All Space articles – Page 206
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Japan's Comets satellite launch is delayed
The launch of the Japanese National Space Development Agency's Comets communications and broadcasting engineering satellite aboard an H2 booster has been delayed by six months to January-February 1998. This will allow more time to assess the cause of the failure in June of the Adeos Earth observation satellite ...
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Successful launch of Long March booster
China Great Wall Industry (CGWIC) successfully launched the second Long March LM3B, its most powerful satellite booster, from Xichang on 19 August, carrying the Space Systems/Loral-built Agila 2 communications satellite into geostationary-transfer orbit (GTO) for Mabuhay Philippine Satellite. The launch of the first LM3B failed on 14 February, ...
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ESA astronaut qualifies as Soyuz TM commander
Tim Furniss/LONDON Thomas Reiter, the European Space Agency's German air-force astronaut, has become the first foreigner to qualify to command a flight of the Russian three-crew Soyuz TM. Reiter, a veteran of a 179-day shift aboard the Mir 1 space station in 1996, which included two ...
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PanAmSat launch
Arianespace of France conducted its 27th consecutive successful launch of an Ariane 4 booster on 8 August, placing the Space Systems/ Loral-built PanAmSat 6 communications satellite into geostationary-transfer orbit. The next launch, flight V99, is scheduled to carry Eutelsat's Hot Bird 3 and the Eumetsat Meteosat 7 satellites on 2 ...
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Hughes plans Expressway satellite system
Hughes Communications is planning a $3.9 billion, 14-satellite, geostationary-orbiting, broadband-communications system, called the Expressway. Plans have already been filed with the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC). It will complement Hughes' already-announced $3 billion, eight-satellite, system, called the Spaceway, which has been authorised by the FCC. The ...
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The Martian chronicles
Tim Furniss/LONDON The success of the Mars Pathfinder mission and of its Sojourner rover have generated huge public interest, especially in the perennial subject of manned flights to Mars. On the back of that success Daniel Goldin, NASA's Administrator, has challenged his scientists and engineers to come up ...
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Mars Pathfinder's primary 30-day mission is now completed
Tim Furniss/LONDON NASA's MARS PATHFINDER spacecraft, which landed in the Ares Vallis on 4 July, has concluded its milestone 30-day primary mission, having fulfilled all of its objectives and provided a "new portrait of the Martian environment", says the space agency. The Sagan Memorial Station lander ...
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OSC acquires CTA
Orbital Sciences is to acquire the space systems business of CTA for $12 million in cash and the assumption of $25 million in debt. The CTA unit manufactures small satellites and had 1996 sales of $80 million, with an order backlog exceeding $150 million. Source: Flight ...
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Military helicopters
The military helicopter arena continues to be a case of too many cooks chasing a limited amount of kitchen space: the market is oversubscribed with suppliers battling for too few buyers. Just when it appeared some progress towards rationalisation was taking place - the acquisition of McDonnell Douglas ...
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Spacehab aims for ISS cargo work
Tim Furniss/LONDON Spacehab, which supplies the pressurised equipment-carrying module for the Space Shuttle, is working on a lightweight, unpressurised Integrated Cargo Carrier (ICC) unit designed to provide a commercial cargo service to the International Space Station (ISS). The ICC will carry up to 5,400kg of cargo ...
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MDC wins Thor 3 launch for Delta
McDonnell Douglas (MDC) has been awarded a contract from Telenor of Norway to launch its Thor 3 communications satellite into geostationary transfer orbit in June 1998 aboard a Delta 2 booster, pictured launching the global-positioning system GPS 2R satellite on 23 July (Flight International, 6-12 August). The Thor 3 is ...
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Pegasus XL launches commercial OrbView 2 remote-sensing satellite
Orbital Sciences (OSC) air-launched the OrbView 2 commercial remote-sensing satellite aboard a Pegasus XL booster on 1 August. Images from the satellite will contribute towards a better understanding of the Earth's carbon cycle processes and their effect on global-warming trends. The 146kg OrbView 2 carries a Hughes Electronics ...
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Staying put
Calls for the crew of the Russian Mir space station to abandon ship after its recent spate of problems ignore two critical points about human spaceflight: it's bound to be risky, but human intervention is the primary element. Gaining experience in human space operations and learning from technical as well ...
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A risky business
The Mir's troubles are only to be expected in the course of manned spaceflight Tim Furniss/KENNEDY SPACE CENTER By 7 August, Russia's Soyuz TM26 should have arrived at the troubled Mir space station. It will be a member of the next mission to the Mir who will be ...
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Japanese abandon HOPE spaceplane project
Japan has cancelled the HOPE unmanned spaceplane project as a result of budget cuts. The HOPE was to have been launched on an H2A rocket to provide logistics support for the Japanese element of the International Space Station. There were hopes of following it up eventually with a manned version. ...
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Launch activity includes first GPS 2R
Tim Furniss/LONDON A McDonnell Douglas Delta 2 rocket launched from Cape Canaveral on 23 July carried the first Navstar GPS 2R global- positioning-system-satellite to reach orbit. It is the 42nd in the Navstar series to be launched. The original 2R spacecraft, built by Lockheed Martin, was ...
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Columbia sets records
The STS94/Columbia landed at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida on 17 July after its flawless 16-day reflight of the Microgravity Space Laboratory, with more than 30 high-technology materials, protein crystal and other experiments similar to those which will be operated on the International Space Station. The ...
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Protest delays NASA Bantam contracts
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC A PROTEST FROM a losing bidder has delayed NASA plans to award four initial-design contracts for its Bantam low-cost launch-system demonstrator. California-based Microcosm has filed a formal protest with the US Congress General Accounting (GA) office over NASA's decision to award Aerojet General, ...
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Spacewalk in August will be used to restore Mir power
Tim Furniss/FLORIDA Russian cosmonauts Anatoli Solovyov and Pavel Vinogradev will perform a 6h internal spacewalk in the connecting node/airlock of the Mir space station on 20 August, in an attempt to restore the station's electrical power to 70% of its normal output. Equipment to support the task arrived ...
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Veteran flight
NASA is considering a suggestion that veteran astronaut John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, in 1962, fly on a Space Shuttle mission to study and compare the effects of spaceflight on a 76-year old. Glenn, a US senator, undergoes regular medical tests by NASA. ...