There’s something revitalizing about the start of another year. Sure, we all become a year older but that’s something we all would like to celebrate. However, the days are shorter now and it’s getting colder than you’d like but we all would like to remember what happened and what we achieved in the year 2006 that is saying goodbye and paving the way for the year 2007 to follow. The year 2006 has been the year of human space flights, rocket launches, new researches, more discoveries and more project announcements to work upon. Surely the coming year will be busier for all the space agencies around the world with the competition and the privatization that has started to work collectively to make the future plans a reality.
Let’s have a look what we achieved in the year 2006.
January 2006
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The year 2006 got off to a portentous start when astronomers found magnetic slinky in constellation of Orion that was the first discovery of a helical magnetic field in interstellar space.
*New Horizons Pluto Mission - The first mission to the Planet Pluto was launched on January 19, 2006 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.
* Stardust Spacecraft Returns Comet Samples Safely to Earth - A capsule containing comet particles and interstellar dust samples collected in space by NASA’s Stardust spacecraft — designed and built by Lockheed Martin — landed gently under parachute in northwest Utah.
February 2006
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*Astro-F nicknamed as Akari was successfully launched - The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched the 21st Scientific Satellite (ASTRO-F) aboard the M-V Launch Vehicle No. 8 (M-V-8) on February 22, 2006.
March 2006
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*Radical! Liquid Water on Enceladus – NASA’s Cassini spacecraft found evidence of liquid water reservoirs that erupt in Yellowstone-like geysers on Saturn’s moon Enceladus. The rare occurrence of liquid water so near the surface raises many new questions about this mysterious moon.
*Success for the Spainsat / Hot Bird 7A mission - Originally planned for 21 February, but postponed three times because of technical problems, this was the European launch vehicle’s 170th flight, the 26th for an Ariane 5 and the first launch of 2006.
*Total Solar Eclipse of 2006 - On March 29, 2006, a total solar eclipse occurred when the new moon moved directly between the sun and the earth. The moon’s shadow fell on the eastern tip of Brazil, sped eastward across the Atlantic, through northern Africa, across the Mediterranean, and into Turkey, where an Exploratorium team was waiting.
*Soyuz TMA-8 Spacecraft Launched - Soyuz TMA-8 was launched on March 30th at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, carrying Expedition 13 crewmembers The mission of the Soyuz TMA-8 (No. 218) spacecraft (the ISS mission 12S) in the spring of 2006 had a goal of delivering and returning the 13th long-duration crew to the International Space Station. (The launch was originally scheduled for March 22, 2006.)
*Space Technology 5 (ST5) Launched - The ST5 micro-satellites were successfully launched on March 22, 2006 aboard an Orbital Sciences Pegasus Rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. ST5’s objective was to demonstrate and flights qualify several innovative technologies and concepts for application to future space missions.
April 2006
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*China launches remote sensing satellite - A Long March booster launched a Chinese remote sensing satellite on April 2006. The launch, which was not announced in advance and was the first for the year 2006 for the Chinese space program.
* CALIPSO and CloudSat Launch - The CALIPSO and CloudSat satellites soared into space from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on April 28, 2006. The flight of the two satellites also marked the 50th successful launch for NASA’s Launch Services Program.
May 2006
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*NASA Ames Spacecraft Look for Valuable Ice at the Moon’s South Pole - Spacecraft found indirect — but not rock-solid — evidence that water ice may be in the dark shadows of craters in the lunar South Pole area – gloomy places that never see the light of day.
*GOES-N Successfully Launched - GOES-N lifted off aboard a Boeing Delta IV rocket from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, on May 24. GOES-N is the first of three new generation meteorological satellites from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
*Ariane 5 ECA orbits Satmex 6 and Thaicom 5 - The 27th Ariane 5 launch, 13th success in a row, and a new record for satellite mass delivered in orbit on May 27, 2006. Arianespace placed two satellites into geostationary transfer orbit: Satmex 6 for the Mexican operator Satélites Mexicanos S.A. de C.V., and Thaicom 5 for the Thai operator Shin Satellite Plc.
June 2006
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*Russian Cargo Ship Launches Toward Space Station - An unmanned cargo ship packed with supplies launched toward the International Space Station (ISS). The Russian-built Progress 22 supply ship rocketed into space atop a Soyuz booster that lifted off from the Central Asian Baikonur Cosmodrome spaceport in Kazakhstan.
*Kazakhstan Reaches Space - Kazakhstan’s first national satellite was deployed into orbit after a marathon launch by a Proton rocket on June 18, 2006. The craft will link remote reaches of central Asia through broadcasting and telephone services.
*Resurs DK1 launched by Russia - A Russian Soyuz rocket launched a civilian Earth observation satellite into orbit on June 15, to begin a three-year mission to keep tabs on natural resources and emergencies from space for both government and commercial users. The payload was the first such craft launched since 1999.
July 2006
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*Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-121) – Space Shuttle Discovery STS-121 was the second return to flight mission since the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia Disaster and the final test flight before International Space Station (ISS) construction continues. Discovery was launched on July 4, 2006.
*Bigelow Orbital Module Launched into Space - A U.S. private space firm sent a novel expandable module toward Earth orbit on July 12, 2006 — a step forward in providing commercial space habitats.
*Armagh Planetarium Re-opens - July 31, 2006. Planetarium and Ireland’s leading centre for astronomy and space science education. They provide a wealth of fun astronomy related activities such as rocket launching and the portable ‘Stardome Planetarium’.
August 2006
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*ILS Launches HOT BIRD™ 8 Broadcast Satellite - A Proton Breeze M launch vehicle successfully placed the HOT BIRD(TM) 8 satellite into orbit on August 5, 2006, for the fourth launch of the year for International Launch Services (ILS). This was Eutelsat’s second launch on an ILS Proton vehicle, following six on ILS’s other vehicle, the American Atlas launcher. ILS is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) and Russian rocket builder Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center. ILS markets and manages the missions on the Atlas and Proton vehicles for commercial satellite customers worldwide.
*Arianespace places JCSAT-10, Syracuse 3B into orbit - Arianespace placed a commercial communications satellite and a French military communications satellite into orbit August 11, 2006, using an Ariane 5 rocket, which lifted off from Kourou, French Guiana.
September 2006
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* China launched Shijian-6 - China launched two Shijian-6 space experiment satellites into space from a north China space center atop a Long March 4-B rocket carrier on September 9, 2006. This launch was the 79th flight of China’s Long March rocket carriers and the 37th consecutive successful one of the vehicle since October of 1996.
*Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-115 -Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-115 was the first shuttle mission to resume the construction of the International Space Station. It follows the second return to flight mission STS-121. Atlantis was launched on September 6, 2006.
*Soyuz TMA-9 Spacecraft launch - A launch vehicle Soyuz-FG with Soyuz TMA-9 spacecraft was launched from the Baikonur launch site to the International Space Station. The objective of the launch was to replace the crew of Expedition Thirteen (ISS-13) and of the Soyuz TMA-8 spacecraft that has been serving within the space station as its crew rescue vehicle since April 1, 2006.
* World’s first female space tourist - It was a first in the annals of space history. A Russian-built rocket carrying the world’s first female space tourist blasted off on September 18, 2006, in Kazakhstan on a flight to the international space station.
* Solar B/Hinode - Solar-B is a Japanese solar physics mission and providing the first solar optical telescope in space. Solar-B was launched on 22 September 2006 and was renamed Hinode.
October 2006
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*MESSENGER First Flyby of Venus - Messenger spacecraft made its first flyby Venus on October 24, 2006. The spacecraft used the tug of the planet’s gravity to change its trajectory significantly, shrinking the radius of its orbit around the Sun and bringing it closer to Mercury.
*DirecTV 9S –DirecTV was launched on 13 October 2006 from Kourou Space Center’s ELA-3, by an Ariane 5 ECA. DirecTV 9S is a communications satellite that carries 52 Ku-band and two Ka-band transponders to provide direct-to-home, through its 27 spot-beams, voice, video, and internet transmissions to North American subscribers. DirectTV is a Loral 1300 satellite.
*23rd Progress Spacecraft M-58 launched - A new Progress was launched to the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on October 23, 2006 with almost 2.5 tons of fuel, oxygen, other supplies and equipment aboard ISS.
*STEREO Spacecraft - A pair of Sun-watching satellites was launched into the night sky above Florida on 25 October 2006, kicking off a NASA mission to take three-dimensional (3-D) images of our nearest star. The combined observations from these two STEREO (Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory) spacecrafts allows researchers to monitor the trajectory of eruptions of charged particles from the Sun, called coronal mass ejections (CMEs).
*XM-4 Satellite Successfully Launched - XM Satellite Radio’s XM-4 satellite was successfully launched on October 30, 2006, from the Sea Launch Odyssey Launch Platform in the open waters of the Pacific Ocean on the equator. This was Sea Launch’s fourth successful launch for XM Satellite Radio, completing previous missions in March 2001, May 2001 and February 2005.
*NASA gives green signal to Hubble repair mission - After years of debate, NASA Administrator Mike Griffin gave the go-ahead on October 31, 2006, for what could be one of the space shuttle program’s most dramatic missions: a final repair visit to the Hubble Space Telescope.
November 2006
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*Proton rocket’s commercial marketer begins new era - International Launch Services’ first flight since its reorganization to focus exclusively on commercial Russian Proton rocket missions successfully lofted an Arab telecommunications satellite on November 8, 2007.
*NASA considers a mission to a near-earth Asteroid - NASA is appraising a human mission to a near-Earth asteroid — gauging the scientific merit of the endeavor while testing out spacecraft gear, as well as mastering techniques that could prove useful if a space rock ever took aim at our planet.
December 2006
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*NASA to set up polar moon camp - NASA announced on December 5, 2006, its strategy and rationale for robotic and human exploration of the moon, determining that a lunar outpost is the best approach to achieve a sustained, human presence there.
*NASA’s Telescope Sees Black Hole Eating a Star - A giant black hole was caught red-handed dipping into a cosmic cookie jar of stars by NASA’s Galaxy Evolution Explorer. This was the first time astronomers have seen the whole process of a black hole eating a star, from its first to nearly final bites.
*Discovery Shuttle’s Night Launch - The launch of NASA’s shuttle Discovery was the final shuttle mission of the year 2006 and a rare night launch added to its glory that appeared to be an exceptionally clean space shot.
* COROT, space telescope launched to search for another “Earth” - A European spacecraft COROT that stands for “Convection Rotation and planetary Transits” was launched on December 27, 2006 to spearhead the search for another “Earth” among the stars.
*Next Space Station Crew Announced by NASA – While Discovery crewmembers were preparing for their second spacewalk aboard ISS, NASA announced the next crew of the International Space Station on December 13, 2006.
Spacecrafts launched in 2006 - (CHECK HERE)
For more information - (CHECK HERE)
