Spaceflight Now

Sunday: February 23, 2003		0220 GMT

Missing mass exists as warm intergalactic fog One of the fundamental questions astronomers are trying to answer is: What is the Universe made of? Numerous lines of evidence show that the Universe is about 73 percent "dark energy," 23 percent "dark matter," and only 4 percent normal matter. Yet this answer raises further questions, including: Where is all the normal matter? FULL STORY

Saturday: February 22, 2003		0320 GMT

More internal emails show concern over launch impact A post-launch analysis by Boeing engineers shows three pieces of debris falling off Columbia's external fuel tank 82 seconds after launch slammed into the orbiter's left wing. While the Boeing team concluded Columbia could safely land despite potential damage to the shuttle's fragile heat-shield tiles, internal agency emails released Friday raised potentially troubling questions about how the damage was assessed within NASA and how widespread discussion of its possible impact really was. FULL STORY
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New data shows Columbia's state in final moments The shuttle Columbia's fuselage remained essentially intact for at least a half minute after the commander's final transmission, according to sources familiar with an ongoing analysis of the last 32 seconds of telemetry from the doomed spacecraft. The astronauts almost certainly had some awareness of the unfolding disaster, but there is no insight at this point to indicate what they might have known, or when. FULL STORY

Columbia timeline updated The following timeline was compiled by William Harwood, CBS News, from telemetry data and transcriptions of the NASA-Select commentary and mission control audio loops, both released by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board. SEE THE TIMELINE - Updated Friday

1980 NASA contract issued for tile repair kit In January 1980, NASA announced a contract to develop a kit for astronauts to repair damaged heat shield tiles on the space shuttle. No such kit has been flown on a shuttle in recent memory, but the release makes for interesting reading in light of the shuttle Columbia's catastrophic breakup during re-entry Feb. 1. Here is the text of the Jan. 22, 1980, news release: FULL STORY

Where's the coolest place in the Universe? The Boomerang Nebula is a young planetary nebula and the coldest object found in the Universe so far. The Hubble Space Telescope image illustrates how Hubble's keen vision reveals surprises in celestial objects. FULL STORY

NASA solves half-century old moon mystery In the early morning hours of Nov. 15, 1953, an amateur astronomer in Oklahoma photographed what he believed to be a massive, white-hot fireball of vaporized rock rising from the center of the moon's face. If his theory was right, Dr. Leon Stuart would be the first and only human in history to witness and document the impact of an asteroid-sized body impacting the moon's scarred exterior. FULL STORY

Friday: February 21, 2003		0101 GMT

Crew agrees manned space in 'very serious situation' The commander of the international space station said Thursday if the shuttle remains grounded for a prolonged period, and if the Russians cannot produce more Progress supply ships, the orbiting laboratory may not be able to support even two-person "caretaker" crews for any extended period. FULL STORY INVESTIGATION STATUS CENTER - latest updates
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Progress made pinning down early debris events The Columbia Accident Investigation Board is making "significant progress" analyzing video, still photographs, radar data and other sources of civilian and government data to more precisely determine where debris shed early in the shuttle Columbia's re-entry might have fallen, the board reported Thursday. FULL STORY

Short and long gamma-ray bursts different to the core A new analysis of nearly 2,000 gamma-ray bursts -- the mysterious creators of black holes and the most powerful explosions known in the universe -- has revealed that the two major varieties, long and short bursts, appear to arise from different types of events. FULL STORY

Thursday: February 20, 2003		0210 GMT

Melting snow could be cause of gullies on Mars The now-famous Martian gullies were created by trickling water from melting snow packs, not underground springs or pressurized flows, as has been previously suggested, argues Dr. Philip Christensen, the principal investigator for the Mars Odyssey's camera system and a Professor at Arizona State University in Tempe. FULL STORY

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Superwind sculpts features in spiral galaxy Chandra's X-ray image has been combined with Hubble's optical image to compose this stunning and revealing picture of the spiral galaxy NGC 3079. Towering filaments consisting of warm -- about ten thousand degrees Celsius -- and hot -- about ten million degrees Celsius -- gas blend to create the bright horseshoe-shaped feature near the center. FULL STORY

NASA reviews science data gained by Columbia mission Space shuttle Columbia's ill-fated voyage was a 16-day microgravity science research mission. Although some of the 80 experiments were lost, scientists are continuing to assess the status of the data received by others during the flight. Here is the latest update from NASA on the experiment review. FULL STORY

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Wednesday: February 19, 2003		0223 GMT

Columbia was shedding debris over West Coast Engineers dissecting telemetry from the shuttle Columbia and videotape of its fiery re-entry now believe eyewitness accounts of debris falling away from the spacecraft as it passed above California, well before its ultimate breakup high above Texas. FULL STORY

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Criteria for Orbital Space Plane begins to take shape NASA issued its initial list of requirements Tuesday for the Orbital Space Plane program, a craft that is hoped will one day ferry crews and supplies to the International Space Station. FULL STORY

Tuesday: February 18, 2003		0540 GMT

Lockheed Martin practices Atlas 5 countdown In advance of next month's launch of a Greek communications satellite, Lockheed Martin's second Atlas 5 rocket was transported to the pad Monday for a three-day countdown dress rehearsal. Tuesday will see a complete launch day simulation with the rocket pumped full of super-cold cryogenic propellants as clocks count down to a mock liftoff time. MISSION STATUS CENTER

Greenhouse effects also on other planets Our planet is warming up, and experts warn that the consequences will be serious. To see precisely how the process works, scientists need as much information as possible and from many different sources. There are valuable clues out in space. ESA's missions to Venus, Mars, and Saturn's moon Titan will soon provide useful information to understand how our own planet's climate is regulated. FULL STORY

Monday: February 17, 2003		0310 GMT

Updated Columbia timeline The following timeline was compiled by William Harwood, CBS News, from telemetry data and transcriptions of the NASA-Select commentary and mission control audio loops, both released by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board. SEE THE TIMELINE
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Program to reduce asteroid threat recommended NASA should be assigned to lead a new research program to better determine the population and physical diversity of near-Earth objects that may collide with our planet, down to a size of 200 meters, according to the final report of a workshop on the scientific requirements for the mitigation of hazardous comets and asteroids. FULL STORY

Chandra observes a heart in the darkness This Chandra image of the young star cluster NGC 346 highlights a heart-shaped cloud of 8 million degree Celsius gas in the central region. Evidence from radio, optical and ultraviolet telescopes suggests that the hot cloud, which is about 100 light years across, is the remnant of a supernova explosion that occurred thousands of years ago. FULL STORY

News Archive
Feb. 10-16: Latest on Columbia investigation; Age of universe refined; Goodbye Ariane 4: Finale flight for workhorse rocket; Study shows how water may have flowed on Mars.

Feb. 3-9: Complete coverage of Columbia tragedy; NASA mulls space station launch, crew options; NASA's proposed 2004 budget quietly released.

Jan. 27-Feb. 2: COLUMBIA AND CREW LOST - In a devastating tragedy that took the lives of seven astronauts, the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated in the skies over Texas on Feb. 1 as the ship was heading back to Earth.

Jan. 20-26: Air-launched rocket gives boost to climate research; Shock waves may explain water in meteorites; First Milky Ways found at edge of Universe; NASA announces Educator Astronaut Program; Vandenberg receives first Boeing Delta 4 rocket.

More news See our weekly archive of space news.

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