Stephen Clark – Page 355 – Spaceflight Now

Dream Chaser completes aerial captive carry test flight

August 30, 2017 Stephen Clark

Sierra Nevada Corp. conducted a captive carry test flight of the Dream Chaser spaceplane Wednesday at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research in California.

NASA studies mission to return samples from Mars by end of 2020s

August 28, 2017 Stephen Clark

NASA is examining options to launch a robotic mission as soon as 2026 to pick up rock specimens from the surface of Mars and bring them back to Earth, moving forward the timeline for a sample return mission as the agency postpones plans for a new Mars reconnaissance and data relay orbiter.

NASA releases inside-out view of Saturn’s rings

August 28, 2017 Stephen Clark

Continuing to make discoveries in the final weeks of a historic mission at Saturn, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has recorded a unique time lapse movie looking out toward the planet’s iconic icy rings.

Photos: SpaceX rocket climbs into orbit from Vandenberg

August 28, 2017 Stephen Clark

The launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket Aug. 24 from California delivered Taiwan’s Formosat 5 Earth-imaging satellite to orbit, and the Falcon’s first stage booster returned to landing on a drone ship downrange in the Pacific Ocean.

Orbital imagery shows Harvey’s path toward Texas

August 27, 2017 Stephen Clark

Videos and photos from satellites and the crew aboard the International Space Station showed Hurricane Harvey bearing down on the Texas coast this weekend.

U.S. military sleuth launched to track satellite and space debris movements

August 26, 2017 Stephen Clark

Receiving a boost from a modified decades-old Peacekeeper missile originally built for nuclear war, a U.S. military space surveillance satellite streaked into space early Saturday from Cape Canaveral to help the Air Force track threats and debris in orbit.

Video: Minotaur 4 launch replay

August 26, 2017 Stephen Clark

A Minotaur 4 rocket made up of five solid-fueled rocket motors delivered a U.S. military satellite tracking craft into an equatorial orbit early Saturday after lifting off from Cape Canaveral.

Minotaur 4 launch timeline with the ORS-5 satellite

August 25, 2017 Stephen Clark

Track the major events during the Minotaur 4 rocket’s 28-minute climb into a unique equatorial orbit with the ORS-5 space surveillance satellite for the U.S. military’s Operationally Responsive Space office.

Live coverage: Minotaur 4 rocket makes first launch from Cape Canaveral

August 25, 2017 Stephen Clark

An Orbital ATK Minotaur 4 rocket partially powered by modified motors from a Cold War-era nuclear missile lifted off early Saturday from Cape Canaveral with a small U.S. military satellite to help track other objects in space. The solid-fueled launcher took off at 2:04 a.m. EDT (0604 GMT) after a weather delay.

Military satellite ready for launch aboard converted Cold War-era missile

August 25, 2017 Stephen Clark

A U.S. military satellite awaiting launch Friday night from Cape Canaveral is small enough to fit on a coffee table, but it will punch above its weight, scanning a region more than 20,000 miles above Earth to catalog spacecraft movements and space junk.