William Harwood – Page 43 – Spaceflight Now

Station astronauts complete second battery swap spacewalk

January 13, 2017 William Harwood

Two space station astronauts carried out a trouble-free five-hour 58-minute spacewalk Friday, completing complex battery replacement work on the right side of the lab’s solar power truss with enough time left over to carry out a variety of lower-priority “get-ahead” tasks.

Spacewalkers continue station battery refresh with EVA

January 6, 2017 William Harwood

Two spacewalking astronauts working outside the International Space Station Friday completed work to replace aging batteries in one of the lab’s eight main solar power circuits. A second spacewalk next week, along with additional work with the station’s robot arm, will upgrade a second power channel.

Astronauts set for Friday spacewalk

January 6, 2017 William Harwood

Two astronauts plan to venture outside the International Space Station Friday, taking over from earlier robotic arm operations to help replace a set of batteries used to store power from one of the lab’s four sets of solar arrays.

SpaceX failure probe complete; flights to resume Sunday from California

January 2, 2017 William Harwood

After an exhaustive investigation, SpaceX engineers have identified the most likely cause of the spectacular explosion of a Falcon 9 rocket during a pre-launch test Sept. 1 that destroyed the booster and its $195 million satellite payload, the company announced Monday.

Space station battery work starts New Year’s Eve

January 1, 2017 William Harwood

Working over the New Year holiday weekend, robot arm operators at the Johnson Space Center will begin a complex procedure to replace 12 aging batteries in the International Space Station’s solar power system with six state-of-the-art lithium-ion power packs, a multi-step process over the next two weeks that will require two spacewalks to complete.

John Glenn remembered

December 17, 2016 William Harwood

In an emotional remembrance, John Glenn was honored Saturday for an unprecedented career in public service, from his days as a combat fighter pilot, his historic journey into space as the first American in orbit, a quarter century of service as an Ohio senator and his unlikely return to space at age 77 aboard the shuttle Discovery.

John Glenn, first American to orbit the Earth, passes away at 95

December 8, 2016 William Harwood

John H. Glenn Jr., a decorated combat veteran and test pilot who gained worldwide fame as the first American to orbit the Earth, went on to become a U.S. senator and, in the autumn of his life, returned to space aboard the shuttle Discovery, has died. He was 95 years old.

ULA unveils ‘RocketBuilder’ website

November 30, 2016 William Harwood

Rocket-builder United Launch Alliance unveiled a first-of-a-kind website Wednesday that shows potential customers exactly what it will cost to buy an Atlas 5 booster, along with expected savings based on the rocket’s demonstrated reliability, ULA’s on-time launch record and the company’s sophisticated guidance system.

Soyuz docking boosts station crew size back to six

November 20, 2016 William Harwood

Two days after launch from Kazakhstan, a Russian Soyuz ferry ship glided to a smooth docking with the International Space Station Saturday, bringing a veteran cosmonaut, a Frenchman making his first flight and NASA’s most experienced female astronaut to the lab complex.

Soyuz takes off, heads for space station

November 17, 2016 William Harwood

By the light of a waning moon, a Russian rocket carrying a veteran cosmonaut, a French flight engineer making his first flight and America’s most experienced female astronaut blasted off and streaked smoothly into orbit Thursday, the first step in a two-day rendezvous with the International Space Station.