Spaceflight Now

Sunday: July 6, 2003		0412 GMT

Mars Exploration Rover launch delayed another day Problems with a battery on the Delta 2 rocket's flight termination system has forced another launch delay for the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. Liftoff is now targeted for no sooner than Monday night. MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates!

Mars Global Surveyor catches autumn dust storm Autumn on the martian northern plains means clouds and dust storms. As autumn got underway in early May, large dust storms began to form on the northern plains and sweep their way eastward -- and sometimes southward -- bringing colder air down from the north polar cap, now shrouded in darkness and clouds. FULL STORY

Saturday: July 5, 2003		0446 GMT

Celestial fireworks Resembling the puffs of smoke and sparks from a summer fireworks display in this image from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, these delicate filaments are actually sheets of debris from a stellar explosion in a neighboring galaxy. FULL STORY

Station crew marks July 4th holiday in orbit NASA astronaut Ed Lu wished Americans a happy Fourth of July during a video downlink from the International Space Station. Lu, along with Expedition 7 commander Yuri Malenchenko, also provided a status report on their life aboard the outpost as it circles 240 miles above Earth. The video is available to our Spaceflight Now Plus subscribers:

Video coverage for subscribers only: VIDEO: WATCH THE CREW'S MESSAGE QT SUBSCRIBE NOW
Friday: July 4, 2003		0325 GMT

Solar system 'most similar' to our own discovered Astronomers looking for planetary systems that resemble our own solar system have found the most similar formation so far. A team has discovered a planet like Jupiter in orbit round a nearby star that is very like our own Sun. Among the hundred found so far, this system is the one most similar to our Solar System. FULL STORY

Minimal data loss expected from SOHO problem Despite what at first appeared to be a serious problem with the SOHO solar observatory, engineers have now discovered a way to save the vast majority of science data that was once believed to have been lost. FULL STORY

Mars Exploration Rover launch slips to Sunday Launch of the Mars rover Opportunity has been delayed one more day. Liftoff is now scheduled for Sunday night aboard a Boeing Delta 2 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida. MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates! LAUNCH EVENTS TIMELINE GROUND TRACK MAP

Thursday: July 3, 2003		0349 GMT

Gravitational waves may set speed limit for pulsars Gravitational radiation, ripples in the fabric of space predicted by Albert Einstein, may serve as a cosmic traffic enforcer, protecting reckless pulsars from spinning too fast and blowing apart. Pulsars, the fastest spinning stars in the Universe, are the core remains of exploded stars, containing the mass of our Sun compressed into a sphere about 10 miles across. FULL STORY

Shuttle program announces personnel changes Space Shuttle Program Manager Bill Parsons has announced several key leadership changes within the office as it reorganizes and evolves following the Columbia accident. FULL STORY

When will Opportunity fly? Launch of the Mars rover Opportunity is expected to slip to Sunday night, sources say. NASA is still reviewing analysis and hasn't confirmed the next launch attempt. The weather forecast for Sunday calls for a 70 percent chance of good conditions. MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates! LAUNCH EVENTS TIMELINE GROUND TRACK MAP

Wednesday: July 2, 2003		0154 GMT

Firehose-like jet discovered in action An X-ray movie of the Vela pulsar, made from a series of observations by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, reveals a spectacularly erratic jet that varies in a way never seen before. The jet of high-energy particles whips about like an untended firehose at about half the speed of light. This behavior gives scientists new insight into the nature of jets from pulsars and black holes. FULL STORY

Launch of Mars rover Opportunity on hold Officials could decide by late Wednesday whether to perform a special liquid oxygen loading test on the Boeing Delta 2 rocket to ensure repaired insulation stays adhered to the booster's first stage, NASA Launch Manager Omar Baez told reporters Tuesday. MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates!

Hawaiian telescope team makes debut discovery Astronomers have observed a young star ringed by a swirling disc that may spin off planets, marking the first published science observation using two linked telescopes in Hawaii. The telescopes at the W.M. Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea, known as the Keck Interferometer, comprise the world's largest optical telescope system. FULL STORY

Board issues launch imaging recommendation The Columbia Accident Investigation Board on Tuesday issued its fourth preliminary finding and recommendation to NASA. The recommendation calls for an upgrade to the imaging system that tracks space shuttle during launch and requiring that cameras being working before liftoffs can occur. FULL STORY

Tuesday: July 1, 2003		0001 GMT

Foam strike email to shuttle commander released The commander of the shuttle Columbia was informed about the foam strike most believe led to the ship's destruction in a casual email from mission control a full week after liftoff. Even though NASA's internal analysis of the foam incident was not yet complete, the email dismissed any concern about the strike as "not even worth mentioning" and said the only reason it was being brought up was to make sure the astronauts were not surprised by a question from reporters during upcoming interviews. FULL STORY STS-107 STORY DIRECTORY

Mars rover launch delayed into the weekend Launch of Delta 2 rocket and Mars rover Opportunity has been delayed to Saturday night, NASA officials announced Monday. The further slip in the liftoff will give workers more time to fix loose insulating material on the rocket's first stage and perform tests. MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates! LAUNCH EVENTS TIMELINE GROUND TRACK MAP

Rockot booster successfully launches 9 payloads A modified Russian ballistic missile orbited a menagerie of scientific and technology demonstration satellites Monday for a wide array of international organizations. Liftoff of the Rockot launch vehicle from Russia's Plesetsk Cosmodrome was at 1415 GMT (10:15 a.m. EDT). FULL STORY

Monday: June 30, 2003		0122 GMT

Insulation repairs postpone rover launch to Wednesday The 300 million mile voyage from Earth to Mars for NASA's Opportunity rover won't begin until at least Wednesday night so workers can fix a ring of insulating material on the Boeing Delta 2 rocket. An initial launch try Saturday night was scrubbed due to high-altitude winds. Check our Mission Status Center for the latest news. MISSION STATUS CENTER - live updates! LAUNCH EVENTS TIMELINE GROUND TRACK MAP

A first look at the doughnut around a giant black hole Active galactic nuclei are one of the most energetic and mysterious phenomena in the universe. In some galaxies indeed, the core generates amounts of energy which surpass those of normal galaxies, such as the Milky Way, by many orders of magnitude. The central engine of these power stations is thought to be a supermassive black hole. FULL STORY

Remembering trendsetting seafaring satellite It only skippered the seas of space for a mere three months, but just as Gilligan's "three-hour tour" has continued on in syndication for decades, a salty satellite launched to study the oceans 25 years ago by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is living on through the many missions it has spawned. FULL STORY

News Archive
June 23-29: Foam 'most probable' cause of Columbia disaster; Columbia board issues tile repair recommendation; Spaceflight Now interviews station's resident crew; SOHO engineers battle to overcome antenna problem; Commercial Earth imager launched into space by Pegasus; Helios prototype solar aircraft lost in mishap.

June 16-22: Space shuttle tile repair options in development; Engineers assess bi-pod redesign options; Lu talks of 'silver lining' from the Columbia tragedy; The secret lives of galaxies unveiled in deep survey; Evidence for meteor in early mass extinction found.

June 9-15: 'Spirit' rover begins seven-month cruise to Mars; Cargo-carrying craft docks to space station; Bolt catcher a possible shuttle return to flight issue; Comets survive plunge through Sun's atmosphere; Ariane 5 launches double cargo with success; Sea Launch rocket lofts second Thuraya spacecraft.

June 2-8: Foam impact cracks wing leading edge panel; Europe's first adventure to Mars successfully launched; Russian Proton rocket flies its 300th launch; Thermal data from Odyssey reveals a changing Mars; 'Razor-sharp image' of star cluster snapped from Earth.

May 26-June 1: Foam impact test causes significant T-seal movement; Demonstration flight not likely for space shuttle; 'Slick Six' launch pad hosts its first Delta 4 rocket; Japanese science cargo returns to Earth for study; Mars rover launch delayed.

More news See our weekly archive of space news.

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

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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!

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Apollo patches

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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.

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Viking patch

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

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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.

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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.

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Soviet Space

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Viking patch

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

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Apollo 7 DVD

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Expedition 18 patch & pin

The official embroidered patch and lapel pin for the International Space Station Expedition 18 crew is now available to from our stores.

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Ares patch

The Ares Project will develop two new rockets to launch astronauts back to the Moon under NASA's Vision for Exploration. The Ares 1 will employ a single space shuttle solid rocket booster to loft the Orion crew capsule. The gigantic Ares 5 will haul the equipment and cargo needed for such lunar voyages. This is the Ares emblem.

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Apollo patches

The Apollo Patch Collection: Includes all 12 Apollo mission patches plus the Apollo Program Patch. Save over 20% off the Individual price.
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Columbus mission patch

The official astronaut embroidered patch of Atlantis' STS-122 mission that launched the Columbus science lab in February is available to U.S. customers from our store.

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