carrying the SBIRS GEO Flight 3 satellite.

Atlas 5 rocket successfully delivers vital national asset into space

January 21, 2017 Justin Ray

A new infrared reconnaissance satellite for one of the United States’ highest priority space programs — making early detection of enemy missile launches — was successfully delivered into orbit Friday by an Atlas 5 rocket.

Video: Missile alert satellite launches atop Atlas 5

January 21, 2017 Justin Ray

The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, standing 189 feet tall and and weighing 720,000 pounds, unleashes 860,000 pounds of thrust from its main engine to launch the SBIRS GEO Flight 3 early-warning satellite from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Future of asteroid deflection mission to be decided soon

January 19, 2017 Stephen Clark

Decisions on the future of a joint robotic mission between NASA and the European Space Agency to demonstrate the ability to deflect an asteroid on a collision course with Earth have been put off until later this year after European governments declined to fully fund their part of the project in December.

Saturn’s shepherd moon Daphnis makes waves

January 19, 2017 Stephen Clark

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has captured the first close-up view of Daphnis, one of at least 62 moons found orbiting Saturn, plowing a path through the planet’s icy rings and raising waves in its wake.

Photos: Atlas 5 rolled out with SBIRS GEO Flight 3

January 19, 2017 Justin Ray

The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket was transfered from its assembly building to the pad at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 41 today for Thursday’s launch of the U.S. military’s third SBIRS GEO missile warning satellite.