This week in SF history 24 January, 1978. Kosmos 954 decayed over russia. (wikipedia.org) This was a Upravlyaemy Sputnik Aktivnyy (Управляемый Спутник Активный) “Controlled Active Satellite” (wikipedia.org) Wikipedia has a great list of nuclear reactors in space, including their fates (wikipedia.org) Spaceflight news Chang’e-4 enters Lunar nigh ...…

This week in SF history 19 Jan 2006: launch of New Horizons (wikipedia.org) Spaceflight news Further Hubble issues (universetoday.com) Other instruments, including ACS are working fine (PDF: arizona.edu) Short & Sweet Hayabusa2 releases date for first sample collection. (space.com) Stratolaunch taxi test reaches 136 mph, almost takeoff speed. ( ...…

This week in SF history 9 January 1990. Launch of STS-32 (wikipedia.org) Syncom IV-F5/Leasat 5 used a “Frisbee” deployment (youtu.be) LDEF, Long Duration Exposure Facility had a lot of experiments onboard (youtube.com) Spaceflight news New Horizons rings in the new year! (spacenews.com) (nasaspaceflight.com) Preliminary science results (sci-new ...…

This week in SF history 2 January 2004: Stardust flies past Wild 2 (wikipedia.org) Whipple shielding (wikipedia.org) Spaceflight news Chang’e 4 pre-landing summary (spacenews.com) Short & Sweet SpaceX on schedule for its first commercial interplanetary launch. (teslarati.com) India to launch its own astronauts. (indiatimes.com) Crewed Orion spa ...…

This week in SF history December 30, 1995, launch of Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (wikipedia.org) (nasa.gov) Spaceflight news More Starship photos and tweets. (teslarati.com) (twitter.com/elonmusk) Technical presentation promised (twitter.com/elonmusk) Comparison to publicity photos (nasaspaceflight.com) New metallurgy (twitter.com/elonmusk) (tw ...…

This week in SF history December 20 1999, STS-103, Hubble Servicing Mission 3A (wikipedia.org)(nasa.gov) Aft shroud latches damaged by high temperatures (spacetelescope.org)(nasa.gov) Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS) (nasa.gov) Solid State Recorder (PDF: nasa.gov) Spaceflight news SpaceShipTwo (spacenews.com) (twitter.com) Mark Stucky and C.J. Sturck ...…

This week in SF history December 12, 1965: Gemini 6A launch abort (wikipedia.org) AST: Why did Gemini use ejection seats? (youtube.com) Spaceflight news Fun CRS-16 landing (spacenews.com) Video Land tracking (twitter.com/elonmusk) Onboard (twitter.com/elonmusk) John Kraus took some great photos, particularly of recovery (johnkrausphotos.com) Co ...…

This week in SF history December 5, 2002, launch of TDRS-10 (wikipedia.org) Built on the Boeing 601 chassis (wikipedia.org) Questions, comments, corrections Richard Witherspoon via email: TAGSAM separation plane Ben Hallert: Falcon Heavy and a handful of Falcon 9s have launched from 39A. Meetup! (twitter.com/orbitalpodcast) Wednesday the 5th, 6 ...…

This week in SF history 1 December 2000: Launch of STS-97 (wikipedia.org) Spaceflight news Virgin Orbit completes captive carry test flight (spacenews.com) (nasaspaceflight.com) Short & Sweet Crew Dragon’s Test Flight Scheduled (spacenews.com) China Prepares for Lunar Lander (spacenews.com) A Glimpse Into SpaceX’ Spaceship Testing (spacenews.co ...…

This week in SF history November 21 1960: Mercury MR-1’s very short flight (youtube.com) (wikipedia.org) Spaceflight news SLS program may be voluntarily ended. (businessinsider.com) (nextbigfuture.com) SpaceX will not be upgrading Falcon 9 second stage. (spacenews.com) (twitter.com/elonmusk) Short & Sweet The FCC approves four large satellite c ...…

This week in SF history November 14, 1933. The birth of Fred Wallace Haise Jr. (wikipedia.org) Spaceflight news Lucy passes key decision point C (americaspace.com) Project life cycle (PDF: nasa.gov) SpaceX will fly mini BFR ship as second stage for F9. (spacenews.com) (twitter.com/elonmusk) Scott Manley did a great overview/speculation video (y ...…

This week in SF history 2013 November 5, launch of Mangalyaan (wikipedia.org) Spaceflight news Dawn’s dead (spacenews.com) We talked to mission manager Marc Rayman on episode 75 (theorbitalmechanics.com) MS-10 was failure caused by a bent pin (nasaspaceflight.com) (youtube.com) Scott Manley has slow-mo analysis (youtube.com) Short & Sweet OSIRI ...…

This week in SF history October 24, 1957: Beginning of the Dyna-Soar program (wikipedia.org)(astronautix.com) Spaceflight news Soyuz will resume crewed flight in December. (spaceflightnow.com) Short & Sweet Hubble up and running. (nasa.gov)(spacenews.com) Landspace falls short of orbit. (spacenews.com) Kepler is in safe mode (spacenews.com) Pos ...…

This week in SF history Oct. 26, 2004. Cassini’s first Titan flyby (nasa.gov) Spaceflight news Soyuz update (spacenews.com) (nasaspaceflight.com) (HT: Sam Moore russianspaceweb.com) Short & Sweet Hubble Space Telescope nears operational status (twitter.com/TodLauer) Paul Allen passes away. (spacenews.com) Rocket Lab has selected a U.S. launch s ...…

This week in SF history October 18, 1963, first flight of a cat (gizmodo.com) (youtu.be) Véronique AG1 is a V-2 derivative with detachable fins (wikipedia.org) Spaceflight news Soyuz MS-10 fails during second stage flight (nasaspaceflight.com)(youtube.com) Primary cause: Soyuz-FG first stage separation failure (JPG: wikipedia.org) (spaceflighti ...…

This week in SF history October 12, 1977, ALT-15, first flight of Shuttle without tail cone (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Approach_and_Landing_Tests) Spaceflight news MASCOT successfully lands on Ryugu’s surface (http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2018/mascot-landing-on-ryugu-successful.html) Wonderful images of Its shadow (planet ...…

This week in SF history 7 September 1958 First flight of Black Knight (wikipedia.org) Spaceflight news Vector patents propylene engine (arstechnica.com) Fuel stats (yarchive.net) Short & Sweet ULA selects the BE-4 for Vulcan first stage (spaceflightinsider.com) Stratolaunch releases some info about its new engine (spacenews.com) SpaceX will sen ...…

This week in SF history 29 September 1945: Von Braun arrives in the US (apesinspace.co)(wikipedia.org) Spaceflight news MINERVA-2 touches down on Asteroid Ryugu (nasaspaceflight.com) (twitter.com/haya2e_jaxa) Hyabusa cat tribute (youtube.com) Approach GIF (twitter.com/tariqjmalik) Diagram of interior rotating mass (spaceflight101.com) TESS gets ...…

This week in SF history September 18–19, 1980, Damascus Missile Disaster (wikipedia.org) Spaceflight news BFR announcement (youtube.com) dearmoon.earth Short & Sweet PD Aerospace announces a new spaceplane with “hybrid” engine. (japantimes.co.jp) Orion parachute test is a success. (parabolicarc.com) Delta II has launched for the last time. (spa ...…

This week in SF history September 11, 1962: NASA Astronaut Training Group 2 “The New Nine” selected (wikipedia.org) Spaceflight news SLS ML rolled out to the pad (nasaspaceflight.com) Exos launch post analysis (spacenews.com) Short & Sweet Shizuoka University and several partner universities to test “mini” space elevator prototype STARS-Me (jap ...…

This week in SF history 2013 September 7: launch of LADEE (wikipedia.org)(nasa.gov) Twilight rays (nasa.gov) Science results (PDF: nasa.gov) Impacted near the eastern rim of Sundman V crater (wikipedia.org) Spaceflight news ISS leak (reddit.com/r/SpaceXLounge)(space.com) (twitter.com/Space_Station) We discussed slow leak issues with Tess Caswel ...…

This week in SF history September 1, 1960. Project Apollo formed. (hq.nasa.gov) Spaceflight news Starliner spotlight (nasaspaceflight.com) (youtube.com) Soyuz 32 landed autonomously (HT Sam Moore: wikipedia.org) Kepler mission nearing its end (spacenews.com) Scott Manley describes the issues that took out gyros on multiple spacecraft (youtube.c ...…

This week in SF history August 25, 1949. XS-1 flight #124 (wikipedia.org) Smithsonian exhibit page of the T-1 partial pressure suit (HT Csaba: airandspace.si.edu) Spaceflight news Smithsonian renovation (politico.com) More unusual Russian satellite activity (space.com) Short & Sweet Crew access coming to Pad 39-A (spaceflightnow.com) RS-25 test ...…

This week in SF history 19 August 1960: Korabl-Sputnik 2 (wikipedia.org) Spaceflight news Firefly is making real progress. (spacenews.com) (PDF: fireflyspace.com) Ursa Major wants to be the first engine specialist (spacenews.com) NSF discussion (nasaspaceflight.com) UMT's website (ursamajortechnologies.com) Rocket Lab now scheduled for November ...…

This week in SF history 15 August 2007: Rick Mastracchio finds a hole in his glove (wikipedia.org) (nasaspaceflight.com) (universetoday.com) Spaceflight news Dragon and Starliner updates Flight test dates (americaspace.com) Astronaut assignments (spacenews.com) (parabolicarc.com) Short & Sweet Starliner needs a minor design change (spacenews.co ...…

This week in SF history August 5, 1930: Birth of Neil Armstrong (wikipedia.org) Spaceflight news Starliner had a pad abort anomaly. (arstechnica.com) Spaceship Two goes even higher. (spacenews.com) Oppy Update (spaceflightinsider.com) Short & Sweet Mars Express finds evidence for liquid water on Mars. (nasaspaceflight.com) TESS is now operation ...…

This week in SF history 27 July 1972, birth of Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor (wikipedia.org) “Guidelines for Performing Islamic Rites at the International Space Station” (DOC: wired.com) Spaceflight news Blue Origin does a high altitude escape. (spaceflightnow.com) Cygnus reboosted the ISS (nasaspaceflight.com) Short & Sweet Parker Solar Probe B is p ...…

This week in SF history July 20, 1976: Viking 1 landing (wikipedia.org) (mars.nasa.gov) Spaceflight news Crew Dragon for test flight arrives at Cape. (spaceflightnow.com) Landspace is building a methalox rocket for launch in 2020. (spacenews.com) Short & Sweet LC-17 has been demolished. (nasaspaceflight.com) Questions, comments, corrections Ron ...…

This week in SF history 12 July 2000. Launch of Zvezda module (wikipedia.org) Spaceflight news CHEOPS nears flight (nasaspaceflight.com) (space.com) Phantom Express engine testing (spacenews.com) (HT Sam Moore: parabolicarc.com) (wikipedia.org) Short & Sweet ISRO works steadily towards human missions (isro.gov.in) (HT Sam Moore: youtube.com) Sp ...…

This week in SF history 8 July, 2011. Last flight of Atlantis, STS-135 (wikipedia.org) Two iPhones 4 on board (space.com) Spaceflight news Captive carry test for LauncherOne (spacenews.com) Momo-2 crashes (japantimes.co.jp) (PDF: istellartech.com) Momo-1 also failed (youtube.com) Short & Sweet Rogozin says no more Protons. (spacenews.com) Elect ...…

This week in SF history June 29, 1961, Thor-Ablestar upper stage exploded, the first unintended space debris event in history (spacesafetymagazine.com) (books.google.com) Spaceflight news NASA releases BAA for Gateway’s Power and Propulsion Element. (parabolicarc.com) Short & Sweet The last Falcon 9 Block 4 prepares for flight (nasaspaceflight. ...…

This week in SF history June 19 2002: Landing of STS-111 (wikipedia.org) (spaceflightnow.com) Spaceflight news Opportunity vs Dust Storm, Round 2 (youtu.be) Simulated view of taus 1-11, increasing by 2 (nasa.gov) Mars Exploration Rovers Surface Fault Protection by Tracy Neilson (PDF: jpl.nasa.gov) Short & Sweet Peggy Whitson retires from NASA ( ...…

This week in SF history 14 June 1991, landing of STS-40 (wikipedia.org) Spaceflight news NASA isn’t selling the ISS, people. (spacenews.com) Original story that started this nonsense (washingtonpost.com) Is this likely to happen? Not according to the senate. (spacenews.com) SpaceX is planning a major expansion at KSC. (parabolicarc.com) Short & ...…

This week in SF history June 11 1928: Flight of the first rocket-powered plane (wikipedia.org) Spaceflight news VSS Unity flies again. (spaceflightnow.com) (youtube.com) COG overlay (twitter.com/jdeshetler) Short & Sweet DARPA wants in on NewSpace (spacenews.com) GOES-17 can’t keep its cool (americaspace.com) Questions, comments, corrections Ig ...…

This Week in Spaceflight History 4 June, 2010. First launch of Falcon 9 (youtu.be)(wikipedia.org) Spaceflight news Ariane 6 update (satelliteobservation.net) Short & Sweet NASA wants to buy rides on commercial lunar landers by the end of the year (spacenews.com) Bangabandhu-1 didn’t count for crew rating (spaceflightnow.com) Interview: Eric Blo ...…

This week in SF history 1973 May 25. Launch of Skylab 2. (wikipedia.org) (spacefacts.de) Spaceflight news SpaceX’s Load-and-Go may get the go-ahead (spacenews.com) Contamination in SLS core stage engine tubing (spacenews.com) Interview -- Dr. Dmitry Savranski and the Modular Active Self-Assembling Space Telescope Swarms Dr. Savransky’s laborato ...…

This week in SF history 1978, May 20. Launch of Pioneer 12 (wikipedia.org) 1P/Halley observations (HT Mike Carper: harvard.edu) Spaceflight news Bangabandhu presser (reddit.com/r/spacex)(transcript: gist.github.com) Community assessment (reddit.com/r/spacex) Short & Sweet Mars 2020 helicopter confirmed included (nasa.gov) ULA selects the RL-10 ...…

This week in SF history 14 May, 2010. Launch of Rassvet on STS-132. (wikipedia.org) Spaceflight news Elon posted a parafoil photo! (twitter.com/elonmusk) Mars 2020 helicopter (spacenews.com) Short & Sweet Firefly to take over SLC-2W in Vandenberg (spacenews.com) SLS Mobile Launcher needs an upgrade. (parabolicarc.com) JWST testing reveals a new ...…

This week in SF history 3 May 1976: Birth of Alexander Gerst (wikipedia.org) Bringing CIMON to ISS (airbus.com) Spaceflight news Mars 2020 heat shield cracked (spacenews.com) Resource Prospector mission canceled (spacenews.com) Short & Sweet TESS is on its way! (spaceflightnow.com) GSAT 11 recalled for inspection (spaceflightnow.com) Questions, ...…

This week in SF history 24 April 1972. Liftoff of Apollo 16 LM from the moon. (wikipedia.org) (youtube.com) (apolloproject.com) Spaceflight news SpaceX wants to use a ballute to recover S2 (twitter.com/elonmusk) Ballistic coefficient will be reduced by two orders of magnitude (twitter.com/elonmusk) Might not be insane to land under helium?!? (r ...…

This week in SF history 22 April 2010. USA-212/OTV-1, the first orbital launch of X-37 (wikipedia.org) Spaceflight news BFR updates Tooling spotlight (teslarati.com) (forum.nasaspaceflight.com) BFR: now a little longer (twitter.com/elonmusk) ICPS back in business? (HT DeltaVof4point4: arstechnica.com) Short & Sweet CNBC reports the results of t ...…

This week in SF history 13 April 1990, relaunch of Palapa B2R. (HT /u/deltavof4point3: sattel.com) Spaceflight news SpaceX fairing recovery efforts Parafoil manufacturer identified as MMIST (reddit.com/r/spacex) FCC assessment (PDF: faa.gov)(reddit.com/r/SpaceXLounge) Iridium-5 fairing recovered intact, just maybe missed Mr. Steven? (twitter.co ...…

This week in SF history 3 April 1973: Launch of Salyut 2 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salyut_2) Angara model with a TKS on top (JPG: b14643.de) Excalibur Almaz wants (wanted?) to fly two more (HT Chris Radcliff: houstonpress.com) Spaceflight news Tiangong I deorbit update! (aerospace.org) 49th largest spacecraft reentering uncontrolled (HT tw ...…

This week in SF history 1 April 1960. Launch of TIROS-1 (wikipedia.org) Maybe three pairs of solid spin motors? (science.nasa.gov) Spaceflight news Dawn plans to spiral down to a very low orbit around Ceres (jpl.nasa.gov) Astra’s inaugural launch coming soon? (spacenews.com) Short & Sweet Bloostar gets 3D printed engine (zero2infinity.space) (y ...…

This week in SF history 25 March, 1928. Birth of Jim Lovell (wikipedia.org) Spaceflight news News about the Soyuz smallsat partial failure last year (spacenews.com) Roscosmos recently issued a document to Astro Digital, allowing them to successfully make an insurance claim (spacenews.com) NASA releases analysis of CRS-7 failure (spaceflightnow. ...…

This week in SF history 1966 March 16: Gemini 8 (wikipedia.org) Spaceflight news FH demo center booster footage (reddit.com/r/space) Hispasat booster “written off” (spaceflight101.com) Short & Sweet Stratolaunch may build its own shuttle. (parabolicarc.com) Stealthy Startup defies the FCC. (spectrum.ieee.org) Questions, comments, corrections St ...…

This week in SF history March 9, 1955: original airing of Walt Disney’s Disneyland episode 20: Man in Space (youtu.be) (wikipedia.org) Spaceflight news GAO releases report on JWST construction issues (arstechnica.com) (gao.gov) First Falcon 9 Block 5 on the test stand. (nasaspaceflight.com) Good summary of all the upgrades (reddit.com/r/spacex/ ...…

This week in SF history March 1, 1924. Birth of Deke Slayton (wikipedia.org) Spaceflight news Juno: end or extend? (nasaspaceflight.com) SpaceX has more fairing issues. (spaceflightnow.com) (twitter.com/SpaceX) Short & Sweet Trace Gas Orbiter performs over 900 aerobrakes. (spaceflight101.com) Ariane 5 followup (spacenews.com) Questions, comment ...…

This week in SF history 22 February 1978. First GPS satellite (wikipedia.org) Precursors Transit satellite system (wikipedia.org) Land-based Omega (wikipedia.org) Spaceflight news EVA-48 (spaceflightinsider.com) (youtube.com) Short & Sweet Stealth Space spotted (abc7news.com) New ASDS (twitter.com/elonmusk) Mr Steven has a net (twitter.com/next ...…

This week in SF history February 14, 1990: Voyager takes the first Family Portrait (wikipedia.org) MESSENGER family portrait (wikipedia.org) Spaceflight news Falcon Heavy Demo was successful! (youtube.com) (youtube.com) Flightclub.io rendering of side booster return path (youtu.be) “Center Core looks like it ran out of the igniter on two of thr ...…