Top 5 NASA/Space Stories On Space Coast Daily In 2016

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – It was another year for the history books for space flight this past year.  With the emergence of Space X and United Launch Alliance, Cape Canaveral hosted 19 of the 82 successful world rocket launches in 2016.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN 2016: 

• Orbital ATK and SpaceX launched over 24,000 pounds of supplies to the International Space Station (ISS) this past year.
• NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly returned to Earth in 2016 after spending 340 days on the International Space Station, the longest continuous stay at the station ever.
• NASA’s Juno Spacecraft entered Jupiter on July 4, 2016, after 5 years of into its mission.
• NASA’s first asteroid mission started on Sep 8.

Here are the top NASA/Space stories on Space Coast Daily in 2016:

VIDEO: Documentary Details Early Merritt Island History, NASA Development of Space Center

ABOVE VIDEO: “The Merritt Island Adventure,” by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is a documentary of the lives of the homesteaders living on Merritt Island in Florida, in the area that is now owned by NASA operating the Kennedy Space Center and also managed as the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

July 14, 2016

“The Merritt Island Adventure,” by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is a documentary of the lives of the homesteaders living on Merritt Island in Florida, in the area that is now owned by NASA operating the Kennedy Space Center and also managed as the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

NASA used eminent domain to acquire property in Merritt Island in the late 1950’s – 60’s and in this documentary, the focus is on the stories of how people lived very primitively on the land and what happened when they were forced to move.

Some early Merritt Island settlers are able to visit their home sites where the land is open to the public. however, some have never had access to their home site because it lies within the security area of Kennedy Space Center.

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4. NASA: ‘Electric Wind’ Can Strip Earth-like Planets of Oceans, Atmospheres

June 20, 2016

(NASA) – Venus has an “electric wind” strong enough to remove the components of water from its upper atmosphere, which may have played a significant role in stripping Earth’s twin planet of its oceans, according to new results from ESA’s (European Space Agency) Venus Express mission by NASA-funded researchers.

“It’s amazing, shocking,” said Glyn Collinson, a scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

“We never dreamt an electric wind could be so powerful that it can suck oxygen right out of an atmosphere into space. This is something that has to be on the checklist when we go looking for habitable planets around other stars.” Collinson is lead author of a paper about this research published June 20, 2016, in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

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3. WATCH REPLAY: ULA’s Atlas V Successfully Launches From Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Sunday

ABOVE VIDEO: United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V EchoStar 19 launched Sunday from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

December 18, 2016

The Atlas V rocket (designated AV-071) was carrying the EchoStar 19/Jupiter 2 communications satellite.  

The satellite will provide high-speed internet services for HughesNet throughout North America.

The rocket flew in the 431 vehicle configuration with a four-meter fairing, three solid rocket boosters and a single-engine Centaur upper stage.

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2. SpaceX Launch Pad Static Test Firing Explosion At Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

ABOVE VIDEO: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket exploded on the pad during a static test firing on Thursday morning.

September 1, 2016

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket exploded on the pad during a static test firing on Thursday morning.

According to SpaceX, the pad was clear and there were no injuries.

The rocket was scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral on September 3 at 3 a.m.  The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was to launch the Amos 6 communications satellite for Spacecom of Israel.

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1. WATCH REPLAY: Atlas V Rocket Launches From Cape Canaveral Thursday Night

ABOVE VIDEO:  NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Thursday night on ULA’s Atlas V rocket.

September 8, 2016

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Thursday night on ULA’s Atlas V rocket.

OSIRIS-REx (Origins-Spectral Interpretation-Resource Identification-Security-Regolith Explorer) is the first U.S. mission that will travel to near-Earth asteroid Bennu and bring a small sample back to Earth for study.

As planned, the spacecraft will reach its asteroid target in 2018 and return a sample to Earth in 2023.

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