Mission Reports – Page 152

Photos: SpaceX rocket arrives on launch pad for Inspiration4 mission

September 13, 2021 Stephen Clark

The Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spaceship chartered by billionaire Jared Isaacman for a three-day mission in low Earth orbit arrived at historic launch pad 39A in Florida over the weekend, moving into the starting blocks for liftoff Wednesday night with four civilian passengers.

Live coverage: SpaceX test-fires rocket for Inspiration4 crew mission

September 12, 2021 Stephen Clark

It’s launch week at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where SpaceX is gearing up for liftoff of a Falcon 9 rocket with the Inspiration4 mission, the first all-private human spaceflight to low Earth orbit. SpaceX completed a test-firing of the Falcon 9 rocket early Monday.

SpaceX rocket rolls out to pad 39A for Inspiration4 launch

September 12, 2021 Stephen Clark

SpaceX raised a Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon capsule on pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Sunday, kicking off a busy few days before launch of the all-private Inspiration4 crew mission as soon as Wednesday night.

Spacewalking astronauts continue solar array upgrade work

September 12, 2021 William Harwood

Three days after a Russian spacewalk, Japanese space station commander Akihiko Hoshide and Frenchman Thomas Pesquet floated outside for their own excursion Sunday, building a support fixture for a roll-out solar array blanket that will be attached later.

China successfully launches TV broadcasting satellite

September 10, 2021 Stephen Clark

A replacement Chinese communications satellite for a craft launched into the wrong orbit four years ago successfully rocketed into space Thursday, just in time to be ready to support 4K and 8K television broadcasts of the Beijing Winter Olympics next year.

Firefly says early engine shutdown led to launch failure

September 9, 2021 Stephen Clark

Firefly Aerospace says the premature shutdown of one of its Alpha rocket’s four main engines, apparently triggered by an electrical issue, caused the launcher to lose control as it reached supersonic speed during a test flight over California last week. The company emphasized lessons learned from the mission will boost chances the next test flight will reach orbit.

China launches Gaofen environmental monitoring satellite

September 8, 2021 Stephen Clark

China launched an Earth observation satellite on top of a Long March 4C rocket Tuesday to monitor land surfaces, water resources, and air quality.

Russian spacewalkers begin outfitting new lab module

September 3, 2021 William Harwood

Two Russian spacewalkers connected a new laboratory module to the International Space Station’s power grid Friday, routing and plugging in eight cables to tap into electricity generated by NASA’s solar power system.

Firefly set for inaugural test launch from Vandenberg

September 2, 2021 Stephen Clark

The first test flight of Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha launch vehicle could take off as soon as Thursday from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

Crew completes spaceship fit check ahead of all-private mission to orbit

September 1, 2021 Stephen Clark

The four private citizens who will fly into orbit later this month on a chartered SpaceX capsule visited their spaceship at Cape Canaveral this week for fit checks. On Wednesday, officials released the first pictures of the cupola window attached to the Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft, a new addition that will offer the crew expansive views of planet Earth from an altitude of more than 350 miles.