Sunday: August 25, 2002   0001 GMT Scientists find wind blows in Titan's organic haze Researchers from NASA and other institutions have developed an atmospheric model lending insights to decades-old mysteries surrounding Saturn's moon Titan that could shed light on the chemical processes that may have jump-started life on Earth.    FULL STORY Cosmonauts to take six-hour spacewalk Monday The Expedition Five crew are preparing for their second spacewalk, scheduled to begin around 1 a.m. EDT (0500 GMT) Monday when cosmonauts Valery Korzun and Sergei Treschev go outside to mount hardware and experiments to the exterior of the International Space Station.    MISSION STATUS CENTER NASA satellite helps hurricane forecasters Ten years ago, on August 24th, 1992, Hurricane Andrew developed in the Atlantic Ocean and became one of the costliest hurricanes in U.S. history as it caused massive damage in south Florida. Since then, NASA has launched three satellites that will help improve forecasting of tropical cyclones.    FULL STORY Saturday: August 24, 2002   0300 GMT Team scales back CONTOUR monitoring Continual monitoring for signals from the CONTOUR spacecraft has been scaled back. When communications from the spacecraft ceased on Aug. 15, the mission entered "emergency" status, making it eligible for round-the-clock coverage from NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN) antenna stations.    FULL STORY    WEDNESDAY'S STORY    MONDAY'S STORY TRW to develop new polar weather satellite system A $4.5 billion contract has been awarded to the TRW Company to build and deploy the nation's future environmental satellite system, NOAA, the Department of Defense and NASA announced Friday.    FULL STORY Builder of future gamma ray observatory picked NASA has selected Spectrum Astro to build the Gamma ray Large Area Space Telescope Observatory. Gamma rays are the most energetic form of light. GLAST will detect gamma rays that are roughly 10 million to 150 billion times more powerful than the light visible to the human eye.    FULL STORY Friday: August 23, 2002   0533 GMT Next-generation Atlas 5 sailed 'perfect' first voyage After a night of partying and jubilant celebrations, Lockheed Martin officials said Thursday that the first Atlas 5 rocket gave its paying cargo "a marvelous ride" into space following a remarkable on-time takeoff for the new launcher.    FULL STORY    ARCHIVED ATLAS 5 COVERAGE Video coverage for subscribers only:    VIDEO: WIDE-SCREEN VIEW OF LIFTOFF QT or RV    VIDEO: HIGHLIGHTS OF LAUNCH SET TO MUSIC QT or RV    VIDEO: MUSICAL REPLAY OF PRE-FLIGHT PREPARATIONS QT or RV    SUBSCRIBE NOW Russian Proton rocket puts U.S. TV satellite in space Just seven hours after its inaugural flight of the Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral, International Launch Services delivered a direct-to-home television broadcasting satellite into orbit using a Russian Proton vehicle.    FULL STORY Video coverage for subscribers only:    VIDEO: PROTON LIFTS OFF WITH ECHOSTAR 8 QT or RV    SUBSCRIBE NOW A Martian dust devil making a streak, climbing a wall One of the key elements of the Mars Global Surveyor Extended Mission is to look for and monitor changes taking place on the planet over the course of a second -- and, eventually, a third -- Martian year. Among the changes the MOC has observed are streaks believed to be caused by the passage of dust devils.    FULL STORY Thursday: August 22, 2002   0800 GMT Mission success! Riding a tongue of golden flame from its Russian-made engine, Lockheed Martin's first Atlas 5 booster sailed into space Wednesday to successfully open a new chapter for America's rocket industry. See the status center for our play-by-play call of the countdown and launch.    MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates!    LAUNCH PHOTO GALLERY    ARCHIVED ATLAS 5 COVERAGE Video coverage for subscribers only:    VIDEO: SIX-MINUTE MOVIE OF INAUGURAL ATLAS 5 LAUNCH QT or RV    VIDEO: ONBOARD CAMERA VIEW OF CENTAUR RESTART QT or RV    VIDEO: SUCCESS IS DECLARED AS PAYLOAD IS DEPLOYED QT or RV    VIDEO: CELEBRATIONS AND POST-LAUNCH SPEECHES QT or RV    VIDEO: COMMENTS FROM U.S. AIR FORCE EELV OFFICIAL QT or RV    VIDEO: PRE-LAUNCH PROCESSING OF ATLAS 5 QT or RV    VIDEO: OVERVIEW PRESENTATION OF ATLAS 5 PROGRAM QT or RV    VIDEO: BRIEFING ON ATLAS 5 LAUNCH SITE QT or RV    VIDEO: ATLAS 5 LAUNCH PROCESSING OVERVIEW QT or RV    SUBSCRIBE NOW Proton blasts off After a two-month delay because of a technical problem and a two-day postponement by gusty upper level winds, the Russian Proton rocket and the EchoStar 8 spacecraft lifted off at 0515 GMT (1:15 a.m. EDT) today from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Deployment of the satellite to complete the launch is expected 6 hours, 36 minutes into flight.    MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates!    LAUNCH EVENTS TIMELINE    ORBIT INSERTION GRAPHIC    GROUND TRACK MAP Video coverage for subscribers only:    VIDEO: PROTON LIFTS OFF WITH ECHOSTAR 8 QT or RV    SUBSCRIBE NOW Six days and still no signal from CONTOUR After six days, the Mission Operations team has yet to hear a signal from the CONTOUR spacecraft. Two objects, believed to be spacecraft segments, were detected Aug. 16, the day after the solid rocket motor burn, and a third more distant object has since been found.    FULL STORY    MONDAY'S STORY Wednesday: August 21, 2002   0319 GMT Lockheed Martin's Atlas 5 to make maiden voyage today A day that has been years and over $1.5 billion in the making has finally arrived. Lockheed Martin's Atlas 5 rocket is poised for its inaugural liftoff at 6:05 p.m. EDT (2205 GMT) today from Cape Canaveral carrying a European communications satellite.    MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates!    LAUNCH EVENTS TIMELINE    LATEST WEATHER FORECAST    ARCHIVED ATLAS 5 COVERAGE Atlas 5 journeys to the pad Riding atop the 1.4-million pound mobile launching platform, Lockheed Martin's next-generation Atlas 5 was rolled from its assembly building to the pad Tuesday at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Complex 41. The rocket remains scheduled to set sail on its maiden voyage Wednesday.    PHOTO GALLERY OF TUESDAY'S ROLLOUT Proton delayed till Thursday Continued unfavorable upper level winds have forced officials to forego making another attempt to launch the Russian Proton rocket with the EchoStar 8 TV broadcasting satellite early Wednesday. Liftoff has been pushed back another 24 hours to 0515 GMT (1:15 a.m. EDT) Thursday.    MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates! Odd area of Mars is part of circular feature "Inca City" is the informal name given by Mariner 9 scientists in 1972 to a set of intersecting, rectilinear ridges that are located among the layered materials of the south polar region of Mars. The Mars Global Surveyor has provided new images of the "Inca City" ridges.    FULL STORY Tuesday: August 20, 2002   0545 GMT Unfavorable winds keep Proton rocket on Earth Today's launch of the Russian Proton rocket with the EchoStar 8 TV broadcasting satellite was called off due to strong high-altitude winds. Liftoff has been rescheduled for 0515 GMT (1:15 a.m. EDT) Wednesday.    MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates!    LAUNCH EVENTS TIMELINE    ORBIT INSERTION GRAPHIC    GROUND TRACK MAP Atlas 5 ready to move Following the launch readiness review meeting Monday, Lockheed Martin reports all systems are "go" for the maiden voyage of the Atlas 5 rocket Wednesday from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Workers will roll the rocket to the launch pad Tuesday morning.    MISSION STATUS CENTER    ARCHIVED ATLAS 5 COVERAGE Investigations picked for Solar Dynamics Observatory NASA has selected three proposals for implementation for the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) mission. The SDO is the first in a series of missions in the Living With a Star Program. SDO flight instruments will be flown on a NASA-supplied Sun-pointing spacecraft in geosynchronous orbit that NASA intends to launch in August 2007 for a prime mission of five years.    FULL STORY CONTOUR team listens for a signal With electronic eyes and ears pointed to the sky and a fix on CONTOUR's location more than 1.3 million miles (2.1 million kilometers) from Earth, the mission team continues checking for a signal from the spacecraft.    FULL STORY Monday: August 19, 2002   0239 GMT Proton rocket to launch American satellite Tuesday After being delayed two months for repairs, the EchoStar 8 direct-to-home TV broadcasting satellite is again ready for blastoff atop a Russian Proton rocket from the Baikonour Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Liftoff is scheduled for 0515 GMT (1:15 a.m. EDT) Tuesday.    MISSION STATUS CENTER    LAUNCH EVENTS TIMELINE    ORBIT INSERTION GRAPHIC    GROUND TRACK MAP Weather forecasters have new challenges with Atlas 5 As Lockheed Martin prepares to wheel its debut Atlas 5 rocket from the protective confines of the vehicle assembly building to the open-air launch pad on Tuesday morning, the Cape Canaveral weather team has the challenging job of forecasting the conditions the vehicle will face during its day-and-a-half wait before blastoff.    FULL STORY    LAUNCH WEATHER FORECAST AND LIST OF RULES    ARCHIVED ATLAS 5 COVERAGE Mars orbiter sees partially-exhumed crater Mars Global Surveyor images have shown time and again that the geology and history of Mars is complex. This picture shows a circular feature in northern Terra Meridiani that is a large impact crater.    FULL STORY				The ultimate Apollo 11 DVD This exceptional chronicle of the historic Apollo 11 lunar landing mission features new digital transfers of film and television coverage unmatched by any other.  U.S. STORE  U.K. WORLDWIDE STORE NEW! Mission Report Apollo 11 - The NASA Mission Reports Vol. 3 is the first comprehensive study of man's first mission to another world is revealed in all of its startling complexity. Includes DVD!  U.S. STORE  WORLDWIDE STORE Contact us If you have a comment or question for Spaceflight Now, just send us an e-mail.