August 2017 – Page 5 – Spaceflight Now

Japanese H-2A rocket launch rescheduled for Saturday

August 16, 2017 Stephen Clark

A heavy-duty version of Japan’s H-2A rocket is now scheduled to lift off Saturday with a geostationary navigation satellite after a week-long delay to diagnose and resolve a leak in the rocket’s propulsion system, the Japanese space agency announced Wednesday.

Station managers push back next Cygnus cargo flight to November

August 16, 2017 Stephen Clark

NASA and Orbital ATK have agreed to schedule the launch of the next Cygnus supply ship for Nov. 10 from Wallops Island on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, a delay of a month from the mission’s earlier target launch date to allow the flight to carry more cargo to the International Space Station, officials said.

Station crew captures Dragon supply ship, gets early start on unpacking

August 16, 2017 Stephen Clark

Two days after departing from a launch pad on Florida’s Space Coast, a SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule arrived at the International Space Station on Wednesday with more than 6,400 pounds of experiments and supplies after concluding an automated laser-guided approach.

Multimedia: Atlas 5 rolled out with TDRS-M

August 16, 2017 Justin Ray

The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket was transferred from its assembly building to the pad at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 41 today for Friday’s launch of NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-M that directly supports the International Space Station and various science missions.

Live coverage: Atlas 5 countdown and launch journal

August 16, 2017 Justin Ray

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 8:29 a.m. EDT (1229 GMT) today to place NASA’s new tracking station into the sky. The data router will relay video, telemetry and science information from the space station and dozens of research satellites to a central ground terminal. Follow the ascent in our live journal.

NASA counts down final month of Cassini’s tour of Saturn

August 15, 2017 Stephen Clark

NASA’s Cassini orbiter sailed through the tenuous outermost reaches of Saturn’s atmosphere without trouble Monday, performing the first of five close swings nearer to the planet than any previous spacecraft before a final dive Sept. 15 to end the probe’s nearly 20-year mission.

Preview: NASA science-enabling relay satellite poised for launch

August 15, 2017 Justin Ray

Resembling a cocooned insect with antennas and appendages tucked snuggly to its body for launch, NASA’s latest communications relay hub will be shot into space Friday to blossom in geosynchronous orbit for routing signals to and from the International Space Station, the Hubble Space Telescope and three dozen science observatories.

Timeline: Atlas 5/TDRS-M ascent events

August 15, 2017 Justin Ray

This is the launch timeline to be followed by the Atlas 5 rocket’s ascent into orbit from Cape Canaveral with NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-M. Launch is scheduled for Friday at 8:03 a.m. EDT (1203 GMT).

SpaceX launches cargo capsule full of science experiments

August 14, 2017 Stephen Clark

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket climbed into space Monday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center atop a column of gleaming exhaust, shooting a commercial resupply vessel toward the International Space Station with research projects looking into cosmic rays, the origin of Parkinson’s disease, the utility of small satellites and an experimental radiation-tolerant supercomputer.

4K video replay liftoff Falcon 9 rocket’s liftoff on station cargo flight

August 14, 2017 Stephen Clark

Check out a 4K video clip of Monday’s Falcon 9 launch viewed from Spaceflight Now’s office at the Kennedy Space Center.