News Archive / Author: Patrick Attwell

Patrick Attwell is a native of Houston, Texas but he currently resides in Austin, Texas where he studies accounting at Concordia University Texas. Atwell has had a passion for all things pertaining to aerospace, rocketry, and aviation. Atwell has worked to cover these fields for more than a decade. After he attended and watched the launch of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission it gave him what is known in the space community as “rocket fever.” Since that time, Atwell has followed his dreams and has covered events dealing with NASA’s Commercial Crew flight assignments at NASA’s Johnson Space Center and other space-related events in the Lone Star State.

Articles By Patrick Attwell

• Weather not favoring backup Demo-2 launch dates

  May 28th, 2020

  Yesterday’s attempt to launch NASA’s and SpaceX’s Demo-2 mission to the International Space Station was plagued by weather issues that ultimately caused the attempt to be scrubbed. There remains the potential for weather complicate Saturday’s and Sunday’s launch attempts.

• ULA set to loft final Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellite

  March 26th, 2020

  Poised for launch on Thursday March 26, 2020, an Atlas V rocket is set to lift the sixth and final Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellite. The 2-hour long launch window opens at 2:57 PM EDT (18:57 UTC) and stretches until 4:57 EDT (20:57 UTC).

• SpaceX successfully launches the sixth Starlink mission.

  March 18th, 2020

  SpaceX successfully launched its sixth batch of satellites for its Starlink constellation.

• Northrop Grumman Successfully Completes Cold Static Test of Second Stage for OmegA Rocket

  February 28th, 2020

  Northrop Grumman has successfully completed a cold static test of the second stage of its OmegA rocket in Promontory, Utah, completing the full-duration (approx. 140 seconds) firing on the afternoon of February 27.

• Launch of CRS-19 cargo freighter to ISS delayed

  December 4th, 2019

  Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. -- Beautifully clear skies do not necessarily ensure a launch. SpaceX, no stranger to the precise requirements for launch ran afoul of an old foe on Wednesday Dec. 4.

• Uncrewed Boeing OFT-1 mission now targeting Dec. 19 liftoff

  December 3rd, 2019

  United Launch Alliance has announced that Boeing's OFT-1 mission has slipped.

• Report suggests NASA made a $1.6B Boeing mistake

  November 15th, 2019

  A damning new report released by NASA’s Office of Inspector General paints a dismal picture of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The report suggests one of the two participants attempted to extort the space agency for more money.

• Northrop Grumman’s NG 12 paints the sky in honor of an American legend

  November 2nd, 2019

  WALLOPS ISLAND, Va. – NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services program continues to send payloads arcing across the sky. Today Northrop Grumman did it again, this one's orbital trajectory was marked - with a paintbrush.

• AEHF 5 lights up the sky atop ULA Atlas V 551

  August 8th, 2019

  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- United Launch Alliance completed its third flight of the year on Thursday, Aug. 8. The flight got off the pad and soared into the early morning sky a little later than planned.

• ULA preparing for third launch of 2019

  August 7th, 2019

  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- United Launch Alliance (ULA) is set to conduct its first Atlas V launch in nearly 10 months with the AEHF-5 mission. The flight marks a rare flight for a venerable rocket.

• SpaceX breaks AMOS jinx with flight of AMOS-17

  August 6th, 2019

  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — It can be said that SpaceX hasn’t had the best of luck when it comes to AMOS payloads. That unlucky streak was broken today with the launch of a Falcon 9 rocket and its passenger, the AMOS-17 spacecraft.

• Spektr-RG telescope launched atop Proton-M rocket

  July 14th, 2019

  The second Proton launch of 2019 took to the skies above the Baikonur Cosmodrome today with the Spektr-RG telescope for the Russian and German space agencies. It marked the start of a mission some 24 years in the making.

• Report: Major shakeup at NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate

  July 10th, 2019

  NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate has undergone a significant change in leadership. According to a tweet posted by Marcia Smith of Space Policy Online, the changes involved two key personnel either being replaced - or relieved.

• NASA’s IXPE mission marks another win in SpaceX’s contract column

  July 9th, 2019

  KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- SpaceX keeps racking up contractual wins. The most recent to be announced was for a NASA mission, one that serves to demonstrate that the company's 74 Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy flights - has not gone unnoticed.

• Blue Origin upgrading NASA test stand

  May 13th, 2019

  Blue Origin and NASA announced an agreement that would allow the company to test two of its new rocket engines in Alabama.