|
Sunday:
February 3, 2002 | |
0337 GMT |
 |
High winds scrub launch of Japan's H-2A rocket
The forecast of high winds at the time of Saturday night's launch of the Japanese H-2A rocket prompted officials to postpone the liftoff by 24 hours. The launch has been rescheduled for 9:28 p.m. EST Sunday night (0228 GMT Monday).
 MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates
LAUNCH EVENTS TIMELINE
MAP OF LAUNCH GROUND TRACK
H-2A ROCKET DIAGRAM
 | |
|
|
Space images show extent of Congo volcano eruption
New images from three NASA spacecraft chronicle the degree of devastation caused by the January 17 eruption of the Nyiragongo volcano in Congo. The eruption killed more than 100 people and forced the evacuation of hundreds of thousands more.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
Simulating Martian surface at the bottom of the world
An experiment designed by the Arkansas-Oklahoma Center for Space and Planetary Sciences, now in place on the polar plateau of Antarctica, may help interpret the recent history of Mars. The experiment is designed to measure the ability of ice to stop high-energy cosmic rays.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
|
Saturday:
February 2, 2002 | |
0239 GMT |
|
Pegasus rocket arrives at Cape for Tuesday launch
An Orbital Sciences Pegasus rocket and solar flare research satellite cargo made a transcontinental ferry flight Friday from the booster's home base in California to its launch site at Cape Canaveral, Florida.
MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates
| |
|
|
Looking for life's imprint -- light years away
"Are we alone in the universe?" Short of receiving a convenient radio transmission from another civilization, how can we find out if a distant world harbors some form of life?
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
|
Friday:
February 1, 2002 | |
0634 GMT |
|
Japan's H-2A rocket poised for weekend blastoff
The Japanese space agency has started the countdown to this weekend's critical test launch of its next-generation H-2A rocket that might one day launch commercial satellites into space.
MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates
LAUNCH EVENTS TIMELINE
MAP OF LAUNCH GROUND TRACK
H-2A ROCKET DIAGRAM
| |
|
|
Impressive new images released of Saturn and Io
The European Southern Observatory has recently obtained new views of the giant planet Saturn and Io, the volcanic moon of Jupiter. They show the two objects with great clarity, unprecedented for a ground-based telescope.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
Former astronaut among those picked for NASA jobs
NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe and the White House on Thursday announced a number of key nominations and appointments in an effort to fill open positions within the space agency.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
|
Thursday:
January 31, 2002 | |
0547 GMT |
|
NASA satellite to reenter Earth's atmosphere
The uncontrolled Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer satellite, in orbit for nearly a decade, was predicted to fall back to Earth over the northeast portion of the Persian Gulf Wednesday night, NASA said. Some debris from the 7,000-pound craft was expected to survive the fiery reentry, but the exact location of the impact zone was not immediately released by the space agency.
REENTRY PREVIEW STORY
| |
|
|
Odyssey arrives in final mapping orbit around Mars
NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft is now in its mapping orbit after completing two maneuvers this week to fine-tune its nearly circular orbit and prepare it for the start of the science mission.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
Vast hot gas plume in Centaurus galaxy cluster
This Chandra X-ray Observatory image of the Centaurus galaxy cluster shows a long plume-like feature resembling a twisted sheet. The plume is some 70,000 light years in length and has a temperature of about 10 million degrees Celsius.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
Scientists study unusual gel material aboard station
Operations continue aboard the International Space Station on the slow fractal sample initiated earlier this month by the Experiment on Physics of Colloids in Space science team. Of interest for its structure and behavior in a variety of Earth-based manufacturing fields, this material is 99.992 percent water and only 0.008 percent solid.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
|
Wednesday:
January 30, 2002 | |
0630 GMT |
|
Maiden Atlas 5 rocket to undergo crucial testing
The first Lockheed Martin Atlas 5 rocket, set for liftoff May 9, will be moved from its checkout facility to the new assembly building at Cape Canaveral's Complex 41 next week to be hoisted atop a mobile launching platform and readied for a series of demonstration tests over the next couple of months.
FULL STORY 
| |
|
|
RD-180 engine successfully completes testing program
Lockheed Martin has completed the test program of the RD-180 engine for the company's new Atlas 5 rockets. Completion of these tests firmly establishes that the RD-180's design and performance will meet all Atlas 5 mission requirements for commercial and government satellite customers.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
Astronomy satellite to fall back to Earth this week
A defunct NASA astronomy satellite, in orbit for nearly a decade, is predicted to reenter the Earth's atmosphere by Thursday but poses little risk to people on the ground, space agency officials said Tuesday.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
|
Tuesday:
January 29, 2002 | |
0550 GMT |
|
Delta 4 rocket assembled; next stop is the launch pad
The two stages of Boeing's inaugural Delta 4 rocket have been joined together inside a massive hangar at Cape Canaveral's newly refurbished Complex 37 as preparations continue for a targeted July 15 blastoff carrying a communications satellite for Eutelsat.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
Rocketdyne RS-68 engine certified for Boeing Delta 4
The certification of the Rocketdyne RS-68 engine that will power Boeing's new Delta 4 launch vehicle brings to a close a remarkable development path for the first large liquid-fueled engine in the United States in nearly three decades.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
| Coming tomorrow: An update on Lockheed Martin's first Atlas 5 and a preview of upcoming rocket assembly for the inaugural launch.
|
Dennis Tito cautious about space tourism future
Despite calling his trip into orbit last year as "the best eight days of my life," Dennis Tito expressed only lukewarm optimism about the prospects of the space tourism industry in a speech last weekend.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
Columbia rolls to pad
Running five days late because of steering troubles with its transporter, space shuttle Columbia was rolled to Kennedy Space Center's launch pad 39A Monday. The shuttle is scheduled for blastoff February 28 on the fourth mission to service and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope.
MISSION STATUS CENTER
| |
|
Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now present a 100-page, full-color special publication: 2001: a Year in Space. A stunning month-by-month pictorial record of the space events and discoveries during 2001. Available now from our store.
The Hubble Space Telescope's majestic view of the Eskimo Nebula. This spectacular poster is available now from the Astronomy Now Store.