Spaceflight Now

Sunday: March 2, 2003		0702 GMT

Molecular cloud 300 light-years away has a heartbeat Astronomer Charles Lada of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and colleagues have discovered that the dark molecular cloud known as Barnard 68 seems to pulsate like a heavenly tribute to Saint Valentine. FULL STORY

Who knows how many stars there are? It must be one of the oldest questions. When you gaze at the sky, you marvel at its immensity. Have you ever, at some stage of your life, looked up into the night sky and wondered just how many stars there are space? The question has fascinated scientists as well as philosophers, musicians, and dreamers through the ages. 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, mission control audio loops and portions of a 13-minute in-cabin video recovered after the accident. The relevant data sources were released by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board. SEE THE TIMELINE - Updated Saturday

Saturday: March 1, 2003		0310 GMT

Video shows crew unaware of impending disaster Minutes before the shuttle Columbia broke apart 207,000 feet above Texas, commander Rick Husband and his crewmates marveled at the hot gas surrounding the spaceplane as it plunged deeper and deeper into the atmosphere. FULL STORY
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NASA reports on the latest Columbia pieces recovered Searchers have recovered a large section of the outboard corner of Columbia's left wing inboard elevon, the 17-inch disconnect assembly from the shuttle's belly and what is believed to be the Combustion Module-2 experiment facility that had been aboard the Spacehab Research Double Module in the cargo bay, NASA announced Friday night. INVESTIGATION STATUS CENTER - latest updates

Board didn't seek removal of Dittemore from inquiry Contrary to published reports, the Columbia Accident Investigation Board did not ask NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe to remove shuttle program manager Ronald Dittemore from an active role in the agency's ongoing probe of the Columbia disaster, sources say. FULL STORY

Remnants of ancient stars found in Earth's atmosphere NASA researchers believe they have found bits of ancient stars in small particles gathered in the Earth's upper atmosphere. The researchers revealed their findings in a paper released Thursday. FULL STORY

Massive gas cloud around Jupiter revealed Using a sensitive new imaging instrument on NASA's Cassini spacecraft, researchers have discovered a large and surprisingly dense gas cloud, sharing an orbit with Jupiter's icy moon Europa. FULL STORY

Friday: February 28, 2003		0400 GMT

O'Keefe says station set for two-man caretaker crew Speaking on Capitol Hill, NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe said Thursday the space station's international partners have agreed to keep the lab complex manned with rotating two-person crews launched aboard Russian Soyuz ferry craft until space shuttles return to flight. FULL STORY - updated!

Photo of debris from area near left gear door released The Columbia Accident Investigation Board released a photograph Thursday evening showing a heavily damaged, almost melted looking segment of left wing debris from an area near the ship's left main landing gear door. FULL STORY

Thursday: February 27, 2003		0140 GMT

Flight controllers downplay emails about Columbia Mechanical systems officer Jeff Kling, the flight controller who first noticed problems in the shuttle Columbia's left wing during re-entry Feb. 1, said Wednesday he had no idea a disaster was about to unfold and that "what-if" discussions he had by email the day before were just that and not an indication of any real concern on his part. FULL STORY INVESTIGATION STATUS CENTER - latest updates
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Latest release of emails show wing concern lingered Despite NASA's oft-stated position that no one was overly worried about potentially catastrophic damage to the shuttle Columbia's left wing after launch, engineers and even some flight controllers continued to debate worst-case "what if" scenarios as late as the afternoon before the orbiter's destruction, according to internal emails released Wednesday. FULL STORY

Wednesday: February 26, 2003		0339 GMT

Europe pushes ahead with its new Vega rocket Europe's Vega light booster is one step closer to the launch pad this week as final stages of development were approved in a contract signing between ESA and the ELV company in Italy. FULL STORY

Welding problem delays next month's Atlas 5 The second flight of Lockheed Martin's Atlas 5 rocket has been postponed to replace the Centaur upper stage after a manufacturing concern was raised, managers announced Wednesday. Launch was scheduled for March 14 from Cape Canaveral to deliver the Greek Hellas Sat communications satellite into Earth orbit. MISSION STATUS CENTER

Software being changed on Milstar launcher The Air Force is now targeting an early April launch of its final Milstar communications satellite atop a Titan 4 rocket -- a mission that has been delayed since January to modify onboard software. MISSION STATUS CENTER

Tuesday: February 25, 2003		0101 GMT

Cockpit video found; tape ends before problems A fragment of videotape shot by one of the astronauts on Columbia's flight deck during the early stages of re-entry Feb. 1 has been recovered by NASA. But sources say the heat-damaged tape ends before the onset of problems in the left wing that ultimately led to the orbiter's destruction and the deaths of the ship's crew. As such, the tape provides no insight into the mishap. FULL STORY CLOSE-UP VIEW OF DAMAGED TILE

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Air Force tracking site viewed orbiting Columbia NASA has released a series of visible and infrared images of the orbiting space shuttle Columbia were taken by the U.S. Air Force Maui Optical and Supercomputing Site on January 28 as the spacecraft flew above the island of Maui in the Hawaiian Islands. VISIBLE IMAGES OF COLUMBIA IN ORBIT INFRARED IMAGES OF COLUMBIA IN ORBIT

Pioneer 10 sends last signal After more than 30 years, it appears the venerable Pioneer 10 spacecraft has sent its last signal to Earth. The Deep Space Network did not detect a signal during a contact attempt earlier this month. No additional contact attempts planned. FULL STORY

Monday: February 24, 2003		0420 GMT

New Seawinds instrument breezes into operation One of NASA's newest Earth-observing instruments, the SeaWinds scatterometer aboard Japan's Advanced Earth Observing Satellite 2 -- now renamed Midori 2 -- has successfully transmitted its first radar data to our home planet, generating its first high-quality images. FULL STORY

Atlas 5 approved to launch military satellite The U.S. Air Force has given authorization to begin preparations for launching the Wideband Gapfiller Satellite-2 aboard an Atlas 5 rocket, marking the first of seven military missions awarded to Lockheed Martin's next-generation vehicle. FULL STORY

News Archive
Feb. 17-23: New data shows Columbia's state in final moments; Crew agrees manned space in 'very serious situation'; Melting snow could be cause of gullies on Mars; Missing mass exists as warm intergalactic fog; Where's the coolest place in the Universe?

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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