William Harwood – Page 56 – Spaceflight Now

SpaceX cargo ship returns to Earth

May 21, 2015 William Harwood

A SpaceX cargo capsule loaded with 3,100 pounds of research samples, no-longer-needed equipment and trash returned to Earth Thursday after a month-long stay at the International Space Station, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean southwest of Long Beach, Calif., after a fiery descent from orbit.

Brightman steps down from station flight

May 13, 2015 William Harwood

Soprano and would-be space tourist Sarah Brightman, who was in training for a flight to the International Space Station this fall aboard a Russian Soyuz ferry craft, will not be chasing her dream aloft after all.

Russia delays ISS crew rotation flights

May 12, 2015 William Harwood

Russia is delaying the return to Earth of three space station crew members by about a month in the wake of the failure of a Russian Progress supply ship that spun out of control moments after reaching orbit April 28. Launch of three fresh crew members also will be delayed, from May 26 to late July.

Bezos’ Blue Origin completes first test flight of ‘New Shepard’ spacecraft

April 30, 2015 William Harwood

Blue Origin, a rocket engine and spacecraft development company owned by Amazon-founder Jeff Bezos, carried out an unpiloted maiden test flight of the company’s New Shepard sub-orbital launch vehicle Wednesday, the historically secretive company revealed early Thursday.

Russia gives up on Progress supply ship docking

April 29, 2015 William Harwood

Russian flight controllers have given up attempting to salvage a Progress cargo ship loaded with 3 tons of supplies and equipment intended for the International Space Station. Astronaut Scott Kelly, on board the lab for a year-long mission, said Wednesday the Progress will not be docking and instead will plunge back into the atmosphere.

Russians scramble to restore cargo ship communications

April 28, 2015 William Harwood

A Russian Progress supply ship loaded with more than 3 tons of supplies and equipment bound for the International Space Station apparently spun out of control shortly after reaching orbit Tuesday, putting the resupply mission in jeopardy while flight controllers scrambled to come up with a fix.

Astronomers hopeful Hubble will make it to 30th anniversary

April 24, 2015 William Harwood

More than five years after a final shuttle servicing mission — and a quarter of a century since its launch in April 1990 — the Hubble Space Telescope is operating in near flawless fashion, and engineers are optimistic the observatory will remain on the forefront of astronomy at least through 2020.

Fixing Hubble’s blurry vision

April 23, 2015 William Harwood

The second report in our series marking the 25th anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope’s launch looks at the observatory’s flawed mirror and the Herculean effort to fix it.

Hubble Space Telescope marks 25 years in orbit

April 21, 2015 William Harwood

Suspension of disbelief has been called for time and again throughout Hubble’s history, starting with its launch 25 years ago April 24, the discovery of its famously flawed mirror, the MacGyver-like repairs by spacewalking astronauts and its subsequent rise from the ashes of disaster to the pinnacle of scientific success.

Blue Origin’s sub-orbital ‘New Shepard’ poised for test flights

April 8, 2015 William Harwood

Blue Origin, the historically secretive rocket company owned by Amazon-founder Jeff Bezos, has completed development of a new hydrogen-fueled engine and plans to begin unmanned test flights of its reusable New Shepard sub-orbital spacecraft later this year, company officials said Tuesday.