Spaceflight Insider

News Archive / Author: James Tutten

An ambitious college student working out of Orlando, Florida with an overall focus towards a career in broadcast journalism. James first reported at NASA's Kennedy Space Center back in May of 2012, after covering a wide array of topics from news, politics, arts and entertainment in Central Florida. He has a strong love for science and technology and also believes that a good reporter never misses an opportunity. His journalism coverage at KSC includes the first commercial resupply launch to the ISS, arrival of the Orion spacecraft, and the retirement of and new exhibit for the space shuttle Atlantis. His main interests are investigative reporting, producing videos, photography, writing and discovering the truth.

Articles By James Tutten

  • Boeing’s CST-100 completes two NASA Commercial Crew milestones

    December 4th, 2014

    NASA has announced that The Boeing Company has successfully completed the first milestone needed for the aerospace company’s work to fulfill their agreement on NASA’s Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) contract. This is the first major step in the final phase of NASA’s Commercial Crew Development program that will eventually lead to Boeing’s Crew Space […]

  • Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft launches Expedition 42/43 crew to Space Station

    November 23rd, 2014

    A cold and dark night in Kazakhstan was illuminated by the white-hot glow of Russian RD-108A and RD-107A rocket engines, as the Expedition 42/43 crew members aboard their Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft blasted off towards low-Earth orbit (LEO). Their prime mission once they arrive at the International Space Station (ISS) will be the continued operations and upkeep of […]

  • Expedition 42 / 43 crew ready for Sunday’s launch to International Space Station

    November 21st, 2014

    A team of three international crewmembers are finalizing their preparations for launch from the Biakonur Cosmodrome LC-1 in Kazakhastan which will take place on Nov. 23 at 4:01 p.m. EST (2001 GMT). This journey, which started years ago for the crew and technicians involved, will ultimately see these diverse space-bound explorers joining their fellow Expedition […]

  • Arianespace readies 75th Ariane 5 to launch MEASAT-3b and OPTUS 10 satellites

    September 10th, 2014

    The 75th planned flight of an Arianespace Ariane 5 launch vehicle should come this Thursday, Sept. 11, from Europe’s Spaceport at the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana. The launch is currently scheduled for liftoff between 5:21 p.m. and 6:23 p.m. EDT (2121 and 2323 GMT), and should deliver the MEASAT-3b and OPTUS 10 […]

  • ULA board members replace founding CEO and President Michael Gass

    August 13th, 2014

    United Launch Alliance (ULA ) announced on Tuesday, Aug. 12 that the company’s founding CEO and president, Michael Gass, will be replaced effective immediately, based on a decision made by the executive board members of ULA. Gass will be replaced by Tory Bruno, an executive from Lockheed Martin, who himself is a veteran from the aerospace industry.

  • SpaceX looks to begin launch abort system tests in Florida

    August 11th, 2014

    Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) will attempt another developmental milestone for their human-rated Dragon Spacecraft V2 by testing the vehicle’s launch escape system. The success of this launch abort system is vital to ensure the lives and safety of astronauts that could potentially ride Dragon V2 into low-Earth orbit (LEO), and further SpaceX in their pursuit of […]

  • ESA looks for an historic blaze of glory for final ATV-5 mission to ISS

    July 30th, 2014

    The European Space Agency (ESA) plans to transmit interior views of destruction from a de-orbiting spacecraft when it concludes its fifth and final mission for their Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) early next year. ATV-5 successfully launched atop an Arianespace heavy-lift Ariane 5 rocket last night, July 29, at 8:44 p.m. GFT (23:44 GMT) from Guiana Space Centre ELA-3 […]

  • NASA ready for ‘hotfire’ testing on modified RS-25 rocket engine for SLS

    July 20th, 2014

    Engineers at NASA’s Stennis Space Center installed an RS-25 rocket engine at the facilities A-1 Test Stand this week, and are ready to begin a series of developmental tests on what should be the main power source for NASA’s deep-space launch vehicle, the Space Launch System (SLS ).

  • Vital testing completed on primary structure of James Webb Space Telescope

    July 9th, 2014

    Developmental progress continues on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) with the successful completion of static testing on its primary mirror backplane support structure (PMBSS). This backplane will serve as the backbone of the observatory and is critical to the image gathering abilities of this highly-anticipated successor to the Hubble Space Telescope.

  • NASA’s LDSD successfully completes first test flight despite parachute failure

    June 28th, 2014

    The first major flight test for NASA’s Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) occurred today, Saturday, June 28 from the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii. Though there were technical issues with a malfunctioning parachute, the test’s primary components were successfully deployed. 

  • Boeing warns employees about potential CST-100 layoffs

    June 26th, 2014

    The Boeing Company has reportedly sent out notifications to more than 200 of their employees who work for the company in Texas  and Florida. These potential layoffs may occur if Boeing is not awarded NASA’s Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) contract. The announcement as to which of the companies competing under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program will be tapped […]

  • Private company looks to fly crewed lunar mission by 2017

    June 21st, 2014

    Space jet-setters hitching a ride to visit the Moon may not be science fiction much longer. A private company specializing in space tourism, Space Adventures, announced last week that two unnamed customers have paid deposits to fly on the first ever private mission to the Moon.

  • Expedition 40 crew members complete 180th ISS spacewalk

    June 20th, 2014

    The 180th spacewalk or extra-vehicular activity (EVA) in support of the International Space Station (ISS), and the first for the Expedition 40 crew, was successfully completed yesterday (June 19) by Russian cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev. This 7 hour and 23 minute excursion saw the installation of new equipment for the ISS along with […]

  • NASA’s Flight Opportunities program selects experiments to fly on Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo

    June 11th, 2014

    NASA’s Flight Opportunities program has selected 12 experimentation payloads to take part in their space research flight aboard Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo. John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) will be one of the organizations to take advantage of studying a little-known region of suborbital “sky” that borders between Earth’s atmosphere and outer space.

  • Political tensions embolden move towards new U.S. rocket engine development

    June 6th, 2014

    U.S. government officials are continuing to voice their disapproval with Russia’s actions in the Crimea and the eastern border of Ukraine with a new legislative proposal to end the United State’s reliance on Russian-made RD-180 rocket engines. If approved by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama, this provision added to the 2015 National Defense […]