SPACE FLIGHT 2006 - The Year in Review

Table 1. Some significant Space Events in 2006

Designation	Date	Country	Event
New Horizons	Jan 19	United States	Launch on a Atlas 5 as humankind�s first mission to the planet Pluto, with flyby at Jupiter in Feb. 2007, to arrive at Pluto in summer 2015.
Akari (Astro-F)	Feb 21	Japan	Infrared observatory, launched by JAXA on an M-V rocket into a 462-mi. (739 km) high polar orbit. Mass: 2,035 lbs (925 kg).
MRO	March 10	United States	Arrival of NASA�s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) at the Red Planet and start of maneuvers into final science orbit at 155 mi. (250 km) x 196 mi. (316 km).
Soyuz TMA-8IISS-12S	March 29	Russia	Launch of the 7th ISS crew rotation flight on a Soyuz-FG, bringing the Expedition 13 crew of Pavel Vinogradov & Jeffrey Williams, plus 8-day visitor Marcos Cezar Pontes.
Venus Express	April 11	Europe	Arrival of ESA�s first Venus exploration probe at the target planet, after a 153 day cruise, to study Venus from a 250 x 60,000 km/24-hour orbit.
Progress M-56/21P	April 24	Russia	Uncrewed logistics cargo/resupply mission to the International Space Station ISS, on a Soyuz-U rocket.
CloudSat/ CALIPSO	April 28	United States	Launch of twin environmental satellites by NASA on a Delta 2 into a polar orbit at 438 mi. (705 km) for observation of cloud & aerosol effects on climate & weather.
Progress M-57/22P	June 24	Russia	Uncrewed logistics cargo/resupply mission to the International Space Station ISS, on a Soyuz-U rocket.
STS-121 (Discovery)	July 4	United States	The long delayed 2nd shuttle �Return to Flight� Mission (ULF1.1) to ISS, with cargo for ISS, ESA Astronaut Thomas Reiter for ISS, and 3 EVAs during a 13d 6h 37m mission.
STS-115 (Atlantis)	Sept 9	United States	ISS Mission 12A with new truss elements (P3/P4) to resume station assembly and deployment of new solar arrays, with 3 EVAs, for a mission duration of 11d 19h 6m.
Soyuz TMA-9IISS-13S	Sept 18	Russia	Launch of the 8th crew rotation flight to ISS on a Soyuz-FG, bringing the Expedition 14 crew of M. Lopez-Alegria & M. Tyurin, plus first female space tourist Anousheh Ansari (10d).
Progress M-58/23P	Oct 23	Russia	Uncrewed logistics cargo/resupply mission to the International Space Station ISS, on a Soyuz-U rocket.
STEREO-A/STEREO-B	Oct 25	United States	Launch of twin �Solar-Terrestrial Relations Observatory� satellites by NASA on a Delta 2 into solar orbit, STEREO-A ahead of Earth, STEREO-B trailing behind Earth.
STS-116 (Discovery)	Dec 9	United States	ISS Mission 12A.1 with the P5 truss element for assembly, ISS crewmember Sunita Williams to replace Thomas Reiter, four EVAs. Total mission duration: 12d 20h 45m.