April 2020 – Page 5 – Spaceflight Now

BepiColombo flies by Earth, completing first leg of journey to Mercury

April 10, 2020 Stephen Clark

Working with a reduced staff due to coronavirus-related restrictions, European Space Agency flight controllers monitored the BepiColombo spacecraft during a flyby of Earth on Friday, a maneuver that used our planet’s gravity to steer the mission on a course toward Mercury.

NASA satellite ends 17-year mission measuring the sun’s impact on climate

April 10, 2020 Stephen Clark

NASA has shut down a spacecraft that measured the amount of solar energy entering Earth’s atmosphere for 17 years, more than three times the mission’s original design life.

Soyuz crew docks with the International Space Station

April 9, 2020 William Harwood

With an absence of fanfare amid coronavirus safety protocols, an upgraded Russian Soyuz rocket making its first piloted flight blasted off from Kazakhstan Thursday carrying two cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut on a speedy four-orbit trip to the International Space Station.

Chinese rocket fails during launch of Indonesian communications satellite

April 9, 2020 Stephen Clark

A Long March 3B rocket malfunctioned during the launch of an Indonesian communications satellite Thursday, leading to sightings of fiery debris in the skies over Guam.

Live coverage: Soyuz crew launches from Kazakhstan, docks with space station

April 8, 2020 Stephen Clark

Three new crew members embarked on a six-month expedition aboard the International Space Station Thursday with a launch from Kazakhstan on top of a Russian Soyuz rocket at 0805 GMT (4:05 a.m. EDT). NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and crewmates Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner docked with the space station at 1413 GMT (10:13 a.m. EDT) Thursday.

NASA astronaut, two cosmonauts set for Thursday launch to space station

April 8, 2020 William Harwood

Working amid coronavirus restrictions, engineers readied a Soyuz spacecraft for launch Thursday to ferry two Russian cosmonauts and Navy SEAL-turned-astronaut Chris Cassidy to the International Space Station.

SpaceX plans another Starlink launch next week

April 8, 2020 Stephen Clark

SpaceX is preparing to launch another batch of satellites for the Starlink Internet network from Florida’s Space Coast as soon as April 16, a sign that launch operations at Cape Canaveral could continue at a reduced pace amid the global coronavirus pandemic.

With successful splashdown, SpaceX retires first version of Dragon spacecraft

April 7, 2020 Stephen Clark

For the final time, a SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule was released from the International Space Station’s robotic arm Tuesday and splashed down hours later in Pacific Ocean southwest of Los Angeles. Beginning later this year, SpaceX will fly upgraded Dragon freighters that will dock automatically with the space station and parachute into the Atlantic Ocean east of Florida.

Next GPS launch delayed by coronavirus concerns; X-37B launch remains on track

April 7, 2020 Stephen Clark

U.S. military officials said Tuesday the launch of the next satellite for the GPS navigation network — planned for April 29 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket — has been delayed to no earlier than June 30 to avoid exposing launch crews to the COVID-19 viral disease. However, the next launch of the military’s X-37B spaceplane remains on track for liftoff in May on a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, officials said.

Space companies rally to supply medical equipment amid pandemic

April 7, 2020 Stephen Clark

While production of rockets and satellites continues across much of the space industry amid the coronavirus pandemic, engineers at several space companies — including SpaceX, Virgin Orbit and Blue Origin — have started working on medical devices and protective equipment in response to shortages in hospitals across the United States.