William Harwood – Page 60 – Spaceflight Now

Orbital Sciences hopes to quickly find cause of rocket failure

October 30, 2014 William Harwood

A day after an explosion that destroyed an Orbital Sciences Antares rocket carrying a space station cargo ship, officials said Wednesday they hope to zero in on the likely cause of the mishap within a week or so, based on a detailed review of telemetry, analysis of video and inspection of debris.

Russians launch Progress supply ship to space station

October 29, 2014 William Harwood

Nine hours after a spectacular launch failure that destroyed a U.S. supply ship bound for the International Space Station, the Russians successfully launched a Progress cargo craft from snowy Kazakhstan carrying 5,793 pounds of rocket fuel, water, air, crew supplies and other equipment needed aboard the lab complex.

Orbital Sciences rocket, station cargo ship, lost in spectacular launch mishap

October 29, 2014 William Harwood

An Orbital Sciences Antares rocket exploded seconds after launch from the Virginia coast Tuesday, erupting in a spectacular fireball and destroying the company’s third operational Cygnus cargo ship in a disheartening failure for NASA’s commercial space station resupply program.

Russian cosmonauts wrap up successful spacewalk

October 22, 2014 William Harwood

Two cosmonauts ventured outside the International Space Station, jettisoning three no-longer-needed components and carrying out a photo survey of the Russian segment of the lab complex in the seventh and final spacewalk planned by the station crew this year.

Comet’s flyby of Mars a boon for scientists

October 19, 2014 William Harwood

The red planet’s brush with Comet Siding Spring was a close encounter of the best kind for science, a once-in-a-lifetime chance to study a pristine remnant of the solar system’s birth 4.6 billion years ago as it makes its first and possibly last visit to the warmth of the inner solar system.

Spacewalk achieves all major objectives

October 15, 2014 William Harwood

Astronauts Reid Wiseman and Barry “Butch” Wilmore floated outside the International Space Station and, after a bit of trouble with a balky bolt, replaced a broken voltage regulator in one of eight solar power channels to restore the lab’s electrical grid to normal operation.

Fleet of Mars probes set to observe comet flyby

October 9, 2014 William Harwood

An international fleet of five Mars orbiters and two rovers will have ringside seats when a mountain-size comet streaks by on Oct. 19, passing within a scant 87,000 miles of the red planet at a blistering 126,000 mph.

NuSTAR discovers brilliant ‘mighty mouse’ pulsar

October 9, 2014 William Harwood

A NASA space telescope studying X-ray emissions from a nearby galaxy has discovered the brightest pulsar ever detected, the fast-spinning remnant of a collapsed star that shines so intensely it was initially mistaken for a massive black hole, a possible “missing link” between compact stellar-mass black holes and the unseen monsters lurking at the cores of many galaxies.

Station crew completes maintenance spacewalk

October 7, 2014 William Harwood

Working outside the International Space Station, NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman and European Space Agency crewmate Alexander Gerst successfully moved a failed ammonia pump module to an external stowage platform, completing a task originally planned for a repair spacewalk last December.

Aerojet Rocketdyne touts AR1 engine for Atlas 5

October 1, 2014 William Harwood

Aerojet Rocketdyne is pressing ahead with development of a powerful new rocket engine that company officials believe will be an attractive alternative to the Russian-built RD-180 engine that now powers the first stage of United Launch Alliance’s workhorse Atlas 5 booster.