Apr 15 2005
From The Space Library
Soyuz TMA-6 launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan carrying the Expedition 11 crew of three to the ISS. Russian Commander Sergei K. Krikalev and American Flight Engineer John L. Phillips would replace Leroy Chiao and Salizhan S. Sharipov. Italy's Roberto Vittori, also aboard, would conduct scientific experiments at the ISS before returning to Earth with Chiao and Sharipov. (Spacewarn Bulletin, no. 618; Chris Kridler, “Soyuz Rocket Blasts Off to Station,” Florida Today (Brevard, FL), 15 April 2005.)
The Demonstration of Autonomous Rendezvous Technology (DART) spacecraft, a NASA technology demonstrator, launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, aboard a Pegasus-XL HAPS rocket released from an L-1011 cargo aircraft. NASA intended the launch to test the 360-kilogram (793.76-pound or 0.4-ton or 0.36-tonne) satellite's video-guidance-system technology, which would enable DART to rendezvous with an experimental military communications satellite and maneuver around it. The technology would allow future spacecraft to approach and dock with another craft automatically. (Spacewarn Bulletin, no. 618; Chris Kridler, “Failed DART Spacecraft Bumped Its Satellite Target,” Florida Today (Brevard, FL), 26 April 2005.)
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