Spaceflight Observer

08/05/2018

It’s been awhile but this long domant concept is about to take flight again. Watch this space for further announcements on our return to podcasting at the end of May 2018.

06/05/2018

22/09/2013

Michael Hopkins of NASA and Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) will depart from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on 25 September at 4:58 p.m. EDT (2:58 a.m. Kazakh time 26 September) aboard a Soyuz spacecraft headed for the International space Station. NASA Television coverage will begin at 4:00 p.m. and will include video of pre-launch activities leading up to spacecraft boarding.

NASA Television will provide extensive coverage live from Kazakhstan of the Sept. 25 launch of three crew members of Expedition 37-38, as they begin their journey to the International Space Station.

22/09/2013

The latest news and features about NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services Partner, Orbital Sciences.

20/09/2013

A team of astronomers has discovered enormous arms of hot gas in the Coma cluster of galaxies by using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and ESA’s XMM-Newton. These features, which span at least half a million light years, provide insight into how the Coma cluster has grown through mergers of smaller...

20/09/2013

After eight years, two comet flybys -- one with an impactor -- and about half-a-million images, the mission of history's most traveled deep-space comet hunter, Deep Impact, has concluded.

20/09/2013

It takes significant engineering to simulate the millions of miles of space between the Earth and Mars in tests to prove that MAVEN will remain in contact during its mission.

20/09/2013

Boeing and Aerojet Rocketdyne recently conducted a gauntlet of testing on the thrusters that will compose the CST-100 spacecraft's orbital maneuvering and attitude control (OMAC) system.

20/09/2013

ISS Daily Summary Report – 07/31/13Posted on July 31, 2013 by HQ.New Status:Ocular Health: The crew continued Ocular Health activities with Flight Engineer (FE)-3 Cassidy acting as Crew Medical Officer (CMO) to perform ultrasound scans on FE-5 Parmitano and FE-6 Nyberg. Parmitano and Nyberg also p...

20/09/2013

After almost 9 years in space that included an unprecedented July 4th impact and subsequent flyby of a comet, an additional comet flyby, and the return of approximately 500,000 images of celestial objects, NASA's Deep Impact mission has ended.

20/09/2013

ISS Daily Summary Report – 09/18/13Posted on September 18, 2013 by HQ.Cygnus Orbital Demo 1 (Orb-D1) Launch: Orbital’s Antares rocket successfully launched today from Launch Pad 0A at Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, at 9:58 CDT. The Cygnus spacecraft was successfully injected into orbit. The v...

20/09/2013

NASA Celebrates National Aerospace WeekPosted on September 16, 2013 by Administrator Charles Bolden.Every time you step aboard an airplane there’s an excellent chance that a piece of innovative NASA technology will be flying with you, helping to ensure you have a safe and efficient flight.It might b...

20/09/2013

Orbital Sciences Corp. launched its Cygnus cargo spacecraft at 10:58 a.m. EDT Wednesday from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility.

20/09/2013

Data from NASA's Curiosity rover has revealed the Martian environment lacks methane.

19/09/2013

ISS Daily Summary Report – 09/17/13Posted on September 17, 2013 by HQ.Advanced Colloids Experiment (ACE)-M-1: Today Flight Engineer (FE)-6 Nyberg mixed a sample in the 9th of 10 wells of the ACE-M-1 experiment in the Fluids Integrated Rack facility. ACE-M-1 is the first in a series of microscopic…

19/09/2013

Physicists have discovered a jewel-shaped geometric object that challenges the notion that space and time are fundamental constituents of nature.

19/09/2013

NASA scientists have found evidence Europa likely spun around a tilted axis at some point.

19/09/2013

Space exploration is evolving from a government-led venture to a rich collaboration with the private sector.

17/09/2013

ISS Daily Summary Report – 09/16/13Posted on September 16, 2013 by HQ.Resist Tubule (Mechanisms of Gravity Resistance in Plants From Signal Transformation and Transduction to Response): Today Flight Engineer (FE)-6 Nyberg attached a Plant Experiment Unit (PEU) with plant samples and the Dehumidifie...

17/09/2013

NASA's TRMM Satellite Animation Gives Flyby of Tropical Storm Ingrid's Heavy Rains

NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite known as TRMM can compile the rain in which rain is falling as it orbits from space.

17/09/2013

ISS Daily Summary Report – 09/13/13Posted on September 13, 2013 by HQ.Investigating the Structure of Paramagnetic Aggregates from Colloidal Emulsions (InSPACE)-3 Experiment Runs: Flight Engineer (FE)-6 Nyberg completed runs 23 through 26 out of a total of 42 runs planned as part of this experiment…

14/09/2013

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) confirmed that the Spectroscopic Planet Observatory for Recognition of Interaction of Atmosphere (SPRINT-A) has deployed its solar array paddles (SAPs) normally at 15:49 p.m. today through data received at the Uchinoura Ground Station. The SPRINT-A was l...

14/09/2013

Photo of JAXA's Epsilon -1 Carrying the SPRINT-A Observatory

14/09/2013

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency launched the first Epsilon Launch Vehicle (Epsilon-1) with the Spectroscopic Planet Observatory for Recognition of Interaction of Atmosphere (SPRINT-A) onboard at 2:00 p.m. on September 14 (Sat.), 2013 (Japan Standard Time, JST) from the Uchinouora Space Center. Th...

14/09/2013

The Living Planet Symposium has come to a close in Edinburgh, and a week of talking about past, present and future satellite missions, as well as the scientific challenges facing us, has prepared Earth observation for a new chapter.

14/09/2013

This week sees the start of ESA’s next underground training course for astronauts. Six new and experienced astronauts from all over the world will work together to overcome the difficulties of working in a new environment performing a full scientific programme with limited supplies – sim…

14/09/2013

After more than four years mapping Earth’s gravity with unrivalled precision, GOCE’s mission is nearing its end and the satellite will soon reenter our atmosphere.

14/09/2013

New images from NASA's Dawn mission show the giant asteroid Vesta at the scale of regional road touring maps.

14/09/2013

Four RS-25 engines will power the core stage of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) -- NASA's new heavy-lift launch vehicle.

12/09/2013

Luck be a LADEEPosted on September 12, 2013 by soconnorjobe.Leave a replySome of Ames Research Center’s Lunar Atmosphere & Dust Experiment Explorer (LADEE) team in the ARC clean room highbay with the LADEE Observatory in the background. LADEE is a robotic mission that will orbit the moon to gather d...

12/09/2013

This view looks toward the sunlit side of the rings from about 17 degrees above the ringplane. The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on June 15, 2013 using a spectral filter sensitive to wavelengths of near-infrared light centered at 705 nanometers.