Spaceflight Now

Sunday: January 5, 2003		1420 GMT

Titan 2 rocket launch postponed again Unacceptable winds at high altitudes forced officials to scrub today's launch of the Titan 2 rocket carrying the U.S. military's Coriolis research satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. A sixth attempt to launch the $224 million mission is planned for 1418 GMT (9:18 a.m. EST) on Monday. MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates!

Saturday: January 4, 2003		0200 GMT

The Sun does the wave The mystery of why large features called supergranules move across the Sun's surface faster than the Sun rotates has been solved, according to a team of scientists using the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft. Instead of actually moving faster than the Sun, their apparent rapid rotation is an illusion generated by a pattern of activity, like fans doing the wave at a sporting event. FULL STORY

Friday: January 3, 2003		0401 GMT

Earth and asteroid play orbital cat and mouse game The first asteroid discovered to orbit the Sun in nearly the same path as Earth will make its closest approach to our planet this month before scurrying away for 95 years. The space rock, measuring about approximately 200 feet across, is like a mouse teasing a cat. FULL STORY

Thursday: January 2, 2003		0330 GMT

Volcanoes on Jovian moon spew salt into atmosphere Astronomers have solved a nearly 30-year-old mystery surrounding Jupiter's moon Io, showing that volcanoes there appear to be shooting gaseous salt into the moon's thin atmosphere. FULL STORY

Wednesday: January 1, 2003		0505 GMT

Engine 'destroyed' in Proton mission failure Russian investigators probing the November launch failure that doomed a massive communications satellite to a worthless orbit say excess fuel in the Proton rocket's upper stage main engine is to blame. FULL STORY

Preview of 2003 schedule for space station assembly The coming year will be the most challenging ever for construction of the International Space Station. Already more than two-thirds of the way through the assembly of its core structure, international crews face a full and busy schedule. FULL STORY

Tuesday: December 31, 2002		0140 GMT

Ariane 5 launch failure investigation delays Rosetta The European Space Agency's ambitious Rosetta comet explorer will miss the opening of its tight launch window January 12 as the investigation continues into the failure of Arianespace's Ariane 5 rocket. FULL STORY

Pluto mission adds student science instrument It's a 20-year homework assignment, but you won't hear any complaints from the students handed the task. A special instrument, called the Student Dust Counter, has been added to NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt. FULL STORY

Monday: December 30, 2002		0747 GMT

Russian rocket delivers Canadian satellite in space A spacecraft to broadcast TV and communications services across Canada was successfully sent into orbit Sunday night aboard the first commercial flight of Russia's modernized Proton M rocket and Breeze M upper stage motor. FULL STORY MISSION STATUS CENTER LAUNCH EVENTS TIMELINE GROUND TRACK MAP ORBIT INSERTION GRAPHIC

Video coverage for subscribers only: VIDEO: NIMIQ 2 LIFTS OFF ABOARD PROTON ROCKET QT or RV VIDEO: PROTON M ROCKET ROLLED TO THE PAD QT or RV VIDEO: ANIMATED PREVIEW OF PROTON M/BREEZE M LAUNCH QT or RV VIDEO: OVERVIEW OF THE NIMIQ 2 SATELLITE QT or RV SUBSCRIBE NOW
China launches fourth Shenzhou capsule The fourth and possibly last unmanned test flight of China's Shenzhou spacecraft was launched at 1640 GMT (11:40 a.m. EST) Sunday aboard a Long March rocket from the Jiuquan base. Observers suspect that if the Shenzhou 4 is successful, the Chinese would press ahead with its first manned space flight in 2003. FULL STORY

News Archive
Dec. 23-29: Giant X-ray disk sheds light on elliptical galaxies; Integral's first look at the gamma-ray Universe; First elusive 'dark' gamma-ray burst caught; NASA tests future flight vehicle concepts.

Dec. 16-22: Clouds discovered at south pole of Saturn's moon Titan; Workhorse Ariane 4 rocket flies its next to last mission; Titan 2 off till January; Second Delta 4 rocket erected on the launch pad; Young star cluster aglow with mysterious cloud; Six satellite cargos ride Dnepr booster to space.

Dec. 9-15: New Ariane 5 fails; International observatory put into orbit to study Earth; Morgan named to upcoming shuttle mission; Chandra reveals pileup on cosmic speedway; NEAR Shoemaker's silent treatment; Hubble watches galaxies in a destructive dance.

Dec. 2-8: Endeavour shuttles station residents back to Earth; Hubble precisely measures distant planet's true mass; NASA communications relay craft rides Atlas into space; Saturn's moon Titan may hold clues to origin of life; Double bubble in neighboring galaxy.
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

Gemini 12

Gemini 12: The NASA Mission Reports covers the voyage of James Lovell and Buzz Aldrin that capped the Gemini program's efforts to prove the technologies and techniques that would be needed for the Apollo Moon landings. Includes CD-ROM.

Choose your store:
U.S. - U.K. - E.U. - Worldwide

Soviet Space

For the first time ever available in the West. Rocket & Space Corporation Energia: a complete pictorial history of the Soviet/Russian Space Program from 1946 to the present day all in full color. Available from our store.

Choose your store:
U.S. - U.K. - E.U. - Worldwide

Viking patch

This embroidered mission patch celebrates NASA's Viking Project which reached the Red Planet in 1976.

Choose your store:
U.S. - U.K. - E.U. - Worldwide

Apollo 7 DVD

For 11 days the crew of Apollo 7 fought colds while they put the Apollo spacecraft through a workout, establishing confidence in the machine what would lead directly to the bold decision to send Apollo 8 to the moon just 2 months later.

Choose your store:
U.S. - U.K. - E.U. - Worldwide

Gemini 12

Choose your store:
U.S. - U.K. - E.U. - Worldwide

Get e-mail updates
Sign up for our NewsAlert service and have the latest news in astronomy and space e-mailed direct to your desktop (privacy note: your e-mail address will not be used for any other purpose).

Soviet Space

Choose your store:
U.S. - U.K. - E.U. - Worldwide

Viking patch

This embroidered mission patch celebrates NASA's Viking Project which reached the Red Planet in 1976.

Choose your store:
U.S. - U.K. - E.U. - Worldwide

Apollo 7 DVD

Choose your store:
U.S. - U.K. - E.U. - Worldwide

Gemini 12

Choose your store:
U.S. - U.K. - E.U. - Worldwide

Apollo Collage

This beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.

U.S. STORE

STS-127 Patch

The official embroidered patch for shuttle Endeavour's flight to finish building Japanese section of the space station.

U.S. STORE

WORLDWIDE STORE

Hubble Patch

The official embroidered patch for mission STS-125, the space shuttle's last planned service call to the Hubble Space Telescope, is available for purchase.

U.S. STORE

WORLDWIDE STORE

Project Orion

The Orion crew exploration vehicle is NASA's first new human spacecraft developed since the space shuttle a quarter-century earlier. The capsule is one of the key elements of returning astronauts to the Moon.

U.S. STORE

Fallen Heroes Patch Collection

The official patches from Apollo 1, the shuttle Challenger and Columbia crews are available in the store.

U.S. STORE

WORLDWIDE STORE

Station Calendar

NEW! This beautiful 12" by 12" wall calendar features stunning images of the International Space Station and of the people, equipment, and space craft associated with it, as it takes shape day by day in orbit high above the Earth.

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.

INDEX | PLUS | NEWS ARCHIVE | LAUNCH SCHEDULE
ASTRONOMY NOW | STORE

ADVERTISE