Re-Entry: China’s AX-1 SmallSat
The Chinese AX-1 satellite re-entered the atmosphere on September 29, concluding a three-month mission to test out innovative navigation technology.
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Month: September 2016
Re-Entry: Long March 2F Rocket Stage from Tiangong-2 Launch
The second stage of a Chinese-2F rocket re-entered the atmosphere on September 29, 2016 after launching the Tiangong-2 Space Laboratory into orbit.
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Rosetta Spacecraft ends Milestone Mission with deliberate Crash Landing on Comet 67P
ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft found its final resting place on the surface of Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko on Friday, capping an eight-billion-Kilometer, twelve-and-a-half-year journey to study the origins of the Solar System and life on Earth.
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Rosetta’s Quest to Touch a Comet – On Collision Course to 67P for Spectacular End of Mission
More than 700 million Kilometers from Earth, in the dark regions of our Solar System, ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft placed itself on a collision course with comet 67P to put the exclamation mark behind a remarkable mission of discovery, beginning to unlock the secrets from a distant past.
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SpaceX’s Elon Musk outlines Visionary Architecture to Explore & Populate Mars
Ferrying crews to and from Mars in the next decade to lay the foundation for a self-sustaining civilization off Planet Earth – this ambitious goal was outlined by SpaceX CEO and visionary Elon Musk on Tuesday
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Slides: Elon Musk unveils SpaceX Mars Architecture
Presentation slides from Elon Musk’s talk at the International Astronautical Congress on September 27, 2016 detailing SpaceX’s plans for establishing a cargo and crew architecture for future exploration and settlement on Mars.
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SpaceX Rocket Parts Rain Down over Indonesia
Large rocket parts rained down over a pair of small Indonesian islands on Monday when the second stage of a Falcon 9 rocket launched earlier this year fell from orbit and, at least to some extent, survived the fiery re-entry over the island of Java.
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Signs of Water Plumes on Jupiter Moon Europa significant for Future Flyby Missions
NASA presented promising evidence on Monday that future exploration missions to Jupiter Moon Europa will not have to drill through a Kilometers-thick ice sheet to reach what is considered the Holy Grail of planetary science – liquid water on a foreign world.
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Re-Entry: Detla II – Payload Assist Module
The Payload Assist Module of a Delta II rocket that launched the Navstar 52 GPS navigation satellite into orbit in 2003 re-entered the atmosphere on September 25, 2016 after well over a decade spiraling down from Medium Earth Transfer Orbit.
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Re-Entry: Flock 2B-5
Planet Labs’ Flock 2B-14 satellite re-entered the atmosphere on September 12, 2016 after 11 months in orbit, collecting Earth imagery that Planet Labs offers on the commercial market.
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Photos: India’s PSLV embarks on most complex Mission to Date
ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle blasts off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center on September 26, 2016 beginning the first multi-orbit mission in the launcher’s 23-year career, carrying an international assortment of satellites for India, Algeria, Canada and the United States.
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SpaceX completes first Test Firing of Raptor “Interplanetary Transport Engine”
SpaceX completed the first test firing of its Raptor “Interplanetary Transport Engine” that will power the company’s Interplanetary Transport System.
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PSLV Rocket aces first Multi-Orbit Mission, delivers eight International Satellites
India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center at 3:42 UTC on Monday on a record-setting mission to deliver eight international satellites to two different orbits.
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Video: PSLV lifts off on first Multi-Orbit Delivery
India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center at 3:42 UTC on Monday on a record-setting mission to deliver eight international satellites to two different orbits.
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Vandenberg Launch Facilities spared after successful Containment of powerful Wildfires
Critical launch infrastructure at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California was spared this week when fire crews were able to
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Engineers pin-point Location of Electrical Fault on Soyuz MS-02 Spacecraft
Russian engineers have isolated the electrical short that delayed the launch of the Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft carrying the next three International Space Station crew members.
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Re-Entry: Soyuz Rocket Stage from Resurs Imaging Satellite Launch
The third Stage of the Soyuz 2-B rocket that launched the Resurs-P3 Earth Observation satellite re-entered the atmosphere off the cost of North Africa on September 24, 2016 after spending half a year in orbit.
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