2005 has been an exciting year for space and astronomy missions, discoveries and events. Highlights include Deep Impact mission, return to flight of the Space Shuttle, the discovery of 1000th comet by SOHO, and lots more.

January 2005

 * Huygens Probe - Huygens probe separated from the Cassini orbiter on 25 December 2004. On January 14 2005, it entered the atmosphere of Titan, Saturn's biggest moon, and descended via parachute onto its mysterious surface. The Huygens probe sent measurements and images to Cassini, which were then beamed back to Earth.

 * Deep Impact Spacecraft launched - Deep Impact was launched on 12 January 2005 on a Delta II rocket. The spacecraft was a combined two-part spacecraft: the larger flyby spacecraft and a smaller impactor spacecraft.

As Deep Impact spacecraft approached Comet Tempel 1, it collected images of the comet before the impact. The impactor spacecraft was released into the path of Comet Tempel 1 for a planned collision (crash) on the July 4^th 2005 and the flyby spacecraft observed and recorded data about the impact.

The Deep Impact project had offered you to Send Your Name to a Comet in 2003. If you wanted your name and the names of your friends and relatives you could have added them by registering at the JPL website. The project stopped taking names in January of 2004.

March 2005

 * Chandrayaan-1 - On 17 March the ESA Council at its meeting in Paris, approved a cooperation agreement between ESA and the Indian Space Research Organisation for India's first moon mission Chandrayaan-1.

NASA's Centennial Challenges promotes the development of new technologies for space exploration through a novel program of prize competitions.

 * 46th Paris Air Show - A full scale model of Russia's Kliper was on display at Le Bourget, Paris. The air show in Le Bourget took place on June 13-19, 2005.

 * Progress Spacecraft: The 18th Progress Spacecraft M-53 was launched on June 17th to the International Space Station from Baikonur, Kazakhstan on a Soyuz Rocket. It carried supplies for the ISS.

 * Cosmos 1 Solar Sail Spacecraft - An attempt to launch the World's First Solar Sail Spacecraft was achieved on 21 June by a Russian Volna Rocket from a submarine. Unfortunately Volna's stages did not separate following an engine shutdown 83 seconds after liftoff. It probably crashed on the Barents Sea. Volna Rocket is manufactured by Russia's Makeev.

* First Captive Carry Flight of Boeing X-37: Boeing X-37 reusable spaceplane demonstrator made its first captive-carry flight on 21 June from Mojave, California. It was carried by Scaled Composites White Knight, the flight in preparation for an atmosphere drop test of the X-37. The X-37 Approach and Landing test was transferred from NASA to the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in late 2004.

July 2005

   * Deep Impact Spacecraft:  NASA's Deep Impact impactor spacecraft successfully smashed into Comet Tempel 1 on July 4, 2005. The impact released a plume of primordial material from its nucleus. This was the first time astronomers have glimpsed the interior of a comet. Impact images and data were captured by the flyby Deep Impact spacecraft. The collision was observed by telescopes on Earth and in Space.  Comet Tempel 1 didn't change its orbit in any detectable way.

 * Astro-E2 (Suzaku):  Astro-E2 (Astro-EII) a large x-ray telescope was launched on July 10, 2005, from JAXA Uchinoura Space Center. It was the 5th in a series of Japanese X-ray astronomy satellites.  Soon after launch, the mission was renamed Suzaku. It was developed under Japan-US international collaboration. Suzaku (formerly Astro-E2) is a re-flight of Astro-E, lost during launch in 2000.

* ESA's Mars Express MARSIS:

MARSIS (Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding) is the sounding radar on Mars Express. Science operations began on July 4 when radar boom deployment and testing was completed. MARSIS is the first instrument designed to look below the surface of the Planet Mars in order to collect data about the surface, subsurface, and the ionosphere.

MARSIS consisted of 3 antennas: the first radar boom deployment (20m) was completed on 10 May, the second boom (20m) was deployed on 14 June and the third boom on 17 June (7m, non-critical deployment). MARSIS¡¯s ability to transmit radio waves in space was tried out for the first time on 19 June. MARSIS was initially supposed to be deployed in April 2004, however controllers were worried the radar's long antenna booms would swing back and hit delicate components on the probe.

Shuttle Discovery delivered supplies and equipment to station using the Italian "Raffaello" Multi-Purpose Logistics Module. The crew tested new orbiter inspection procedures and thermal protection system repair techniques. Three spacewalks were performed, including one to replace the station's failed Control Moment Gyroscope.

August 2005

 * SOHO discovers 1000th comet: On 5 August 2005, the ESA/NASA SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) spacecraft discovered its 1000th comet. The 1000th comet was a Kreutz-group comet. It was  spotted in images from the C3 coronagraph on SOHO's LASCO instrument by Toni Scarmato from Calabria, Italy.

 * Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) - NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter was launched aboard an Atlas V (401 Version, no solid rocket boosters) on August 12, 2005. It will arrive at Mars in March 2006.

MRO is a scientific Planet Mars Orbiter. The aim of the mission is to take detailed images of the surface of Mars, analyse the geology and identify surface minerals, search for hints of water, study how dust and water are transported in the Mars atmosphere and look for safe and scientifically worthy landing sites for future landers and rovers. It will carry a sounder to find subsurface water. The orbiter will be the first spacecraft to use an interplanetary internet.

 * Monitor-E Satellite:  Monitor-E is an experimental satellite which was launched on a Rockot boster from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia on August 26. It is equipped with two optical-electronic cameras that will be used for remote sensing studies of the Earth: surface mapping, studies of the effects of pollution, monitoring of natural disasters and industrial accidents. Monitor-E weighs 750-kilogram (1,653-pound) and has  a mission lifetime of about five years.

 * Hurricane Katrina and Space Shuttle:

On Monday, August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina slammed into the gulf coast of the US and New Orleans. Hurricane Katrina's passage over the Louisiana factory (Michoud Assembly Facility 15 miles (25 km) east of New Orleans) where the shuttles' external fuel tanks are made disrupted production. NASA resumed space shuttle flights in July 2006.

September 2005

  * Progress Spacecraft: The 19th Progress Spacecraft M-54 was launched on September 8th to the International Space Station from Baikonur, Kazakhstan on a Soyuz Rocket. It carried food, water, propellant, and other supplies, including spare parts for portions of the station's life support systems. The previous cargo spacecraft Progress M-53 undocked from the station the day before the launch and burned up upon reentry.

  * Telesat Anik F1R satellite: Anik F1R, a Canadian communications satellite was launched on a Proton rocket on 9 September from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan (3:53 am local time).  The satellite will provide various communications services over North America for its owner, Telesat Canada. It was built by European EADS Astrium and is based on Eurostar E3000 deign. It weighs about 4,500 kg.

  * First Internet-Built Student Satellite: SSETI Express (SSETI stands for Student Space Exploration and Technology Initiative) is a low Earth orbit spacecraft which was designed and built mainly by students under the supervision of ESA¡¯s Education Department. It is to be launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome on a Russian Cosmos 3M launcher on 27 September. SSETI Express weighs about 62 kg and has a payload of 24 kg. SSETI Express is similar in size and shape to a washing machine (approx. 60x60x90 cm).

Onboard the student-built spacecraft will be three pico-satellites, extremely small satellites that weigh around 1 kg each. These will be deployed once SSETI Express is in orbit, marking a first not only for the students but also for the space sector. In addition to acting as a test bed for many designs, including a cold-gas attitude control system, SSETI Express will take pictures of the Earth and function as a radio transponder.

October 2005

 * Soyuz TMA-7 Spacecraft launch: Expedition 12 ISS crew: Valery Tokarev (Commander - Russia), William McArthur (Flight Engineer - U.S.A.) and Gregory Olsen (Tourist, U.S.A.)  were launched aboard the Soyuz TMA-7 Spacecraft on a Soyuz FG rocket from Baikonur, Kazakhstan to the ISS on October 1, 2005. Expedition 12 mission will last a six months and return to Earth in April 2006.

 * Gregory Olsen - Third Space Tourist:  Dr. Gregory Olsen was the third space tourist in space. He was a member of Soyuz TMA-7 crew. He worked onboard the ISS from October 3 through October 10, 2005. He returned on Soyuz TMA-6 on 11 October 2005. Gregory Olsen was the the first space tourist launched since the Columbia disaster.

 * Soyuz TMA-6 Spacecraft returned to Earth: The crew: Sergei Krikalev (Russia), John Phillips (U.S.A) and Gregory Olsen (Space Tourist - U.S.A.) returned to Earth from the ISS on 11 October 2005.

 * Cryosat - Cryosat would have been the first Earth Explorer mission in ESA's Living Planet Programme. Its aim was to measure the thickness of the sheets of ice sheets and polar ocean sea-ice cover. On 8th October, 2005 it was launched by a Eurorockot booster from Plesetsk, Russia, but the mission was lost due to an anomaly in the 2nd/3rd launch stage separation.

 * Shenzhou 6: Second China in Space Manned Mission:  Shenzhou 6 spacecraft was the second manned flight by China. The  Shenzhou Spacecraft was launched on October 12, 2005 on a Long March 2F from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre, China. The mission had two-man crew and spent nearly 5 days in orbit, compared to the one-man, one-day flight of Shenzhou 5.

* Russia to fly Brazilian to ISS: The Russian government has agreed to fly Brazil's first astronaut Marcos Pontes to the International Space Station on the next Soyuz taxi flight, scheduled for late March 2006. The leaders of the two countries: Russian president Vladimir Putin and his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva, signed an agreement in Moscow on Tuesday 18 October 2005.

 * Venus Express - Venus Express is a European Space Agency (ESA) mission to study the atmosphere and plasma environment of Venus. It was launched by a Soyuz-Fregat Rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on November 9, 2005.

 * Titan 4B - The last launch of the Titan 4B Rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base maybe in late October. It will carry a classified payload into orbit for the National Reconnaissance Office.

November  2005

 * GOES-N Satellite:  GOES-N is an Earth monitoring satellite which is part of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite Program (GOES). GOES is a joint effort of NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It will be launched in November on a Boeing Delta IV rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

GOES spacecraft help meteorologists observe and predict local weather events, including thunderstorms, tornadoes, fog, flash floods, and other severe weather. Data from GOES-N will be valuable for NOAA's National Ocean Service, which provides oceanographic circulation models and forecasts for U.S. coastal communities. The GOES R Series will follow GOES - NO/P. The first launch is scheduled for the 2012 timeframe.

December  2005

  * Progress Spacecraft: The 20th Progress Spacecraft M-55 (ISS 20P) was launched on December 21st to the International Space Station from Baikonur, Kazakhstan on a Soyuz Rocket. It carried carry supplies and Christmas presents.

Other Highlights of 2005:

ESA - Launchers - Ariane 5

John F. Kennedy Space Center - Integrated Launch Schedule

Related:

• Space Shuttle Books

• Astronomy: 2006 Standard Wall Calendars

• A Traveler's Guide to Mars: The Mysterious Landscapes of the Red Planet by William K. Hartmann
  From Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca

• Europe's Space Programme: To Ariane and Beyond
  by Brian Harvey
  from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca

• Launching Europe: An Ethnography of European Cooperation in Space Science 
  by Stacia E. Zabusky (Author)
  from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca

• Mars on Earth: The Adventures of Space Pioneers in the High Arctic by Robert Zubrin
  From Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca

• Space Shuttle Model: Includes all types of merchandise including the STS 107 Space Patch.

• Space Shuttle Video and DVD:
  
   - Hail Columbia (IMAX) (1982) from Amazon.com (dvd, vhs) and Amazon.co.uk dvd
  
   - First U.S. Space Shuttle Mission Video (1981) from Amazon.com

Any comments or suggestions on the 2005 Space Missions page, click on Contact Info.