Stephen Clark – Page 24 – Spaceflight Now

Three Chinese astronauts ready for flight to Tiangong space station

November 28, 2022 Stephen Clark

Three Chinese astronauts will strap into a Shenzhou spacecraft and rocket into orbit Tuesday in pursuit of China’s Tiangong space station on a six-month mission to transition the space lab from construction into an operational phase.

SpaceX supply ship docks at space station

November 27, 2022 Stephen Clark

A day after launching from Kennedy Space Center, SpaceX’s Dragon cargo capsule approached the International Space Station for an automated docking Sunday with more than 7,700 pounds of supplies and experiments.

India launches satellite for ocean monitoring

November 26, 2022 Stephen Clark

India launched a satellite Saturday to measure ocean winds and water temperatures, adding a key data source for weather forecasters tracking tropical cyclone development around the world.

SpaceX launches Dragon cargo ship to deliver new solar arrays to space station

November 26, 2022 Stephen Clark

SpaceX launched an all-new Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon cargo capsule Saturday from Kennedy Space Center on a mission to deliver new roll-out solar arrays, belated Thanksgiving treats, CubeSats, and a cornucopia of experiments to the International Space Station.

Orion capsule enters distant retrograde orbit, breaks Apollo distance record

November 26, 2022 Stephen Clark

NASA’s unpiloted Orion spacecraft fired its main engine Friday to slip into a distant lunar orbit, putting it on course to range farther from Earth than any of the Apollo astronauts flew in humanity’s first exploration missions to the moon.

Live coverage: Falcon 9 lifts off with Dragon cargo capsule

November 26, 2022 Stephen Clark

After a launch attempt earlier in the week was scrubbed due to bad weather, SpaceX sent a Dragon cargo capsule toward the International Space Station Saturday with nearly four tons of supplies and experiments. Liftoff on a Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center occurred at 2:20 p.m. EST (1920 GMT).

Live coverage: Orion capsule completes distant retrograde orbit insertion burn

November 25, 2022 Stephen Clark

Another major engine burn on NASA’s Artemis 1 mission placed the Orion spacecraft into a distant retrograde orbit around the moon, where it will spend six days performing more tests and demonstrations before returning to Earth. The 88-second burn by Orion’s main engine occurred at 4:52 p.m. EST (2152 GMT) Friday.

Defying weather odds, SpaceX sends Eutelsat broadband platform into orbit

November 23, 2022 Stephen Clark

Despite a bleak weather forecast, SpaceX took advantage of a break in cloud cover over Cape Canaveral Tuesday night to launch a Falcon 9 rocket with the Eutelsat 10B satellite, a high-throughput relay platform to beam in-flight WiFi signals and maritime data services across a coverage zone from the North Atlantic to the Middle East. SpaceX did not attempt to recover the Falcon 9’s first stage booster.

SpaceX resupply launch to space station delayed until Saturday

November 22, 2022 Stephen Clark

SpaceX called off a launch attempt Tuesday due to bad weather at Kennedy Space Center, delaying until Saturday the start of a resupply mission to the International Space Station.

ABL’s first orbital test flight postponed after series of launch attempts

November 22, 2022 Stephen Clark

The first test flight of ABL Space Systems’ new small satellite launcher from Alaska has been delayed until no earlier than December after technical issues cut short three launch attempts in the last week.