Stephen Clark – Page 394 – Spaceflight Now

H-2A rocket primed for launch of Japanese military communications satellite

January 23, 2017 Stephen Clark

The first communications satellite dedicated to support Japanese defense forces will launch Tuesday on top of an H-2A rocket on the way to a perch more than 22,000 miles above Earth.

Japanese spacecraft spots planet-spanning wave on Venus

January 22, 2017 Stephen Clark

Images from Japan’s Akatsuki spacecraft have revealed a gigantic wave in the atmosphere of Venus, and scientists say it may be the largest such feature in the solar system.

New Horizons to continue mission of discovery with Kuiper Belt encounter

January 22, 2017 Stephen Clark

Scientists planning the the next phase of NASA’s New Horizons mission, a robotic craft that completed the first exploration of Pluto in 2015, are going into the flyby of a frozen, faraway city-sized clump of rock on New Year’s Day 2019 armed with little knowledge of the target lurking around 4 billion miles from Earth.

Future of asteroid deflection mission to be decided soon

January 19, 2017 Stephen Clark

Decisions on the future of a joint robotic mission between NASA and the European Space Agency to demonstrate the ability to deflect an asteroid on a collision course with Earth have been put off until later this year after European governments declined to fully fund their part of the project in December.

Saturn’s shepherd moon Daphnis makes waves

January 19, 2017 Stephen Clark

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has captured the first close-up view of Daphnis, one of at least 62 moons found orbiting Saturn, plowing a path through the planet’s icy rings and raising waves in its wake.

SES 10 telecom satellite in Florida for launch on reused SpaceX rocket

January 17, 2017 Stephen Clark

A European-built communications satellite has arrived at Cape Canaveral for fueling and final launch preparations ahead of a planned late February liftoff aboard a Falcon 9 rocket with a previously-flown first stage booster.

Launch failure probe prompts engine swap on Soyuz crew’s rocket

January 17, 2017 Stephen Clark

Russian engineers will replace rocket engines on two Soyuz rockets assigned to send a batch of supplies and the next crew to the International Space Station after an investigation revealed foreign objects or a manufacturing defect led to the crash of a Progress cargo craft on launch in December, according to Russian media reports and a statement from the Russian space agency.

Articles by Stephen Clark