A special operations request covering the re-entry this evening of Salsa, officially satellite number 2 in the Cluster constellation.

As a final action, a series of dummy commands were uplinked to Salsa, each containing the name of one of the active mission operations team.

The spacecraft responded to each command, acknowledging receipt.

Minutes later, it was gone, burned up in a blaze of glory in Earth’s atmosphere, 24 years after launch.

#SpaceExploration #SpaceScience

All quiet on the ESOC front 😴

ESA’s JUICE spacecraft is currently behind the Moon & out of contact, but sweeping towards its close flyby in 10 minutes at 23:16CEST, 700km above the surface 🌗

Images are being taken & will be sent back to Earth soon after the flyby: some quick black & white shots should be on the event livestream which starts at 23:30CEST 📺👇

@stim3on & I will then work on the colour images as they arrive – look out for them later 🙂👍

https://blogs.esa.int/rocketscience/2024/08/19/join-us-live-as-juice-flies-past-the-moon/

Time to tune in: the first launch of Europe’s new rocket is due in under 10 minutes.

#GoAriane6

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ogXamYYJpQk

6 hours after Skylab 2 launched #OTD in 1973, the crew reached Skylab and got its first view of the damage.

The protective shield of the Orbital Workshop was missing, one of the solar arrays was gone, and the other only partially deployed. #Skylab50

🔗 https://go.nasa.gov/3MGLqvP
#NASAhistory

Celebrating 50 years!

Skylab, America's first space station, launched 50 years ago this Sunday! Join us as we revisit the first long-duration space missions made by @nasa astronauts and see how they paved the way for the future. #Skylab50
#NASAhistory

Outstanding news from our ESA #JUICEmission to Jupiter & its icy moons, launched on 14 April 🚀🛰️

The 16-metre long RIME radar antenna, designed to probe up to 10 kilometres into the icy crusts of Ganymede, Europa, & Callisto, has now been successfully deployed, after earlier problems 👍

Excellent work by our project & operations team, & fantastic news for all of the scientists involved 🙇‍♂️

#SpaceExploration #SpaceFlight #Astrodon

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Juice/Juice_s_RIME_antenna_breaks_free

This article by @garius is fascinating and utterly surprising that it is not better known.

https://medium.com/s/story/the-long-way-round-the-plane-that-accidentally-circumnavigated-the-world-c04ca734c6bb

https://twitter.com/christopherhope/status/1612585897706541056

RT @[email protected]

Science Minister George Freeman said: “This genuinely is a historic moment for Britain.
“We’ve won the space race in Europe.”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/01/09/virgin-orbit-rocket-launch-watch-live-cornwall-latest/

🐦🔗: https://twitter.com/christopherhope/status/1612585897706541056