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News Archive: Oct. 1-31 |
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Engineers refine repair options for solar array
Repairing a mangled space station solar array is now NASA's top priority because of concern the ripped, partially deployed blanket could pull apart under the stresses and strains of normal operations, possibly forcing a future crew to dump the panels overboard, NASA officials said Wednesday.
 FULL STORY
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Additional coverage for subscribers:
 VIDEO:
THE FLIGHT DAY 9 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO:
WEDNESDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO:
CREW NEWS BRIEFING WITH U.S., ITALY, RUSSIA PLAY
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STS-120 VIDEO COVERAGE
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NASA plans solar array repair spacewalk on Friday
NASA managers Wednesday told the Discovery astronauts to forego a planned Thursday spacewalk to inspect a contaminated solar array rotary joint and instead to focus on a spacewalk Friday to attempt repairs of a torn and mangled space station solar array blanket.
FULL STORY
EARLIER STORY
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Space station solar wing tears during deployment
Engineers are scrambling to recover from a solar array hang up that ripped a two-and-a-half-foot tear in one fragile panel as the hinged blanket was pulled from its storage box Tuesday. The disheartening, hard-to-reach hang up occurred as the Discovery astronauts were "95 percent of the way to a perfect day," as one NASA official put it, moving the 17-ton P6 solar array truss segment to its permanent mounting point on the far left end of the lab's main power truss.
FULL STORY
VIDEO: STS-120 MISSION COVERAGE
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Additional coverage for subscribers:
VIDEO:
SOLAR ARRAY WING TEARS DURING DEPLOYMENT PLAY
VIDEO:
THE FLIGHT DAY 8 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO:
TUESDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO:
FIRST SOLAR ARRAY IS SUCCESSFULLY UNFURLED PLAY
VIDEO:
HOUSTON BEGINS SOLAR ARRAYS DEPLOY SEQUENCE PLAY
VIDEO:
SPARE POWER SWITCHING UNIT INSTALLED PLAY
VIDEO:
INSPECTIONS OF PORT-SIDE ROTARY JOINT PLAY
VIDEO:
RADIATOR UNFOLDED FROM THE P6 TRUSS PLAY
VIDEO:
THE ASTRONAUTS PAUSE FOR QUICK PHOTOS PLAY
VIDEO:
SPACEWALKERS REMOVE SHROUDS FROM P6 BOXES PLAY
VIDEO:
P6 TRUSS CAPTURED CLAW-LIKE INSTALL LATCH PLAY
VIDEO:
SPACEWALKERS HELP GUIDE P6 TRUSS INTO PLACE PLAY
VIDEO:
DOUG WHEELOCK EMERGES FROM AIRLOCK FOR EVA PLAY
VIDEO:
ROBOT ARM MOVES TRUSS FROM OVERNIGHT PARK SPOT PLAY
VIDEO:
NARRATED ANIMATION OF P6 TRUSS INSTALLATION PLAY
VIDEO:
PREVIEW OF TUESDAY'S SPACEWALK PLAY
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STS-120 VIDEO COVERAGE
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Spacewalkers re-attach
P6 solar array truss
Astronauts Scott Parazynski and Doug Wheelock went outside for a spacewalk Tuesday to re-attach the 35,000-pound P6 solar array truss after a two-day, 145-foot move, bolting it to the far left end of the space station's main power truss where it will remain for the life of the lab complex.
PORT JOINT INSPECTED
TRUSS CONNECTED
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NASA officially extends Discovery mission a day
Following a recommendation by space station managers Monday, the shuttle Discovery's mission has been extended by one day to permit a dedicated spacewalk devoted to inspecting an apparently contaminated solar array rotary joint. NASA managers want to track down the source of metallic shavings found inside the joint during a brief inspection Sunday to help figure out what might be needed to fix it.
FULL STORY
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Additional coverage for subscribers:
VIDEO:
THE FLIGHT DAY 7 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO:
MONDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO:
ANOTHER RADIATOR DEPLOYED FROM THE S1 TRUSS PLAY
VIDEO:
RADIATOR DEPLOYED FROM STARBOARD 1 TRUSS PLAY
VIDEO:
ASTRONAUTS HAVE SOME FUN IN HARMONY PLAY
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CREW INTERVIEWED BY ABC NEWS PLAY
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CREW INTERVIEWED BY NBC NEWS PLAY
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CREW INTERVIEWED BY CNN PLAY
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NARRATED ANIMATION OF RADIATOR DEPLOYS PLAY
VIDEO:
NARRATED ANIMATION OF PORT 6 HANDOFF PLAY
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STS-120 VIDEO COVERAGE
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Station power truss juggled between robotic arms
The space station's robot arm handed a 35,000-pound solar array truss segment to the shuttle's arm Monday as part of a carefully choreographed, step-by-step procedure to move the stowed arrays to the far left end of the station's main power truss.
FULL STORY
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Spacewalker finds debris in critical station truss joint
Space station engineers are scrambling to determine the source of unexpected debris in a critical solar array rotary joint and considering whether to order an additional, more thorough spacewalk inspection to figure out what sort of downstream repair work might be necessary.
FULL STORY
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Additional coverage for subscribers:
VIDEO:
THE FLIGHT DAY 6 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO:
POST-SPACEWALK MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO:
ROBOT ARM GRAPPLE BASE INSTALLED ON HARMONY PLAY
VIDEO:
STATION CABLING FOR P6 TRUSS CONFIGURED PLAY
VIDEO:
TANI COLLECTS SAMPLES OF DEBRIS IN ROTARY JOINT PLAY
VIDEO:
TANI DISCOVERS UNKNOWN DEBRIS INSIDE ROTARY JOINT PLAY
VIDEO:
THE PORT 6 TRUSS DETACHED FROM THE SPACE STATION PLAY
VIDEO:
SPACEWALKERS UNBOLT THE PORT 6 TRUSS PLAY
VIDEO:
NARRATED ANIMATION OF PORT 6 REMOVAL PLAY
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STS-120 VIDEO COVERAGE
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Power truss unbolted from station for relocation
Astronauts Scott Parazynski and Dan Tani conducted a six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk Sunday to disconnect a 35,000-pound solar array segment for a two-day move to the far left end of the space station's main power truss.
SPACEWALK CONCLUDES
SHAVINGS SEEN IN SARJ JOINT
P6 TRUSS DETACHED
PREVIEW STORY
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Additional coverage for subscribers:
VIDEO:
PREVIEW OF SUNDAY'S SPACEWALK PLAY
VIDEO:
BIOGRAPHY MOVIE ON DISCOVERY'S ASTRONAUTS PLAY
VIDEO:
BIOGRAPHY MOVIE ON EXPEDITION 16 CREW PLAY
VIDEO:
BIOGRAPHY ON NEW EXPEDITION 16 MEMBER DAN TANI PLAY
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STS-120 VIDEO COVERAGE
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Astronauts enter Harmony
Space station commander Peggy Whitson and Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli opened the hatch to the newly installed Italian-built Harmony module Saturday and floated into the roomy, brightly lighted room that will serve as the gateway to European and Japanese research modules scheduled for launch late this year and early next.
FULL STORY
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Additional coverage for subscribers:
VIDEO:
THE FLIGHT DAY 5 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO:
CREW INTERVIEWED BY CBS NEWS PLAY
VIDEO:
CREW INTERVIEWED BY FOX NEWS PLAY
VIDEO:
CREW INTERVIEWED BY WHAM-TV PLAY
VIDEO:
SATURDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO:
ASTRONAUTS ENTER HARMONY FOR FIRST TIME PLAY
VIDEO:
CREW COMMENTS FROM INSIDE HARMONY PLAY
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STS-120 VIDEO COVERAGE
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Harmony module hoisted to station during spacewalk
NASA managers said Friday's installation of the new Harmony module on the space station, and work by two spacewalking astronauts to prepare the P6 truss for its long-awaited detachment during a second spacewalk Sunday, went "extremely well." A task added to Sunday's EVA is a visual inspection of the massive rotary joint on the right side of the station's main power truss.
FULL STORY
SPACEWALK CONCLUDES
HARMONY HOISTED
ANTENNA REMOVED
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VIDEO: STS-120 MISSION COVERAGE
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Additional coverage for subscribers:
VIDEO:
THE FLIGHT DAY 4 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO:
POST-EVA MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO:
FIRST STS-120 SPACEWALK CONCLUDES PLAY
VIDEO:
ROBOT ARM INSTALLS HARMONY ON THE STATION PLAY
VIDEO:
HARMONY MODULE LIFTED OUT OF PAYLOAD BAY PLAY
VIDEO:
S-BAND ANTENNA STOWED IN DISCOVERY'S BAY PLAY
VIDEO:
WHEELOCK RIDES STATION ARM WITH ANTENNA PLAY
VIDEO:
MISSION STS-120'S SPACEWALK NO. 1 BEGINS PLAY
VIDEO:
ANIMATED PREVIEW OF HARMONY INSTALLATION PLAY
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NARRATED ANIMATION OF SHUTTLE PAYLOAD BAY PLAY
VIDEO:
HARMONY'S PRE-LAUNCH PREPS AT THE CAPE PLAY
VIDEO:
BACKGROUND INFO ON HARMONY MODULE PLAY
VIDEO:
PREVIEW OF FRIDAY'S SPACEWALK PLAY
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STS-120 VIDEO COVERAGE
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NASA says Discovery's heat shield in good shape
The shuttle Discovery appears to have come through its launch and climb to space in good shape with no major heat shield problems and no need for any additional, "focused" inspections before undocking, NASA managers said Thursday.
FULL STORY
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Additional coverage for subscribers:
VIDEO:
THE FLIGHT DAY 3 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO:
THURSDAY MANAGEMENT TEAM NEWS BRIEFING PLAY
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STS-120 VIDEO COVERAGE
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Russia's Proton rocket roars back into action
Just 51 days after a stage separation failure threatened to put a wrinkle in the Proton rocket's launch schedule, the heavy-lifting Russian vehicle returned to space during a Friday blastoff to loft three navigation satellites.
FULL STORY
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Discovery arrives at space station with smooth docking
Commander Pam Melroy deftly guided the shuttle Discovery to a "picture-perfect" docking with the international space station Thursday, setting the stage for the first of five spacewalks Friday to install a new module, move a huge solar array truss and test a potentially valuable heat shield repair technique.
FULL STORY
PREVIEW STORY
DOCKING TIMELINE
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Additional coverage for subscribers:
VIDEO:
POST-DOCKING MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO:
SHUTTLE CREW WELCOMED ABOARD STATION PLAY
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SHUTTLE DISCOVERY DOCKS TO THE STATION PLAY
VIDEO:
DISCOVERY PERFORMS 360-DEGREE BACKFLIP PLAY
VIDEO:
SHUTTLE APPROACHES STATION FROM BELOW PLAY
VIDEO:
NARRATED PREVIEW OF THE DOCKING PLAY
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STS-120 VIDEO COVERAGE
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Comet brightens a million times, visible to naked eye
A comet in the direction of the constellation Perseus has unexpectedly brightened by a million times in the past 24 hours. The comet is visible to the naked eye, having brightened yesterday to magnitude 2.7.
FULL STORY
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'Outstanding' performance from Discovery's fuel tank
The shuttle Discovery's foam-covered external fuel tank performed well during launch, NASA officials said Wednesday, shedding only a half-dozen pieces of insulation - all well after the period when such debris can pose an impact hazard - with no signs of damage to the orbiter's heat shield.
FULL STORY
THE MISSION FLIGHT PLAN
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Additional coverage for subscribers:
VIDEO:
THE FLIGHT DAY 2 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO:
BRIEFING ON LAUNCH IMAGERY AND TANK'S PERFORMANCE PLAY
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STS-120 VIDEO COVERAGE
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No obvious problems seen during shuttle wing scans
Discovery's crew used a laser scanner and a high-resolution digital camera on the end of a long boom Wednesday to inspect the ship's reinforced carbon carbon nose cap and wing leading edge panels in a now-standard exercise for post-Columbia crews.
FULL STORY
MORNING PREVIEW
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Additional coverage for subscribers:
VIDEO:
WEDNESDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO:
HEAT SHIELD INSPECTIONS EXPLAINED PLAY
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STS-120 VIDEO COVERAGE
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Shuttle Discovery launches
to space with Harmony
The shuttle Discovery, carrying seven astronauts and a critical connecting module for the international space station, roared to life and rocketed into orbit Tuesday, kicking off a high-stakes five-spacewalk mission considered by many the most complex orbital construction work ever attempted.
FULL STORY
PANORAMAS: PAD AT SUNSET | XENON LIGHTS
IMAGES: LAUNCH PHOTO GALLERY
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Additional coverage for subscribers:
VIDEO:
THE FLIGHT DAY 1 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO:
INSIDE MISSION CONTROL DURING LAUNCH PLAY
VIDEO:
DISCOVERY'S LAUNCH AS SEEN LIVE PLAY
VIDEO:
EXTERNAL TANK CAMERA FROM LIFTOFF TO ORBIT PLAY
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LAUNCH REPLAY: VAB ROOF PLAY
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LAUNCH REPLAY: KSC RUNWAY PLAY
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LAUNCH REPLAY: BEACH TRACKER PLAY
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LAUNCH REPLAY: UCS-23 WIDESCREEN PLAY
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LAUNCH REPLAY: PLAYALINDA WIDESCREEN PLAY
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LAUNCH REPLAY: WEST TOWER PLAY
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LAUNCH REPLAY: PRESS SITE PLAY
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LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 009 PLAY
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LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 049 PLAY
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LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 050 PLAY
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LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 051 PLAY
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LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 054 PLAY
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LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 060 PLAY
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LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 061 PLAY
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LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 063 PLAY
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LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 070 PLAY
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LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 071 PLAY
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LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA UCS-12 PLAY
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LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA UCS-15 PLAY
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LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA CS-1 PLAY
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LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA CS-2 PLAY
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LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA CS-6 PLAY
VIDEO:
THE CREW DEPARTS QUARTERS FOR THE PAD PLAY
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ASTRONAUTS SUITS UP ON LAUNCH MORNING PLAY
VIDEO:
A LOOK BACK AT SHUTTLE DISCOVERY'S HISTORY PLAY
VIDEO:
PAD 39A'S ROTATING GANTRY MOVED BACK PLAY
VIDEO:
INTERVIEW CLIPS WITH THE ASTRONAUTS PLAY
VIDEO:
MONDAY MORNING'S STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO:
PRE-LAUNCH NEWS CONFERENCE PLAY
VIDEO:
SUNDAY COUNTDOWN STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
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STS-120 VIDEO COVERAGE
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Chinese launch spacecraft
to explore the moon
China's burgeoning space program achieved another historic milestone during Wednesday's successful launch of the nation's first deep space probe on a one-year mission to study the moon from lunar orbit.
FULL STORY
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Discovery mission takes construction to new heights
Nine years after the United States and Russia began building the international space station, NASA is poised for what many agency insiders consider the most difficult assembly mission attempted to date, one that will test the limits of orbital construction.
PREVIEW STORY
STS-120 QUICK-LOOK
MISSION FLIGHT PLAN
COUNTDOWN TIMELINE
LAUNCH WINDOWS CHART
SHUTTLE ASCENT DATA
VIDEO: STS-120 MISSION COVERAGE
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Soyuz capsule makes 'ballistic' descent to Earth
The Soyuz TMA-10 spacecraft landed in Kazakhstan Sunday, bringing outgoing space station commander Fyodor Yurchikhin, flight engineer Oleg Kotov and Malaysia's first man in space, Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, safely back to Earth after a steeper-than-usual descent that left the ship well short of its intended landing site.
FULL STORY
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VIDEO:
SOYUZ TMA-11 SPACECRAFT UNDOCKS FROM STATION PLAY
VIDEO:
EXPEDITION 15 CREW BOARDS SOYUZ PLAY
VIDEO:
CHANGE OF COMMAND CEREMONY PLAY
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Mobile telephone satellites launched into space
Globalstar's satellite fleet has four new members after a Russian Soyuz rocket launched the replacement communication platforms Saturday to bolster the company's aging constellation.
FULL STORY
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Discovery's countdown targets a Tuesday launch
NASA's shuttle launch team has started Discovery's countdown for a launch attempt Tuesday on what many consider the most challenging space station assembly mission yet attempted. Forecasters are predicting a 60 percent chance of good weather.
FULL STORY
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Additional coverage for subscribers:
VIDEO:
SATURDAY COUNTDOWN STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
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Astronauts arrive for launch
Discovery's crew arrived at Kennedy Space Center on Friday afternoon for Tuesday's planned launch. Commander Pam Melroy, speaking at the runway, said the crew agreed with the decision to press ahead with launch despite a recommendation from an independent engineering group to replace three wing leading edge panels.
FULL STORY
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VIDEO:
WATCH THE CREW'S ARRIVAL FOR LAUNCH PLAY
VIDEO:
NEWS CONFERENCE AFTER FLIGHT READINESS REVIEW PLAY
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Hubble shows 'baby' galaxy is not so young after all
The Hubble Space Telescope has found out the true nature of a dwarf galaxy that astronomers had for a long time identified as one of the youngest galaxies in the Universe.
FULL STORY
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Heaviest stellar black hole found in nearby galaxy
Astronomers have located an exceptionally massive black hole in orbit around a huge companion star. This result has intriguing implications for the evolution and ultimate fate of massive stars.
FULL STORY
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OTHER HEADLINES Additional stories today
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NASA to open new competition for seed money -- NASA announced Thursday it will conduct a new competition for funding that remains in NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services Project, known as COTS.
NASA's successful FUSE mission concludes -- After an eight-year run that gave astronomers a completely new perspective on the universe, NASA has concluded the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer mission. The satellite, known as FUSE, became inoperable in July when the satellite lost its ability to point accurately and steadily at areas of interest.
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Upgraded satellite launched for the GPS constellation
A Global Positioning System satellite with enhanced qualities is flying high after successfully soaring into space Wednesday to reinvigorate a corner of the precision navigation network.
FULL STORY
MISSION STATUS CENTER
IMAGES: LAUNCH PHOTO GALLERY
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VIDEO:
THE DELTA 2 ROCKET BLASTS OFF WITH GPS 2R-17 PLAY
VIDEO:
GPS SATELLITE ANIMATION PLAY
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Shuttle boss confident suspect wing panels safe
Senior NASA managers Tuesday cleared the shuttle Discovery for launch Oct. 23 on a critical station assembly mission, concluding concern about the integrity of a protective coating on three of 44 wing leading edge panels did not warrant a lengthy delay.
FULL STORY
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NASA extends operations for long-lived Mars rovers
NASA is extending, for a fifth time, the activities of the Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity. The decision keeps the trailblazing mobile robotic pioneers active on opposite sides of Mars, possibly through 2009.
FULL STORY
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Cassini pinpoints hot sources of jets on Enceladus
A recent analysis of images from NASA's Cassini spacecraft provides conclusive evidence that the jets of fine, icy particles spraying from Saturn's moon Enceladus originate from the hottest spots on the moon's "tiger stripe" fractures that straddle the moon's south polar region.
FULL STORY
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Weather on Saturn's moon Titan: A methane drizzle
Noted for its bizarre hydrocarbon lakes and frozen methane clouds, Saturn's largest moon, Titan, also appears to have widespread drizzles of methane, according to a team of astronomers at the University of California, Berkeley.
FULL STORY
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Orbiter gives color views of possible Mars landing sites
Imagery from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is proving valuable to researchers studying possible landing sites for the Mars Science Laboratory, a mission launching in 2009 to deploy a long-distance rover carrying sophisticated science instruments on the Red Planet.
FULL STORY
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Atlas 5 pad panoramas |
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We present four picturesque panoramas taken at Cape Canaveral's Complex 41 on Wednesday afternoon, just a few hours before the Atlas 5 rocket was fueled and successfully launched to place a military communications satellite into orbit.
PANORAMA 1 | PANORAMA 2 | PANORAMA 3 | PANORAMA 4
PHOTO GALLERY | LAUNCH STORY
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New crew arrives at station aboard Soyuz capsule
The Soyuz TMA-11 capsule, carrying incoming space station commander Peggy Whitson, Russian flight engineer Yuri Malenchenko and Malaysia's first astronaut, docked with the international space station Friday to close out a two-day orbital chase.
FULL STORY
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VIDEO:
SOYUZ DOCKS TO THE SPACE STATION PLAY
VIDEO:
HATCH OPENING AND WELCOMING CEREMONY PLAY
VIDEO:
POST-DOCKING NEWS CONFERENCE PLAY
VIDEO:
EXPEDITION 16 CREW BIOS PLAY
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Damaged cable blamed for downing Proton rocket
Russian investigators have traced the cause of last month's Proton launch failure to a damaged cable fastened to an open-air truss connecting the booster's first and second stages, the rocket's commercial marketing firm said Thursday.
FULL STORY
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Cassini views Titan's land of lakes and seas
Newly assembled radar images from the Cassini spacecraft provide the best view of the hydrocarbon lakes and seas on the north pole of Saturn's moon Titan, while a new radar image reveals that Titan's south polar region also has lakes.
FULL STORY
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Cassini mission to Saturn celebrates 10 years
Celebrating the 10th anniversary of its launch from Cape Canaveral, the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn is once again at the center of scientific attention. Its latest discoveries about the ringed planet are a leading topic of conversation among the nearly 1,500 scientists gathered this week at a major astronomy conference in Orlando.
FULL STORY
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Military communications take 'quantum leap'
An advanced communications satellite with as much capacity as the entire orbiting fleet of craft that it will help replace was successfully shot into orbit Wednesday night atop a 19-story Atlas 5 rocket.
FULL STORY
MISSION STATUS CENTER
PREVIEW STORY
IMAGES: LAUNCH PHOTOS
IMAGES: MORE LAUNCH PHOTOS
IMAGES: ROLLOUT TO PAD
IMAGES: MORE ROCKET PHOTOS
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VIDEO:
LAUNCH SEEN FROM PRESS SITE PLAY
VIDEO:
PRE-LAUNCH NEWS CONFERENCE PLAY
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Space shuttle wing leading edge issue assessed
The shuttle Discovery's crew strapped in for a dress-rehearsal countdown Wednesday to clear the way for launch Oct. 23 on a critical space station assembly mission. NASA managers, meanwhile, met for a program-level flight readiness review but were unable to reach a consensus on whether to replace three suspect wing leading edge panels or to launch Discovery as is.
FULL STORY - updated
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Next space station crew rockets into Earth orbit
A Soyuz rocket roared to life and climbed away from the Baikonur Cosmodrome Wednesday, carrying the international space station's first female commander, a veteran Russian cosmonaut who commanded an earlier expedition and Malaysia's first space flier.
FULL STORY
PREVIEW STORY
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Additional coverage for subscribers:
VIDEO:
SOYUZ LAUNCH TO ORBIT MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO:
LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 1 PLAY
VIDEO:
LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 2 PLAY
VIDEO:
LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 3 PLAY
VIDEO:
LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 4 PLAY
VIDEO:
NARRATED HIGHLIGHTS OF CREW'S LAUNCH DAY PREPS PLAY
VIDEO:
ROLLOUT OF SOYUZ TO THE PAD PLAY
VIDEO:
SOYUZ ROCKET ASSEMBLY COMPLETED PLAY
VIDEO:
PRE-LAUNCH NEWS CONFERENCE PLAY
VIDEO:
EXPEDITION 16 PREVIEW BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO:
EXPEDITION 15 RECAP CONFERENCE PLAY
VIDEO:
INTERVIEW WITH PEGGY WHITSON PLAY
VIDEO:
INTERVIEW WITH YURI MALENCHENKO PLAY
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Cassini is on the trail of a runaway mystery
NASA scientists are on the trail of Iapetus' mysterious dark side, which seems to be home to a bizarre "runaway" process that is transporting vaporized water ice from the dark areas to the white areas of the Saturnian moon.
FULL STORY
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FUSE reaches the end
The intrepid never-say-die space telescope known as FUSE has finally reached its mission's end and will be turned off after more than eight years of discoveries on everything from planets and nearby stars to galaxies and quasars billions of light-years away.
FULL STORY
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Ariane 5 lofts satellite pair for Americas, Australia
An Ariane 5 rocket blasted away from its jungle launch pad in South America on Friday night, overcoming a technical glitch that stopped an initial countdown with just 10 seconds left on the clock.
FULL STORY
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Gamma-ray lighthouse at the edge of our universe
There is a gamma-ray lighthouse shining from the edge of our universe. Astronomers have discovered it using the European Space Agency's orbiting gamma-ray observatory, Integral. Now, they must work hard to understand it.
FULL STORY
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Goddard center proposing lunar science work
Pack your bags because "suitcase science" is taking off. Coming on the heels of two Lunar Sortie Science Opportunities awards for Goddard are two more, this time in the field of astrophysics. The studies could result in simple, automated "suitcase science" instrument packages deployed on the lunar surface by astronauts.
FULL STORY
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Japan puts spacecraft into orbit around the moon
Japan's Kaguya probe slid into lunar orbit late Wednesday after a circuitous 20-day trek from Earth to begin more than a dozen science investigations designed to gain insights about the moon's history.
FULL STORY
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Conditions found 'just right' for building an Earth
An Earth-like planet is likely forming 424 light-years away in a star system called HD 113766, say astronomers using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.
FULL STORY
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NASA craft to carry Russian science instruments
NASA and the Russian Federal Space Agency Roscosmos have agreed to fly two Russian scientific instruments on NASA spacecraft that will conduct unprecedented robotic missions to the moon and Mars.
FULL STORY
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Though colder than Earth, Titan is tropical in nature
If space travelers ever visit Saturn's largest moon, they will find a tropical world where temperatures plunge to minus 274 degrees Fahrenheit, methane rains from the sky and dunes of ice or tar cover the planet's most arid regions. These conditions reflect a cold mirror image of Earth's tropical and subtropical climates, according to scientists at the University of Chicago.
FULL STORY
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Extreme star cluster bursts to life in new Hubble image
The Hubble Space Telescope has captured a spectacular image of NGC 3603, a giant nebula hosting one of the most prominent massive young clusters in the Milky Way, thus supplying a prime template for star formation studies.
FULL STORY
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Satellite sees solar hurricane detach comet tail
One of NASA's pair of Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory satellites, known as STEREO, has captured the first images of a collision between a comet and a solar hurricane.
FULL STORY
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OTHER HEADLINES Additional stories today
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NASA assigns shuttle crew for STS-126 mission -- NASA has assigned the space shuttle crew for Endeavour's STS-126 mission, targeted for launch in September 2008. The flight will deliver equipment to the International Space Station that will enable larger crews to reside aboard the complex.
Research finds oxygen on Earth 2.5 billion years ago -- NASA-funded astrobiologists have found evidence of oxygen present in Earth's atmosphere earlier than previously known, pushing back the timeline for the rise of oxygen in the atmosphere.
Arctic sea ice changes leading to record low in 2007 -- A new NASA-led study found a 23-percent loss in the extent of the Arctic's thick, year-round sea ice cover during the past two winters. This drastic reduction of perennial winter sea ice is the primary cause of this summer's fastest-ever sea ice retreat on record and subsequent smallest-ever extent of total Arctic coverage.
MESSENGER wraps up radio science test -- MESSENGER's Radio Science team recently completed a month-long orbit simulation test to measure Doppler performance using the probe's low-gain radio frequency antennas. The test was conducted in an environment similar to one MESSENGER will encounter during its Mercury orbit phase in 2011-12.
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Read our earlier news archive page.
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