Stephen Clark – Page 454 – Spaceflight Now

SpaceX receives firm order for its first crew flight

November 23, 2015 Stephen Clark

Fresh off a major design review, SpaceX’s human-rated Dragon spaceship has received the first of up to six firm mission orders from NASA under the company’s $2.6 billion commercial crew contract.

China launches first satellite for Laos

November 22, 2015 Stephen Clark

Built and financed by China, a $258 million Laotian communications satellite project launched Friday aboard a Long March 3B rocket to better connect the mountainous Southeast Asia nation and surrounding regions.

Vega booster crowned with gravitational probe pathfinder

November 20, 2015 Stephen Clark

After criss-crossing Europe for a decade, the LISA Pathfinder satellite testbed has reached its last stop before launch in early December on a mission to demonstrate the delicate technologies required to detect elusive low-frequency gravitational waves rippling through the cosmos.

Europe to develop satellite to map plant fluorescence

November 20, 2015 Stephen Clark

The European Space Agency has selected a satellite mission to monitor the health of global vegetation over an atmospheric research project to track carbon in Earth’s atmosphere, officials announced Thursday.

ULA says it will launch some CubeSats for free

November 19, 2015 Stephen Clark

United Launch Alliance chief executive Tory Bruno said Thursday the company will offer more rides for CubeSats aboard future Atlas 5 rocket flights, and give some away for free, in a bid to tap into a growing market of small satellites with applications in education, scientific research and commercial business.

Mars rover steers toward active sand dunes

November 18, 2015 Stephen Clark

The Curiosity rover’s next destination is a moving mound of wind-blown dark sand blanketing the base of Mount Sharp, the focal point of the Mars mission’s research, scientists said this week.

Tiny thrusters to do heavy lifting as Japanese probe approaches Venus

November 18, 2015 Stephen Clark

Inside a month until its next chance to swing into orbit around Venus, Japan’s Akatsuki spacecraft has weathered unexpectedly “severe” conditions after missing an arrival opportunity in 2010, according to the mission’s project scientist.

First satellite launched for Russia’s new missile warning network

November 17, 2015 Stephen Clark

Russia launched an early warning satellite Tuesday, deploying the first in a new fleet of military satellites to detect missile launches heading for Russian territory.

ULA sits out Air Force launch competition

November 16, 2015 Stephen Clark

United Launch Alliance said Monday it did not submit a proposal in a competition to launch a U.S. Air Force GPS navigation satellite, apparently relinquishing the contract to rival SpaceX, the only other company certified to launch the mission.

Spacewalk snapshots show recent station EVAs

November 16, 2015 Stephen Clark

Clad in white spacesuits, astronauts Scott Kelly and Kjell Lindgren recently floated outside the International Space Station on a pair of spacewalks, and the duo carried cameras with them to document the excursions.