Thursday, March 30, 2017

Space Highlights - March 30, 2017

March 30, 2017


A refurbished Falcon 9 rocket is expected  to launch the SES-10 communications satellite into a geosynchronous transfer orbit later this week.  This will mark the first time that a refurbished Falcon 9 has been reused to launch a satellite.
http://www.spaceflightinsider.com/organizations/space-exploration-technologies/flight-proven-falcon-9-set-to-launch-ses-10-satellite/
https://thespacereporter.com/2017/03/spacex-launch-used-falcon-9-first-time/


Europe's Arianespace has shelved indefinitely any further launch attempts, due to a workers' strike at their French Guiana launch facility.
http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Satellite_launch_shelved_over_strikes_999.html


The U.S. Air Force's GEO-3 satellite has returned images for the first time, after being launched in January aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V booster.  The GEO satellites are intended to act as missile launch warning sentinels, tracking the launch of ballistic missiles and rockets worldwide using infrared imaging.
http://www.spaceflightinsider.com/missions/defense/lockheed-martin-built-geo-flight-3-satellite-returns-first-images/


Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin has won this year's Collier Trophy, which is awarded each year by the National Aeronautic Association, in recognition of the most outstanding aeronautical achievement of the previous year.
http://www.geekwire.com/2017/jeff-bezos-blue-origin-collier-trophy/


The European Space Agency has down-selected the preferred landing site for its ExoMars rover to one of two locations.  The ExoMars rover is expected to arrive at the red planet in 2021.
http://www.space.com/36244-exomars-rover-mars-landing-site-finalists.html


A new study suggests that the axial tilt of the dwarf planet Ceres will be heavily influenced over time by the gravitational effects of Jupiter - making it less likely that water ice might still exist at the surface in its shadowed, polar regions.
http://www.astrobio.net/also-in-news/ice-ceres-shadowed-craters-linked-tilt-history/


NASA has released a new composite image highlighting Pluto's atmosphere, back-lit by the sun, as captured by the New Horizons spacecraft in July 2015.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/pluto-photos-nasa-new-images-planet-a7653691.html

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