|
|
|
|
|
China puts up another recoverable satellite BY STEPHEN CLARK SPACEFLIGHT NOW Posted: August 29, 2005 Chinese airspace was busy Monday as the nation recovered and launched two separate return satellites likely carrying a wide array of experiments, demonstrations, and reconnaissance payloads for the nation's government, military, and research industries. The capsules were part of China's 30-year old FSW program that uses recoverable spacecraft to loft material into orbit for temporary missions that range across a variety of fields. Coming back from space on Monday morning was an FSW satellite launched on August 2 from the Jiuquan launch center nestled in northwest China's Gobi desert. State media reported the craft landed after its 27-day stint in orbit, marking the 20th successful recovery in the history of the series. "The satellite completed all its tasks including space surveying and scientific tests," China's People's Daily newspaper said. Official reports indicate that homecoming was followed in the afternoon hours by the liftoff of another FSW satellite aboard a two-stage Long March 2D rocket from Jiuquan. According to state-run news sources, the launcher delivered its cargo to the planned orbit around Earth. This flight is the 22nd launch for the FSW program dating back to the mid-1970's, though the spacecraft design has undergone several updates to allow for additional capability and reliability. "The satellite will carry out a series of jobs on scientific research, land surveying, mapping, and (technological) tests," People's Daily reported. Such back-to-back missions were believed to have been conducted in August and September of 2004, though the reasoning behind the scheduling is unknown due to the secretive nature of the Chinese space program. The Long March family now stands at 45 consecutive successful launches dating back to 1996, and China has now launched variants of the booster 87 times over the past 35 years. China will soon turn its attention to the nation's second human spaceflight slated for October. During that mission, a crew of two Chinese military pilots will embark on a voyage that could last several days up to a week. |
|
|
|
 |
||||||||||||||||||||
When space shuttle Discovery launched its two solid-fuel booster rockets were equipped with video cameras, providing dazzling footage of separation from the external fuel tank, their free fall and splashdown in the sea.
Mounted atop a modified Boeing 747, space shuttle Discovery was ferried across the country from Edwards Air Force Base, California, to Kennedy Space Center, Florida.
Shuttle fuel tank ET-119 is loaded onto a barge at Kennedy Space Center for the trip back to Lockheed Martin's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The tank will be used in the investigation to determine why foam peeled away from Discovery's tank on STS-114 in July.
Launch of the GOES-N weather observatory aboard a Boeing Delta 4 rocket is postponed at Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter lifts off aboard a Lockheed Martin Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral's Complex 41.
NASA Administrator Mike Griffin and Associate Administrator for Space Operations Bill Gerstenmaier hold a news conference from Agency Headquarters in Washington on August 18 to announce a delay in the next shuttle flight from September to next March. (38min 02sec)
Explosives topple the abandoned Complex 13 mobile service tower at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. This video was shot from the blockhouse roof at neighboring Complex 14 where John Glenn was launched in 1962.