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News Archive: July 1-31 |
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Peroxide snow on Mars may make planet inhospitable
The planet-wide dust storms that periodically cloak Mars in a mantle of red may be generating a snow of corrosive chemicals, including hydrogen peroxide, that would be toxic to life, according to two new studies.
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OTHER HEADLINES Additional stories today
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Volunteers can scan for 10 million-year-old dust -- On your marks, dust hunters! The University of California, Berkeley's Stardust@home project - a needle-in-a-haystack search for interstellar dust that's open to anyone with a computer - gets off the ground Tuesday.
SMC designates new organizations -- The Air Force's Space and Missile Systems Center here has reorganized and renamed its organizations to mirror a more traditional Air Force structure following a ceremony held here, July 31st.
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Atlas will launch Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
Lockheed Martin's Atlas 5 rocket has been selected by NASA to launch the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission in 2008 from Cape Canaveral, Fla. LRO represents NASA's first step toward returning humans to the surface of the moon. The mission will be launched using an Atlas 5-401 configuration.
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How the world watched Huygens probe descend
As Huygens parachuted to the surface of Titan, a battery of telescopes around the world were watching or listening. The results of those observations are now being collected together and published for the first time. The work gives valuable additional context within which to interpret the 'ground truth' returned by Huygens.
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Rockot booster successfully returns to flight
A modified Russian military missile now sold commercially for space launches successfully completed the orbital delivery of a South Korean observation satellite Friday. The rocket was bouncing back from a bitter failure last year that left the booster grounded for almost 10 months.
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Methane drizzles on Titan
Liquid methane drizzles on the surface of Titan, a moon of Saturn, according to a paper by NASA and university scientists. "The rain on Titan is just a slight drizzle, but it rains all the time, day in, day out. It makes the ground wet and muddy with liquid methane."
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Atlantis' launch opportunity moves a day earlier
Space shuttle program officials Thursday formally changed the opening of Atlantis' launch window to Sunday, August 27 based on projected orbital lighting conditions for photographing the ship's fuel tank. The window had been targeted to open Aug. 28.
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REMAINING SHUTTLE LAUNCH SCHEDULE
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Census conducted of nearby hidden black holes
Scientists on a quest to find hidden black holes in the local universe have found surprisingly few. The observation implies that if these hidden black holes exist they must be from the more distant, earlier universe, a concept that has interesting implications for galaxy evolution.
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Russian rocket fails
18 satellites destroyed
A flock of small satellites for a diverse group of international organizations was lost Wednesday after a converted rocket from Russia's strategic missile arsenal fell back to Earth moments after launch. The Dnepr booster was fired out of an underground silo at Baikonur Cosmodrome, but something went wrong early in the launch sequence.
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Possible trigger for radio-busting bubbles
NASA-funded researchers have identified a possible cause of giant bubbles that often form above the equator in the electrically charged upper atmosphere.
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First images from CALIPSO
The Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation spacecraft known as CALIPSO is returning never-before-seen images of clouds and aerosols, tiny particles suspended in the air.
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Cassini's radar mapper finds possible lakes on Titan
The Cassini spacecraft, using its radar system, has discovered very strong evidence for hydrocarbon lakes on Titan. Dark patches, which resemble terrestrial lakes, seem to be sprinkled all over the high latitudes surrounding Titan's north pole.
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Planet-forming disks might put the brakes on stars
Astronomers using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have found evidence that dusty disks of planet-forming material tug on and slow down the young, whirling stars they surround.
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New quasar view emerges
In the distant, young universe, quasars shine with a brilliance unmatched by anything in the local cosmos. Although they appear starlike in optical telescopes, quasars are actually the bright centers of galaxies located billions of light-years from Earth.
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Europe's lunar probe to go out with a bang
A pioneering space probe has set a course for a dramatic end to its three-year mission in September, when it will collide with the Moon in a spectacular send-off for scientists to learn new information about the lunar surface.
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Shuttle Atlantis departs its hangar for upcoming launch
Space shuttle Atlantis moved closer to its first flight in almost four years when the orbiter was hauled into Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building on Monday morning.
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IMAGES: ATLANTIS MOVES TO VAB
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Gaining a clearer picture of comet makeup and origin
Scientists are getting their best understanding yet of the makeup of comets - not only of the materials inside these planetary building blocks, but also of the way they could have formed around the Sun in the solar system's earliest years.
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Jupiter's two Red Spots have a close encounter
The Gemini Observatory took this stunning image showing two giant Red Spots brushing past one another in Jupiter's southern hemisphere. The Great Red Spot on top is the largest hurricane known in the solar system. The smaller storm, informally known as Red Spot Junior, is another hurricane-like system.
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OTHER HEADLINES Additional stories today
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Russian spy satellite lofted -- Russia launched a new military satellite into orbit Friday from the nation's northern space base. The cargo could be an early warning spacecraft to alert Russian forces of foreign missile launches.
Aerojet delivers breakthrough engine for planetary exploration -- Aerojet has delivered the first of a new generation of propulsion thrusters for NASA's Evolutionary Xenon Thruster (NEXT) project. The NEXT propulsion system could provide breakthrough improvements in propulsion capabilities that will now enable NASA's most ambitious robotic exploration missions.
'Rocket engine of the future' goes to mainstage -- A new rocket propulsion technology demonstration has marked an important milestone, achieving "mainstage" or constant full-power performance for the first time. Called the Integrated Powerhead Demonstration, or IPD, this development project combines the very latest in rocket engine propulsion technologies. To date, the IPD has conducted 21 of 26 tests and accumulated 300 seconds of operation, up to 100 percent power level at NASA's Stennis Space Center (SSC) in Mississippi.
NASA brings future of exploration to Oshkosh -- NASA will take visitors to the moon, Mars and beyond at the country's biggest annual air show, held in Oshkosh, Wis., July 24-30, for the Experimental Aircraft Association's Airventure 2006
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Titan's Xanadu region appears as Earth-like land
New radar images from NASA's Cassini spacecraft reveal geological features very similar to Earth on an Australia-size, bright region on Saturn's moon Titan. In one radar strip nearly 3,000 miles long, Cassini provided a virtual goldmine, telling the region's complex geological story.
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Stellar explosion portends bigger blast to come
On February 12, skygazers spotted a nova that appeared when a faint star brightened dramatically, becoming visible to the unaided eye. The cause of the brightening was a thermonuclear explosion that blasted off a white dwarf star's outer layers while leaving the core unscathed.
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Soyuz launch of European weather satellite scrubbed
Launch of Europe's first polar-orbiting weather observatory aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket has been scrubbed for the third day in a row. Countdown clocks were halted at T-minus 2 minutes, 19 seconds Wednesday when a yet-undisclosed problem forced an abort. Technical glitches with the rocket were to blame Monday and Tuesday.
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MIT envisions exploring Mars with mini probes
MIT engineers and scientist colleagues have a new vision for the future of Mars exploration: a swarm of probes, each the size of a baseball, spreading out across the planet in every direction.
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NASA 'GeneBox' launched aboard Bigelow module
A NASA shoebox-size payload, called 'GeneBox,' is now orbiting Earth as a passenger inside Bigelow Corporation's one-third scale, inflatable Genesis 1 test spacecraft.
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Lockheed finishes 5th modernized GPS satellite
Lockheed Martin announced Tuesday that it has completed the fifth in a series of eight modernized Global Positioning System 2R satellites that the company is developing for the U.S. Air Force. The spacecraft are the most technologically advanced GPS satellites ever developed and will provide significantly improved navigation performance for U.S. military and civilian users worldwide.
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Discovery is home
Under an overcast sky, the shuttle Discovery glided to a smooth touchdown on runway 15 at the Kennedy Space Center on Monday, closing out a successful space station repair and resupply mission that appears to clear the way for resumption of station assembly.
FULL STORY - updated
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LANDING MAPS: ORBIT 202 | ORBIT 203
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Discovery's heat shield officially cleared for entry
NASA managers reviewing laser scans of Discovery's nose cap and wing leading edge panels have found no signs of any micrometeoroid impacts and have officially cleared the shuttle for re-entry Monday, weather permitting, to close out a space station repair and resupply mission.
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APU 1 runs normally during control system checkout
A hydraulic power unit with a leak in its fuel system was fired up early Sunday as part of an otherwise routine flight control system checkout aboard the shuttle Discovery. A quick look at telemetry from APU 1 indicated normal operation and no obvious problems, but it will take several hours to make sure the leak rate stayed constant as engineers predicted.
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Late inspections of Discovery completed
A quick-look assessment of post-undocking laser scans of the shuttle Discovery's nose cap and wing leading edges shows no obvious impact damage from space debris or micrometeoroids. Final clearance to proceed with landing Monday at the Kennedy Space Center will not be given until Sunday, however, after a detailed assessment is completed.
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Discovery departs station with sights set on landing
The shuttle Discovery undocked from the international space station early Saturday, leaving European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Reiter behind to boost the crew size to three for the first time since downsizing in the wake of the Columbia accident.
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UNDOCKING TIMELINE
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NASA, Russians mull launch dates for Atlantis, Soyuz
NASA and the Russian space agency are discussing launch options that almost certainly will shorten the launch window for the agency's next shuttle flight. It now is expected to open Aug. 27 or 28 and may close a week or so earlier than planned because of a requirement to provide time for the station crew to sleep shift between the departure of a U.S. space shuttle and the arrival of a Russian Soyuz capsule.
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Shuttle boss optimistic about hydraulics issue
Astronauts Lisa Nowak and Stephanie Wilson, dubbed the "robo chicks" by mission control, used the space station's robot arm to detach a 10-ton cargo module from the lab complex and remount it in Discovery's cargo bay for return to Earth. Engineers, meanwhile, continue assessing the health of the shuttle's hydraulic system but shuttle program manager Wayne Hale said he is optimistic the issue will not have a major impact on Discovery's re-entry and landing Monday.
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Crew says NASA has turned the corner after Columbia
The Discovery astronauts closed up the Leonardo logistics module today and geared up to detach it from the space station and re-install in the shuttle's cargo bay for return to Earth. With undocking from the station on tap Saturday, shuttle pilot Mark Kelly said the crew has accomplished virtually all of the mission's objectives, clearing the way for station assembly to resume this fall.
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Mission managers update crew on shuttle APU issues
The Discovery astronauts took the day off Thursday, relaxing and enjoying the view from space after a hectic week in orbit highlighted by three spacewalks and work to transfer supplies and equipment to the international space station. Engineers, meanwhile, continue analysis of two seemingly minor issues with Discovery's hydraulic system.
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Inflatable spacecraft enjoys smooth sailing so far
The mission of Bigelow Aerospace's revolutionary prototype space habitat launched Wednesday has gone smoothly through its first day in orbit. The program's founder said the success achieved so far has been an exhilarating experience for his team before they set off to begin a comprehensive testing regimen on the inflatable space station pathfinder.
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Spacewalkers test shuttle heat shield repair materials
The Discovery astronauts chalked up a third successful spacewalk Wednesday, demonstrating repair techniques that could help a future shuttle crew fix damage to a ship's wing leading edge panels. Just before bidding the astronauts good night, mission control informed commander Steve Lindsey that engineers were monitoring two potential issues with the shuttle's hydraulic system.
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Bigelow launches its prototype space module
An inflatable module called Genesis 1 arrived in space after a successful launch Wednesday aboard a converted Russian ballistic missile. The project's backers hope the mission will be the first step in realizing a plan for a futuristic commercial space station that could be fully operational within the next decade.
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EARLIER PROFILE STORY
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'We're back, baby'
The Discovery astronauts, working through a relatively relaxed day of space station equipment and supply transfers Tuesday, said the shuttle's trouble-free launch and lack of significant impact damage show NASA is finally ready to put the Columbia tragedy behind it.
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NASA managers thrilled with results of spacewalk
Space station flight director Rick LaBrode sweated bullets going into Monday's spacewalk to fix a stalled robot arm transporter on the international lab complex. But months of planning, tests and simulations paid off with a successful repair job, clearing the way for resumption of station assembly.
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Indian rocket launch ends in failure soon after liftoff
India's newest communications satellite and the nation's largest rocket were both destroyed during a dramatic failure just moments after lifting off Monday. The vehicle crashed into the Bay of Bengal a few miles offshore of the launch site after disintegrating in mid-air.
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Discovery officially cleared of any launch damage
After around-the-clock analysis, NASA managers Sunday officially gave the shuttle Discovery's heat shield a clean bill of health, concluding there are no problems with tiles, the ship's nose cap or wing leading edge panels that require any repair work by the astronauts.
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Astronauts enjoy slightly more relaxed day
The Discovery astronauts are enjoying a slightly more relaxed day in space today, settling in for relatively routine supply transfers from the shuttle to the international space station and gearing up for a critical spacewalk Monday.
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NASA resolves worries about wing panels, nose cap
With the Discovery astronauts chalking up a surprisingly successful spacewalk, NASA's Mission Management Team Saturday cleared the shuttle's critical nose cap and wing leading edge panels for re-entry and expressed optimism two final question marks about the ship's heat shield will be resolved Sunday.
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Spacewalkers test boom as shuttle repair platform
Astronaut Mike Fossum, anchored to the end of a 100-foot space crane positioned at one end of the space station's solar array truss, pretended to make heat shield repairs Saturday, measuring the forces imparted to the untried space crane to judge its stability as a repair platform.
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Shuttle not yet cleared as analysis continues
Engineers are still assessing the health of two leading edge panels on Discovery's right wing, along with a protruding gap filler just in front of a propellant feedline access door on the orbiter's belly. Mission Management Team Chairman John Shannon said Friday it might take another day or two before engineers can either give Discovery a clean bill of health or show the "regions of interest" represent potentially serious problems.
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Discovery mission extended
With a one-day mission extension considered a done deal, the Discovery astronauts are using a high-resolution camera to inspect a half-dozen areas of the shuttle's heat shield for signs of damage during launch Tuesday. Engineers at the Johnson Space Center, meanwhile, are starting to think about whether the astronauts might need to remove one or two protruding gap fillers during a third spacewalk expected to be added to the mission now that engineers know Discovery will have enough power to support the extra day in orbit.
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Gap filler 101: Crew to make focused inspections
Pilot Mark Kelly, Lisa Nowak and Stephanie Wilson are gearing up carry out so-called focused inspections of Discovery's heat shield to double check several areas of interest that were noticed during earlier inspections.
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Cargo transfer module mounted to the station
Astronauts aboard the international space station, operating the lab's Canadian-built robot arm, gently plucked a 10-ton cargo module from the shuttle Discovery's payload bay today for attachment to the international space station.
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No damage found during heat shield inspections
Preliminary assessment of the shuttle Discovery's heat shield after a dramatic end-over-end flip Thursday while approaching the international space station shows no signs of appreciable damage to the ship's fragile heat shield tiles from debris impacts during launch, officials said.
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Discovery arrives at space station after two day chase
With commander Steve Lindsey at the controls, the shuttle Discovery glided to a smooth, picture-perfect docking with the international space station Thursday. During final approach, Lindsey flew the shuttle through a spectacular 360-degree pitch-around maneuver as the spaceplane sailed above the Rock of Gibraltar and then central Europe at five miles per second.
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Crew told about debris, gap filler as they near station
The shuttle Discovery was closing in on the international space station Thursday for a long-awaited linkup that will boost the lab's crew size to three, provide more than 5,000 pounds of equipment and supplies and give mission managers their first detailed view of the fragile heat shield tiles on the shuttle's belly.
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Space shuttle external tank fixes appear sound
After a full day of image analysis and inspections, NASA engineers are increasingly optimistic that major changes to the foam insulation on the shuttle Discovery's external fuel tank worked as required to minimize the release of potentially catastrophic debris during the ship's Fourth of July climb to space.
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Astronauts inspect Discovery wings, nose cap
The Discovery astronauts carried out painstaking, inch-by-inch inspections of the shuttle's carbon composite nose cap and wing leading edge panels Wednesday, using a laser sensor on the end of a long boom to look for signs of ascent impact damage. White markings thought to be bird droppings were spotted at one point, and a few other whitish streaks were visible, but no obvious signs of significant damage were seen in downlinked TV.
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External fuel tank foam losses not in danger zone
The shuttle Discovery's external tank lost only small pieces of foam insulation during launch Tuesday, and those were well after the period when aerodynamic effects can lead to dangerous impacts with the orbiter, officials said late Tuesday.
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Star-Spangled start to shuttle Discovery's mission
The space shuttle Discovery and its flag-waving crew thundered into space Tuesday, putting on a spectacular Fourth of July skyshow as it rocketed away on a long-awaited mission to repair and resupply the international space station.
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ASTRONAUT SPOTS DEBRIS IN SPACE
MISSION QUICK-LOOK: Page 1 | Page 2
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COMMANDER STEVE LINDSEY BOARDS DISCOVERY PLAY
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ASTROVAN ARRIVES AT LAUNCH PAD 39B PLAY
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FLAG-WAVING CREW DEPARTS QUARTERS FOR THE PAD PLAY
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ASTRONAUTS GET SUITED UP THIS MORNING PLAY
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SNACK TIME NO. 3 FOR DISCOVERY CREW PLAY
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ICE TEAM INSPECTS TANK BRACKET AFTER FUELING PLAY
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Discovery tank cleared
NASA managers Monday night decided to press ahead with a Fourth of July launch of the shuttle Discovery, weather permitting, after engineers concluded the loss of foam insulation from an external oxygen feedline posed no threat to the orbiter or its crew.
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PHOTOS: IMAGES OF THE CRACKED FOAM
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NASA CLEARS FOAM CONCERN DIAL-UP | BROADBAND
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JOHN SHANNON EXPLAINS THE FOAM SITUATION QT 7
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MONDAY'S FOAM NEWS CONFERENCE Part 1 | Part 2
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Discovery launch delayed to Independence Day
For a second straight day, the shuttle Discovery was grounded because of cloud cover over the Kennedy Space Center Sunday, delaying a long-awaited mission to service and resupply the international space station. Launch was rescheduled for around 2:38 p.m. EDT (1838 GMT) on the July Fourth holiday.
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POST-SCRUB SHUTTLE BRIEFING PLAY
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ASTROVAN LEAVES PAD 39B AFTER THE SCRUB PLAY
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WEATHER SCRUBS LAUNCH FOR SECOND STRAIGHT DAY PLAY
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CREW DEPART THEIR QUARTERS FOR THE PAD PLAY
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ASTRONAUTS DON SPACESUITS AGAIN PLAY
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SUNDAY MORNING'S ASTRONAUT SNACK TIME PLAY
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DISCOVERY'S PRE-LAUNCH CAMPAIGN PLAY
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THE PAYLOADS OF STS-121 PLAY
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INTERVIEW WITH COMMANDER STEVE LINDSEY PLAY
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INTERVIEW WITH PILOT MARK KELLY PLAY
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INTERVIEW WITH MISSION SPECIALIST 1 MIKE FOSSUM PLAY
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INTERVIEW WITH MS 2 LISA NOWAK PLAY
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INTERVIEW WITH MS 3 STEPHANIE WILSON PLAY
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INTERVIEW WITH MS 4 PIERS SELLERS PLAY
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INTERVIEW WITH MS 5 THOMAS REITER PLAY
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Bad weather delays Discovery launch
Launch of the shuttle Discovery on a long-awaited space station servicing and resupply mission was called off Saturday because of cloud cover and the threat of lightning over the Kennedy Space Center.
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POST-SCRUB INTERVIEW WITH LAUNCH DIRECTOR PLAY
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WEATHER SCRUBS SATURDAY'S LAUNCH ATTEMPT PLAY
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CREW DEPARTS QUARTERS FOR THE PAD PLAY
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CREWMEMBERS DON ORANGE SPACESUITS PLAY
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ASTRONAUT PHOTO OPP TODAY IN DINING ROOM PLAY
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Read our earlier news archive page.
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In this highly entertaining program, commander John Young and pilot Bob Crippen of the first space shuttle crew tell stories and memories from STS-1. The two respected astronauts visited Kennedy Space Center on April 6 to mark the upcoming 25th anniversary of Columbia's maiden voyage.
The October 1984 flight of space shuttle Challenger featured a diverse set of accomplishments. The Earth Radiation Budget Satellite environmental spacecraft was deployed and a planet-mapping radar was tested. The seven-person crew was led by Bob Crippen and included the first Canadian in space, Marc Garneau, and the first time two women, Sally Ride and Kathryn Sullivan, had flown aboard one flight. Sullivan and Dave Leestma also conducted a spacewalk to demonstrate techniques for refueling satellites. The crew narrates this post-flight film of STS-41G.
On April 5, 1991, space shuttle Atlantis lifted off from Kennedy Space Center carrying the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory -- NASA's second Great Observatory. Launch occurred at 9:23 a.m. from pad 39B.
The combined Expedition 12 and 13 crews, along with visiting Brazilian astronaut Marcos Pontes, hold this in-flight news conference with reporters in Houston, Cape Canaveral and Moscow on April 3. The crews are handing over duties during this week-long handover before Expedition 12 returns to Earth from the space station.
The Russian Soyuz TMA-8 spacecraft carrying the Expedition 13 resident crew successfully docks to the Zarya module of the International Space Station under automated control.
Full coverage of the Expedition 13 crew's launch aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to begin a six-month mission aboard the International Space Station.
External cameras on the International Space Station captured this incredible footage of the March 29 solar eclipse. The station flew through the eclipse over the Middle East as the moon passed in front of the sun and cast its shadow on the Earth.
A total solar eclipse occurred March 29. This video from Side, Turkey shows the period of totality when the moon slid between the Earth and Sun. The eclipse revealed the Sun's glowing outer halo of million-degree gas, called the solar corona.
In early March, NASA cancelled its Dawn mission built to orbit two of the solar system's largest asteroids using ion engine propulsion. Technical problems and cost overruns were blamed. But in this news conference from March 27, agency officials announce NASA's decision to reverse the cancellation and restart the mission.
Lockheed Martin holds this news conference in Houston on March 24 to announced that it is partnering with the State of Texas to locate the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) program office in Houston, as well as systems engineering, software development and qualification testing, if the corporation wins the NASA contract to build the next generation spacecraft for NASA.
As the Expedition 12 mission aboard the International Space Station winds down, officials managing the flight from Mission Control in Houston hold this retrospective briefing to talk about the highs and lows, the science, the spacewalks and everything in between.
International Space Station officials preview the next Expedition mission to the orbiting outpost, which is scheduled for launch March 29. The preview was given during a briefing March 22 from Johnson Space Center.