Sunday: December 1, 2002   0301 GMT Final spacewalk completed despite transporter trouble In one of the more challenging space station assembly spacewalks to date, two astronauts managed to accomplish all of their primary objectives Saturday even though problems moving the station's $290 million robot arm transporter prevented them from using the Canadarm2 space crane as originally planned.    FULL STORY    SPACEWALK PREVIEW STORY No shortage of mysteries on planet Venus What kind of mysteries and scientific intrigue await the European Space Agency's Venus Express once it has left Earth for its nearest planetary neighbour in 2005? A closer inspection promises to reveal a planet that is hugely different from our own despite a few similarities.    FULL STORY Saturday: November 30, 2002   0135 GMT Departing station crew looks forward to home Space station science officer Peggy Whitson, 177 days off the planet with just five to go before coming home, says she's looking forward to "a nice steak with a caesar salad with tons of garlic in it." Flight engineer Sergei Treschev wants "a big hot dog." And Expedition 5 commander Valery Korzun says he wants to "eat and drink, maybe, for a couple of days. And then diet."    FULL STORY    MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates    MASTER FLIGHT PLAN    NASA TV SCHEDULE See more coverage here:       Crews stage ceremonial change of station command During a brief change-of-command ceremony today, outgoing Expedition 5 commander Valery Korzun formally turned over the international space station to Expedition 6 commander Kenneth Bowersox, a veteran space shuttle commander with four previous flights to his credit.    FULL STORY Video coverage for subscribers only:    VIDEO: CHANGE OF COMMAND CEREMONY QT or RV    MORE: OTHER AVAILABLE VIDEO    SUBSCRIBE NOW Jupiter-like planets formed faster than thought An accepted assumption in astrophysics holds that it takes more than 1 million years for gas giant planets such as Jupiter and Saturn to form from the cosmic debris circling a young star. But new research suggests such planets form in a dramatically shorter period, as little as a few hundred years.    FULL STORY Friday: November 29, 2002   1415 GMT Thanksgiving Day spacewalk for astronauts While Americans were enjoying traditional turkey dinners and football, Endeavour astronauts Mike Lopez-Alegria and John Herrington took a successful six-hour spacewalk Thursday to continue the outfitting and activation of the space station's new P1 truss.    FULL STORY    SPACEWALK PREVIEW STORY Video coverage for subscribers only:    VIDEO: THANKSGIVING DAY MESSAGE FROM WETHERBEE QT or RV    VIDEO: THURSDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING QT or RV    VIDEO: NARRATED PREVIEW OF THURSDAY'S SPACEWALK QT or RV    VIDEO: WEDNESDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING QT or RV    MORE: OTHER AVAILABLE VIDEO    SUBSCRIBE NOW Ariane 5 launch aborted Contrary to the Arianespace announcement last night that a problem opening the cryogenic arms caused the halted countdown, officials said today the reason for the cutoff was the failure of computer software to register the firing of hydrogen burnoff flares beneath the Ariane 5 rocket's Vulcain 2 main engine.    MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates Thursday: November 28, 2002   1500 GMT Thanksgiving Day spacewalk for astronauts Space shuttle and space station astronauts spent Wednesday to transferring equipment and supplies between the two docked spacecraft. Meanwhile, Mike Lopez-Alegria and John Herrington prepared for a Thanksgiving Day spacewalk to continue outfitting the new P1 truss.    FULL STORY    MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates    MASTER FLIGHT PLAN    NASA TV SCHEDULE See more coverage here:       Video coverage for subscribers only:    VIDEO: NARRATED PREVIEW OF THURSDAY'S SPACEWALK QT or RV    VIDEO: WEDNESDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING QT or RV    MORE: OTHER AVAILABLE VIDEO    SUBSCRIBE NOW Kosmos rocket lofts two small satellites The first in a series of new tools to monitor disasters and other events worldwide and a small Russian military satellite are in orbit today, thanks to a ride from a Russian Kosmos-3M rocket.    FULL STORY NASA awards JPL contract NASA completed negotiation of a new cost-plus award fee contract to the California Institute of Technology for the operation of the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. The contract will run five years and have a value of approximately $8 billion.    FULL STORY Wednesday: November 27, 2002   0915 GMT Station grows with addition of another truss The busiest day of Endeavour's mission was successfully pulled off Tuesday. The $390 million Port 1 truss was added to the space station's backbone, clearing the way for two shuttle astronauts to embark on a 7-hour spacewalk wire up the new structure and perform other tasks.    FULL STORY    SPACEWALK PREVIEW STORY Video coverage for subscribers only:    VIDEO: TUESDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING QT or RV    VIDEO: LOPEZ-ALEGRIA EMERGES FROM AIRLOCK QT or RV    VIDEO: STUNNING PANORAMA FROM HELMETCAM QT or RV    VIDEO: CABLING ROUTED FROM STATION TO THE NEW TRUSS QT or RV    VIDEO: SHUTTLE'S ARM LIFTS P1 TRUSS FROM PAYLOAD BAY QT or RV    VIDEO: NARRATED PREVIEW OF THE SPACEWALK QT or RV    VIDEO: ATTACHMENT OF P1 IN ANIMATION QT or RV    VIDEO: ANIMATED TOUR OF ENDEAVOUR'S PAYLOAD BAY QT or RV    MORE: OTHER AVAILABLE VIDEO    SUBSCRIBE NOW More powerful version of Ariane 5 ready to fly Arianespace is poised to debut a new version of its heavy-lift Ariane 5 rocket Thursday evening in a mission to deliver a pair of European satellites into space.    MISSION STATUS CENTER Tuesday: November 26, 2002   0800 GMT Russian launch fails The massive Astra 1K broadcasting spacecraft never left low-Earth orbit Monday night when the Block DM upper stage of the Proton rocket malfunctioned, leaving the satellite in a worthless perch 109 miles above the planet. An investigation has begun.    MISSION STATUS CENTER Video coverage for subscribers only:    VIDEO: ASTRA 1K LIFTS OFF ABOARD PROTON ROCKET QT or RV    VIDEO: FOOTAGE OF PROTON BEING ROLLED TO THE PAD QT or RV    VIDEO: THE MISSION OF ASTRA 1K SPACECRAFT QT or RV    VIDEO: TECHNICAL OVERVIEW OF ASTRA 1K QT or RV    SUBSCRIBE NOW Endeavour arrives at station Taking his time, commander James Wetherbee deftly guided the shuttle Endeavour to a gentle docking with the international space station Monday as the two spacecraft sailed 245 miles above the Pacific Ocean southeast of Australia.    FULL STORY    DOCKING PREVIEW STORY    RENDEZVOUS TIMELINE See more coverage here:       Video coverage for subscribers only:    VIDEO: MONDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING QT or RV    VIDEO: VIEW FROM STATION OF ENDEAVOUR ENGINE FIRING QT or RV    VIDEO: DOCKING AS SEEN FROM REAR OF SHUTTLE BAY QT or RV    VIDEO: WELCOMING CEREMONY ABOARD THE STATION QT or RV    VIDEO: ANIMATION OF ENDEAVOUR'S APPROACH TO STATION QT or RV    SUBSCRIBE NOW New station crew takes over Expedition 6 commander Kenneth Bowersox, flight engineer Nikolai Budarin and science officer Donald Pettit officially replaced the international space station's fifth full-time crew Monday night after installing and testing custom-fitted emergency gear.    FULL STORY Galileo data recorder still not working Flight controllers have returned NASA's Galileo spacecraft to normal operation after the spacecraft put itself into a precautionary standby mode about 16 minutes after flying near Jupiter's inner moon Amalthea on Nov. 5. The veteran spacecraft is now functioning properly, except for its tape recorder, which is used for storing data for later transmission to Earth.    FULL STORY Monday: November 25, 2002   0641 GMT Go for a ride on Endeavour The astronauts of Endeavour have given space fans an incredible treat. A video camera was mounted in the cockpit facing the flight deck crew during Saturday's launch, showing the shaking and flashing of ascent. But what's more, the movie includes the onboard intercom audio with the astronauts talking to each other and mission control. We present the full 11-minute clip to Spaceflight Now Plus subscribers: Video coverage for subscribers only:    VIDEO: RIDE ALONG WITH CREW DURING LAUNCH QT or RV    VIDEO: COMMANDER WETHERBEE DESCRIBES THE ASCENT QT or RV    SUBSCRIBE NOW Missing man missed Astronaut Donald Thomas, veteran of four shuttle flights and more than 43 days in space, trained for more than a year and a half to fly aboard the international space station as a member of its sixth full-time crew, the crew currently en route to the lab complex aboard the shuttle Endeavour.    FULL STORY    MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates    TIMELINE OF MONDAY'S DOCKING    MASTER FLIGHT PLAN    NASA TV SCHEDULE See more coverage here:       Video coverage for subscribers only:    VIDEO: CREW TALKS ABOUT THOMAS DURING AP INTERVIEW QT or RV    VIDEO: USA TODAY INTERVIEW WITH EXPEDITION 6 QT or RV    MORE: OTHER AVAILABLE VIDEO    SUBSCRIBE NOW Proton rocket to loft Astra 1K satellite Monday What's being called the largest commercial communications satellite ever built -- a powerful craft to transmit digital TV and multimedia programming across Europe -- is awaiting its ride into space Monday aboard a Russian-made Proton rocket. Liftoff from Baikonur Cosmodrome's is scheduled for 2304 GMT (6:04 p.m. EST).    MISSION STATUS CENTER				News Archive Nov. 18-24: Boeing's Delta 4 rocket debuts successfully; Endeavour launches to continue building station; Fast-flying black hole yields clues to supernova origin; Two supermassive black holes found in same galaxy. 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. More news  See our weekly archive of space news. 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 Contact us If you have a comment or question for Spaceflight Now, just send us an e-mail.