Spaceflight Now

Sunday: January 12, 2003		0500 GMT

New type of star identified A new type of star has been discovered lurking as a low mass component in a very compact binary star system. Astronomers announced that they have confirmed the existence of a new variety of stellar end-product. This previously unknown type of star has some properties similar to brown dwarf stars and may help astronomers understand some of the recently discovered extra-solar planets in close proximity to their suns. FULL STORY

Distant ring of stars found around the Milky Way A previously unseen band of stars beyond the edge of the Milky Way galaxy has been discovered by a team of scientists. The discovery could help to explain how the galaxy was assembled 10 billion years ago. FULL STORY

Saturday: January 11, 2003		0500 GMT

Delta 2 ready to go today Topped with a pair of NASA scientific spacecraft with vastly different missions, a Boeing Delta 2 rocket is slated for launch at 7:45 p.m. EST today from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates! LAUNCH EVENTS TIMELINE GROUND TRACKING MAP

Video coverage for subscribers only: VIDEO: WATCH FRIDAY'S PRE-LAUNCH NEWS CONFERENCE QT or RV VIDEO: NARRATED OVERVIEW OF THE ICESAT MISSION QT or RV VIDEO: COMMENTS FROM ICESAT PROJECT SCIENTIST QT or RV VIDEO: ANIMATION OF CHIPSAT ORBITING EARTH QT or RV VIDEO: COMMENTS FROM CHIPSAT PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR QT or RV SUBSCRIBE NOW
Did big burp interrupt moon's early history? Using a state-of-the-art computer model of the lunar interior, geophysicists at the University of California, Berkeley, have shown that a mighty burp early in the moon's history could account for some of its geologic mysteries. FULL STORY

Friday: January 10, 2003		0124 GMT

Shuttle launch hinges on cracked bearing issue NASA managers have scheduled a teleconference Sunday, hours before the start of the shuttle Columbia's countdown to blastoff Thursday on a microgravity research mission, to assess the health of critical bearings in the ship's fuel lines. FULL STORY

Astronomers glimpse feeding of a galactic dragon The most detailed view yet of the fuel that feeds a monstrous black hole in the center of a remote quasar galaxy has recently been obtained. A team of radio astronomers has found a cold ring of gas around a supermassive black hole in the fiery nuclear region of quasar galaxy QSO I Zw 1. FULL STORY

Scientists witness end of the 'Dark Ages' Researchers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope reported Thursday they are seeing the conclusion of the cosmic epoch called the "Dark Ages," a time about a billion years after the Big Bang, when newly-formed stars and galaxies were just starting to become visible. FULL STORY

Thursday: January 9, 2003		0500 GMT

Two NASA craft will share weekend rocket launch NASA is launching a pair of modest but scientifically ambitious satellites Saturday to answer fundamental questions about the forces shaping Earth's environment, from the surface of the planet to the depths of interstellar space. FULL STORY MISSION STATUS CENTER

First Neptune Trojan found Astronomers have discovered a small body orbiting the Sun at the distance of Neptune whose orbit makes it the first known member of a long-sought population of objects known as Neptune Trojans. This small body is known as 2001 QR322. FULL STORY

Speed of gravity measured for first time Taking advantage of a rare cosmic alignment, scientists have made the first measurement of the speed at which the force of gravity propagates, giving a numerical value to one of the last unmeasured fundamental constants of physics. FULL STORY

Wednesday: January 8, 2003		0257 GMT

Biggest zoom lens in space extends Hubble's reach The Advanced Camera for Surveys, aboard NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, has used a natural "zoom lens" in space to boost its view of the distant universe. Besides offering an unprecedented and dramatic new view of the cosmos, the results promise to shed light on galaxy evolution and dark matter in space. FULL STORY

Farthest known planet discovered Astronomers from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics have detected the most distant extrasolar planet ever found in the constellation Sagittarius using a new method that could lead to the discovery of Earth-like worlds around nearby stars. FULL STORY

Pettit replaces Budarin for space station spacewalk Astronaut Donald Pettit will replace cosmonaut Nikolai Budarin for a planned 6.5-hour spacewalk Jan. 15 with space station commander Kenneth Bowersox, NASA announced Tuesday. Budarin was declared ineligible for spacewalk duty because of an undisclosed medical issue. FULL STORY

Hubble reveals complex circumstellar disk Hubble Space Telescope's new Advanced Camera for Surveys has given astronomers their clearest view yet of the dust disk around a young, 5-million-year-old star. Such disks are expected to be the birthplace of planets. FULL STORY

Nozzle failure doomed Ariane 5 rocket In its report issued Monday, the board investigating the December 11 failure of Arianespace's Ariane 5 rocket concluded that the rocket went out of control because of a leak in the Vulcain 2 main engine's nozzle. Read the Arianespace statement: FULL STORY

Tuesday: January 7, 2003		0041 GMT

Coriolis launched to track ocean winds, solar storms Finally winning the battle against weather and technical glitches that delayed the mission into the new year, a Titan 2 rocket successfully lofted the U.S. military's Coriolis research satellite into orbit Monday to mark the first space launch of 2003. FULL STORY MISSION STATUS CENTER LAUNCH EVENTS TIMELINE TITAN 2 ROCKET FACT SHEET OVERVIEW OF CORIOLIS

Milky Way monster stars in cosmic reality show The longest X-ray look at the supermassive black hole at the Milky Way's center has given astronomers unprecedented access to its life and times. The new data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory revealed that our galaxy's central black hole is a frequent "bad actor," prone to numerous outbursts and occasional large explosions. FULL STORY

Astronomers find a hero Heroes are usually confined to comic books and movies, but as the saying goes, we all need one. So astronomers have turned to the deep, dark cosmos to find their heroic figure - the "Hyper Extremely Red Object," or "Hero." FULL STORY

Monday: January 6, 2003		0001 GMT

New lower limit for age of universe claimed Cosmologists have continued efforts to refine the age of the universe by using new information from a variety of sources to calculate a new lower age limit that is 1.2 billion years higher than previous age limits. The new information lends new support to the potential presence of a strange new form of energy that dominates approximately 95 percent of the universe and causes its expansion to accelerate. FULL STORY

Chinese Shenzhou 4 capsule returns to Earth In what many believe is the final unmanned test flight of China's manned space program, Shenzhou 4 touched down Sunday at the end of a week-long mission that by all accounts went smoothly. FULL STORY

News Archive
Dec. 30-Jan. 5: China launches fourth Shenzhou capsule; Russian rocket delivers Canadian satellite in space; Ariane 5 launch failure investigation delays Rosetta; Engine 'destroyed' in Proton mission failure; Volcanoes on Jovian moon spew salt into atmosphere.

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.

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

Apollo 11 special patch

Special collectors' patch marking the 35th anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 moon landing is now available.

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

Apollo 11 special patch

Special collectors' patch marking the 35th anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 moon landing is now available.

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

Inside Apollo mission control

An insider's view of how Apollo flight controllers operated and just what they faced when events were crucial.

Choose your store:
U.S.

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.

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

Next ISS crew

Own a little piece of history with this official patch for the International Space Station's Expedition 11 crew. We'll ship yours today!

Choose your store:
U.S.

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).

Apollo 11 special patch

Special collectors' patch marking the 35th anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 moon landing is now available.

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

Inside Apollo mission control

An insider's view of how Apollo flight controllers operated and just what they faced when events were crucial.

Choose your store:
U.S.

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.

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

Next ISS crew

Own a little piece of history with this official patch for the International Space Station's Expedition 11 crew. We'll ship yours today!

Choose your store:
U.S.

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