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X-43A test
NASA's X-43A research craft and its Pegasus rocket booster complete a captive carry test flight aboard a B-52 launch aircraft. (1min 48sec file)
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See the KSC damage
See damage to the Vehicle Assembly Building, the Saturn 5 Center and other facilities at Kennedy Space Center caused by Hurricane Jeanne. (4min 31sec file)
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Cape damage report
Jim Kennedy, director of the Kennedy Space Center, and Col. Mark Owen, 45th Space Wing commander, hold a news conference on Monday, Sept. 27 to provide a preliminary report on damage from Hurricane Jeanne at KSC and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. (49min 30sec file)
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Hurricane Jeanne
Cameras aboard the International Space Station captured these views of Hurricane Jeanne on Saturday, Sept. 25 as the storm approached Florida. (3min 59sec file)
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Shuttle news briefing
The Stafford-Covey Return to Flight Task Group's co-chairmen, former astronauts Tom Stafford and Dick Covey, hold a news conference Thursday to update reporters on NASA's efforts to prepare the next space shuttle mission. (47min 01sec file)
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Nearing the U.S.
From 230 miles above Earth, International Space Station astronaut Mike Fincke talks to Mission Control while an external camera watches Hurricane Ivan on Wednesday as the storm moved closer to landfall. (4min 53sec file)
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Ivan in the Gulf
As Hurricane Ivan moved into the Gulf of Mexico, this video recorded Tuesday evening aboard the International Space Station shows the storm and spectacular views of the eye. (6min 00sec file)
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Ivan over Cuba
This video of Hurricane Ivan from the International Space Station was recorded Monday as the storm passed over the western portion of Cuba. (4min 34sec file)
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Hurricane Ivan
Cameras on the International Space Station see Hurricane Ivan as the orbiting complex flies over the powerful storm on Saturday. (3min 05sec file)
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Sunday: October 3, 2004  0009 GMT
Genesis samples 'looking very, very good'
The Genesis team is preparing to ship its samples of the Sun from the mission's temporary cleanroom at the U.S. Army Proving Ground, Dugway, Utah, to NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston.
   FULL STORY
DART spacecraft moves one step closer to fall launch
NASA is planning to launch the Demonstration of Autonomous Rendezvous Technology (DART) flight demonstrator in late October. The launch is planned no earlier than Oct. 26 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The mission is an in-space demonstration of an autonomous rendezvous prototype system.
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Saturday: October 2, 2004  0157 GMT
Giant 'pinhole camera' for exoplanet studies
A NASA institute has selected a new University of Colorado at Boulder proposal for further study that describes how existing technologies can be used to study planets around distant stars with the help of an orbiting "starshade."
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NASA technology means no more flying blind
Imagine a world where pilots see clear skies all the time. It's not some weather fantasyland, but a revolutionary cockpit display technology called Synthetic Vision. NASA is developing it to make flying safer.
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OTHER HEADLINES  Additional stories today
Software links pediatric doctors with new research -- Conjoined twins from Guatemala and the Philippines were recently separated after marathon surgeries in the United States, since their small communities lacked the quality medical care for the delicate procedure. Engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory are working with doctors on a computer system that might eventually allow such high-tech surgeries to be performed in a remote country using a virtual pediatric intensive care unit.
Friday: October 1, 2004  0302 GMT
Scientists say supernova explosions imminent
Three powerful recent blasts from three wholly different regions in space have left scientists scrambling. The blasts, which lasted only a few seconds, might be early alert systems for star explosions called supernovae, which could start appearing any day.
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Evidence shaky for role of Sun in past climate changes
Computer models of Earth's climate have consistently linked long-term, high-magnitude variations in solar output to past climate changes. Now a closer look at earlier studies of the Sun and Sun-like stars casts doubt on the evidence of such cycles, their intensity, and their possible influence on Earth's climate.
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ORBIMAGE to be NextView provider, build OrbView-5
ORBIMAGE has been awarded a major contract by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, valued at approximately $500 million. It will allow for the development of OrbView-5, ORBIMAGE's next-generation high-resolution imaging satellite.
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Thursday: September 30, 2004  0001 GMT
SpaceShipOne takes wild suborbital flight
SpaceShipOne pilot Mike Melvill, struggling to regain control after the futuristic-looking craft went into an unexpected roll, shut down the spaceplane's engine 11 seconds early Wednesday in the first of two flights aimed at capturing the coveted X Prize.
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   MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates!
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VIDEO: TAXI TO THE RUNWAY AT DAYBREAK QT
VIDEO: CARRIER AIRCRAFT TAKES OFF WITH SPACESHIPONE QT
VIDEO: SPACESHIPONE LAUNCHES AND HAS MAJOR UNPLANNED ROLL QT
VIDEO: HIGH BANDWIDTH CLIP FOCUSING ON THE ROLLING QT
VIDEO: SPACESHIPONE REENTERS EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE QT
VIDEO: THE CRAFT SAFELY LANDS AT MOJAVE AIRPORT QT
VIDEO: MELVILL CLIMBS FROM SPACESHIPONE AFTER LANDING QT
VIDEO: POST-FLIGHT COMMENTS BY MELVILL, RUTAN AND OTHERS QT
VIDEO: PRE-LAUNCH SPEECH BY LINDBERGH'S GRANDSON ERIK QT
VIDEO: COMMENTS FROM NASA ADMINISTRATOR BEFORE LAUNCH QT
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Study suggests space may decrease human immunity
A NASA-funded study has found the human body's ability to fight off disease may be decreased by spaceflight. The effect may even linger after an astronaut's return to Earth following long flights.
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Music rings of Saturn
Looking something like the fibrous bow of a violin, Saturn's colorful rings sweep through this spectacular natural color view while two small moons look on.
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Wednesday: September 29, 2004  0230 GMT
SpaceShipOne goes for first X Prize launch today
The privately-funded SpaceShipOne rocket plane will soar to the edge of space today with astronaut Mike Melvill aboard during the first of two flights needed to win the $10 million Ansari X Prize.
   MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates!
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VIDEO: CARRIER AIRCRAFT TAKES OFF WITH SPACESHIPONE QT
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Large asteroid will zoom safely past Earth
A mountain-sized asteroid will make its closest approach to Earth on Wednesday. Although asteroid 4179 Toutatis will come no closer than four times the distance between the Earth and the moon, this will be the closest approach of any known asteroid of comparable size this century.
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NASA explores advanced space concepts
Twelve proposals to boldly go beyond the frontiers of space exploration were selected by the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts for a six-month study period beginning in October 2004, including magnetized beamed plasma propulsion and an infrared observatory near the lunar pole.
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X-43A captive carry rehearsal flight successful
NASA aeronautics researchers are looking forward to flying the X-43A research aircraft at speeds up to 10 times the speed of sound later this fall, following a successful "captive carry" dress rehearsal flight from NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center this week.
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Tuesday: September 28, 2004  0226 GMT
Mars orbiter sees rover, lander and even tracks
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor, starting its third mission extension this week after seven years of orbiting the Red Planet, is using an innovative technique to capture pictures even sharper than most of the more than 170,000 it has already produced. One dramatic example from the spacecraft's camera shows wheel tracks of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit and the rover itself.
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Jeanne 'kindler, gentler' to KSC than Frances
The Kennedy Space Center suffered additional wind and water damage from Hurricane Jeanne, but officials said Monday the spaceport never experienced hurricane-force winds and that Frances caused considerably more damage.
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   HURRICANE STATUS CENTER - updates
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AUDIO: MONDAY'S HURRICANE DAMAGE NEWS CONFERENCE QT
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OTHER HEADLINES  Additional stories today
Mars Express hints about water loss in the atmosphere -- Recent results from the ASPERA-3 instrument on board Mars Express confirm that a very efficient process is at work in the Martian atmosphere which could explain the loss of water. Water is believed to have once been abundant on the Red Planet.

Maneuver keeps MESSENGER probe on track -- MESSENGER marked its 52nd day of flight operations with a burst from its thrusters, completing a maneuver last week that kept it on course for next summer's Earth flyby.
Monday: September 27, 2004  0005 GMT
Shuttle fleet safe after Jeanne hits Florida
NASA's space shuttle orbiters appear to have weathered the worst of Hurricane Jeanne without any damage, although the Kennedy Space Center's battered Vehicle Assembly Building has lost additional siding panels. The rideout crew at the Florida spaceport has started assessing the damage.
   HURRICANE STATUS CENTER - updates
   SPACEPORT RIDEOUT CREW ON STATION
Bigelow's Gamble
The Bigelow Aerospace project to privately develop inflatable Earth-orbit space modules is beginning to integrate diverse U.S. and European technologies into subscale and full-scale inflatable test modules and subsystems at the company's heavily guarded facilities.
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Herding Saturn's rings
Saturn's moon Prometheus is seen shepherding the inner edge of Saturn's F ring. Prometheus is 63 miles across and was captured in a close-up view by the Cassini spacecraft near the time of orbital insertion at Saturn. A number of clumps are visible here along the arcing F ring.
   FULL STORY
Desert rover helps NASA learn to search for Mars life
A dedicated team of scientists is spending the next four weeks in northern Chile's Atacama Desert. They are studying the scarce life that exists there and, in the process, helping NASA learn more about how primitive life forms could exist on Mars.
   FULL STORY
OTHER HEADLINES  Additional stories today
U.S. Navy awards $2 billion satellite contract -- The U.S. Navy announced Friday that a team led by Lockheed Martin has won the competition to build the Mobile User Objective System (MUOS), a next-generation narrowband tactical satellite communications system that will provide significantly improved and assured communications for the mobile warfighter.
News Archive
Sept. 20-26: Cape prays as Jeanne hits Florida; Mars rovers renewed; Genesis team ships first recovered sample; India launches educational satellite using GSLV rocket; NASA picks contractor for first Prometheus mission.

Sept. 13-19: Cape continues hurricane recovery, damage checks; Galactic contortionists captured in amazing image; Cassini orbiter snaps Saturn's family portrait; Radical Antarctic telescope 'would outdo Hubble'.

Sept. 6-12: Genesis space capsule crashes back to Earth; Cape battered by Hurricane Frances; Cassini discovers ring and one, maybe two, objects; Mars may have had large sea near rover landing site.

Aug. 30-Sept. 5: Atlas 2 rocket retires with remarkable record; Scientists discover a new class of extrasolar planets; Brightest supernova in a decade captured by Hubble; Space station residents complete spacewalk.

Aug. 23-29: History-making Titan 4 rocket put on the pad; South polar storms on Saturn spotted by Cassini; Boeing's Delta 4-Heavy rocket is revealed; Tiny 'David' telescope finds 'Goliath' planet.

More news  See our weekly archive of space news.








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