Mission Reports – Page 426

Live coverage: SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifts off, then lands at Cape Canaveral

April 29, 2017 Stephen Clark

SpaceX launched a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office on Monday after a first stage sensor problem halted a countdown Sunday. Liftoff from launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida occurred at 7:15 a.m. EDT (1115 GMT), and the first stage landed at nearby Cape Canaveral around nine minutes later. The upper stage’s flight entered a pre-planned news blackout a few minutes after launch.

Iridium hails performance of new satellites, targets four more launches this year

April 28, 2017 Stephen Clark

Eight of Iridium’s first ten upgraded communications satellites launched in January started providing voice and data relay service ahead of schedule, and SpaceX says it can launch up to 40 more Iridium spacecraft by the end of the year, Iridium officials reported Thursday.

Tianzhou 1 freighter achieves China’s first in-space refueling demo

April 27, 2017 Stephen Clark

The robotic Tianzhou 1 refueling freighter launched last week has successfully completed the first in-orbit propellant transfer with China’s Tiangong 2 space lab, a major accomplishment as the country’s engineers hope to finish assembly of a large space station by 2022, officials said Thursday.

Weather looks good for Falcon 9 launch Sunday, but payload still a mystery

April 27, 2017 Stephen Clark

An official weather outlook issued by U.S. Air Force meteorologists Thursday calls for partly cloudy skies on Florida’s Space Coast for liftoff of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket just after sunrise Sunday with a clandestine payload for the U.S. government’s intelligence agencies.

SpaceX completes static fire test for Sunday launch of secret satellite

April 25, 2017 Stephen Clark

Nine Merlin engines at the base of SpaceX’s next Falcon 9 rocket fired up Tuesday on a launch pad in Florida, wringing out the booster and ground systems ahead of a planned liftoff Sunday with a top secret payload for the U.S. government’s spy satellite agency.

Watch a Falcon 9 rocket fire its engines Tuesday at pad 39A

April 25, 2017 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket completed a prelaunch hotfire test at launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday in a signifiant step before Sunday’s scheduled liftoff of a top secret U.S. government spy payload.

Live coverage: Falcon 9 rocket on track for Sunday launch

April 25, 2017 Stephen Clark

SpaceX rolled out a Falcon 9 rocket to launch pad 39A early Tuesday for a prelaunch hotfire test before this weekend’s liftoff with a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office, the U.S. government spy satellite agency. The static fire test was completed at 3:02 p.m. (1902 GMT).

President Trump calls International Space Station

April 24, 2017 William Harwood

President Trump called the International Space Station Monday for a videochat watched by thousands of school kids, congratulating commander Peggy Whitson on becoming America’s most experienced astronaut and jokingly promising to get Americans to Mars “during my first term or, at worst, during my second term.”

Photos: Launch day for Fyodor Yurchikhin and Jack Fischer

April 22, 2017 Stephen Clark

These photos chronicle the activities of Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin and NASA astronaut Jack Fischer on Thursday as they prepared for liftoff on a Soyuz rocket to begin an expedition of more than four months on the International Space Station.

Two fresh crew members join space station expedition

April 20, 2017 William Harwood

Veteran cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin and rookie flight engineer Jack Fischer streaked into orbit aboard a Russian Soyuz ferry craft Thursday, chased down the International Space Station and glided to a smooth docking to complete a six-hour rendezvous.