As I mentioned in the previous articles about the Cygnus CRS-7 launch, this launch was one of the recent ones recorded using 360 degree cameras. One of the few “trendy” things I actually like, these allow you a somewhat “like you’re really there” experience without requiring expensive virtual reality gear, and without ruining the video […]
Seems like every few months the National Reconnaissance Office is sending another reconnaissance satellite into orbit – yesterday the payload was NROL-79, launched into a polar orbit from Vandeberg Air Force Base on an Atlas V booster in the standard 401 configuration. It was a somewhat early morning launch of a naval reconnaissance satellite. The […]
Another day, another launch it seems. A United Launch Alliance Atlas V booster (431 configuration) launched the Echostar 19 communications satellite today, marking the 68th Atlas V launch. Normally I would go on waxing poetically about the payload, the booster, and what have you, but this time, there isn’t anything to say that hasn’t been […]
After some delays due to vehicle issues (which I believe were reported as a “false positive” in an error detection system) and a minor issue with the Eastern Missile Range (Remember, rocket launches are subject to USAF missile range safety protocol), The NOAA/NASA satellite was successfully released from the upper stage of it’s Atlas V […]
An Atlas V is set to launch on November 19th in a 541 configuration (5 meter payload fairing, 1 Common Core Booster, and 4 Solid Rocket Boosters) carrying the GOES-R payload for NASA and the NOAA. This satellite will be placed into a geostationary orbit around the earth to monitor the general weather conditions of the […]
After a nearly 2 month delay, the Worldview 4 satellite successfully launched today into a sun-synchronous polar orbit. Worldview 4 is an Earth Imaging satellite owned by Digital Globe, which will provide nearly double the imaging resolution currently available in non-military satellite imagery. This was a mission made up of delays, it would seem: A […]
We have another exciting Atlas V launch today, this time from Vandenburg Air Force Base off the East coast of the United States! This launch will be the baseline Atlas V, the “401” configuration, no side boosters and a single engine centaur stage. The payload, the Worldview-4 commercial Earth observations Satellite, will be launched into […]
An Atlas V rocket carrying the OSIRIS-REx probe successfully launched yesterday, September 8th, sending it’s payload on a course that will eventually, in 2018, bring it to the asteriod Bennu, a rocky body believed to contain large quantities of organic molecules, heavy metals, and other useful materials with a goal of returning a sample of […]
Today, September 8th, 2016, marks the scheduled launch date for one of the newest NASA space probes, OSIRIS-REx. This craft is planned to study the asteroid 101955 Bennu, and eventually return a sample of it for study back on Earth. This is quite the ambitious mission, and follows many successful materials return missions dating back […]