2008 in spaceflight

2008 in spaceflight

The first Automated Transfer Vehicle, Jules Verne approaches the ISS
Orbital launches
First	15 January
Last	25 December
Total	69
Successes	66
Failures	2
Partial failures	1
Catalogued	67
National firsts
Satellite	Venezuela  Vietnam
Space traveller	South Korea
Rockets
Maiden flights	Ariane 5ES Long March 3C PSLV-XL Safir Zenit-3SLB
Retirements	H-IIA 2024
Manned flights
Orbital	7
Total travellers	37

The year 2008 contained several significant events in spaceflight, including the first flyby of Mercury by a spacecraft since 1975, the discovery of water ice on Mars by the Phoenix spacecraft, which landed in May, the first Chinese spacewalk in September, and the launch of the first Indian Lunar probe in October.

Overview

The internationally accepted definition of a spaceflight is any flight which crosses the Kármán line, 100 kilometres above sea level. The first recorded spaceflight launch of the year occurred on 11 January, when a Black Brant was launched on a suborbital trajectory from White Sands, with the LIDOS ultraviolet astronomy payload.^[1] This was followed by the first orbital launch of the year on 15 January, by a Sea Launch Zenit-3SL, with the Thuraya 3 communications satellite.^[2] The launch marked the return to flight for Sea Launch following the explosion of a Zenit-3SL on the launch pad the previous January during an attempt to launch the NSS-8 satellite.

The fourth Falcon 1 launches with RatSat

Five carrier rockets made their maiden flights in 2008; the Ariane 5ES, Long March 3C, Zenit-3SLB, PSLV-XL, and the operational version of the Falcon 1, with an uprated Merlin-1C engine.^[3] These were all derived from existing systems. The Blue Sparrow and Sejjil missiles also conducted their maiden flights, and the ATK Launch Vehicle made its only flight, but was destroyed by range safety after it went off course. In November, the baseline Proton-M was retired in favour of the Enhanced variant, first launched in 2007.

The first Vietnamese and Venezuelan satellites, Vinasat-1 and Venesat-1 respectively, were launched in 2008, while a failed Iranian launch was reported to have been that country's first indigenous orbital launch attempt. In September, SpaceX conducted the first successful orbital launch of a privately developed and funded liquid-fuelled carrier rocket, when the fourth Falcon 1 launched RatSat, following previous failures in 2006, 2007, and August.

Space exploration

The discovery of water ice on Mars

India launched its first Lunar probe, Chandraayan-1, on 22 October, with the spacecraft entering selenocentric orbit on 8 November. On 16 November, the Moon Impact Probe was released, and crashed into the Lunar surface. Although no other spacecraft were launched beyond geocentric orbit in 2008, several significant events occurred in interplanetary flights which had been launched in previous years. MESSENGER conducted flybys of Mercury in January and October, the first spacecraft to do so since Mariner 10 in 1975. Cassini continued to make flybys of the moons of Saturn, including several close passes of Enceladus, one at a distance of 25 kilometres.^[4] In September Rosetta flew past the asteroid 2867 Šteins. On 25 May, the Phoenix spacecraft landed in the Green Valley on Mars, where it discovered water ice.^[5] Phoenix exceeded its design life of 90 days, finally failing on 10 November. The Ulysses spacecraft, launched in 1990, was also retired in 2008.^[6]

Manned spaceflight

Seven manned flights were launched in 2008, one by China, two by Russia and four by the United States. In April, Yi So-yeon became the first South Korean to fly in space, aboard Soyuz TMA-12. On the same flight, Sergey Volkov became the first second-generation cosmonaut. Yi returned to Earth aboard Soyuz TMA-11, which nearly ended in disaster following a separation failure between the descent and service modules, resulting in a ballistic reentry.^[7] In September, China conducted its third manned mission, Shenzhou 7, from which Zhai Zhigang and Liu Boming conducted the first Chinese spacewalk.^[8] Soyuz TMA-13, launched in October, was the hundredth flight of the Soyuz programme to carry a crew at some point in its mission.^[9]

Assembly of the International Space Station continued, with the delivery of the Columbus module by Space Shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-122 in February. March saw the launch of the Jules Verne Automated Transfer Vehicle, an unmanned European spacecraft which was used to resupply the space station. Also in March, Space Shuttle Endeavour launched on STS-123 with the first component of the Japanese Experiment Module, the Experiment Logistics Module. STS-123 marked the final flight of the Spacelab programme, with a SpaceLab pallet used to carry the Canadian-built Dextre RMS extension. The second JEM component, the main pressurised module, was launched by STS-124, flown by Discovery in May. In November, Endeavour launched on the STS-126 logistics flight, with the Leonardo MPLM.

Launch failures

On 14 March, a Proton-M with a Briz-M upper stage launched AMC-14. Several hours later, on 15 March, the Briz-M engine cut off prematurely during a burn,^[10] leaving the satellite in a medium Earth orbit. Following a small legal dispute,^[11] the satellite was sold, and raised to a geosynchronous orbit by its manoeuvring thrusters, at the expense of a large amount of its fuel and hence operational life.

On 3 August, SpaceX launched the third Falcon 1. Due to residual thrust caused by the upgraded Merlin-1C engine which was being flown for the first time, the first stage recontacted the second during staging, resulting in the rocket failing to reach orbit. The Trailblazer, PreSat and NanoSail-D satellites were lost in the failure, as was a space burial capsule, containing the remains of several hundred people, including astronaut Gordon Cooper, actor James Doohan, writer and director John Meredyth Lucas and Apollo mission planner Mareta West.^[12]

On 16 August, Iran launched a Safir, which though officially successful, was reported to have failed due to a second stage malfunction. The purpose of this launch is in doubt, as before the launch it was claimed that it would place the Omid into orbit, whilst following the launch, it was reported that a boilerplate payload had been launched.^[13] Other reports indicated that the launch was only a suborbital test of the rocket.^[14] If this was an orbital launch attempt, it was the first Iranian attempt to launch a satellite.

On 22 August, the inaugural launch of the Alliant Techsystems ALV X-1 was terminated 27 seconds after launch from Wallops Flight Facility when it veered off course. Both hypersonic physics experiments on board were destroyed.^[15]

Summary of launches

The ATK Launch Vehicle, launched on a suborbital flight in August

In total, sixty nine orbital launches were made in 2008, with sixty seven reaching orbit, and two outright failures if the Iranian launch in August is counted.^[3] This is an increase of one orbital launch attempt on 2007, with two more launches reaching orbit, which continues a trend of increasing launch rates seen since 2006. The final launch of the year was conducted on 25 December, by a Proton-M with three GLONASS navigation satellites for the Russian government.

Launch of an SM-3 missile to destroy USA-193

Suborbital spaceflight in 2008 saw a number of sounding rocket and missile launches. On 21 February, a RIM-161 Standard Missile 3 was used as an anti-satellite weapon to destroy the USA-193 satellite. USA-193 was a US spy satellite which had failed immediately after launch in 2006.^[16][17]

By country

China conducted twelve orbital launches of a planned fifteen. Europe had intended to conduct seven launches of Ariane 5 rockets, and the maiden flight of the Vega rocket, however payload delays pushed one of the Arianes into 2009, and the Vega was delayed due to development issues. India had originally scheduled five to seven launches, however only three of these were conducted, mostly due to delays with the launch of Chandraayan-1. Japan scheduled three launches for 2008, of which one was launched; an H-IIA with WINDS in February. Russia and the former Soviet Union conducted twenty six launches, not including the international Sea and Land launch programmes, which conducted six. Fourteen launches were conducted by the United States, which had originally announced plans to launch many more, however technical issues with several rockets, particularly the Atlas V, Delta II and Falcon 1, caused a number of delays. The Atlas problems, combined with a series of delays to the launch of NRO L-26 on a Delta IV, resulted in just two of ten planned EELV launches being conducted.^[3][18] Two of six planned Space Shuttle launches were also delayed to 2009, one due to problems with External Tank delivery, and another due to a major systems failure on the Hubble Space Telescope, which it was to have serviced. Israel was not reported to have scheduled, or conducted an orbital launch attempt.

Deep Space Rendezvous

Date (GMT)	Spacecraft	Event	Remarks
5 January	Cassini	40th flyby of Titan	Closest approach: 1,010 kilometres (630 mi)
14 January	MESSENGER	1st flyby of Mercury	Closest approach: 200 kilometres (120 mi) at 19:04 GMT[19]
22 February	Cassini	41st flyby of Titan	Closest approach: 1,000 kilometres (620 mi)
12 March	Cassini	3rd flyby of Enceladus	Closest approach: 52 kilometres (32 mi)
25 March	Cassini	42nd flyby of Titan	Closest approach: 1,000 kilometres (620 mi)
12 May	Cassini	43rd flyby of Titan	Closest approach: 1,000 kilometres (620 mi)
25 May	Phoenix	Landing on Mars	Region D, Arctic area - Green Valley, near the Heimdal crater: 68°N, 236°E. Touchdown at 23:38 GMT. Successful[20]
28 May	Cassini	44th flyby of Titan	Closest approach: 1,400 kilometres (870 mi)
31 July	Cassini	45th flyby of Titan	Closest approach: 1,613 kilometres (1,002 mi)
11 August	Cassini	4th flyby of Enceladus	Closest approach: 54 kilometres (34 mi)
5 September	Rosetta	Flyby of 2867 Šteins	Closest approach: 800 kilometres (500 mi)
6 October	MESSENGER	2nd flyby of Mercury
9 October	Cassini	5th flyby of Enceladus	Closest approach: 25 kilometres (16 mi)
31 October	Cassini	6th flyby of Enceladus	Closest approach: 200 kilometres (120 mi)
3 November	Cassini	46th flyby of Titan	Closest approach: 1,100 kilometres (680 mi)
8 November	Chandrayaan-1	Injection into Selenocentric orbit	Periselene: 504 kilometres (313 mi), Aposelene: 7,502 kilometres (4,662 mi)[21]
14 November	MIP	Landing on the Moon	Lunar Impactor
19 November	Cassini	47th flyby of Titan	Closest approach: 1,023 kilometres (636 mi)
5 December	Cassini	48th flyby of Titan	Closest approach: 960 kilometres (600 mi)
21 December	Cassini	49th flyby of Titan	Closest approach: 970 kilometres (600 mi)

Distant, non-targeted flybys of Dione, Enceladus, Mimas, Tethys and Titan by Cassini occurred throughout the year.

EVAs

Start Date/Time	Duration	End Time	Spacecraft	Crew	Function	Remarks
30 January 09:56[22]	7 hours 10 minutes	17:06[23]	Expedition 16 (ISS Quest)	Peggy Whitson Daniel M. Tani	Replace motor and bearing in solar array joint
11 February 14:13[24]	7 hours 58 minutes	22:11[24]	STS-122 (ISS Quest)	Rex J. Walheim Stanley G. Love	Install Power Data Grapple Fixture on Columbus	Originally to have been conducted by Walheim and Hans Schlegel, Love replaced Schlegel on medical grounds.[25]
13 February 14:27[26]	6 hours 45 minutes	21:12[26]	STS-122 (ISS Quest)	Rex J. Walheim Hans Schlegel	Replace depleted nitrogen tank
15 February 12:07[26]	7 hours 25 minutes	20:32[26]	STS-122 (ISS Quest)	Rex J. Walheim Stanley G. Love	Install experiments on Columbus, load failed gyroscope onto Shuttle for return to Earth
14 March 01:18[27]	7 hours 1 minute	08:19[27]	STS-123 (ISS Quest)	Richard M. Linnehan Garrett Reisman	Install Kibo ELM-PS and start Dextre assembly
15 March 23:49[28]	7 hours 8 minutes	16 March 06:57[28]	STS-123 (ISS Quest)	Richard M. Linnehan Michael Foreman	Dextre assembly
17 March 22:52[28]	6 hours 53 minutes	18 March 05:44[28]	STS-123 (ISS Quest)	Richard M. Linnehan Robert L. Behnken	Dextre assembly, install MISSE-6 experiment, and store spare parts outside the ISS	MISSE installation failed[28]
20 March 22:04[28]	6 hours 24 minutes	21 March 04:08[28]	STS-123 (ISS Quest)	Robert L. Behnken Michael Foreman	Test heat shield repair techniques
22 March 20:34[28]	6 hours 2 minutes	23 March 02:36[28]	STS-123 (ISS Quest)	Robert L. Behnken Michael Foreman	Store OBSS on ISS, retry MISSE-6 installation[29]
3 June 16:22[30]	6 hours 48 minutes[31]	23:10[31]	STS-124 (ISS Quest)	Mike Fossum Ron Garan	Install JEM Pressurised Module, Inspect SARJ, retrieve OBSS.[30]
5 June 15:04[31]	7 hours 11 minutes[31]	22:15[31]	STS-124 (ISS Quest)	Mike Fossum Ron Garan	Adjust covers on JEM, Inspect SARJ.[32]
8 June 13:55[31]	6 hours 33 minutes[31]	20:28[31]	STS-124 (ISS Quest)	Mike Fossum Ron Garan	Replace nitrogen tank, inspect SARJ.[33]
10 July 18:48[34]	6 hours 18 minutes[34]	11 July 01:06[34]	Expedition 17 (ISS Pirs)[34]	Sergei Volkov Oleg Kononenko	Remove pyrotechnic bolt from Soyuz TMA-12 for inspection.[35]
15 July 17:08[34]	5 hours 54 minutes[34]	23:02[34]	Expedition 17 (ISS Pirs)[34]	Sergei Volkov Oleg Kononenko	Install docking targeting equipment, rotate exposed experiments[36]
27 September 08:38	22 minutes	09:00	Shenzhou 7	Zhai Zhigang (full) Liu Boming (stand-up)	Test spacesuit, collect experiment	First Chinese EVA
18 November 18:09	6 hours 52 minutes	19 November 01:01	STS-126 (ISS Quest)	Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper Stephen G. Bowen	Transferred an empty nitrogen tank assembly from ESP3 to the shuttle's cargo bay, transferred a new flex hose rotary coupler to ESP3 for future use, removed an insulation cover on the Kibo Exposed Facility berthing mechanism, began cleaning and lubrication of the starboard SARJ, and replacement of its 11 trundle bearing assemblies.[37][38]
20 November 17:58	6 hours 45 minutes	21 November 00:43	STS-126 (ISS Quest)	Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper Robert S. Kimbrough	Relocated the two CETA carts from the starboard side of the Mobile Transporter to the port side, lubricated the station robotic arm's latching end effector A snare bearings, continued cleaning and lubrication of the starboard SARJ[39][40][41]	Conducted on tenth anniversary of the launch of the ISS[39]
22 November 18:01	6 hours 57 minutes	23 November 00:58	STS-126 (ISS Quest)	Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper Stephen G. Bowen	Completed cleaning and lubrication of all but one of the trundle bearing assemblies (TBA) on the starboard SARJ.[42][43]
24 November 18:24	6 hours 7 minutes	25 November 00:31	STS-126 (ISS Quest)	Stephen G. Bowen Robert S. Kimbrough	Completed replacement of trundle bearing assemblies on starboard SARJ, lubricated the port SARJ, installed a video camera, re‐installed insulation covers on the Kibo External Facility berthing mechanism, performed Kibo robotic arm grounding tab maintenance, installed spacewalk handrails on Kibo, installed Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) antennae on Kibo, photographed radiators, and photographed trailing umbilical system cables.[44]
23 December 00:51	5 hours 38 minutes	06:29	Expedition 18 (ISS Pirs)	Michael Fincke Yuri Lonchakov	Install Langmuir probe, EXPOSE-R and IPI-SM experiments.[45]	EXPOSE-R installation failed[45]

Orbital launch summary

By country

Country		Launches	Successes	Failures	Partial failures	Remarks
	China	11	11	0	0
	Europe	6	6	0	0
	India	3	3	0	0
	International	6	6	0	0	Sea Launch / Land Launch
	Iran	1	0	1	0	First orbital launch attempt[46]
	Japan	1	1	0	0
	Russia /  CIS	26	25	0	1
	United States	15	14	1	0
World		69	66	2	1

By rocket

By family

Family	Country	Launches	Successes	Failures	Partial failures	Remarks
Ariane	Europe	6	6	0	0
Atlas	United States	2	2	0	0
Delta	United States	5	5	0	0
H-II	Japan	1	1	0	0
Falcon	United States	2	1	1	0
Long March	People's Republic of China	11	11	0	0
Pegasus	United States	2	2	0	0
PSLV	India	3	3	0	0
R-7	Russia	10	10	0	0
R-14	Russia	3	3	0	0
R-36	Ukraine	2	2	0	0
Safir	Iran	1	0	1	0	Maiden flight
Space Shuttle	United States	4	4	0	0
Universal Rocket	Russia	11	10	0	1
Zenit	Ukraine /  Russia	6	6	0	0

By type

Rocket	Country	Family	Launches	Successes	Failures	Partial failures	Remarks
Ariane 5	Europe	Ariane	6	6	0	0
Atlas V	United States	Atlas	2	2	0	0
Delta II	United States	Delta	5	5	0	0
Dnepr	Ukraine	R-36	2	2	0	0
H-IIA	Japan	H-II	1	1	0	0
Falcon 1	United States	Falcon	2	1	1	0
Kosmos	Russia	R-12/R-14	3	3	0	0
Long March 2	People's Republic of China	Long March	4	4	0	0
Long March 3	People's Republic of China	Long March	4	4	0	0
Long March 4	People's Republic of China	Long March	3	3	0	0
Molniya	Russia	R-7	1	1	0	0
Pegasus	United States	Pegasus	2	2	0	0
Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle	India	PSLV	3	3	0	0
Proton	Russia	Universal Rocket	10	9	0	1
Safir	Iran	Safir	1	0	1	0	Maiden flight
Soyuz	Russia	R-7	8	8	0	0
Soyuz-2	Russia	R-7	1	1	0	0
Space Shuttle	United States	Space Shuttle	4	4	0	0
UR-100	Russia	Universal Rocket	1	1	0	0
Zenit	Ukraine /  Russia	Zenit	6	6	0	0

By configuration

Rocket	Country	Type	Launches	Successes	Failures	Partial failures	Remarks
Ariane 5 ES	Europe	Ariane 5	1	1	0	0	Maiden flight
Ariane 5 ECA	Europe	Ariane 5	5	5	0	0
Atlas V 411	United States	Atlas V	1	1	0	0
Atlas V 421	United States	Atlas V	1	1	0	0
Delta II 7320	United States	Delta II	1	1	0	0
Delta II 7420	United States	Delta II	2	2	0	0
Delta II 7920H	United States	Delta II	1	1	0	0
Delta II 7925	United States	Delta II	1	1	0	0
Dnepr	Ukraine	Dnepr	2	2	0	0
H-IIA 2024	Japan	H-IIA	1	1	0	0
Falcon 1	United States	Falcon 1	2	1	1	0	First successful launch[47]
Kosmos-3M	Russia	Kosmos	3	3	0	0
Long March 2C	People's Republic of China	Long March 2	1	1	0	0
Long March 2D	People's Republic of China	Long March 2	2	2	0	0
Long March 2F	People's Republic of China	Long March 2	1	1	0	0
Long March 3A	People's Republic of China	Long March 3	1	1	0	0
Long March 3B	People's Republic of China	Long March 3	1	1	0	0
Long March 3B/E	People's Republic of China	Long March 3	1	1	0	0
Long March 3C	People's Republic of China	Long March 3	1	1	0	0	Maiden flight
Long March 4B	People's Republic of China	Long March 4	2	2	0	0
Long March 4C	People's Republic of China	Long March 4	1	1	0	0
Molniya-M/2BL	Russia	Molniya	1	1	0	0
Pegasus-XL	United States	Pegasus	2	2	0	0
Proton-K/DM-3	Russia	Proton	1	1	0	0
Proton-M/DM-2	Russia	Proton	2	2	0	0
Proton-M/Briz-M	Russia	Proton	7	6	0	1
PSLV-CA	India	PSLV	2	2	0	0
PSLV-XL	India	PSLV	1	1	0	0	Maiden flight
Rokot/Briz-KM	Russia	UR-100	1	1	0	0
Safir	Iran	Safir	1	0	1	0	Maiden flight
Soyuz-2.1b	Russia	Soyuz-2	1	1	0	0
Soyuz-FG	Russia	Soyuz	2	2	0	0
Soyuz-FG/Fregat	Russia	Soyuz	1	1	0	0
Soyuz-U	Russia	Soyuz	5	5	0	0
Space Shuttle	United States	Space Shuttle	4	4	0	0
Zenit-3SL	Ukraine /  Russia	Zenit	5	5	0	0
Zenit-3SLB	Ukraine /  Russia	Zenit	1	1	0	0	Maiden flight

By launch site

Site	Country	Launches	Successes	Failures	Partial failures	Remarks
Baikonur	Kazakhstan	19	18	0	1
Cape Canaveral	United States	3	3	0	0
Dombarovsky	Russia	1	1	0	0
Jiuquan	People's Republic of China	3	3	0	0
Kapustin Yar	Russia	1	1	0	0
Kennedy	United States	4	4	0	0
Kwajalein Atoll	Marshall Islands	4	3	1	0	Two launches used Stargazer aircraft
Kourou	France	6	6	0	0
Ocean Odyssey	International	5	5	0	0
Plesetsk	Russia	6	6	0	0
Satish Dhawan	India	3	3	0	0
Semnan	Iran	1	0	1	0	First orbital launch attempt
Taiyuan	People's Republic of China	4	4	0	0
Tanegashima	Japan	1	1	0	0
Vandenberg	United States	4	4	0	0
Xichang	People's Republic of China	4	4	0	0

By orbit

Orbital regime	Launches	Successes	Failures	Accidentally Achieved	Remarks
Low Earth orbit	36	34	2	0	11 to ISS
Medium Earth orbit	4	4	0	1
Geosynchronous/transfer	25	24	1	0
High Earth orbit	4	4	0	0	Including lunar transfer and Molniya orbits

See also

• List of human spaceflights, 2000-present
• Suborbital spaceflight in 2008
• Timeline of spaceflight

References

Krebs, Gunter. "Chronology of Space Launches". Kyle, Ed. "Space Launch Report". McDowell, Jonathan. "Jonathan's Space Report". Pietrobon, Steven. "Steven Pietrobon's Space Archive". Wade, Mark. "Encyclopedia Astronautica". Webb, Brian. "Southwest Space Archive". "NASASpaceFlight.com". "Spaceflight Now". "Space Information Center". JAXA. "Space Calendar". NASA JPL. "ISS Calendar". Spaceflight 101. "Launch Forecast". Space.com. Clark, Stephen. "Launch Schedule". Spaceflight Now. "U.S. Space Objects Registry". "Хроника освоения космоса" [Chronicle of space exploration]. Cosmoworld.ru (in Russian).

Generic references:

Footnotes

1. "36.243 UG McCandliss/Johns Hopkins University". NASA Sounding Rockets Office. 11 January 2008. Archived from the original on 11 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-15.
2. McDowell, Dr. Jonathan (2008-03-14). "Issue 593". Jonathan's Space Report. Retrieved 2008-03-15.
3. Krebs, Gunter (2008-03-15). "Orbital Launches of 2008". Gunter's Space Page. Archived from the original on 30 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-18.
4. Baldwin, Emily (2008-10-08). "Cassini prepares for double flyby of Enceladus". Astronomy Now. Retrieved 2009-01-04.
5. "NASA Phoenix Mars Lander Confirms Frozen Water". NASA. 2008-06-20. Archived from the original on 22 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-04.
6. "Ulysses". Science and Technology. ESA. Retrieved 2009-01-04.
7. Harwood, William (2008-05-02). "Whitson describes rough Soyuz entry and landing". Spaceflight Now. Archived from the original on 19 December 2008. Retrieved 2009-01-04.
8. Clark, Stephen (2008-09-27). "China accomplishes its first spacewalk". Spaceflight Now. Archived from the original on 19 December 2008. Retrieved 2009-01-04.
9. Pearlman, Robert Z. "The 100th Soyuz flight that (maybe) isn't". collectSPACE. Archived from the original on 14 October 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-12.
10. Slimmer, Fran (2008-03-14). "ILS Declares Proton Launch Anomaly". International Launch Services. Archived from the original on 18 March 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-15.
11. "Boeing Patent Shuts Down AMC-14 Lunar Flyby Salvage Attempt". Space-Travel.com. 2008-04-10. Retrieved 2008-04-11.
12. "Participants". The Explorers Flight. Celestis. Archived from the original on 31 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-04.
13. "Iran says it has put first dummy satellite in orbit, sparks U.S. concern". www.hurriyet.com.tr. Retrieved 2015-11-29.
14. Karimi, Nasser (2008-08-17). "Iran tests rocket for future launch of satellite". Fox News. Retrieved 2009-01-04.
15. Tennant, Diane (22 August 2008). "NASA destroys rocket shortly after launch at Wallops Island". Virginian Pilot. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
16. "U.S. to launch missile at broken satellite". MSNBC. 2008-02-14. Retrieved 2008-03-15.
17. "US Missile hits 'toxic satellite'". BBC News. 2008-02-21. Retrieved 2008-03-15.
18. Halvorson, Todd (2008-01-02). "Lofty Launch Goals Set for 2008". Space.com. Archived from the original on 15 December 2008. Retrieved 2009-01-03.
19. "NASA Selects 23 Participating Scientists for MESSENGER Mission to Mercury". Mercury Today. 2007-11-20. Retrieved 2008-03-17.
20. "NASA's Phoenix lands successfully on Mars". NASASpaceflight.com. 2008-05-25. Retrieved 2008-05-26.
21. "Chandrayaan-1 Successfully Enters Lunar Orbit". ISRO. 2008-11-08. Archived from the original on 18 November 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-08.
22. Harwood, William (2008-01-30). "Station spacewalk begins". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 2008-03-21.
23. Harwood, William (2008-01-30). "Spacewalk concludes". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 2008-03-21.
24. Ray, Justin (2008-02-11). "STS-122 Mission Status Center". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 2008-03-21.
25. Harwood, William (2008-02-09). "Spacewalk delayed 24 hours by crew medical issue". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 2008-03-21.
26. Harwood, William (2008-02-20). "STS-122 Archive". CBS News. Retrieved 2008-03-21.
27. Harwood, William (2008-03-14). "STS-123 Archive". CBS News. Retrieved 2008-03-21.
28. Ray, Justin (2008-03-24). "STS-123 - Mission Status Center". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 2008-03-26.
29. Gebhardt, Chris (2008-03-23). "STS-123: Final EVA completed as OBSS takes up ISS stay". NASASpaceflight.com. Retrieved 2008-03-23.
30. Bergin, Chris (2008-06-03). "Kibo joins the ISS during EVA-1, SARJ issue - No Focused Inspection". NASASpaceflight.com. Retrieved 2008-06-13.
31. Ray, Justin (2008-05-31). "STS-124 Mission Status Center". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 2008-05-31.
32. Bergin, Chris (2008-06-05). "STS-124: EVA-2 aids Kibo/SARJ - OBSS issue evaluated". NASASpaceflight.com. Retrieved 2008-06-13.
33. Bergin, Chris (2008-06-05). "EVA-3 checks SARJ, relocates NTA - Endeavour APU changeout". NASASpaceflight.com. Retrieved 2008-06-13.
34. Ray, Justin (2008-07-10). "Mission Status Center". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 2008-07-10.
35. Harwood, William (2008-07-10). "Spacewalkers to cut open Soyuz and remove pyrobolt". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 2008-07-10.
36. Harwood, William (2008-07-15). "Russian spacewalk concludes successfully". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
37. "Astronauts Resume Spacewalk After Tools Lost". NASA. Archived from the original on 1 February 2010. Retrieved 2008-11-18.
38. Harwood, William. "Bag of tools escapes from spacewalker and floats away". Spaceflightnow.com. Archived from the original on 4 January 2009. Retrieved 2008-11-18.
39. Bergin, Chris. "EVA-2 marks 10th birthday for ISS". NASA Spaceflight.com. Retrieved 2008-11-20.
40. Harwood, William. "Spacewalk No. 2 ends". Spaceflightnow.com. Archived from the original on 4 January 2009. Retrieved 2008-11-20.
41. NASA (2008-11-20). "STS-126 MCC Status Report #13". NASA. Retrieved 2008-11-21.
42. Harwood, William. "One trundle bearing left for final spacewalk". Spaceflightnow.com. Archived from the original on 3 January 2009. Retrieved 2008-11-22.
43. Harwood, William. "Spacewalk No. 3 ends". Spaceflightnow.com. Archived from the original on 2 January 2009. Retrieved 2008-11-22.
44. Harwood, William (24 November 2008). "Spacewalk No. 4 ends". Spaceflightnow.com. Archived from the original on 2 January 2009. Retrieved 2008-11-24.
45. Bergin, Chris (2008-12-23). "ISS Spacewalk completed - SARJ results show promise following STS-126 work". NASASpaceflight.com. Archived from the original on 27 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-23.
46. McDowell, Dr. Jonathan (2008-09-04). "Issue 599". Jonathan's Space Report. Retrieved 2008-09-11.
47. Bergin, Chris (2008-09-28). "LIVE: Space X's Falcon I launch success". NASASpaceflight.com. Archived from the original on 30 September 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-29.