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News Archive 2010: July
Will Mars rover Spirit eventually phone home?
NASA's aging Spirit Mars rover, stuck in loose soil and forced to endure the harsh martian winter with reduced solar power, has not phoned home since March 22 and officials warned Friday "a miracle" may be needed to restore the rover to limited operation.
FULL STORY
Three main engines bolted to space shuttle Endeavour
The shuttle Endeavour's three main engines were installed this week as workers prepare the ship's two solid rocket boosters and external tank for the program's final scheduled launch.
FULL STORY
Fishing industry agrees to more Japanese launches
The Japanese space agency can start launching rockets year-round next April after an influential fishing lobby agreed to lift a seasonal ban on flights from two space centers in the southern part of the country.
FULL STORY
Air Force will streamline launch manifest strategy
Future U.S. military satellites will be matched to Atlas and Delta launch vehicles as late as six months before launch, a new strategy the Air Force hopes will limit cascading delays stemming from late payload deliveries.
FULL STORY
Getting to Mars on a budget
NASA is discontinuing the Mars Scout line of relatively low-cost missions to the Red Planet, but there is still an opening for resourceful scientists seeking an inexpensive ticket for Mars research.
FULL STORY
Kepler mission on the verge of more planet discoveries
The Kepler space telescope has uncovered a treasure trove of candidate planets the size of Earth circling other stars, potentially reshaping scientists' view of the universe.
FULL STORY
Sea Launch reorganization plan wins court approval
A Delaware bankruptcy court confirmed Sea Launch's plan to reorganize under majority Russian ownership Tuesday, clearing a key hurdle on the firm's path to emerge from bankruptcy later this year.
FULL STORY
Spacewalkers complete overnight excursion
Two Russian cosmonauts working outside the International Space Station in the wee hours Tuesday morning wired up the autopilot homing beacon on the newest docking compartment and threw away a broken television camera on the outpost's back-end.
FULL STORY
Additional coverage for subscribers: VIDEO:
STEP-BY-STEP PREVIEW OF SPACEWALK PLAY VIDEO:
RUSSIAN SPACEWALK OVERVIEW BRIEFING PLAY SUBSCRIBE NOW
GAO finds Constellation slowdown is within the law
NASA has not broken federal law by diverting or withholding funds from the Constellation program, the Government Accountability Office reported Monday.
FULL STORY
Zombiesat has three more satellites in its crosshairs
The out-of-control Galaxy 15 spacecraft will pass near three more orbiting broadcast platforms before it loses power in late August or early September, putting an end to the zombie satellite's menacing tour of the geostationary arc.
FULL STORY
Troubled weather satellite receives final instrument
The next U.S. weather satellite has received its final observing instrument and will begin pre-launch environmental testing in October, NASA announced last week.
FULL STORY
Curiosity goes for a spin
The Curiosity rover took its first steps Friday inside a clean room at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, kicking off a test campaign to prove the $2.3 billion robot can operate on the surface of Mars.
FULL STORY
ESA space science missions await decisions abroad
The European Space Agency's selection of its next generation of space science probes will depend on upcoming decisions before science and budget panels in the United States and Japan.
FULL STORY
Competing NASA bills on collision course in Congress
House and Senate committees voted Thursday on vastly different visions for NASA's future, setting up a legislative clash on the roles of the agency and commercial vendors in the next phase of space exploration.
FULL STORY
Orbital plans Taurus 2 test flight with extra money
The Taurus 2 rocket could be launched on a standalone test flight next summer if NASA provides supplemental funding for commercial cargo services, Orbital Sciences Corp. officials told investment analysts Thursday.
FULL STORY
This Week In Space
A special edition of "This Week In Space" profiles the 35th anniversary of Apollo-Soyuz with exclusive interviews, plus Virgin Galactic takes flight and the Senate approves extra shuttle launch and heavy-lift rocket. Subscribe on iTunes to This Week in Space. Support This Week in Space by making a contribution to keep the show online. If you're interested in supporting This Week in Space through advertising, contact our team to find out how we can connect your organization with our viewers.
News Headlines
Boeing space capsule could be operational by 2015
Boeing executives pulled back the curtain on their concept for a commercial human space capsule this week at the Farnborough International Airshow, saying the CST-100 spacecraft could be ready for operational space station flights by 2015 if NASA awards contract money next year.
FULL STORY
Booster stacking underway for final shuttle launch
Workers started assembling twin solid rocket boosters this week to help power Endeavour toward orbit in February on the final scheduled launch of the space shuttle program.
FULL STORY
Mars sample return mission could begin with 2018 rover
Space officials in the United States and Europe are planning an ambitious dual-rover mission that could start collecting Martian soil samples in 2018 to be picked up by a subsequent mission and returned to Earth in the 2020s.
FULL STORY
House legislation does not compromise on NASA
A draft NASA bill being considered by the House Science Committee does not provide for an extra space shuttle mission and undercuts a compromise forged last week between the White House and Senate.
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Watch shuttle crews tell the joy of human spaceflight
It's a tradition for space shuttle astronauts to share their adventure with space enthusiasts, school children and the public. Spaceflight Now+Plus subscribers can watch presentations from nearly every space shuttle mission in our video archive, including two flights earlier this year.
SHUTTLE CREW PRESENTATIONS SUBSCRIBE NOW
Red Planet rover could emerge from slumber soon
NASA officials say the best chance to hear from the napping Spirit rover again will be in September or October, but the timing of the robot's revival from winter hibernation is an engineering guessing game.
FULL STORY
WISE mission completes first look through universe
The WISE infrared telescope finished surveying the universe Saturday, but its $320 million mission will continue until its funding and hydrogen coolant run out later this year.
FULL STORY
Second Falcon 9 rocket begins arriving at the Cape
Six weeks after the first Falcon 9 rocketed into orbit, pieces of the second launcher have begun arriving at Cape Canaveral for a shakedown flight of SpaceX's Dragon capsule in September, according to the company's top executive.
FULL STORY
Maneuvering engine attached to Discovery
Workers installed the shuttle Discovery's right-side Orbital Maneuvering System pod Thursday at the Kennedy Space Center after replacing a faulty helium valve.
FULL STORY AND PHOTO GALLERY
Compromise NASA bill gets bipartisan endorsement
A pivotal NASA authorization act passed Thursday by a U.S. Senate committee directs the space agency to fly an extra space shuttle mission next year and immediately start developing a heavy-lift rocket to send humans to an asteroid and Mars.
FULL STORY
Orbiting camera turns Martian surface into art
A sharp-eyed camera aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has sent back more stunning images of the Red Planet's surface showing colorful sand dunes, polar frost, and rocky features visible from space.
PHOTO GALLERY
Fuel tank for final shuttle welcomed at spaceport
The external fuel tank for the final scheduled space shuttle launch has arrived at the Kennedy Space Center after a five-day, 900-mile barge ride from Louisiana to the Cape.
FULL STORY AND PHOTO GALLERY
Additional coverage for subscribers: VIDEO:
TIME-LAPSE OF TANK ARRIVING AT THE CAPE PLAY VIDEO:
EXTERNAL TANK LEAVES THE FACTORY PLAY VIDEO:
TANK ROLLOUT CEREMONY IN NEW ORLEANS PLAY SUBSCRIBE NOW
NASA hopes to launch high-tech demos early and often
NASA's new space technology development program is taking a page from Google. The innovative Internet firm's mantra of launching products early and often could be the tagline for NASA's consolidated initiative to develop revolutionary space capabilities, according to the agency's chief technologist.
FULL STORY
Taurus 2 could launch astronauts from Florida
Orbital Sciences Corp. could reevaluate moving some of its Taurus 2 rocket missions from Virginia to Florida if the company wins a contract to launch astronauts or stacks its backlog with satellite launches, a senior company official said Tuesday. FULL STORY
This Week In Space
This Week: The search for hazards from unknown near-Earth asteroids, the last shuttle fuel tank leaves factory, next round of workforce layoffs and NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden's Muslim comment. Subscribe on iTunes to This Week in Space. Support This Week in Space by making a contribution to keep the show online. If you're interested in supporting This Week in Space through advertising, contact our team to find out how we can connect your organization with our viewers.
News Headlines
Bankrupt Sea Launch signs contract with AsiaSat
Sea Launch netted a contract last week to send an unspecified AsiaSat communications satellite to orbit between 2012 and 2014, strengthening the company's backlog as it hopes to emerge from bankruptcy later this year. FULL STORY
Indian rocket successfully hauls five satellites to orbit
India sent an all-purpose Earth observation satellite into orbit early Monday, replenishing the country's fleet of mapping spacecraft for resource planning and security applications. FULL STORY
Comet-bound probe returns pictures of cratered asteroid
Europe's Rosetta spacecraft flew less than 2,000 miles from asteroid Lutetia Saturday, snapping pictures of the new world and collecting bonus science on a primitive relic of the solar system. FULL STORY IMAGES:FIRST VIEWS OF LUTETIA
Popular American television system gets a new satellite
A powerful reinforcement to bolster DISH Network's fleet of direct-to-home television broadcasting satellites climbed into orbit Saturday. FULL STORY PREVIEW STORY
Japanese craft goes solar sailing in deep space
An innovative solar sail launched in May has been accelerated by sunlight, successfully demonstrating a new fuel-saving propulsion technique in interplanetary space, the Japanese space agency announced Friday. FULL STORY
India blames April rocket mishap on third stage pump
The doomed launch of India's most powerful rocket in April was brought down by a turbopump failure in the vehicle's homemade third stage engine, the Indian Space Research Organization announced Friday. FULL STORY
Space agencies tackle waning plutonium supplies
While NASA is counting on an act of Congress or a renegotiated deal with Russia to acquire plutonium for its next robotic deep space missions, the European Space Agency is considering alternative nuclear fuels to power its own probes traveling into the sun-starved outer solar system. FULL STORY
Better safe than sorry: Rocket software being fixed
An improbable pitfall discovered in the Minotaur rocket's flight software, posing only a minuscule chance of ruining a mission, nevertheless will be patched before the booster launches a unique space surveillance craft, officials explained Thursday.
FULL STORY GROUND TRACK MAP LAUNCH EVENTS TIMELINE OUR MINOTAUR ARCHIVE
Rosetta will encounter unseen asteroid Saturday
The comet-bound Rosetta spacecraft will use its powerful instruments to see and sniff asteroid Lutetia Saturday, taking advantage of a fortuitous flyby of the perplexing object, which could be a chunk of primordial rock from the ancient solar system. FULL STORY
Ceremony marks unveiling of final shuttle fuel tank
The external tank for the final planned shuttle mission was rolled out of Lockheed Martin's Michoud Assembly Facility Thursday to begin the 900-mile voyage to the Kennedy Space Center for launch next February. FULL STORY
Cassini spies tiny moon
The Saturn-orbiting Cassini spacecraft has captured the best picture yet of the tiny moon it discovered in 2005, scientists said Wednesday. The miniature moon Daphnis is just 4.3 miles across. FULL STORY
Europe hopes to rescue Galileo from budget crunch
The European Union could request more funding for the Galileo navigation system from its cash-strapped member states by the end of this year, but it is unlikely European governments can afford to fully deploy the satellite fleet until after 2015, according to top space officials.
FULL STORY
United Space Alliance announces shuttle layoffs
With only two shuttle flights remaining on NASA's manifest, prime contractor United Space Alliance plans to lay off about 15 percent of its 8,100-strong space shuttle workforce Oct. 1, company officials announced Tuesday. FULL STORY
Scientists find dust inside Japan's asteroid capsule
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency announced Monday they found particles inside the Hayabusa mission's capsule that was supposed to scoop up a sample from the surface of asteroid Itokawa in 2005. FULL STORY
Europe's Planck telescope sees radiant universe
The European Space Agency released a spectacular picture of the microwave sky Monday, an artful mosaic of interstellar dust and the relic light from the birth of the universe.
FULL STORY LAUNCH COVERAGE
Resupply ship returns and docks to space station
The Russian-American crew living aboard the International Space Station welcomed the safe arrival of a cargo-delivery tug Sunday, two days after the freighter aborted its initial rendezvous and sailed by the orbiting complex. The second approach was flawless, leading to docking at 12:17 p.m. EDT.
FULL STORY SATURDAY UPDATE FRIDAY'S STORY
Additional coverage for subscribers: VIDEO:
FULL BROADCAST OF SUPPLY SHIP'S DOCKING PLAY VIDEO:
WATCH CARGO FREIGHTER DOCK TO SPACE STATION PLAY SUBSCRIBE NOW
Workers put finishing touches on new Soyuz pad
Engineers in South America finished constructing the framework of a 17-story mobile gantry for the Soyuz rocket in June, but the installation of pad systems continues in hopes of launching the Russian booster from the new facility by December, an Arianespace spokesperson said Friday.
FULL STORY
Europe, Canada eye extra Soyuz for station access
European and Canadian space officials are in talks with Russia to purchase dedicated Soyuz capsules to ferry their astronauts to the International Space Station.
FULL STORY
Thruster firing puts New Horizons back on track
The New Horizons mission speeding toward a fleeting visit to Pluto fired its thruster system for 35.6 seconds Wednesday, correcting a small error in the probe's trajectory into the outer fringes of the solar system.
FULL STORY
New launch dates targeted for remaining shuttles
After assessing payload processing issues and projected traffic to and from the International Space Station, NASA managers Thursday formally retargeted the program's final two missions for launches Nov. 1 and Feb. 26.
FULL STORY
VIDEO:
STEP-BY-STEP PREVIEW OF SPACEWALK 
