Sunday: November 24, 2002  0720 GMT
Endeavour soars to continue building station
Lighting up the night sky with white-hot fire, the shuttle Endeavour finally thundered into orbit and set off after the international space station Saturday night, carrying a 14.5-ton solar array truss segment and a fresh three-man crew to the orbiting lab complex. Read our complete launch wrap-up and mission preview story:
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Endeavour
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NASA funds flight demostrations
NASA has awarded contracts under the Cycle 2 Space Launch Initiative solicitation to two companies for flight demonstrator technologies. The awards for flight demonstrators are required at this stage to mature technologies needed to support full-scale development design of a future competitively selected Orbital Space Plane under the restructured SLI effort.
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Review board gives green light for Rosetta
With less than two months to launch, ESA's Rosetta comet chaser is undergoing final preparations at Kourou spaceport in French Guiana. Confidence is high after the green light was given by the Rosetta Mission Flight Readiness Review Board earlier this month.
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Saturday: November 23, 2002  0500 GMT
Endeavour launch scrubbed by rain in Spain
Launch of the shuttle Endeavour was called off Friday because of hard-to-predict rain showers at an emergency runway near Moron, Spain. The launch team now is recycling for another launch attempt Saturday night at 7:50 p.m. EST, weather permitting. Again, the launch window will last just five minutes and again, the weather in Spain is expected to be marginal at best.
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Endeavour

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Friday: November 22, 2002  0500 GMT
Endeavour ready to go
After a week-and-a-half delay, space shuttle Endeavour is set for a second attempt at launching a new resident crew and 14.5-ton truss structure the International Space Station. Liftoff is scheduled for 8:15 p.m. EST Friday from Kennedy Space Center.
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Endeavour

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Where on Earth is Mars?
Among the thousands of visitors to Mt. Etna this year, one group came not just to look at one of most famous volcanoes on Earth. Dozens of scientists trekked up Etna together this fall to observe what Etna has in common with Mars.
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Parachute created to save lives and airplanes
The pilot of a small disabled, single-engine airplane, which floated to a safe landing instead of crashing, can thank NASA and a Minnesota company. The pilot walked away, from what would have been a catastrophic crash, with just a stiff neck.
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NASA helps visually impaired
A new book of majestic images, taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, brings the wonders of our universe to the fingertips of the visually impaired. The 64-page book is titled "Touch the Universe: A NASA Braille Book of Astronomy."
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HST
Thursday: November 21, 2002  0750 GMT
Boeing's Delta 4 rocket debuts successfully
The era of Boeing's next-generation rocket family was launched with success Wednesday as the maiden Delta 4 powered its way into Earth orbit to deploy a European-made communications satellite.
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Endeavour, robot arm cleared for Friday launch
NASA managers have cleared the shuttle Endeavour for launch Friday evening on a delayed space station assembly mission, deciding the ship's damaged robot arm is more than strong enough to withstand the rigors of flight.
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Study reduces risks of asteroid impact
The odds of a devastating asteroid or comet collision with the Earth may be significantly less than previously thought, according to a new study. A group of Canadian and American scientists used data from military spacecraft to estimate the number and size of objects that explode that collide with the Earth.
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Asteroid
Wednesday: November 20, 2002  0529 GMT
Inaugural Delta 4 rocket launch postponed
Boeing plans to try again Wednesday to launch its first Delta 4 rocket. Tuesday's countdown hit several technical snags and a period of gusty winds at the launch pad, ultimately forcing a scrub. See our Mission Status Center for the latest news.
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Two supermassive black holes found in same galaxy
For the first time, scientists have proof two supermassive black holes exist together in the same galaxy, thanks to data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. These black holes are orbiting each other and will merge several hundred million years from now, to create an even larger black hole resulting in a catastrophic event that will unleash intense radiation and gravitational waves.
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Art
Tuesday: November 19, 2002  0403 GMT
Delta 4 rocket cleared for blastoff Tuesday
Boeing's next-generation Delta 4 rocket will take the ultimate test Tuesday, blasting off from Cape Canaveral on its debut launch during a window of 5:39 to 6:49 p.m. EST (2239-2349 GMT). See our Mission Status Center for updates during the day.
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Delta 4 to loft Eutelsat's W5 communications satellite
Located over the Indian Ocean at 70.5 degrees East, Eutelsat's new W5 Ku-band satellite completes a successful family of birds that have been serving a wide range of customers since 1998. W5 is a key element in Eutelsat's strategic objective of geographic expansion on the dynamic Euro-Asian route, stretching the company's coverage to the Pacific.
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W5
Arm options assessed; countdown to restart
Engineers appeared more optimistic Monday about the possibility of launching the shuttle Endeavour Friday on a space station assembly mission. No decisions have been made on what to do about the shuttle's damaged robot arm, but NASA plans to restart Endeavour's countdown overnight Tuesday on the assumption the arm will be cleared to fly as is.
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Fast-flying black hole yields clues to supernova origin
A nearby black hole, hurtling through the plane of our galaxy like a cannonball, has given what some astronomers say is their best evidence yet that stellar-mass black holes are made in supernova explosions. The black hole, called GRO J1655-40, is streaking across space at a rate of 250,000 miles per hour.
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Art
Recommendations issued for revitalizing US space industry
A report published Monday by a US government commission recommends that the government "create a space imperative" with a broad emphasis on civilian and military projects to bolster the American aerospace industry, from a new generation of reconnaissance satellites to flying tourists on the shuttle.
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Art
PanAmSat expands coverage with Galaxy 3C
PanAmSat Corporation announced that it had successfully completed the final customer transition to its Galaxy 3C satellite, making the spacecraft the 22nd in its global fleet. Operating at 95 degrees west longitude, Galaxy 3C will support some of the world's video and telecommunications powerhouses for their operations across North America, South America and the Caribbean.
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Galaxy 3C
Monday: November 18, 2002  0231 GMT
Delta 4 to fly Tuesday
Boeing exonerated the RL-10 upper stage engine during reviews Sunday, clearing the way for Monday's Launch Readiness Review that will formally put to rest an issue that prompted officials to cancel Saturday's liftoff attempt.
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Astronauts capture high-resolution glacier imagery
Russian researchers are studying images taken by the crew of the International Space Station to better understand the catastrophic glacier collapse and landslide that occurred on the northern slope of Mount Kazbek in September -- information that may help us better understand our home planet.
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Glacier
News Archive
Nov. 11-17: Boeing delays debut launch of Delta 4 rocket; Endeavour launch delayed by oxygen leak, robot arm accident; Exceptionally bright eruption on Jovian moon Io; New evidence for dark energy in the Universe; Black hole at Milky Way's center is on starvation diet.

Nov. 4-10: A spectacular solar show; Soyuz returns to Earth; Endeavour ready to fly; Mars glows in X-rays; Hubble shows an old star that gave up the ghost; Stunning views of Mt. Etna eruption from space station; Galileo enters safe mode during last science mission; Cargo mounted atop Delta 4 as debut launch nears.

Oct. 28-Nov. 3: Stardust zooms past asteroid Annefrank; Saturn-bound Cassini probe sees its destination; Soyuz taxi crew launches; Red freckles on Europa suggest 'lava lamp' action; Satellite sees 200-mile ash, smoke plume from Mt. Etna; GPS launch on hold after Delta 2 rocket damaged; Kuiper Belt implicated in cosmic rays mystery; Solid-fueled booster a step closer to Atlas 5 use.

Oct. 21-27: Scientists boost tally of moons around Uranus; New way of finding planets; Dark matter reality check; Surfing a black hole; Integral makes its first measurements.

More news  See our weekly archive of space news.


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