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The Flight of Faith 7

The final and longest manned flight of Project Mercury was carried out by astronaut Gordon Cooper in May 1963. This film shows the voyage of Faith 7.

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STS-62 crew report

Shuttle mission STS-62 was a two-week flight of Columbia with packages of microgravity research experiments housed on pallets in the payload bay. The crew narrates the highlights in this film.

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Pegasus launches AIM

An air-launched Pegasus rocket lofts NASA's AIM satellite into orbit to study mysterious clouds at the edge of space.

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The Sun in 3-D

NASA's twin STEREO spacecraft have made the first three-dimensional images of the Sun. Scientists unveil the images in this news conference held April 23.

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Hubble turns 17

The Hubble Space Telescope was launched in April 1990, opening a new window on the universe that has revolutionized our understanding of the cosmos.

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Lockheed to add signal to modernized GPS satellite
LOCKHEED MARTIN NEWS RELEASE
Posted: April 29, 2007

KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa. -- The U.S. Air Force has awarded Lockheed Martin a $6 million contract to develop and integrate a demonstration payload that will temporarily transmit a third civil signal on a modernized Global Positioning System Block IIR (GPS IIR-M) satellite.

This new contract directs Lockheed Martin and its navigation payload supplier ITT in Clifton, N.J. to provide an on-orbit demonstration capability for the new civil signal. The signal, located on the L5 frequency (1176MHz) will comply with international radio frequency spectrum requirements. The Block IIR-M spacecraft with the demonstration payload is planned for launch in 2008.

"We are pleased the Air Force has entrusted Lockheed Martin to provide this important on-orbit demonstration on a Block IIR-M spacecraft," said Don DeGryse, Lockheed Martin's vice president of Navigation Systems. "We take great pride in the programmatic and on-orbit performance of the GPS IIR-M spacecraft and look forward to helping our customer with this initiative."

Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Valley Forge, Pa., is the prime contractor for the GPS IIR program.  The company designed and built 21 IIR spacecraft for the Global Positioning Systems Wing, Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif. The final eight spacecraft, designated Block IIR-M, were modernized to enhance operations and navigation signal performance for military and civilian GPS users around the globe. ITT supplied all 21 navigation payloads for both the IIR and IIR-M spacecraft.

The GPS constellation provides critical situational awareness and precision weapon guidance for the military. The worldwide system also supports a wide range of civil, scientific and commercial functions - from air traffic control to the Internet - with precision location and timing information.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin employs about 140,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2006 sales of $39.6 billion.