Mission Reports – Page 194

Arab world’s first interplanetary spacecraft safely arrives at Mars

February 9, 2021 Stephen Clark

The United Arab Emirates became the fifth nation or space agency to put a spacecraft into orbit around Mars on Tuesday with the arrival of Hope, a probe built in partnership with U.S. scientists to obtain a unique global perspective on the Red Planet’s weather and climate.

SpaceX wins contract to launch first pieces of NASA’s Gateway lunar outpost

February 9, 2021 Stephen Clark

NASA announced Tuesday it has awarded SpaceX a $331 million contract to launch the first two pieces of the Gateway lunar outpost in 2024 using a modified version of the Falcon Heavy rocket to hurl the massive core of the deep space station toward the moon.

Live coverage: United Arab Emirates probe arrives in orbit around Mars

February 9, 2021 Stephen Clark

The Emirates Mars Mission, the first deep space probe from the Arab world, steered into orbit around the Red Planet on Tuesday to cap a 307 million-mile (494 million-kilometer), 205-day interplanetary voyage from Earth and begin a science mission studying the Martian climate. The critical 27-minute Mars Orbit Insertion maneuver began at 10:30 a.m. EST (1530 GMT).

Crew Dragon breaks record for longest flight by human-rated U.S. spacecraft

February 9, 2021 Stephen Clark

The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft that carried four astronauts to the International Space Station in November broke the record Sunday for the longest spaceflight by a U.S. crew vehicle, surpassing the 84-day mark set by an Apollo capsule on the final flight to the Skylab space station in 1974.

Photos: Sixty more Starlinks rocket through moonlit sky over Cape Canaveral

February 8, 2021 Stephen Clark

With another SpaceX rocket poised for launch just a few miles away, a Falcon 9 launcher soared through a moonlit sky over Cape Canaveral on Feb. 4 carrying 60 more Starlink internet satellites into orbit.

UAE’s Hope orbiter on course for arrival at Mars

February 8, 2021 Stephen Clark

The first interplanetary probe from the United Arab Emirates is set to enter orbit around Mars on Tuesday, the first of three robotic missions taking aim on the Red Planet this month.

China launches military satellite toward geostationary orbit

February 7, 2021 Stephen Clark

A mysterious Chinese government satellite, believed to be a military-operated early warning station, successfully launched into orbit Feb. 4 on top of a Long March 3B rocket.

Russian Soyuz rocket delivers military intelligence-gathering satellite into orbit

February 7, 2021 Stephen Clark

Russia sent a spy satellite into orbit aboard a Soyuz rocket Feb. 2 from a snowy launch pad at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, setting off on a mission to detect, locate, and characterize foreign military radio signals.

No SpaceX doubleheader for now, but range is ready for two launches in a day

February 4, 2021 Stephen Clark

One of the two Falcon 9 rockets SpaceX planned to take off in a span of less than five hours earlier this week will remain grounded indefinitely, preventing Cape Canaveral from hosting two launches on the same day for the first time in decades. But the military-run Eastern Range was ready for the back-to-back missions, and probably won’t have to wait long for the next chance for a launch doubleheader.

After success in 2019, Chinese startup fails on second orbital launch attempt

February 4, 2021 Stephen Clark

The second orbital launch attempt by Chinese launch company iSpace failed shortly after liftoff Feb. 1, following a successful debut flight in 2019 that made iSpace the first private firm in China to put a payload into orbit.