2006 Space and Astronomy

January 2006

 * New Horizons Pluto Mission - The first mission to Planet Pluto was launched by an Atlas V rocket on January 19, 2006 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. It will encounter Pluto-Charon in 2015 and will not go in orbit. Beyond 2016 it will explore the Kuiper Belt. The original launch date was January 11, 2006.

 * Stardust Returns to Earth: Stardust was NASA's first dedicated sample return mission to a comet. Stardust returned to Earth on January 15, 2006 with collected particles stored in a sample return capsule. The capsule made a soft landing at the U.S. Air Force Utah Test and Training Range.

February 2006

 * Akari (formerly Astro-F):  Akari was launched on February 22, 2006 from the Uchinoura Space Center. It was the the 21st Scientific Satellite aboard the M-V Launch Vehicle. Astro-F was renamed "Akari" (meaning a "light") when the satellite reached orbit.

March 2006

 * Soyuz TMA-8 Spacecraft: Expedition 13 (Soyuz TMA-8) was launched on 30 March 2006 on a Soyuz FG rocket from Baikonur, Kazakhstan. The crew were: Pavel Vinogradov (Commander - Russia), Jeffrey Williams (Flight Engineer - U.S.A) and Marcos Pontes (Flight Engineer - Brazil). Marcos Pontes is the first Brazilian in space.

 * Space Technology 5: Space Technology 5 (ST5) was launched on 22 March 2006 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California on a Pegasus XL rocket. ST5 consists of three miniature spacecraft (microsats). The aim is to demonstrate innovative concepts and technologies, to space-test the ability of 'smart' satellites to identify scientific events and implement cooperative data-taking strategies and to find out whether ground commanding (for 24 hours) is really necessary. Each microsat will perform some of the same functions as their larger counterparts.

During flight validation of its technologies, ST5 may measure the effect of solar activity on the Earth's magnetosphere.

 * Total Solar Eclipse of 2006: On 29 March 29 2006, a total eclipse of the Sun was visible from within a narrow corridor which traverses half the Earth. The path of the Moon's umbral shadow began in Brazil and extended across the Atlantic, northern Africa, and central Asia where it ended at sunset in western Mongolia. A partial eclipse was seen within the much broader path of the Moon's penumbral shadow, which includes the northern two thirds of Africa, Europe, and central Asia.

April 2006

 * Progress Spacecraft: The 21st Progress Spacecraft M-56 (ISS 21P) was launched on April 24, 2006 to the International Space Station from Baikonur, Kazakhstan on a Soyuz U Rocket. It carried cargo and supplies.

 * Cloudsat - CloudSat is an experimental satellite that will use radar to measure the vertical structure of clouds and cloud properties from space. It launched on April 28, 2006 on a Delta 2 Rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. CloudSat will fly in orbital formation as part of a constellation of satellites including Aqua, CALIPSO, PARASOL, and Aura.

Note: PARASOL (Polarization and Anisotropy of Réflectances for Atmospheric Sciences coupled with Observations from a Lidar) is a CNES microsatellite project. Aqua was launched on 4 May, 2002.

 * CALIPSO - CALIPSO (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations) satellite will study to study the effects of clouds and aerosols (airborne particles) on changes in the Earth's climate. It was launched on the same rocket flight as Cloudsat on April 28, 2006 on a Delta 2 Rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

The CALIPSO mission is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and implemented by NASA's Langley Research Center for the NASA Earth System Science Pathfinder (ESSP) program and collaborates with the French space agency Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corporation, Hampton University and the Institut Pierre Simon Laplace in France.

 * NASA Ames Spacecraft to Look for Ice at One of Moon's Poles:

NASA announced on April 10, 2006, that a small, 'secondary payload' spacecraft called LCROSS (Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite) developed by NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, was selected to begin a journey to the Moon in October 2008 to look for water ice at one of the lunar poles beginning in January 2009. LCROSS will travel with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter satellite to the Moon on the same Atlas-Centaur rocket to be launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

May 2006

 *  GOES-N: Boeing Delta IV Medium launched GOES-N on the 24th May, 2006. It was the first launch since December 2004 when the first flight of the Delta IV Heavy booster on a demonstration mission was marred by a faulty fuel sensor. GOES-N is the first of three new generation meteorological satellites from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

 *  Satmex 6 and Thaicom 5: An Ariane 5 ECA dual launched the Satmex 6 and Thaicom 5 communications satellites on 27 May 2006. The Space Systems/Loral-built Satmex 6 weighs 5400kg and will be operated by Satelites Mexicanos. Thaicom 5 is built by Alcatel Alenia Space and carries 25 C-band and 14 Ku-band transponders and weighs 2800kg.

June 2006

 * Progress Spacecraft: The 22nd Progress Spacecraft M-57 (ISS 22P) maybe launched between June 24 and 28, 2006 to the International Space Station from Baikonur, Kazakhstan on a Soyuz Rocket. It will carry supplies.

 * Pluto's New Moons Named: On June 21 the International Astronomical Union (IAU) announced the formal names for two recently discovered small Moons of Pluto: Nix and Hydra.

 * NASA's New Rockets Get Names: NASA announced on Friday 30th June 2006 the names of the next generation of launch vehicles that will return humans to the moon and later take them to Mars and other destinations. The crew launch vehicle will be called Ares I and the cargo launch vehicle will be known as Ares V.

* Resurs DK1: Resurs DK1, a Russian civilian Earth observation satellite was launched on July 15, 2006 on a Soyuz Rocket. Resurs DK1 will offer one-meter resolution images in black-and-white and a resolution of up to two meters in colour.  It is the first in an upgraded series of spacecraft with improved capabilities in imaging resolution and communications. Images from Resurs DK1 will be used by Russian government agencies, international groups and even sold commercially to private customers.

July 2006

 * Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-121): Space Shuttle Discovery STS-121 was the 18th Space Shuttle flight to the International Space Station and the second shuttle flight after the Space Shuttle's Return to Flight. This flight tested new inspection and thermal protection system repair techniques before resuming International Space Station construction. The flight bought a multipurpose logistics module to the International Space Station with new supplies and experiments.

The Mission Commander was Steven W. Lindsey of STS-121. It was launched on the 4th July 2006. The flight was originally to be flown in November 2004, May 2005, July 2005, September 2005, March 2006 and 1st July 2006. After STS-114 NASA changed the shuttle orbiter from Atlantis to Discovery.

 * North Korea Missile Test: North Korea launched at least five (5) missiles on July 4^th 2006 including a long-range Taepodong-2, a move US President George Bush said defied the international community. The Taepodong-2, a multi-stage missile apparently failed 40 seconds after launch. 

The United States said it was urgently consulting other UN Security Council members after the launches. The United States sees the missile firing as defiance of the international community by North Korea.

August  2006

 *  Syracuse 3B and  JCSAT-10: Ariane 5 ECA may launch in August, 2006 both the French Syracuse 3B military telecom relay platform and the Japanese JCSAT-10 telecommunications spacecraft.

 *  Hot Bird 8: The Hot Bird 8 broadcasting satellite built by EADS Astrium for Eutelsat Communications will be launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome on a Proton M Breeze M vehicle provided by ILS on the night of 4 to 5 August.

 *  NASA names Crew Exploration Vehicle Orion: NASA announced on Tuesday 22nd August 2006 that the name of its new crew exploration vehicle will be Orion. Orion will be the successor to the Space Shuttle for crew transport and may carry up to six crew members to and from the International Space Station. Orion will also be capable of transporting four crew members for lunar missions and later supporting crew transfers for Mars missions. Orion's design is similar to the Apollo capsule that took Americans to the moon between 1969-1972.

 * NASA Selects Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle Prime Contractor: NASA selected Lockheed Martin as the prime contractor to design, develop and build Orion, NASA's next-generation human spaceflight crew transportation system spacecraft.  NASA announced it on the 31st August 2006.

September  2006

 * Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-115): Space Shuttle Atlantis was the first mission to resume assembly of the International Space Station (ISS) following two 'Return to Flight' test missions: STS-114 and STS-121. The launch date was 9th September 2006.

STS-115 was originally scheduled to launch in April 2003. However, the Columbia accident in February 2003 pushed the date back to 27 August 2006, which was again moved back for various reasons, including a threat from Tropical Storm Ernesto and the strongest lightning strike to ever hit an occupied shuttle launchpad.