CHINA SPACE STATION CREW RETURNS TO EARTH AFTER 6 MONTHS IN SPACE - Three Chinese astronauts returned to Earth on Monday after a six-month stay on the Tiangong space station, part of China's effort to be a global leader in space exploration. A parachute slowed their capsule's nighttime descent to a remote landing area in China's Inner Mongolia region. The crew em... More (Source: Phys.org - Nov 5)
HELIUM ISSUE ON FALCON 9 BOOSTER SCRUBS STARLINK 6-77 MISSION AT CAPE CANAVERAL - A helium-related issue on the first stage of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket scrubbed a launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Sunday. The mission was set to add another batch of 23 Starlink V2 Mini satellites to SpaceX’s growing megaconstellation. The timing of the Starlink 6-77 mission fro... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Nov 4)
WATCH SPACEX CREW-9 ASTRONAUTS MOVE CREW DRAGON SPACECRAFT TO NEW ISS PARKING SPOT ON NOV. 3 - Four astronauts will relocate a SpaceX spacecraft at the space station on Sunday (Nov. 3), and you can watch the event live. The SpaceX Crew-9 astronauts, including two crew members formerly aboard Boeing Starliner, will move their Crew Dragon at the International Space Station. ISS procedures di... More (Source: Space.com - Nov 3)
SATELLITES WATCH DEVASTATING FLOODS IN SPAIN FROM SPACE - Satellite images captured deadly flooding in eastern Spain caused by torrential rainfall on Tuesday (Oct. 29). Landsat and Maxar satellites imaged the damage, which came after the region experienced more than a foot (30 centimeters) of rain, according to Spain’s meteorological agency, AEMET. ... More (Source: Space.com - Nov 2)
INTERNATIONAL SWOT SATELLITE SPOTS PLANET-RUMBLING GREENLAND TSUNAMI - The international Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite mission, a collaboration between NASA and France’s CNES (Centre National d’Études Spatiales), detected the unique contours of a tsunami that sloshed within the steep walls of a fjord in Greenland in September 2023. Triggered ... More (Source: Jet Propulsion Laboratory - NASA - Nov 2)
HALLOWEEN ON THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - Although no ghouls or goblins or trick-or-treaters come knocking at the International Space Station’s front hatch, crew members aboard the orbiting facility still like to get in the Halloween spirit. Whether individually or as an entire crew, they dress up in sometimes spooky, sometimes scary, but... More (Source: NASA - Nov 2)
NASA SETS COVERAGE FOR ITS SPACEX CREW-9 DRAGON STATION RELOCATION - In preparation for the arrival of NASA’s SpaceX 31st commercial resupply services mission, four crew members aboard the International Space Station will relocate the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 Dragon spacecraft to a different docking port Sunday, Nov. 3. Live coverage begins at 6:15 a.m. EST on N... More (Source: NASA - Nov 1)
CHINA TAIKONAUT TRIO ARRIVES AT THE TIANGONG SPACE STATION - Three of China’s taikonauts completed their journey to the Tiangong space station to begin the country’s eighth long-duration spaceflight. Commander Cai Xuzhe led the roughly 6.5-hour Shenzhou-19 mission alongside Song Lingdong and Wang Haoze. They rode aboard a LongMarch 2F Y19 rocket, which... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Nov 1)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 23 STARLINK SATELLITES ON FALCON 9 ROCKET FROM CAPE CANAVERAL - SpaceX launched its second of the day on Wednesday evening with another Starlink flight. This Falcon 9 rocket will add another 23 Starlink satellites to the growing megaconstellation. Liftoff of the Starlink 10-13 mission from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station happened at 5:10 p.m. EDT... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Oct 31)
ASTRONAUTS ON THE ISS ARE BRACED FOR AN URGENT EVACUATION - AS NASA UNCOVERS 50 'AREAS OF CONCERN' INCLUDING LEAKS AND CRACKS ON THE 25-YEAR-OLD SPACE STATION - NASA's astronauts aboard the International Space Station have been told to prepare for an urgent evacuation amid growing safety concerns. The US space agency and its Russian counterpart, Roscomos, are tracking 50 'areas of concern' related to a growing leak aboard the station. NASA is now cal... More (Source: Daily Mail - Oct 30)
CHINA LAUNCHES 3 ASTRONAUTS TO TIANGONG SPACE STATION ON SHENZHOU 19 MISSION - China's next human spaceflight mission is on its way into orbit. A Long March 2F rocket topped with the Shenzhou 19 crew spacecraft lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center today (Oct. 19) at 4:27 p.m. EDT (2027 GMT; 4:27 a.m. Oct. 30 Beijing time), rising into a night sky above the sp... More (Source: Space.com - Oct 30)
NOAA SHARES FIRST IMAGERY FROM GOES-19 SUVI INSTRUMENT - The Solar Ultraviolet Imager, or SUVI, onboard NOAA’s GOES-19 satellite, which launched on June 25, 2024, began observing the sun on Sept. 24, 2024. SUVI monitors the sun in the extreme ultraviolet portion of the electromagnetic spectrum to watch for hazardous space weather that could affect Earth... More (Source: nesdis - Oct 29)
LIVE COVERAGE: SPACEX TO LAUNCH 20 STARLINK SATELLITES ON FALCON 9 ROCKET FROM VANDENBERG SFB - SpaceX is preparing to launch another Falcon 9 rocket in the pre-dawn hours of Tuesday morning The flight will add another 20 Starlink satellites to the megaconstellation. The Starlink 9-9 mission features 13 satellites that include Direct to Cell capabilities. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Oct 29)
ASTRONAUT RELEASED FROM HOSPITAL AFTER RETURN FROM INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - An unnamed astronaut was released from Ascension Sacred Heart Pensacola in Florida and returned to Johnson Space Center in Houston in good health Saturday, NASA reported. The astronaut was one of four who splashed down while aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft on Friday to conclude NASA's SpaceX Cr... More (Source: UPI - Oct 29)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 22 STARLINK INTERNET SATELLITES FROM FLORIDA - SpaceX launched another batch of its Starlink internet satellites from Florida's Space Coast on Saturday evening (Oct. 26). A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 22 Starlink spacecraft lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 5:47 p.m. EDT (2147 GMT). The first stage from a SpaceX Falcon 9 r... More (Source: Space.com - Oct 28)
LARGEST COMMERCIAL SATELLITES UNFURL, OUTSHINING MOST OF THE NIGHT SKY - The dawn of annoyingly massive satellites is upon us, shielding our views of the shimmering cosmos. Five of the largest communication satellites just unfolded in Earth orbit, and this is only the beginning of a Texas startup’s constellation of cellphone towers in space. AST SpaceMobile announced t... More (Source: Gizmodo - Oct 28)
AST SPACEMOBILE UNFOLDS DEBUT PRODUCTION DIRECT-TO-SMARTPHONE SATELLITES - AST SpaceMobile successfully unfolded its first five production satellites after compacting them for their SpaceX launch to low Earth orbit (LEO) last month, the direct-to-smartphone broadband constellation developer announced Oct. 25. Each unfolded Block 1 BlueBird spans about 64 square meters, ... More (Source: SpaceNews - Oct 26)
ONE ASTRONAUT HOSPITALIZED IN PENSACOLA AFTER SPLASHDOWN; CREWMATES FLOWN BACK TO HOUSTON - Three NASA astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut returned to Earth early Friday, splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico to close out an extended 235-day expedition to the International Space Station. But one crew member experienced a “medical issue” of some sort after splashdown and was hospitalized ... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Oct 26)
CHINA LAUNCHES NEW SET OF CLASSIFIED YAOGAN SPY SATELLITES - China has added a new batch of three spacecraft to a classified series of orbiting Yaogan satellites. A Long March 2C rocket lifted off from Xichang Satellite Launch Center at 9:09 p.m. EDT on Oct. 22 (0109 GMT and 9:09 a.m. Beijing time on Oct. 23), rising into overcast skies above the spaceport... More (Source: Space.com - Oct 26)
