Stephen Clark – Page 466 – Spaceflight Now

Photos: Two more Galileo navigation satellites primed for flight

September 9, 2015 Stephen Clark

The next pair of spacecraft to join Europe’s Galileo navigation system are positioned for liftoff late Thursday aboard a Soyuz rocket. These photos chronicle the preparation of the satellites for launch at the Guiana Space Center.

Decision looms on when to introduce new SLS upper stage

September 8, 2015 Stephen Clark

NASA officials are waiting to see if Congress adds funding to the agency’s budget next year to kick-start development of a new four-engine upper stage for the Space Launch System, an upgrade that would allow the mega-rocket to loft heavier cargoes into deep space.

Russian rocket erected for this week’s Galileo launch

September 7, 2015 Stephen Clark

The next pair of spacecraft to join Europe’s growing Galileo navigation system, a civilian-run analog to the U.S. military’s Global Positioning System, will be added to the tip of a Russian Soyuz booster overnight Monday after the rocket’s rollout earlier in the day in French Guiana.

One-on-one with NASA’s chief space station builder

September 5, 2015 Stephen Clark

Mike Suffredini is leaving NASA after 10 years at the helm of the International Space Station program overseeing assembly of the largest spacecraft ever built. He chatted with Spaceflight Now in his final weeks as space station program manager, sharing his memories and vision for the commercialization of low Earth orbit.

Enter the Starliner: Boeing names its commercial spaceship

September 4, 2015 Stephen Clark

Boeing’s commercial human-rated spaceship designed to ferry NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station will be named the CST-100 Starliner, extending the company’s naming theme to the final frontier, officials announced Friday.

Japanese X-ray observatory completes decade-long mission

September 4, 2015 Stephen Clark

An orbiting astronomical observatory launched 10 years ago to probe violent stellar explosions and black holes has been deactivated after it stopped regularly communicating with the ground, the Japanese space agency said Thursday.

Radar on NASA’s SMAP Earth observing satellite declared lost

September 3, 2015 Stephen Clark

One-half of the instrument payload aboard NASA’s $916 million Soil Moisture Active Passive satellite has failed after collecting just two months of data, NASA announced Wednesday after weeks of troubleshooting turned up no progress in recovering the sensor.

Photos: Atlas 5 puts on predawn sky show

September 2, 2015 Stephen Clark

Streaking away from Cape Canaveral less than an hour before sunrise Wednesday, an Atlas 5 launcher painted a memorable spectacle in the skies over Florida, catching the first rays of the morning as it rocketed out of the stratosphere with a U.S. Navy communications satellite.

Photos: Three-man crew launched from steppes of Kazakhstan

September 2, 2015 Stephen Clark

Three space fliers rocketed away from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, setting off in pursuit of the International Space Station to swap out Soyuz lifeboats for the research lab’s one-year crew. Check out imagery of the late morning liftoff.

Live coverage: Soyuz crew back on Earth

September 1, 2015 Stephen Clark

Wrapping up a busy week on the International Space Station, a crew of three boarded their Soyuz landing craft and headed for Earth on Friday. Cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, the most experienced space crewman in history, was at the controls, along with Danish and Kazakh crew members, and landed in Kazakhstan at 8:51 p.m. EDT Friday (0051 GMT Saturday).