All Space news – Page 190
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An-124 will be space
The Russian Government has given the go-ahead for a project that will use the Antonov An-124 Ruslan freighter to launch a lightweight booster. The proposal, put forward by a joint team led by the Russian Space Agency and the Ministry of Defence, involves modernising four An-124s. A two-stage ...
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Concern on Shuttle safety as ISS gathers pace
The NASA Kennedy Space Centre's Shuttle safety chief, Tommy Holloway, has warned staff to be on the alert for breaches in safety as the pace of orbiting International Space Station (ISS) components increases over the next few years. The warning to be extra vigilant about quality control and safety ...
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Smart move
Tim Furniss/LONDON On 10 December, while the first components of the International Space Station were catching the world's eye, Sweden launched its Astrid 2 science satellite. The launch was made aboard a Russian Cosmos 3M booster from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome as part of a contract with the Russian Polyot organisation. ...
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The final frontier
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Every time a Space Shuttle blasts off, its booming sound waves pass unseen over the forgotten bones of a long abandoned project. Lying at the edge of the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, are the forlorn remains of Boeing's 2707-200 supersonic transport (SST) full-scale mock-up. Abandoned when the ...
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More Mir missions planned after June
Russian cosmonaut Viktor Afanasyev, who will command the 27th resident crew to fly to the Mir space station in February, says that his mission will not be the final one to the space station, as planned originally. The mission will have a duration of just three months. A further ...
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Hughes technology transfer error helped China's missile programme
The US Department of Defense has confirmed that Hughes Space and Communications inadvertently aided China's missile and satellite programmes during an investigation into the failure of a Long March 2E launcher attempting to orbit the Hughes built ApStar 2 satellite in 1995. The Pentagon says that Hughes gave China ...
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Mars Climate Observer lifts off
Tim Furniss/LONDON A Boeing Delta II rocket was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on 11 December, carrying the first of two NASA spacecraft that will be used to conduct the next round of investigations into Mars. The Mars Climate Orbiter (MCO) is scheduled to culminate in an orbital insertion in ...
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Hessi plans
Spectrum Astro has completed the preliminary design review of the next primary mission satellite in NASA's Small Explorer (SMEX) programme. The High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (HESSI) will be launched in July 2000. Orbital Sciences will launch HESSI aboard a Pegasus in 2000. NASA has launched four SMEX craft. ...
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Pegasus launch
NASA's Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite (SWAS) was launched at 00.58 GMT on 6 December by an air-launched Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL booster. The $64 million SWAS will investigate the process involved in the creation of stars, when gravity collapses interstellar clouds of gas. Source: Flight International
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Special delivery
Tim Furniss/LONDON The Columbus Orbital Facility (COF), a pressurised science laboratory, was until recently the European Space Agency's (ESA) only major contribution to the International Space Station (ISS). Now, development of a fleet of Automated Transfer Vehicles (ATVs) to support ISS operations has begun with the award of a ...
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Boeing to build next X-aircraft for NASA
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC NASA has selected Boeing to build the next X-series experimental vehicle, under its Future-X programme to demonstrate technologies for low-cost access to space. The unpiloted, reusable Advanced Technology Vehicle (ATV) - likely to be designated the X-37 - will be released by theSpace Shuttle to demonstrate autonomous ...
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International Space Station opens for work
The doors of the International Space Station opened for the first time on 10 December after astronauts from the STS88/Endeavour Space Shuttle mission bolted the first two modules together in space. Although the completion of the work marked the start of a new era in space exploration, full operations will ...
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HS-601 problems continue as battery failure hits Palapa C1
More problems have hit Hughes HS-601 satellites - another of the spacecraft is on the brink of losing its final workable battery and is about to be written off. The incident brings to seven the number of HS-601s that have malfunctioned this year. The latest problem satellite is the ...
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Orbital attrition
Tim Furniss/LONDON A Chinese Long March 2C/SD booster is poised to launch two more Iridium mobile communications satellites into orbit this month or in early 1999, bringing to 86 the number of spacecraft so far sent on 18 successful launches since May 1997. Motorola's flagship project, which is ...
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US supersonic effort faces axe
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES The NASA-led US national High Speed Research (HSR) programme, aimed at developing a second-generation supersonic airliner, is threatened with closure following the team's decision to raise the noise targets beyond Stage 3, delaying development by as much as 10 years. The surprise move comes as ...
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European ATV gets go-ahead
Aerospatiale has been awarded a $470 million contract from the European Space Agency to proceed with the development of the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) for the International Space Station (ISS). Leading subcontractors are Alenia Spazio, Matra Marconi Space and DaimlerChrysler Aerospace. The 10m-long, 4.57m- wide ATV will also include Russian ...
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France joins NASA Mars mission
Tim Furniss/LONDON Julian Moxon/PARIS France is to become a partner in the NASA programme to mount a mission to Mars to bring the first samples of planetary material back to earth. The surprise French involvement was announced on 30 November by education, research and technology minister Claude Allègre. ...
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Russia wants more Shuttle-Mir missions
Russia has asked NASA for at least one further Shuttle-Mir mission to take place during the assembly of the International Space Station (ISS), as it continues its quest to keep the Mir space station in orbit for another two years, says NASA Watch. Russia wants to use the Shuttle ...
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Arianespace wins Japanese launch contract
Arianespace, the European commercial launcher organisation, has won a contract to launch the Lockheed Martin-built N-SAT 110 communications spacecraft, owned by Japan's Space Communications (SCC). The order brings to 38 the number of satellites on the Arianespace manifest and it is the ninth in 1998. The latest satellite and ...
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Zarya enters final orbit and waits for next components
Tim Furniss/LONDON The Russian International Space Station (ISS) control module Zarya completed its fifth and final planned orbital correction burn on 23 November, placing it in a 396 x 85km, 51°-inclination orbit. The module was launched successfully aboard a Proton booster from Baikonur on 20 November. The NASA ...