Sunday: February 29, 2004  0001 GMT
Nearest, youngest star with planet nursery found
Astronomers have discovered the nearest and youngest star with a visible disk of dust that may be a nursery for planets. The dim red dwarf star is a mere 33 light years away, close enough that the Hubble Space Telescope or ground-based telescopes with adaptive optics to sharpen the image should be able to see whether the dust disk contains clumps of matter that might turn into planets.
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Anomalies in makeup of interplanetary dust particle
Scientists from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Washington University have seen carbon and nitrogen anomalies on a particle of interplanetary dust that provides a clue as to how interstellar organic matter was incorporated into the solar system.
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IN OTHER NEWS  Additional stories making news today
Space Shuttle Processing Status Report -- Updates about work being performed on NASA's three space shuttles -- Atlantis, Discovery and Endeavour -- as well as preparations for Return to Flight is released by Kennedy Space Center.

Bound for Space Technology Hall of Fame -- The Space Foundation has announced the selection of four "down to earth" technologies for induction into the Space Technology Hall of Fame. Three were spawned by NASA efforts, and the fourth by the work of the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory.
Saturday: February 28, 2004  0231 GMT
Cassini captures stunning view of Saturn
Four months before its scheduled arrival at Saturn, the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft sent its best color postcard back to Earth of the ringed world. The spacecraft is expected to send weekly postcards, as it gets closer to the ringed giant.
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Two simultaneous 'naked-eye' comets expected
A naked-eye comet - one visible to the unaided eye without telescope or binoculars - is an enjoyable sight, particularly for the brighter comets. On average, a naked-eye comet graces our skies about once every two years. Only rarely do two relatively bright naked-eye comets appear simultaneously. Such an event will take place in April and May.
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Friday: February 27, 2004  0733 GMT
Rocket trouble delays Rosetta until next week
Launch of Europe's ambitious Rosetta mission to orbit a comet and deliver a tiny lander onto the icy surface has been postponed yet again -- this time by insulating foam that detached from the Ariane 5 rocket's main stage.
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Suit problem forces early end to station spacewalk
Astronaut Michael Foale and cosmonaut Alexander Kalari cut short their spacewalk from the International Space Station Thursday evening because of a cooling problem with Kalari's space suit.
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Rover shows sunset on Mars
Capturing an awe-inspiring view, the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has photographed the setting Sun from its landing site. In addition to the sunset images, scientists released a variety of other pictures at Thursday's rover science news conference.
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Thursday: February 26, 2004  0735 GMT
Winds keep Rosetta comet chaser Earthbound
Today's launch of the Ariane 5 rocket to propel the Rosetta spacecraft on its voyage to intercept comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko has been postponed due to unfavorable high-altitude winds. Liftoff has been rescheduled for early Friday morning.
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Second star, not planet, explains 'winking star'
Since its discovery in 1998, the "winking star" called KH 15D has baffled astronomers seeking to explain its long-lasting (24-day) eclipses. Many hypothesized that the eclipses were caused by intervening blobs of material within a protoplanetary disk surrounding a single, young Sun-like star.
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Cosmic dark ages lasted for more than a billion years
The early universe was veiled with a fog of neutral hydrogen and helium. Even the brilliant ultraviolet (UV) light of stars in the first primordial galaxies could barely penetrate the all-absorbing curtains of gas, leading some astronomers to term that era the cosmic "Dark Ages."
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Space station spacewalk set for Thursday
The International Space Station will be unoccupied for several hours Thursday as the two residents step outside for a spacewalk to work on external experiments and equipment. The EVA by Expedition 8 commander Michael Foale and flight engineer Alexander Kaleri begins at 4:14 p.m. EST (2114 GMT) and is scheduled to last five-and-a-half hours.
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Wednesday: February 25, 2004  0620 GMT
Rosetta comet chaser to launch Thursday morning
Europe's vaunted $1 billion Rosetta comet explorer is poised to set off on its decade-long journey early Thursday morning. In the last major event before the final countdown begins, the Ariane 5 rocket rolled out of its assembly building to the launch pad Tuesday.
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SORCE satellite celebrates year of operations
Having marked its first anniversary on orbit, NASA's Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) satellite has hit its stride. In concert with other satellites, SORCE's observations of the sun's brightness are helping researchers better understand climate change, climate prediction, atmospheric ozone, the sunburn-causing ultraviolet-B radiation and space weather.
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IN OTHER NEWS  Additional stories making news today
NASA selects 22 projects to advance human support technologies -- NASA's Office of Biological and Physical Research recently selected 22 researchers to receive grants of up to four years to conduct research and development in advanced human support technologies. These technologies are expected to have a significant impact on the ability of humans to conduct long-duration space flight missions safely.

'And the Laurel Goes to...The Spitzer Space Telescope!' -- Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine has honored the teams that built NASA's new Spitzer Space Telescope with a 2003 Aerospace Laurel award. The awards, now in their 47th year, recognize outstanding achievements in the global field of aerospace.
Tuesday: February 24, 2004  0419 GMT
Scientists watch neutron star explosion in real time
A neutron star halfway across the Milky Way galaxy is ready for its close-up. A rare and massive explosion on this star illuminated the region and allowed scientists to view details never seen before, virtually bringing the scientists to the action occurring just a few miles above the star's surface.
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Europe prepares mission to search for life on Mars
Before humans can leave their boot prints on the dusty surface of Mars, many questions have to be answered and many problems solved. One of the most fundamental questions - one that has intrigued humankind for centuries - is whether life has ever existed on Mars, the most Earthlike of all the planets.
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IN OTHER NEWS  Additional stories making news today
Study moves in on why astronauts suffer bone loss -- A new study by researchers at San Francisco VA Medical Center moves in on the physiological basis for the bone density loss experienced by people subjected to prolonged periods of bed rest and by astronauts who fly lengthy missions under the weightless conditions of space.

Lockheed Martin creates exploration organization -- Lockheed Martin has formed a new organization to manage the Corporation's efforts in support of NASA's space exploration initiative. The organization, which will be called Space Exploration, will be led by John C. Karas and be headquartered in Denver, Colo., as part of the Space Systems Company.
Monday: February 23, 2004  0343 GMT
Explaining Martian colors
How do you display a picture of Mars taken with an electronic eye, capable of seeing wavelengths of light that are invisible to humans? Welcome to the wonderful world of 'false' color...
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Mars Express shoots Kasei Vallis outflow channel
This image shows various details which give an insight into the erosional history of the outflow channel. The image also illustrates how difficult it is to achieve near-true color in images of Mars when atmospheric dust and haze have a major disturbing influence on the scene.
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Rovers probing rocks, soil
The twin Mars Exploration Rovers spent the weekend hard at work on opposite sides of the planet as Opportunity examined exposed bedrock and Spirit studied the trench it dug in the soil.
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News Archive
Feb. 16-22: Next shuttle flight delayed as rescue scenario formed; Shuttle tank modifications more complex than expected; Planetoid found in Kuiper Belt, maybe the biggest yet; Prime mission half over, Spirit looks for bonus time; Farthest known galaxy in the Universe discovered; Was Einstein right about dark energy after all?

Feb. 9-15: Beagle failure investigation formally begins; Orbiter sees Opportunity rover on the Martian surface; Titan 4B rocket launches U.S. military satellite; Spitzer Space Telescope sends cosmic Valentine rose.

Feb. 2-8: Oxygen, carbon discovered in exoplanet atmosphere; Spirit grinds hole in rock; Martian hills dedicated to fallen Columbia crew; American TV watchers to reap benefits of Atlas launch; Supernova blast bonanza in nearby galaxy; New study shows how black holes get their 'kicks'.

More news  See our weekly archive of space news.








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