ATV-3 Power Connection Successful, Reboost Set “Multi-national flight controllers successfully connected a backup power channel Saturday to the European Space Agency’s “Edoardo Amaldi” Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) cargo ship, enabling electricity to flow from the International Space Station to the ATV to set the stage for a reboost of the station Saturday afternoon while avoiding an early undocking of the resupply craft.”

Amazing Photo: ATV Kepler Launch As Seen From Orbit Aboard the ISS “This remarkable photo was taken by ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli from the ISS on 16 February 2011, just minutes after ATV Johannes Kepler lifted off on board an Ariane 5 from Kourou at 22:50 UTC. It shows the rising exhaust trail of Ariane, still in its initial vertical trajectory. The trail can be seen as a thin streak […]

Our economy needs a robust space program, editorial, Houston Chronicle “It would be prudent to keep the space shuttles flying with new missions to maintain a vital back-up contingency, until replacement spacecraft and commercial space transportation achieve reliable operations. The space shuttle’s unique capability to launch heavy payloads into space, or return hardware from orbit, is the only means available of flying critical replacement components to support the $100 billion […]