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The Downlink Volume 4, Issue 1

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	The Downlink	The WikiProject Spaceflight Newsletter
		2026 1 — 31 January

Volume 4 — Issue 1
Spaceflight Project • Project discussion • Members • Assessment • Open tasks • Popular pages • The Downlink
In the News NASA called off a planned spacewalk of SpaceX Crew-11 on 8 January, and later cancelled the mission outright, after one of the crewmembers, Mike Fincke, was reported to have a medical complication. This was the first time that this occurred in US history. On 11 January, the Pandora spacecraft was successfully launched. Pandora is designed to study the atmospheres of transiting exoplanets, with the intention of identifying targets for future observation.
Article of the month Exoplanetary Circumstellar Environments and Disk Explorer Exoplanetary Circumstellar Environments and Disk Explorer (EXCEDE) is a proposed space telescope for NASA's Explorer program to observe circumstellar protoplanetary and debris discs and study planet formation around nearby (within 100 parsecs) stars of spectral classes M to B. Had it been selected for development, it was proposed to launch in 2019. The spacecraft concept proposed to use a 70 centimeter diameter telescope-mounted coronagraph called PIAA (Phase Induced Amplitude Apodized Coronagraph) to suppress starlight in order to be able to detect fainter radiation of circumstellar dust. Characterizing constitution of such disks would provide clues for planetary formation (mostly in habitable zones), while already existing exoplanets can be detected through their interaction with dust disk. The project's Principal Investigator is Glenn Schneider.	Image of the month Wernher von Braun with the Rocketdyne F-1 engines Pictured here are two titans of spaceflight history: Dr. Wernher von Braun, one of the main figures of the early American space program and designer of both the Saturn V and V-2 rockets, and five (four visible) Rocketdyne F-1 engines, used on the Saturn V Dynamic Test Vehicle. Dr. von Braun's career is noted for a great number of achievements in human spaceflight, including the Apollo mission which successfully put human beings on the moon; nevertheless, it is burdened with the shadow of his activities in the Nazi Party, especially concerning his work on the V-2. The engines behind him, in addition to being immense, have the honor of being the only engines used to get humans to the moon, as of the time of writing. Developed in the late 1950s, the 8,400 kilograms (18,500 lb) engines are still the most powerful single combustion chamber liquid-propellant rocket ever made.
Members New Members: GiftedIceCream (24 January) Number of active members: 219. Total number of members: 446. January Launches All times stated here are in UTC. See a complete list here. Falcon 9 Block 5 — various, including Pandora (11 Jan. at 13:44:50) (success) PSLV-DL — various, including EOS-N1 and THEOS-2A (12 Jan. at 04:48:30) (launch failure) Ceres-2 — various (17 Jan. at 04:05) (launch failure)	Article Statistics This data reflects values from 31 January 2026. Spaceflight articles by quality and importance Quality Importance Top High Mid Low NA ??? Total FA 6 30 15 8 59 FL 3 4 4 11 FM 124 124 A 1 2 1 4 GA 12 26 34 59 2 133 B 16 77 196 236 6 531 C 44 170 607 860 1 58 1,740 Start 15 134 1,026 2,701 499 4,375 Stub 5 195 1,986 296 2,482 List 11 119 110 239 1 44 524 Category 1,282 1,282 Disambig 48 48 File 275 275 Portal 55 55 Project 109 109 Redirect 2 43 143 1,248 1,436 Template 534 534 NA 2 2 Other 34 34 Assessed 105 566 2,232 6,237 3,713 905 13,758 Unassessed 1 8 127 136 Total 105 567 2,232 6,245 3,713 1,032 13,894 Monthly Changes Since December 2025, there are two fewer top-importance, two more high-importance, two more mid-importance, 19 more low-importance, 20 more NA-importance, and 31 more unknown-importance articles, for a total of 72 new articles. There are also three more GA-class, three more B-class, twelve more C-class, eleven more Start-class, and eleven more Stub-class articles, and three more lists.
Discuss & propose changes to The Downlink at The Downlink talk page. To unsubscribe from the newsletter remove your name from the Mailing list. Newsletter contributors: Ships&Space

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 19:43, 3 March 2026 (UTC)

The Downlink Volume 4, Issue 2

	The Downlink	The WikiProject Spaceflight Newsletter
		2026 1 — 28 February

Volume 4 — Issue 2
Spaceflight Project • Project discussion • Members • Assessment • Open tasks • Popular pages • The Downlink
In the News The first crewed spaceflight of 2026, SpaceX Crew-12, was launched on the 13th. Four astronauts were flown to the ISS in an atypical indirect handover that was caused by the early return of Crew-11 due to a medical emergency. On the 14th, the ESA lost contact with PROBA-3, a dual-probe technological demonstration mission for chronographic high-precision formation flying. Specifically, the Chronograph Spacecraft lost orientation and drifted away from the Occulter.
Article of the month Parking orbit A parking orbit is a temporary orbit used during the launch of a spacecraft. A launch vehicle follows a trajectory to the parking orbit, then coasts for a while, then engines fire again to enter the final desired trajectory. An alternative trajectory that is used on some missions is direct injection, where the rocket fires continuously (except during staging) until its fuel is exhausted, ending with the payload on the final trajectory. This technique was first used by the Soviet Venera 1 mission to Venus in 1961.	Image of the month Space Shuttle Endeavour prior to rendezvous with the International Space Station Part of a series of photographs, this image depicts the Space Shuttle Endeavour prior to rendezvous and docking with the International Space Station as part of STS-130 in 2010. It was taken from the station by a member of Expedition 22 when the ISS was 183 nautical miles above the South Pacific, off the coast of southern Chile. Earth is in the bottom-left; the orange part of the atmosphere is the troposphere, the white band in the middle is the stratosphere, and the blue section is the mesosphere.
Members New Members: none Number of active members: 219. Total number of members: 446. February Launches All times stated here are in UTC. See a current list here. Proton-M/DM-03 — Elektro–L №5, Jam-e-Jam 1 (12 Feb. at 08:52:15) (success) Vulcan Centaur VC4S — GSSAP-7/-8, USA-584 (12 Feb. at 09:22:00) (success)	Article Statistics This data reflects values from 28 February 2026. Spaceflight articles by quality and importance Quality Importance Top High Mid Low NA ??? Total FA 6 30 15 8 59 FL 3 4 4 11 FM 124 124 A 1 2 1 4 GA 12 26 34 59 2 133 B 16 77 196 238 7 534 C 44 170 609 868 1 61 1,753 Start 15 134 1,026 2,713 503 4,391 Stub 5 194 1,976 297 2,472 List 11 119 111 242 1 44 528 Category 1,284 1,284 Disambig 48 48 File 274 274 Portal 55 55 Project 109 109 Redirect 2 43 141 1,248 1,434 Template 533 533 NA 2 2 Other 1 37 38 Assessed 105 566 2,234 6,251 3,716 914 13,786 Unassessed 1 9 128 138 Total 105 567 2,234 6,260 3,716 1,042 13,924 Monthly Changes Since January 2026, there are two more mid-importance, fifteen more low-importance, three more NA-importance, and ten more unknown-importance articles, for a total of 30 new articles. There are also three more B-class, thirteen more C-class, sixteen more Start-class, and ten fewer Stub-class articles, and four more lists.
Discuss & propose changes to The Downlink at The Downlink talk page. To unsubscribe from the newsletter remove your name from the Mailing list. Newsletter contributors: Ships&Space

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 02:34, 26 March 2026 (UTC)

The Downlink Volume 4, Issue 3

	The Downlink	The WikiProject Spaceflight Newsletter
		2026 1 — 31 March

Volume 4 — Issue 3
Spaceflight Project • Project discussion • Members • Assessment • Open tasks • Popular pages • The Downlink
In the News On 22 March, Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 31 was used for the first time since being damaged in November 2025. Progress MS-33, a resupply mission to the ISS, was launched from the site following substantial repairs. ESA launched the first two satellites in the Celeste constellation on 28 March. They were launched aboard a Electron launch vehicle, marking the first time ESA has used the vehicle. China's Qingzhou cargo spacecraft was tested for the first time on 30 March. Launched on the maiden flight of the Kinetica 2, the prototype performed a number of tests in coordination with another satellite.
Article of the month OTV-2 The X-37B back on Earth after completing OTV-2 OTV-2 (also known as USA-226) was the first flight of the second Boeing X-37B, an American unmanned robotic vertical-takeoff, horizontal-landing spaceplane. It was launched aboard an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral on 5 March 2011, and landed at Vandenberg Air Force Base on 16 June 2012. It operated in low Earth orbit. Its USA-226 mission designation is part of the USA series. The spaceplane was operated by Air Force Space Command, which has not revealed the specific identity of the payload for the first flight. The Air Force stated only that the spacecraft would "demonstrate various experiments and allow satellite sensors, subsystems, components, and associated technology to be transported into space and back."	Image of the month STS-1 This section is an excerpt from STS-1.[edit] STS-1 (Space Transportation System-1) was the first orbital spaceflight of NASA's Space Shuttle program. The first orbiter, Columbia, launched on April 12, 1981, and returned on April 14, 1981, 54.5 hours later, having orbited the Earth 37 times. Columbia carried a crew of two—commander John W. Young and pilot Robert L. Crippen. It was the first American crewed space flight since the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) in 1975. STS-1 was also the maiden test flight of a new American spacecraft to carry a crew, though it was preceded by atmospheric testing (ALT) of the orbiter and ground testing of the Space Shuttle system. The launch occurred on the 20th anniversary of Vostok 1, the first human spaceflight, performed by Yuri Gagarin for the USSR. This was a coincidence rather than a celebration of the anniversary; a technical problem had prevented STS-1 from launching two days earlier, as was planned.
Members New Members: Swedmark111 (26 March) Number of active members: 220. Total number of members: 447. March Launches All times stated here are in UTC. See a current list here. Alpha Block 1 — ICOR SV (11 Mar. at 00:50:00) (success) Soyuz-2.1a — Progress MS-33 (22 Mar. at 11:59:51) (success) Rocket Lab Electron — Celeste IOD-1/-2 (28 Mar. at 09:14:00) (success) Kinetica 2 — New March 01/02, TS 01 (30 Mar. at 11:00:00) (success)	Article Statistics This data reflects values from 31 March 2026. Spaceflight articles by quality and importance Quality Importance Top High Mid Low NA ??? Total FA 6 30 15 8 59 FL 3 4 4 11 FM 124 124 A 1 2 1 4 GA 12 26 34 59 3 134 B 16 77 196 239 7 535 C 44 170 609 875 1 68 1,767 Start 15 134 1,026 2,724 511 4,410 Stub 5 194 1,974 298 2,471 List 11 119 111 244 1 45 531 Category 1,285 1,285 Disambig 48 48 File 274 274 Portal 55 55 Project 109 109 Redirect 2 43 142 1,250 1,437 Template 533 533 NA 2 2 Other 45 45 Assessed 105 566 2,234 6,270 3,727 932 13,834 Unassessed 1 6 121 128 Total 105 567 2,234 6,276 3,727 1,053 13,962 Monthly Changes Since February 2026, there are 16 more Low-importance, eleven more NA-importance, and eleven more Unknown-importance articles, for a total of 38 new articles. There are also one more GA-class, one more B-class, 14 more C-class, 19 more Start-class, one fewer Stub-class articles, and three more lists.
Discuss & propose changes to The Downlink at The Downlink talk page. To unsubscribe from the newsletter remove your name from the Mailing list. Newsletter contributors: Ships&Space

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 17:38, 29 April 2026 (UTC)

The Downlink Volume 4, Issue 4

	The Downlink	The WikiProject Spaceflight Newsletter
		2026 1 — 30 April

Volume 4 — Issue 4
Spaceflight Project • Project discussion • Members • Assessment • Open tasks • Popular pages • The Downlink
In the News Artemis II, the first crewed mission to the moon since Apollo 17, was launched on 1 April. During the lunar flyby, it became the furthest spaceflight in human history on the 6th. Integrity, the re-entry vehicle, splashed down southwest of San Diego on the 11th. On 8 April, the first satellites of the Celeste (LEO-PNT) constellation began broadcasting navigation signals for the first time.
Featured Content The image "STS-133 Space Shuttle Discovery after undocking" was promoted to Featured Media status on 30 April. It was nominated by Moonreach.
Article of the month Gallaudet Eleven The Gallaudet Eleven were a group of eleven deaf men recruited in the late 1950s and 1960s to participate in a joint research program led by NASA and the U.S. Naval School of Aviation Medicine (later changed to Aerospace Medical Association) to study the effects of prolonged weightlessness on the human body. They were selected for participation in the study because damage they had sustained to the vestibular systems of their inner ears had granted them immunity to motion sickness, making them uniquely resilient to certain physical studies that would have made other test subjects nauseous.	Image of the month Clayton Anderson under weightlessness A demonstration of weightlessness by astronaut Clayton Anderson, particularly its effect on liquids. The water's surface tension keeps it in a sphere, which here results in the light reflecting off of Anderson being refracted in such a way that it appears upside-down. It is only upside-down relative to Anderson, as there is no "up" or "down" in a weightless environment beyond convention.
Members New Members: DevonHalDraedle (10 April) SpooklesMan (11 April) Kr0ndstat (15 April) JerryAkpan5001 (15 April) ParanormalCaramel (16 April) Nicknme (21 April) AZenit3 (30 April) Number of active members: 225. Total number of members: 454. April Launches All times stated here are in UTC. See a current list . Space Launch System Block 1 — various, including Artemis II (1 Apr. at 22:35:12) (success) Tianlong-3 — unknown (3 Apr. at 04:17:00) (launch failure) New Glenn — BlueBird 7 (19 Apr. at 11:25:00) (launch failure) Falcon 9 Block 5 — USA-585 (21 Apr. 06:53:00) (success)	Article Statistics This data reflects values from 30 April 2026. Spaceflight articles by quality and importance Quality Importance Top High Mid Low NA ??? Total FA 6 30 15 8 59 FL 3 4 4 11 FM 124 124 A 1 2 1 4 GA 12 26 34 58 3 133 B 16 78 196 242 8 540 C 44 170 613 894 1 78 1,800 Start 15 133 1,023 2,727 510 4,408 Stub 5 193 1,973 323 2,494 List 11 119 111 244 1 48 534 Category 1,280 1,280 Disambig 47 47 File 277 277 Portal 55 55 Project 108 108 Redirect 2 42 145 1,259 1,448 Template 533 533 NA 1 1 Other 1 45 46 Assessed 105 566 2,233 6,297 3,731 970 13,902 Unassessed 1 7 110 118 Total 105 567 2,233 6,304 3,731 1,080 14,020 Monthly Changes Since March 2026, there are one fewer Mid-importance, 28 more Low-importance, four more NA-importance, and 27 more Unknown-importance articles, for a total of 58 new articles. There are also one fewer GA-class, five more B-class, 33 more C-class, two fewer Start-class, 23 more Stub-class articles, and three more lists.
Discuss & propose changes to The Downlink at The Downlink talk page. To unsubscribe from the newsletter remove your name from the Mailing list. Newsletter contributors: Ships&Space

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 16:22, 31 May 2026 (UTC)

The Downlink Volume 4, Issue 5

	The Downlink	The WikiProject Spaceflight Newsletter
		2026 1 — 31 May

Volume 4 — Issue 5
Spaceflight Project • Project discussion • Members • Assessment • Open tasks • Popular pages • The Downlink
In the News On 15 May, NASA's Psyche flew 4,500 kilometres (2,800 mi) above the surface of Mars while performing a gravity assist. SMILE was launched on 19 May. A joint mission of ESA and CAS, SMILE aims to study the effects of solar wind on Earth's magnetosphere. On 22 May, Starship flight test 12 was performed. This was the first use of both the Block 3 and Starbase's second launch pad. The ICARUS Initiative launched the first of its ICARUS 2.0 constellation's satellites on 3 May. The satellite, named RAVEN, was constructed by EnduroSat, and is built to track animal migrations.
Article of the month Polyus (spacecraft) Polyus on the Energia rocket The Polyus spacecraft (Russian: Полюс, pole), also known as Polus, Skif-DM, GRAU index 17F19DM, was a prototype Soviet orbital weapons platform designed to destroy Strategic Defense Initiative satellites with a megawatt carbon-dioxide laser. It had a Functional Cargo Block derived from a TKS spacecraft to control its orbit and it could launch test targets to demonstrate the fire control system.	Image of the month Integrated Truss Structure of the ISS This graphic is an exploded view of the Integrated Truss Structure, the long segment that has the ISS' distinctive solar panels. The first piece, Z1, was installed in October 2000, while the most recent addition, S6, being installed in October 2007; the current configuration of the ITS dates to June 2023. In addition to providing electricity via the solar panels, the ITS is the location of energy storage, with battery assemblies on the P4/6 and S4/6 segments. These each consist of 24 lithium-ion batteries, for a total of 96 batteries.
Members New Members: ThePrehistoricBlob12345 (19 May) RockyKT (21 May) A Random Hylian (21 May) Analemnas (26 May) The Boat Boy (31 May) Doeze (31 May) Number of active members: 230. Total number of members: 460. May Launches All times stated here are in UTC. See a current list here. Zhuque-2E — Dingzhihua Shiyan Zaihe (14 May at 03:00:00) (success) Vega C — SMILE	Article Statistics This data reflects values from 31 May 2026. Spaceflight articles by quality and importance Quality Importance Top High Mid Low NA ??? Total FA 6 30 15 8 59 FL 3 4 4 11 FM 124 124 A 1 2 1 4 GA 12 26 34 58 3 133 B 17 78 197 245 8 545 C 42 171 617 904 1 76 1,811 Start 15 133 1,025 2,731 510 4,414 Stub 5 192 1,975 340 2,512 List 11 117 112 244 1 50 535 Category 1,281 1,281 Disambig 47 47 File 276 276 Portal 55 55 Project 108 108 Redirect 2 43 144 1,258 1,447 Template 534 534 NA 1 1 Other 1 47 48 Assessed 104 565 2,241 6,315 3,733 987 13,945 Unassessed 6 113 119 Total 104 565 2,241 6,321 3,733 1,100 14,064 Monthly Changes Since April 2026, there are one fewer Top-importance, two fewer High-importance, eight more Mid-importance, 17 more Low-importance, two more NA-importance, and twenty more Unknown-importance articles, for a total of 44 new articles. There are also five more B-class, eleven more C-class, six more Start-class, 18 more Stub-class articles, and one more list.
Discuss & propose changes to The Downlink at The Downlink talk page. To unsubscribe from the newsletter remove your name from the Mailing list. Newsletter contributors: Ships&Space

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 16:28, 11 June 2026 (UTC)