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News Archive 2011: January |
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Air Force's second X-37 space plane nears launch
Two months after a sister ship successfully concluded a demo flight, the U.S. military's second robotic X-37B space plane is in Florida preparing for blastoff March 4 on another secret mission, according to an Air Force official.
 FULL STORY
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Discovery returns to launch pad after tank repairs
With the external tank repaired and strengthened, the space shuttle Discovery re-emerged from the Vehicle Assembly Building and returned to launch pad 39A Tuesday for a final pre-retirement mission to the International Space Station. Rollout began at 7:58 p.m. (0058 GMT) and was completed at 2:53 a.m. EST (0753 GMT).
ROLLOUT STORY
MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates and video!
IMAGES: DISCOVERY ROLLOUT PHOTO GALLERY
IMAGES: SHUTTLE INSIDE THE VAB
LAUNCH WINDOWS CHART
COUNTDOWN SEQUENCE
ASCENT TIMELINE
THE FLIGHT PLAN
STS-133 ARCHIVE
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Station welcomes wave of international cargo ships
The International Space Station received its second cargo freighter of the week Saturday night when a Russian-made vessel loaded with two-and-a-half tons of supplies safely approached and docked on autopilot.
FULL STORY
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 VIDEO:
WATCH PROGRESS 41P FREIGHTER DOCKING PLAY
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Russia launches another supply ship to space station
With Japan's cargo freighter safely arriving at the International Space Station early Thursday, Russia has launched its next resupply ship loaded with more provisions and even a tiny amateur radio satellite that spacewalkers will deploy from the orbiting outpost.
FULL STORY
MULTIMEDIA: LAUNCH VIDEO AND PHOTOS
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Japanese cargo craft reaches the space station
An automated Japanese supply ship cautiously approached the International Space Station Thursday, flying close enough for the lab's robot arm to grapple the free-flying satellite and move it to a docking port for two months of cargo transfers. Astronaut Cady Coleman captured the HTV resupply craft with the station's robot arm at 1141 GMT (6:41 a.m. EST).
FULL STORY
IMAGES: HTV ARRIVES AT STATION
MISSION STATUS CENTER - live updates!
PREVIEW STORY
STATION RENDEZVOUS TIMELINE
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Additional coverage for subscribers:
VIDEO:
FASCINATING VIDEO INSIDE CUPOLA DURING HTV ARRIVAL PLAY
VIDEO:
HATCHWAY OPENED TO ENTER INTO THE HTV PLAY
VIDEO:
HTV 2 ATTACHED TO SPACE STATION DOCKING PORT PLAY
VIDEO:
STATION'S ROBOTIC ARM GRABS THE FREE-FLYING HTV 2 PLAY
VIDEO:
HTV 2 CARGO SHIP APPROACHES THE SPACE STATION PLAY
VIDEO:
LAUNCH OF H-2B ROCKET WITH HTV 2 FREIGHTER PLAY
VIDEO:
H-2B ROCKET ROLLED TO LAUNCH PAD PLAY
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Astronomers push Hubble Space Telescope to its limits
Using a powerful new camera on the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have discovered what appears to be the most distant object ever observed, a small proto galaxy some 13.2 billion light years away that dates back to just 480 million years or so after the big bang birth of the universe.
FULL STORY
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Russian resupply ship for space station moved to pad
A Soyuz rocket with the next Progress cargo freighter for the International Space Station has been rolled to the launch pad for Thursday's planned liftoff. The booster was transported by rail from its final assembly building and erected on the pad early Wednesday.
VIDEO AND PHOTO GALLERY
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NASA seeking tenants for Florida launch facilities
NASA released Monday a request for information from industry on potential future uses for the Kennedy Space Center's extensive space shuttle launch facilities once the spaceships are retired later this year.
FULL STORY
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Virtual reality aids Lockheed Martin satellite builders
Lockheed Martin Corp. will employ cutting edge virtual reality technology to streamline development of future space systems, starting with the U.S. Air Force's next-generation Global Positioning System satellites, the company announced Monday.
FULL STORY
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Delta 4's hush-hush payload found and identified
The clandestine cargo carried into polar orbit Thursday aboard the first California-launched Delta 4-Heavy rocket was a crucial replacement satellite for the nation's surveillance and security network, amateur sky-watchers say.
FULL STORY
MISSION STATUS CENTER - live updates!
IMAGES: LAUNCH PHOTO GALLERY
IMAGES: LIFTOFF AS SEEN FROM THE BEACH
IMAGES: MOBILE SERVICE TOWER ROLLED BACK
IMAGES: THE DAY BEFORE LAUNCH
PREVIEW STORY
HISTORY FEATURE STORY
OUR DELTA ARCHIVE
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NASA's first solar sail makes unlikely comeback in orbit
After testing the nerves of engineers, NASA confirmed Friday a tiny satellite unfurled an ultra-thin solar sail, a technology that has far-reaching applications both near Earth and in deep space.
FULL STORY
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Japan dispatches delivery mission to space station
Japan successfully launched a robotic spaceship Saturday full of supplies to stock the International Space Station with scientific gear, spare parts and provisions for the lab's six-person crew. Launch of the H-2B rocket occurred as scheduled at 0537 GMT (12:37 a.m. EST).
FULL STORY
MISSION STATUS CENTER
IMAGES: LAUNCH PHOTO GALLERY
LAUNCH EVENTS TIMELINE
ROCKET GROUND TRACK
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Delta 4-Heavy rocket launches from California
America's biggest unmanned booster -- the Delta 4-Heavy rocket -- made its maiden mission from California on Thursday, blasting off from the old West Coast space shuttle launch pad at 1:10 p.m. PST (4:10 p.m. EST; 2110 GMT) to deploy a spy satellite into orbit.
MISSION STATUS CENTER - live updates!
IMAGES: LAUNCH PHOTO GALLERY
IMAGES: LIFTOFF AS SEEN FROM THE BEACH
IMAGES: MOBILE SERVICE TOWER ROLLED BACK
IMAGES: THE DAY BEFORE LAUNCH
PREVIEW STORY
HISTORY FEATURE STORY
OUR DELTA ARCHIVE
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Zenit rocket climbs into orbit with weather satellite
A Zenit rocket lifted off Thursday from Kazakhstan with a Russian weather satellite to snap real-time images of clouds and storm systems. Launch was at 1229 GMT (7:29 a.m. EST) and spacecraft separation occurred 2128 GMT (4:28 p.m. EST).
FULL STORY
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Injured astronaut replaced on shuttle Discovery's crew
Less than six weeks before launch, astronaut Timothy Kopra, injured in a bicycle accident Saturday, was removed from the crew of the shuttle Discovery Wednesday and replaced by astronaut Stephen Bowen, a veteran spacewalker who flew aboard the shuttle Atlantis last May. Despite the last-minute crew change, NASA officials say Bowen should be able to complete a hurried round of refresher training in time for blastoff around Feb. 24 as planned.
FULL STORY
MISSION STATUS CENTER - live updates!
LAUNCH WINDOWS
THE FLIGHT PLAN
STS-133 ARCHIVE
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Poor weather forecast delays Japanese cargo flight
The launch of a Japanese cargo freighter for the International Space Station has been delayed to at least Saturday because of thick clouds predicted over the country's island launch site this week.
FULL STORY
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Some JWST hardware nears completion amid reviews
Contractors and instrument teams working on the James Webb Space Telescope will deliver critical pieces of the observatory this year, despite growing anxiety over the mission's ultimate launch date and price tag.
FULL STORY
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SpaceX proposes rocket-powered landing system
SpaceX announced Monday it submitted a proposal to NASA last month to start an estimated $1 billion process upgrading the company's Dragon capsule, the first step in making the ship ready for crew rotation flights to the International Space Station.
FULL STORY
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Space Launch Complex 6
California pad's history illustrates switch from space shuttles to rockets
Space shuttle astronaut extraordinaire Bob Crippen, member of the first crew and commander of three more, was poised to lead the maiden West Coast mission into polar orbit from Space Launch Complex 6 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.
FEATURE STORY
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Discovery's spacewalker hurt in bicycle accident
Space station veteran Timothy Kopra, scheduled for launch Feb. 24 aboard the shuttle Discovery, was injured in a bicycle accident Saturday, a NASA official said. The injury was not life threatening and the NASA official, citing medical privacy issues, provided no additional details. But multiple sources said Kopra may have broken his hip, raising the prospect of a significant impact to the already-delayed mission.
FULL STORY
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NASA says new rocket not feasible in current budget
Even using shuttle-derived hardware, established contractors and long-standing engineering expertise, NASA's projected budget will not cover the costs of developing a congressionally mandated heavy-lift booster and a manned capsule for deep space exploration by 2016 as ordered, agency officials informed lawmakers this week.
FULL STORY
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ViaSat pushes back launch to repair damaged satellite
The launch of ViaSat's first high-capacity broadband communications satellite will be delayed several months after receiving damage while being moved inside a factory in California, the company announced Thursday.
FULL STORY
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Build-up of static electricity turned satellite into zombie
In a remarkable reversal of fortune, Intelsat is on the verge of returning a crippled communications satellite to service over North America, company officials said Thursday.
FULL STORY
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Backup commander replaces Kelly in training
Veteran shuttle commander Frederick Sturckow will replace Mark Kelly in near-term training for a flight aboard the shuttle Endeavour in April, NASA announced Thursday. With Kelly's wife, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, in critical condition in Tucson with a gunshot wound to the head, the substitution will free Kelly to remain at her bedside while ensuring his crewmates complete critical flight training.
FULL STORY
STS-134 FLIGHT PLAN
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Delta 4-Heavy set for first California mission
The excitement is building at California's Vandenberg Air Force Base for next Thursday's launch of the biggest rocket ever from the West Coast -- the Delta 4-Heavy. Liftoff is scheduled for 1:08 p.m. PST (4:08 p.m. EST; 2108 GMT) to deploy a critical national security satellite into space.
MISSION STATUS CENTER - live updates!
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New launch dates selected for space shuttle flights
The space shuttle program Thursday formally set the target launch dates for Discovery in February and Endeavour in April on their final voyages to the International Space Station.
MISSION STATUS CENTER - live updates!
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Resumption of Soyuz tourist flights announced
The Russian space agency and the Rocket Space Corporation Energia have agreed to build additional Soyuz spacecraft to carry paying customers to the International Space Station starting in 2013 in a deal announced Wednesday by Space Adventures Ltd. of Vienna, Va.
FULL STORY
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NASA zeroes in on root cause of shuttle tank cracks
Engineers believe they have zeroed in on the root cause of cracks in the shuttle Discovery's external tank, NASA officials said Tuesday. Installation of a relatively simple modification to the tops of the structural ribs, or stringers, where the ship's liquid oxygen tank is supported by a massive flange should resolve the problem once and for all, setting the stage for another launch attempt Feb. 24.
FULL STORY
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Additional coverage for subscribers:
VIDEO:
ROOT CAUSE OF SHUTTLE TANK CRACKS FOUND PLAY
MORE:
STS-133 VIDEO ARCHIVE
HDTV:
HIGH-DEFINITION COVERAGE
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NASA sends Glory satellite to West Coast launch site
After a cross-country road trip, NASA's Glory climate monitoring satellite arrived at a California military base Tuesday in preparation for a Feb. 23 launch on a Taurus rocket.
FULL STORY
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Scientists release first taste of data from Planck mission
Europe's Planck observatory has pulled back the curtain on some of the coldest and most complex corners of the universe, revealing ancient superclusters of galaxies and yielding new data on phenomena closer to home, scientists announced Tuesday.
FULL STORY
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Astronomers unveil faraway planet of molten rock
Scientists announced Monday the discovery of a blistered planet not much bigger than Earth, the smallest such object ever confirmed beyond the solar system.
FULL STORY
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NASA orders full round of stiffeners to Discovery tank
Senior NASA managers Monday agreed to install stiffeners all the way around the shuttle Discovery's external tank to beef up structural ribs, or stringers, that are susceptible to cracks when exposed to ultra-low-temperature propellant. Engineers say the modifications can be completed in time to support at launch as early as Feb. 24, assuming the work goes smoothly and no other major problems develop.
FULL STORY
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Photo galleries: The California space shuttle
As we count down to next week's Delta 4-Heavy rocket on its maiden West Coast flight from the same launch pad once built for military space shuttle missions, let's look back a quarter-century to the time when Enterprise stood atop Space Launch Complex 6 for testing. It was 1985 and the prototype shuttle was checking out the pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base.
MISSION STATUS CENTER
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Wife of space shuttle commander shot in Arizona
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, 40, an Arizona Democrat married to veteran astronaut Mark Kelly, was shot in the head during a public meeting outside a Tucson supermarket Saturday.
FULL STORY
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Shuttle Discovery launch delayed to late February
NASA managers Thursday decided to give engineers additional time to assess external tank cracks and repair scenarios, ruling out an early February launch for the shuttle Discovery. The next shuttle launch window opens Feb. 27, but NASA is assessing whether it might be possible to move that up a few days.
FULL STORY
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Cosmic collisions not guilty of powering active galaxies
Using data from the Cosmological Evolution Survey (COSMOS), astronomers have found that collisions and merging events are not necessarily responsible for the violent black hole activity observed in the centers of some galaxies.
ASTRONOMY NOW STORY
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NASA still waiting to hear from Spirit rover again
As seventh anniversary passes for Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's landing on the red planet, NASA is stepping up efforts to restore communications with the spacecraft after nine months of silence in the harsh martian winter.
MISSION UPDATE
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Shuttle engineers consider beefing up all tank stringers
NASA managers Monday directed engineers to add stiffeners to some structural beams in the shuttle Discovery's external tank. Another meeting is planned for Thursday to discuss installing so called "radius-block" stiffeners to the tops of the remaining stringers that form the tank's familiar ribbed midsection, but work to beef up all 108 almost certainly would delay Discovery's launch to late February.
FULL STORY
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Read our earlier news archive page.
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