Hey there,
government shutdown
Without going into politics, government re-opened, before any severe delays could appear.
At least within the next 3 weeks, all public and private space companies can return to general duty.
Ariane 5 launch
This Thursday the 97th launch of an Ariane 5 rocket is scheduled for 22:20 UTC, within a 45 minute window.
It will carry 2 satellites, SES 14 (4.423 kg) replacing NSS-806 satellite for communication and internet services over America, Carribean, North Atlantic and Europe,
and underneath the Al Yah 3 (3.795 kg) ensuring broadband internet in Africa and Brazil.
The rocket will be launched on ELA-3 in the CSG, Fernch-Guyana.
For more information, see:
https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/01/23/build-up-of-ariane-5-rocket-complete-for-launch-thursday/
or follow https://www.reddit.com/r/Arianespace/
ISS spacewalk
Mark Vande Hei and Scott Tingle left the ISS today at 11:49 am UTC for a more than 6 hour spacewalk.
It's been the first spacewalk 2018.
They replaced a grapple fixture on the robot arm as part of a overhaul of the arm. A subsequent spacewalk next monday will complete this overhaul.
falcon heavy once again
So there's a new schedule for FH SF: Now it's planned for tomorow, between 17:00 - 23:00 UTC.
There will first be a WDR, and mybe after that the SF, if everything went perfect.
Let's cross our fingers and hope.
To stay informed, monitor
https://twitter.com/ChrisG_NSF or
https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/7ph9e2/official_rspacex_falcon_heavy_static_fire_updates/
Have a nice afternoon,
Stay assembled!
