All Space news – Page 191
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Bold endeavour
Tim Furniss/LONDON Russia has done its bit, now its NASA's turn. The Russian Zarya control module is in its planned orbit, ready and waiting. NASA's space shuttle Endeavour/ STS 88 is poised on launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida to embark on the first mission ...
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Precise mapping
Tim Furniss/LONDONOne of the few Space Shuttle flights guaranteed a launch date next year is the 11-day mission of the STS99/Endeavour.Because the flight is not related to the International Space Station (ISS) project, it is not subject to the schedule uncertainties that have plagued the ISS.The STS99 will be dedicated ...
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OSC to build two satellites for Japan
Tim Furniss/LONDON Orbital Sciences (OSC) has been selected to negotiate a contract to build two Ka-band direct-to-home broadcast communications satellites for the Japanese Broadcasting Satellite System, an affiliate of the NHK network. The BSAT 2A and 2B satellites will be based on OSC's NovaStar lightweight geostationary orbit (GEO) ...
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Tracking system causes Deep Space 1 problems
An error in the star tracking system aboard Deep Space 1, NASA's first New Millennium programme spacecraft, forced the craft to enter a "safe mode" shutdown on 13 November. Engineers brought it back to normal cruise configuration 48h later. Devices to control the deployment of the craft's solar arrays ...
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Zarya kick-starts space station programme
The International Space Station (ISS) programme officially got off the ground on 20 November when Russia's Zarya control module (pictured) was launched successfully into orbit aboard a Proton booster from Baikonur. Zarya will await the launch of STS 88/Endeavour on 3 December, carrying the US Node 1, Unity, to become ...
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Adventure star
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Lockheed Martin's venture to develop and operate a fully reusable launch vehicle has always been acknowledged as risky; just how risky was brought home by the news that engine manufacturing problems have delayed the first flight of the X-33 technology demonstrator by six months, to December ...
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Troubled Endeavour mission falls under the spotlight
Tim Furniss/LONDON All eyes are on the much-delayed STS88 Endeavour mission on 3 December, the purpose of which is to carry the Unity Node 1 and link it with the Russian Zarya control module, to establish the first part of the International Space Station (ISS). Endeavour's mission depends ...
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Ion cruiser
Tim Furniss/LONDON NASA's Deep Space 1 (DS1) spacecraft is being propelled to its rendezvous with an asteroid by an ion propulsion system, the first use of such a system in the history of interplanetary exploration. The DS1, which was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on 24 October, is the first ...
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UK's Beagle 2 Mars lander gets initial approval
The European Space Agency has approved the go-ahead for the Mars Express orbiter mission. The launch, scheduled for 2003, will include a UK-built lander if funds can be raised to develop the spacecraft. The lander, called the Beagle 2, would be the most high profile UK space project since ...
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Ariane breaks launch record as rival Sea Launch falters
Tim Furniss/LONDON Three Ariane boosters were launched in a record 23 days when, on 28 October, an Ariane 44L carried the first European-manufactured satellite built for a US customer. At the same time the rival Boeing-led Sea Launch has lost two more satellites from its launch manifest. The ...
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NASA contract boosts Shavit
NASA has awarded Small Expendable Launch Vehicle Services (SELVS) contracts to Orbital Sciences (OSC) and Coleman Research for up to 16 flights from Cape Canaveral, Vandenberg and Wallops Island from 2000 to 2003 with a maximum potential value of each contract being $400 million. OSC's SELVS launches will ...
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Russia wants to transfer Mir research equipment
Yuri Semenov, the director of Russia's Energia corporation, says that up to 11t of unique research equipment should be transferred to the International Space Station from the Mir space station before it is de-orbited. The Space Shuttle would be best suited to the task, he says, although Progress tankers ...
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Orbital contract
Orbital Sciences has been awarded a five-year, $400 million, NASA contract to provide up to 16 Pegasus and Taurus launches of small scientific satellites under the Small Expendable Launch Vehicle Services programme. Source: Flight International
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Uncertain demand
Tim Furniss/PARIS About 80% of the commercial launches between now and 2008 could be to place payloads weighing between 100kg and 1,000kg into low earth orbit (LEO) at altitudes of 300-1,000km, says a recent market study from the Teal Group. This forecasts launches of over 800 LEO satellites, ...
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Glenn blasts off into history
John Glenn, the USA's first man in orbit, returned to space aboard the SpaceShuttle Discovery STS95 mission on 29 October. At 77, the former Mercury astronaut and pilot of the Friendship 7 mission on 20 February, 1962, became the oldest person in space. The Discovery may have to land after ...
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Delta II sends NASA's first New Millennium craft into space
Tim Furniss/LONDON A Boeing Delta II booster launched NASA's $152 million Deep Space 1 (DS1) technology demonstrator spacecraft from Pad 17 at Cape Canaveral, Florida, on 24 October. The DS1 is flying the first NASA New Millennium "faster, better, cheaper" technology development and demonstration mission. The Spectrum Astro-built DS1 ...
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Pegasus undergoes hypersonic test
An Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL booster originating from Cape Canaveral, Florida, was launched from its Lockheed L-1011 mother ship over the Atlantic on 22 October, carrying Brazil's SCD-2 commercial satellite into low earth orbit. The XL was also equipped with a NASA aerodynamics experiment, the Wing Glove, which was ...
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Russia does it with mirrors for Progress docking
A Russian-built tanker has docked with the Mir space station, carrying a specially designed "mirror" for use in a navigation experiment. The Progress M40 docked with the Mir on 26 October, two days after its launch from Baikonur in Kazakhstan. The tanker delivered a cargo which included a unique ...
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Space Shuttle
Tim Furniss/LONDON John Glenn has made it in the nick of time. The STS95/Discovery mission due to launch the 77-year-old former astronaut into orbit on 29 October, it turns out, is his last realistic chance to return to space. The fifth Shuttle launch this year, STS88, is scheduled ...
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Ariane 5 cleared for commerce
Tim Furniss/PARIS The successful third European Space Agency-funded demonstration flight of the Ariane 5 on 21 October has cleared the way for Arianespace to start commercial operations of the booster around next March, with two communications satellites. Arianespace also revealed that it may order further Ariane 4 vehicles to extend ...