Special Delivery!

Air Date: October 10, 2016

On October 13 at 9:24 pm, Orbital Sciences will launch from Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Virginia, sending 2,400 kilos of supplies to the International Space Station. Their last launch attempt was two years ago in October 2014 when the rocket failed shortly after launch.

Chinese space station Tiangong 1 will re-enter sometime late next year. You can see it on October 14 at 7:30pm, 46 degrees up in the SSE sky. Tiangong 2 is visible at 5:40 am that same day, 72 degrees up in the NNW.

October is a landmark space month: NASA celebrates its 58th year of space exploration. Tuesday marks the 59th anniversary of the first artificial satellite, Sputnik(1957 – Soviet Union). And Wednesday would be the father of American rocketry, Robert Goddard’s, 127th birthday – he was born in 1889.

WHYY is your source for fact-based, in-depth journalism and information. As a nonprofit organization, we rely on financial support from readers like you. Please give today.