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News Archive: Dec. 1-31 |
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10,000 Earths' worth of dust near star explosion
Astronomers have at last found definitive evidence that the universe's first dust - the celestial stuff that seeded future generations of stars and planets - was forged in the explosions of massive stars.
 FULL STORY
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AIM gives unprecedented view of mysterious clouds
NASA's AIM satellite has provided the first global-scale, full-season view of iridescent polar clouds that form 50 miles above Earth's surface. The Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) mission is the first satellite dedicated to the study of these noctilucent or "night-shining" clouds.
FULL STORY
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NASA study reveals less water in Mars' clouds
Martian clouds may contain less water than previously thought, according to a new NASA study. Laboratory measurements of simulated martian clouds reveal that scientists may have been overestimating the amount of water in the planet's atmosphere.
FULL STORY
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New view of galaxy reveals furious star formation
A furious rate of star formation discovered in a distant galaxy shows that galaxies in the early universe developed either much faster or in a different way from what astronomers have thought.
FULL STORY
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Jets are a real drag
Astronomers have found the best evidence yet of matter spiraling outward from a young, still-forming star in fountain-like jets. Due to the spiral motion, the jets help the star to grow by drawing angular momentum from the surrounding accretion disk.
FULL STORY
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Shuttle launch date up in the air as repairs ordered
NASA managers Thursday cleared engineers to remove the external components of a suspect feed-through connector built into the wall of the shuttle Atlantis' external tank in a bid to fix intermittent electrical problems with engine cutoff sensors.
FULL STORY
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Russians launch three more navigation satellites
A Proton rocket packed with three new satellites to restore Russia's space-based navigation system to full domestic service bolted into the night sky and flew into orbit Tuesday.
FULL STORY
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Space rock could hit Mars
An asteroid recently discovered by The University of Arizona's Catalina Sky Survey has a one-in-75 chance of hitting Mars in January, scientists tracking it say.
FULL STORY
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Return to Europa: A closer look is possible
Jupiter's moon Europa is just as far away as ever, but new research is bringing scientists closer to being able to explore its tantalizing ice-covered ocean and determine its potential for harboring life.
FULL STORY
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COROT offers surprises a year after launch
The space-borne telescope, COROT (Convection, Rotation and planetary Transits), has just completed its first year in orbit. The observatory has brought in surprises after over 300 days of scientific observations.
FULL STORY
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Shuttle boss hopes for quick fix to sensor woes
Engineers have been provisionally cleared to remove a suspect feed-through plug and an external connector from the shuttle Atlantis' external fuel tank for laboratory testing and a possible fix to eliminate intermittent electrical glitches with low-level engine-cutoff sensors.
FULL STORY
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Ariane 5 launches for record 6th time this year
Flying for the sixth and final time this year, an Ariane 5 rocket pierced a mostly cloudy evening sky with a picture-perfect launch to deploy two communications satellites serving populations in Africa and North America.
FULL STORY
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OTHER HEADLINES Additional stories today
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NASA delays Mars Scout mission from 2011 to 2013 -- NASA announced Friday that the next mission in the Mars Scout program, originally planned for launch in 2011, is now targeted for launch in 2013 because of an organizational conflict of interest.
NASA awards Tracking and Data Relay Satellite contract -- NASA has awarded a contract to Boeing for two satellites, known as TDRS-K and TDRS-L, that will replenish the NASA communication relay network that provides telecommunications links between low Earth orbiting spacecraft and the ground.
Boeing to build a sixth Wideband Global SATCOM -- Boeing announced that the U.S. Air Force has exercised an option for a sixth Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) satellite and has authorized Boeing to begin construction. The Commonwealth of Australia is funding the procurement as part of a cooperative agreement between the U.S. and Australian governments.
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Final Delta launch of 2007 lofts new GPS satellite
A productive year for the Delta rocket program that launched spacecraft to observe Earth, dig up frozen water on Mars and explore uncharted worlds in the asteroid belt was capped with a successful ascent of a modernized GPS navigation satellite on Thursday afternoon from Cape Canaveral.
FULL STORY
MISSION STATUS CENTER
IMAGES: LAUNCH PHOTO GALLERY
IMAGES: LAUNCH PAD CAMERAS
IMAGES: TOWER ROLLBACK
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 VIDEO:
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NASA managers assess
shuttle repair options
NASA managers Wednesday reviewed options for fixing suspect low-level engine cutoff - ECO - sensors in the shuttle Atlantis' fuel tank. No final decisions were made and potential launch dates were not discussed. But shuttle Program Manager Wayne Hale, officials said, ruled out any discussion of launching Atlantis as is.
FULL STORY
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Station resident's mother killed in car accident
Space station astronaut Dan Tani's 90-year-old mother, Rose, was killed Wednesday when her car was struck by a train in Lombard, Ill., a suburb of Chicago, police said.
FULL STORY
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NASA studying options to fix solar array problems
Shuttle or space station astronauts likely will be asked to replace a faulty motor assembly on the right side of the lab's power truss early next year that is needed to pivot a solar blanket from side to side to improve power generation. A different problem in a massive rotary joint used to turn the right-side solar panels like a giant paddle wheel will take longer to resolve.
FULL STORY
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Additional coverage for subscribers:
VIDEO:
POST-EVA RECAP BRIEFING PLAY
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SPACEWALK PREVIEW NEWS CONFERENCE PLAY
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Atlantis fueling test points to source of sensor trouble
Precisely timing how electrical pulses moved back and forth through suspect engine cutoff sensor wiring during a fueling test Tuesday indicates intermittent open circuits that grounded the shuttle Atlantis on Dec. 6 and 9 were caused by problems in a critical-three part "feed-through" connector.
FULL STORY
MISSION STATUS CENTER - live updates
PREVIEW STORY
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POST-TANKING TEST NEWS CONFERENCE PLAY
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'Death Star' galaxy black hole fires at neighbor
A powerful jet from a super massive black hole is blasting a nearby galaxy, according to new findings from NASA observatories. This never-before witnessed galactic violence may have a profound effect on planets in the jet's path and trigger a burst of star formation in its destructive wake.
FULL STORY
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NASA to begin testing engine that will power Ares
NASA will begin testing core components of a rocket engine from the Apollo era. Data from the tests will help NASA build the next generation engine that will power the nation's new Ares launch vehicles on voyages that will send humans to the moon.
FULL STORY
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OTHER HEADLINES Additional stories today
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NASA climate change 'peacemakers' aided Nobel effort -- It's not every day that a NASA scientist can wake up and think, "Hey, I did something for world peace." But last week, many NASA Earth scientists did exactly that.
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NASA sends spacecraft on mission to comet Hartley 2
NASA has approved the retargeting of the Epoxi mission for a flyby of comet Hartley 2. Hartley 2 was chosen as Epoxi's destination after the initial target, comet Boethin, could not be found. Scientists theorize comet Boethin may have broken up into pieces too small for detection.
FULL STORY
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Voyager 2 proves the solar system is squashed
NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft has followed its twin Voyager 1 into the solar system's final frontier, a vast region at the edge of our solar system where the solar wind runs up against the thin gas between the stars.
FULL STORY
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Shuttle target launch date moved to Jan. 10
Launch of shuttle Atlantis on a critical space station assembly mission, delayed twice because of problems with troublesome low-level fuel sensors, will slip an additional week, from Jan. 2 to no earlier than Jan. 10, to give support personnel time off over the Christmas and New Year holidays, NASA managers said Thursday.
FULL STORY
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Canadian radar-imaging spacecraft launched
Canada's next-generation eye-in-the-sky satellite successfully soared into space at the tip of a Soyuz rocket Friday to collect the world's sharpest commercially available radar imagery.
FULL STORY
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Planetary scientists close in on Saturn's elusive rotation
Somewhere deep below Saturn's cloud tops, the planet rotates at a constant speed. Determining this interior period of rotation has proven extremely complicated. Now, with new Cassini results, a team of European scientists have taken an important step forward.
FULL STORY
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Saturn's rings may be old as solar system
New observations by NASA's Cassini spacecraft indicate the rings of Saturn, once thought to have formed during the age of the dinosaurs, instead may have been created roughly 4.5 billion years ago when the solar system was still under construction.
FULL STORY
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Cassini images invisible ring around Saturn
Scientists have gotten their best "look" ever at the invisible ring of energetic ions trapped in Saturn's giant magnetic field, finding that it is asymmetric and dynamic, unlike similar rings that appear around Earth.
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OTHER HEADLINES Additional stories today
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Earth's magnetic field could protect lunar astronauts -- It has been 35 years since humans last walked on the moon, but there has been much recent discussion about returning, either for exploration or to stage a mission to Mars. However, there are concerns about potential radiation danger for astronauts during long missions on the lunar surface.
Lockheed opens lab for Orion and Constellation -- Lockheed Martin has opened its new space Exploration Development Laboratory in a ceremony dedicating the facility to support NASA's Project Orion and Constellation Program. Orion is America's next-generation human spaceflight vehicle that will transport up to six astronauts to and from the International Space Station and up to four to the moon and destinations beyond, beginning in 2015 after the space shuttle is retired.
Ares rocket avionics contractor picked by NASA -- NASA has selected The Boeing Company as the prime contractor to produce, deliver and install avionics systems for the Ares I rocket that will launch the Orion crew exploration vehicle into orbit. The selection is the final major contract award for Ares I.
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Atlantis to be fueled again for more troubleshooting
Engineers are drawing up plans to load the shuttle Atlantis' external tank with supercold liquid hydrogen next week in a critical test to pinpoint the source of elusive, intermittent electrical problems in low-level fuel sensors that derailed two launch attempts.
FULL STORY
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More Atlas 5 launch photos
This collection of images from United Launch Alliance photographers captures the Atlas 5 rocket's liftoff from Cape Canaveral on Monday afternoon for a classified National Reconnaissance Office mission.
IMAGES: MORE LAUNCH PHOTOS
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THE ATLAS 5 ROCKET LAUNCHES ON NROL-24 MISSION PLAY
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OUR WIDESCREEN LAUNCH MOVIE FROM PRESS SITE PLAY
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Craft make new discoveries about Northern Lights
A fleet of NASA spacecraft, launched less than eight months ago, has made three important discoveries about spectacular eruptions of Northern Lights called "substorms" and the source of their power.
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Mission to reveal moon's structure and evolution
NASA has selected a new mission that will peer deep inside the moon to reveal its anatomy and history. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory will manage the Grail mission. The spacecraft will be built by Lockheed Martin.
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Controllers trying to get GOES satellite back to work
After being knocked out of action last week by a serious control problem, one of the primary tools for U.S. weather forecasters will soon again be transmitting real-time weather imagery if a recovery plan succeeds.
FULL STORY
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Atlas 5 lofts clandestine communications satellite
Its thunderous departure out of Cape Canaveral on Monday afternoon was hard to miss, but the hush-hush ascent of the Atlas 5 rocket was wrapped in an unusual cloak of secrecy as the booster propelled high above Earth a classified spacecraft designed to communicate with spy satellites.
FULL STORY
MISSION STATUS CENTER - live updates!
IMAGES: ROLLOUT PHOTO GALLERY
IMAGES: LAUNCH PHOTO GALLERY
IMAGES: LAUNCH PAD CAMERAS
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VIDEO:
THE ATLAS 5 ROCKET LAUNCHES ON NROL-24 MISSION PLAY
VIDEO:
OUR WIDESCREEN LAUNCH MOVIE FROM PRESS SITE PLAY
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Shuttle Atlantis launch delayed to January
Sunday's launch of space shuttle Atlantis was called off after one of the troublesome liquid hydrogen sensors failed during fueling. The mission has been delayed until the next launch period opens in January.
FULL STORY
MISSION STATUS CENTER - live updates!
SCRUB STORY
FUELING BEGINS
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Additional coverage for subscribers:
VIDEO:
NEWS CONFERENCE AFTER THE SCRUB PLAY
VIDEO:
POST-SCRUB INTERVIEW WITH LAUNCH DIRECTOR PLAY
VIDEO:
LAUNCH OF ATLANTIS SCRUBBED AGAIN PLAY
VIDEO:
HYDROGEN SENSOR NO. 3 FAILS PLAY
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Italian-made Earth observer soars into space
The second in a series of Italian radar satellites rocketed away from Earth on Saturday night, achieving a spot-on delivery into polar orbit aboard a Delta 2 rocket launched from California.
MISSION STATUS CENTER - live updates!
IMAGES: LAUNCH PHOTO GALLERY
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Shuttle Atlantis counting down to Sunday launch try
NASA's Mission Management Team has cleared the shuttle Atlantis for a second launch attempt Sunday, but agreed that any additional problems with suspect low-level hydrogen fuel sensors in the ship's external tank will trigger another delay.
FULL STORY
EARLIER STORY
MISSION STATUS CENTER - live updates!
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VIDEO:
SATURDAY AFTERNOON NEWS CONFERENCE PLAY
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FRIDAY NIGHT NEWS CONFERENCE PLAY
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NASA shoots for Sunday launch of shuttle Atlantis
Hoping critical fuel sensors will work properly the second time around, NASA managers Friday tentatively rescheduled the shuttle Atlantis for a delayed launch Sunday afternoon to kick off a high-profile mission to deliver Europe's Columbus research module to the international space station.
FULL STORY
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Saturn's small moons tell the story of their origins
Imaging scientists on NASA's Cassini mission are telling a tale of how the small moons orbiting near the outer rings of Saturn came to be. The moons began as leftover shards from larger bodies that broke apart and filled out their "figures" with the debris that made the rings.
FULL STORY
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Spacecraft reveals new insights into solar wind
Images from NASA-funded telescopes aboard a Japanese satellite have shed new light about the sun's magnetic field and the origins of solar wind, which disrupts power grids, satellites and communications on Earth.
FULL STORY
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OTHER HEADLINES Additional stories today
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Supercomputer simulation to help find missing matter -- Much of the gaseous mass of the universe is bound up in a tangled web of cosmic filaments that stretch for hundreds of millions of light-years, according to a new supercomputer study by a team led by the University of Colorado at Boulder.
JWST testing to find infrared light for Christmas -- A model of the James Webb Space Telescope's Mid-InfraRed Instrument will be tested before Christmas at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire, England to ensure the final instrument can see infrared light.
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Saturday is earliest shuttle Atlantis can launch
After a five-hour Mission Management Team meeting, NASA managers Thursday decided to delay the shuttle Atlantis' launch on a space station assembly mission until Saturday at the earliest because of problems with the circuitry associated with critical engine cutoff sensors in the ship's external tank.
FULL STORY
STS-122 QUICK-LOOK
MEET THE ASTRONAUTS
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Additional coverage for subscribers:
VIDEO:
THURSDAY'S POST-SCRUB NEWS CONFERENCE PLAY
VIDEO:
LAUNCH DIRECTOR GIVES UPDATE ON THE SCRUB PLAY
VIDEO:
PAD 39A ROTATING SERVICE STRUCTURE RETRACTED PLAY
VIDEO:
TIME-LAPSE MOVIE OF PAD GANTRY ROLLBACK PLAY
VIDEO:
STS-122 ASTRONAUT BIOGRAPHIES PLAY
VIDEO:
NARRATED OVERVIEW OF ATLANTIS' MISSION PLAY
VIDEO:
INSIGHTS INTO COLUMBUS SCIENCE LABORATORY PLAY
VIDEO:
ATLANTIS' PAYLOAD BAY DOORS CLOSED FOR FLIGHT PLAY
VIDEO:
WEDNESDAY'S COUNTDOWN STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
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STS-122 PRE-LAUNCH NEWS CONFERENCE PLAY
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Hubble shows how white dwarfs get their 'kicks'
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope is providing strong evidence that white dwarfs, the burned out relics of stars, are given a "kick" when they form.
FULL STORY
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Were the first stars dark?
Perhaps the first stars in the newborn universe did not shine, but instead were invisible "dark stars" 400 to 200,000 times wider than the sun and powered by the annihilation of mysterious dark matter, a University of Utah study concludes.
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OTHER HEADLINES Additional stories today
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Radiation flashes may help crack cosmic mystery -- Faint, fleeting blue flashes of radiation emitted by particles that travel faster than the speed of light through the atmosphere may help scientists solve one of the oldest mysteries in astrophysics.
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Atlantis astronauts arrive for start of countdown
The crew of the shuttle Atlantis flew to the Kennedy Space Center Monday for the start of the countdown to blastoff Thursday on a long-awaited mission to attach a European laboratory to the international space station.
FULL STORY
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Additional coverage for subscribers:
VIDEO:
TUESDAY'S COUNTDOWN STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO:
CREW INTERVIEW WITH STEVE FRICK PLAY
VIDEO:
CREW INTERVIEW WITH ALAN POINDEXTER PLAY
VIDEO:
CREW INTERVIEW WITH LELAND MELVIN PLAY
VIDEO:
CREW INTERVIEW WITH REX WALHEIM PLAY
VIDEO:
CREW INTERVIEW WITH HANS SCHLEGEL PLAY
VIDEO:
CREW INTERVIEW WITH STANLEY LOVE PLAY
VIDEO:
CREW INTERVIEW WITH LEOPOLD EYHARTS PLAY
VIDEO:
MONDAY'S COUNTDOWN STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO:
CREW ARRIVES AT KENNEDY SPACE CENTER PLAY
VIDEO:
STS-122 MISSION OVERVIEW BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO:
BRIEFING ON THE SPACEWALKS PLAY
VIDEO:
CREW'S PRE-FLIGHT BRIEFING PLAY
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Shuttle Atlantis poised for blastoff Thursday
NASA managers have cleared the shuttle Atlantis and its crew for blastoff Thursday afternoon on
a long-awaited flight to attach the European Space Agency's Columbus research lab to
the international space station.
FULL STORY
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VIDEO:
POST-FLIGHT READINESS REVIEW BRIEFING PLAY
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Embryonic star captured with jets flaring
A developing star wrapped in a black cocoon of dust is seen sprouting giant jets in a new image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.
FULL STORY
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OTHER HEADLINES Additional stories today
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GLAST satellite at Naval Research Lab for testing -- NASA's Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) has arrived at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, for its final round of testing.
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Read our earlier news archive page.
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