On November 20, 2012 at 18:30 UTC the "Proton-M” rocket-carrier was launched from Baykonur Cosmodrome. The rocket equipped with the "Briz-M” booster orbited the "Echostar-16” communications satellite for the U.S.-based Dish Network direct broadcasting service. The satellite was manufactured by Space Systems/Loral. The satellite’s design life is 15 years.
On November 19, 2012 at 01:53 UTC the Russian "Soyuz TMA-05M” landing capsule landed safely at a distance of 85 kilometers to North-East from the city of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan.
photos by NASA
The spacecraft delivered to Earth the 3 members of ISS’s Expedition 33 – Russian cosmonauts Yuri Malenchenko, American astronaut Sunita Williams and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide. They spent in space 126 days, 23 hours, 13 minutes and 27 seconds. Three other ISS crew members – Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Evgeny Tarelkin as well as American astronaut Kevin Ford - remained in orbit aboard the Int
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On November 18, 2012 at 22:53 UTC (November 19 according to Beijing time) the "Chang Zheng-2C” (Long March-2C) rocket-carrier was launched from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in Taiyuan, capital of north China's Shanxi Province. The rocket orbited the "Huanjing-1C” environment-monitoring satellite.
On November 18, 2012 at 22:26 UTC (November 19 at 02:26 Moscow time) the Russian "Soyuz TMA-05M” spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station to deliver to Earth the 3 members of Expedition 33 – Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, American astronaut Sunita Williams and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide
From November 2 to 4, 2012 the "IPHLA 2012” International Philatelic Literature Exhibition took place in the City Hall of Mainz, Germany. The website of the FIP Section for Astrophilately was the only website from the FIP Commissions’ websites that took part in the "IPHLA 2012”.
Our website www.astrophilatelist.com was awarded with this "IPHLA 2012” medal. Much more photos and information about IPHLA 2012 can be seen HERE.
On November 14, 2012 at 11:42 UTC the "Soyuz-2.1a” rocket-carrier was launched from Russian Plesetsk Cosmodrome. The rocket equipped with the "Fregat-M” booster orbited the "Meridian” new-generation military communications satellite. Meridian is designed to provide a communications service for sea vessels and aircraft in the Polar and Far East regions. Russia has two other satellites of this class in service.
On November 10, 2012 at 21:05 UTC the "Arian 5” rocket-carrier was launched from Kourou space center in French Guiana. The rocket orbited the "Eutelsat 21B” and the Brazilian "Star One C3” communications satellites.
On November 02, 2012 at 21:04 UTC (on November 03 at 01:04 Moscow time) the Russian "Proton_M” rocket-carrier was launched from Baykonur Cosmodrome. The rocket equipped with the "Briz-M” booster orbited Yamal 300K and Luch 5B satellites. The "Yamal 300K” will broadcast television and high-speed Internet service across Russia and neighboring regions for Gazprom Space Systems, a Moscow-based subsidiary of Gazprom, the Russian oil and gas producer. Yamal 300K is designed for a 14-year lifetime. The "Luch 5B” will relay data, voice and video communications between the ground and the Russian segment of the International Space Station, satellites, and rockets in flight. Luch 5B is designed to operate for 10 years. The builder of Yamal 300K and Luch 5B satellites is Russian Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems Co.
On November 01, 2012 American astronaut Sunita Williams and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide performed a successful six-hour and 38-minute spacewalk to bypass a suspect solar array radiator. Williams and Hoshide successfully reconfigured ammonia coolant lines to bypass a presumed leak in a radiator used to cool electrical components in one of the space station's solar array modules. A spare radiator then was successfully deployed to take over cooling. This was the 166th spacewalk devoted to station assembly and maintenance since construction began in 1998.
On October 31, 2012 at 13:33 UTC the Russian "Progress M-17M” unmanned supply spacecraft docked to the International Space Station after its six-hour journey after blast off.
