Scientific American reports, “Europe’s JUICE Jupiter probe swung by the moon for a ‘gravity assist’ on Monday (Aug. 19), and it snapped some photos to commemorate the historic encounter. JUICE (short for Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer) came within a mere 465 miles (750 kilometers) of the lunar surface on Monday evening, on the first leg of an unprecedented gravity-assist doubleheader.”
Full Story (Scientific American)
Tag: August 19
SpaceX Scrubs Starlink Launch Attempt a Third Time
Spaceflight Now reports that for “the third day running, bad weather forced SpaceX to scrub a Falcon 9 launch attempt at Cape Canaveral Thursday night. The Falcon 9 is now scheduled to lift off Friday, weather permitting, to carry the next 54 Starlink internet satellites into orbit.” The launch is planned to take place Friday at 9:05 p.m. EDT, “when forecasters predict a 50-50 chance of acceptable weather conditions. The persistent threat of evening thunderstorms remains in the outlook Friday night, but with a slightly lower chance of violating weather constraints.” Friday’s launch, “designated Starlink 4-34, will carry 54 more Starlink internet satellites into orbit.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)
SpaceX Plans to Launch Falcon 9 Ahead of Artemis 1 Mission
Florida Today reports that SpaceX teams “at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station are still targeting this week for the launch of more Starlink internet satellites, one of the last flights before a massive NASA rocket takes off to the moon.” A Falcon 9 rocket “is slated for liftoff at 3:24 p.m EDT Friday, the opening of an instantaneous window at Launch Complex 40.” Space Launch Delta 45 forecasters said Thursday, “It is expected that there will be some showers and storms in the area during the window, likely just inland of the launch site. The main threats will be cumulus clouds and lightning associated with showers and storms in the vicinity, some which may drift back towards the launch site.”
Full Story (Florida Today)
SpaceX Launches 53 More Starlink Satellites
Spaceflight Now reported that 53 new Starlink “internet satellites launched Friday from Cape Canaveral aboard a Falcon 9 rocket, adding more capacity to the largest fleet of spacecraft ever put into orbit.” The Falcon 9 rocket with the Starlink satellites “took off from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 3:21:20 p.m. EDT (1921:20 GMT). Nine Merlin 1D engines powered the rocket off the pad with 1.7 million pounds of thrust, hauling more than 15 metric tons of payload into space.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)
Video
SpaceX launches 53 Starlink satellites from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. , 19 August 2022 at 3:21 p.m. ET.
(SpaceX; YouTube)