Mission Reports – Page 401

NASA ‘hears’ from lost spacecraft after nearly two years

August 23, 2016 William Harwood

NASA re-established contact with a wayward sun-watching science satellite Sunday nearly two years after the spacecraft suddenly dropped off line during a test, the agency said in a statement Monday.

Space station crew could be cut to five

August 21, 2016 Stephen Clark

Russia may start sending just two of its cosmonauts to the International Space Station at a time, according to media reports and comments by a NASA manager, in a cost-cutting measure that could reduce the size of the research lab’s crew to five.

Another Falcon 9 rocket returns to perch in Port Canaveral

August 20, 2016 Stephen Clark

The sixth Falcon 9 rocket booster recovered by SpaceX has returned to Port Canaveral after an up-and-down flight Aug. 14 that sent a commercial Japanese broadcasting satellite toward orbit.

Ariane 5 receives payloads for launch next week

August 19, 2016 Stephen Clark

Two U.S.-built Intelsat communications satellites have hitched on to an Ariane 5 rocket for launch from French Guiana next week, the first time the storied company has put two of its spacecraft on the same booster.

Photos: Falcon 9 climbs away from Cape Canaveral with JCSAT 16

August 14, 2016 Stephen Clark

The Falcon 9 rocket’s eighth flight of 2016 took off from Cape Canaveral early Sunday with the Japanese JCSAT 16 communications satellite, setting a new mark for the most launches made by SpaceX in a single year.

Falcon 9 rocket launches Japanese satellite, then nails bullseye landing

August 14, 2016 Stephen Clark

Vaulting into a starry sky over Florida’s Space Coast, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully took off early Sunday with a Japanese video and data relay satellite, then stuck a landing on a barge stationed nearly 400 miles east of Cape Canaveral.

Falcon 9 launch timeline with JCSAT 16

August 13, 2016 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is set for liftoff from Cape Canaveral early Sunday, heading due east over the Atlantic Ocean to deliver the JCSAT 16 communications satellite into orbit 32 minutes later.

Live coverage: Falcon 9 rocket launches Japanese satellite, then lands at sea

August 13, 2016 Stephen Clark

For the second time this year, SpaceX has launched a commercial communications satellite for Tokyo-based SKY Perfect JSAT Corp. A Falcon 9 rocket blasted off at 1:26 a.m. EDT (0526 GMT) from Cape Canaveral with the JCSAT 16 satellite to relay data and video across Japan and the Asia-Pacific. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster nailed a landing on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean a few minutes later.

Falcon 9 rocket rumbles through pre-flight engine firing

August 11, 2016 Stephen Clark

SpaceX technicians planned to connect a Japanese communications satellite to the tip of a Falcon 9 rocket as soon as Thursday, eyeing a launch from Cape Canaveral just after midnight Sunday.

Station cargo ship delays clear way for needed spacewalk

August 10, 2016 William Harwood

The Japanese space agency has delayed the planned Sept. 30 launch of an HTV space station cargo ship to repair a leak in the vehicle, clearing the way for Orbital ATK to slip the launch of its Cygnus supply ship from Aug. 22 to the second half of September to complete tests and analysis of its re-engined Antares rocket, officials said Wednesday.