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Sunday:
March 19, 2000 | |
0458 GMT |
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Studying asteroid Eros from planning to science results
Learn more about how scientists plan and acquire observations from NEAR Shoemakers' spectrometer instrument, which requires a detailed understanding of the strange shape and the rotational state of Eros. Also, a new image has been released showing landforms on the tiny world.
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AirTV plans satellites to beam live TV to airplanes
A satellite system is being built for a live global television broadcasting network dedicated to the commercial and private aviation markets. AirTV has picked Alcatel Space to manufacture the satellites.
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Designing starts for NASA's Terrestrial Planet Finder
A team led by Lockheed Martin Space Systems has been awarded one of four design contracts by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NASA's Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) mission. TPF, a key mission in NASA's Origins Program, is targeted for launch in 2011 and will seek to identify Earth-like planets around nearby stars.
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NEWSWIRE Links to news across the internet
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Jobs safe at JPL -- (L.A. Times) Although its "faster, better, cheaper" philosophy led to failed missions, no one should lose their jobs at Jet Propulsion Laboratory for the mishaps, according to findings from two independent investigative commissions. No one individual is considered negligent or lacked competence in the failures of the missions, and those involved are wiser and more capable of getting it right next time, said Larry Dumas, deputy director of JPL.
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Saturday:
March 18, 2000 | |
0720 GMT |
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Pioneering Iridium satellite system reaches dead end
The space-based Iridium global cellular telephone system is bound for a fiery destruction in Earth's atmosphere after the bankrupt company failed Friday to find a suitable buyer.
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New Boeing Delta 4 engine assembly facility opens
The latest in rocket propulsion from The Boeing Company will roll off the assembly line in Hancock County, Miss., following Friday's opening of the SSC Engine Assembly Facility. The plant could produce as many as 40 RS-68 rocket engines each year.
FULL STORY
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Space station prepared for upcoming Atlantis visit
Flight controllers for the International Space Station this week turned their attention to tests to verify the readiness of the complex to support docking by Space Shuttle Atlantis next month and the arrival of the next pressurized module - Zvezda - in July.
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NEWSWIRE Links to news across the internet
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GAO slams Russian space modules -- (AP/Yahoo!) Russian components for the International Space Station do not meet NASA safety requirements for shielding, windows and noise levels, the General Accounting Office says. Also, equipment in the orbiting Zarya segment and the yet-to-be-launched Zvezda service module will fail if cabin pressure is lost, and that could jeopardize the entire station.
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Friday:
March 17, 2000 | |
0550 GMT |
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'Rocketcam' sees Globalstar satellites flying in space
Boeing's home video collection from the Delta 2 rocket has expanded to include stunning views of the recent deployment of four Globalstar satellites into low-Earth orbit.
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Shuttle Atlantis launch rescheduled for April 17
NASA officials announced Thursday that the next space shuttle mission to the International Space Station would be pushed back to no sooner than April 17, confirming what had been expected for some time.
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NASA scientists study pristine Yukon meteorite
A meteorite that exploded over a remote area of northwest Canada in January may offer "a new window into the universe before the solar system was created," said a NASA scientist who has begun analyzing some of the meteorite fragments.
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Video replay of weekend Taurus rocket launch
We have posted a QuickTime video of the Orbital Sciences Taurus rocket lifting off last Sunday from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The rocket successfully placed an experimental spy satellite into space.
LAUNCH VIDEO
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NEWSWIRE Links to news across the internet
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Iridium receives many bid offers -- (AP/Yahoo!) A California telephone entrepreneur was among the bidders for Iridium LLC as the satellite-based mobile phone company tries to find a lifesaver before a midnight deadline. It wasn't clear late Thursday whether a credible buyer could be found in time to keep Iridium's 66 satellites in orbit.
Russia nixes actor's Mir mission -- (AP/Yahoo!) Actor Vladimir Steklov was supposed to blast off to the Mir next month to portray a renegade cosmonaut who won't leave the space station, but now Russia won't let him get off Earth, a space official said Thursday. The space movie in which Steklov was to have starred was another in a series of unorthodox proposals for resuscitating the dormant space station with private money.
Russia criticizes U.S. law linking funding to Iran policy -- (Washington Post) Russia on Thursday criticized a bill signed by President Clinton this week that would halt contributions to Moscow to help finance the International Space Station if Russian firms are found to have helped Iran develop nuclear, chemical or biological weapons.
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Thursday:
March 16, 2000 | |
0200 GMT |
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Sea Launch failure blamed on Zenit's second stage
Sea Launch said Wednesday that a problem with the Zenit 3SL rocket's second stage doomed its commercial mission on Sunday, correcting an erroneous statement made shortly after the failure.
FULL STORY
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More junk seals found in space shuttle main engine
Workers will replace one of space shuttle Atlantis' main engines before the ship launches to the International Space Station next month because of another paperwork snafu.
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Hubble telescope finds young stars in cosmic dance
A trio of newborn stars, 1,400 light-years away are taking part in a complex dance, as revealed by recent Hubble Space Telescope observations. Two are now closely embracing each other, while the third has parted from their company.
FULL STORY
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DAILY BRIEFING Other stories making news today
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Cluster 2 satellite quartet finishes tests -- The final Cluster 2 satellite has completed its rigorous series of environmental tests. With the successful culmination of their assembly, integration and verification program, the Cluster 2 quartet are now ready for transportation to Baikonur Cosmodrome for launch this summer.
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NEWSWIRE Links to news across the internet
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Iridium deadline passes with no buyer revealed -- (Reuters/Yahoo!) The court-imposed deadline for bankrupt Iridium World Communications Ltd. to find a buyer passed on Wednesday evening, bringing the satellite telephone company one step closer to destroying its network of 66 satellites.
NASA gets space station suggestions -- (AP/Yahoo!) Crew members on the International Space Station must plan carefully to make sure they do not spend all their time on daily maintenance tasks, the National Research Council said Wednesday. The council advised NASA that it found few problems with the design of the planned station, and that the few deficiencies found can be corrected easily.
Stumbling on the Path to Mars -- (Discovery Online) When NASA decided to return to Mars after a 20-year hiatus, the widely popular and successful Pathfinder mission and the beautiful pictures captured by a robust and still-operating orbiter made extraterrestrial exploration look easy.
Astronauts thank staff at plant in Teterboro -- (Bergen Record) When seven NASA astronauts left Earth to service the Hubble Space Telescope last year, a small part of North Jersey went along. The crew had with them four gyroscopes, million-dollar devices that make the telescope work, produced by a Teterboro company called L3 Communications.
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Wednesday:
March 15, 2000 | |
0450 GMT |
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Devastation from asteroid impact worse than feared?
Researchers say in a new report that if a huge asteroid were to hit the Earth, the catastrophic destruction it causes, and even the "impact winter" that follows, might only be a prelude to a different, but very deadly phase that starts later on. They're calling it, "ultraviolet spring."
FULL STORY
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Flashy sun makes asteroid Eros blush for scientists
The asteroid Eros has given researchers using the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft the first glimpse of its true nature after massive solar flares briefly lit its surface. The elements magnesium, aluminum, silicon, and iron were observed, important elements in studying the formation of solar system bodies.
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NEAR renamed in honor of Eugene Shoemaker
The NASA satellite conducting the first-ever close-up study of an asteroid will be renamed to honor Dr. Eugene M. Shoemaker, a legendary geologist who influenced decades of research on the role of asteroids and comets in shaping the planets. The will now be known as NEAR Shoemaker.
FULL STORY
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XMM-Newton observatory rediscovers old X-ray source
During work to fine tune the XMM-Newton, the telescope was pointed close to the Large Magallenic Cloud galaxy, to a location where 20 years ago ESA's first X-ray observatory, Exosat, discovered a bright new X-ray source that has two stars orbiting each other.
FULL STORY
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NEWSWIRE Links to news across the internet
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Alcoa to acquire aerospace supplier Cordant -- (Reuters/Yahoo!) Alcoa Inc. said on Tuesday it would acquire Cordant Technologies Inc. for $2.3 billion, giving the world's largest aluminum company a stronger presence in aerospace and automotives, plus new access to the burgeoning market for industrial gas turbines. Cordant's Thiokol builds the space shuttle solid rocket boosters.
Leavitt's study of stars' brightness helped pinpoint astral distances -- (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) Early in the 20th century, many of the best astronomers in the world could be found at the Harvard University observatory. There, Henrietta Swan Leavitt and other women analyzed data and made astronomical calculations.
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Tuesday:
March 14, 2000 | |
0633 GMT |
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Sloppy management blamed for Mars probe loss
An independent review board blames the loss of NASA's Mars Climate Orbiter last year on sloppy project management, a lack of agency oversight, poor communications and shortsighted engineering. To avoid similar mishaps in the future, the board called for NASA to adopt a "mission success first" approach.
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Dust devils, landslides are rearranging Martian scenery
New images from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft have caught dust devils and landslides in the act of changing the surface of Mars, giving scientists more clues about how Mother Nature's vandals are leaving their mark on the changing Martian landscape.
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X-33 linear aerospike engine test firing aborted
A firing test last week of a linear aerospike engine for the X-33 technology demonstrator was aborted about 75 seconds into a planned 220-second burn. The early shutdown was attributed to a change in the engine's controlling software.
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DAILY BRIEFING Other stories making news today
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NEAR team reports exciting first month exploring Eros -- After scarcely a month in orbit around asteroid Eros, NASA's Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft is astounding scientists with ever more detailed views of geologic features and with technical scientific accomplishments.
This week on Galileo -- Celebrating the news of official approval of a new mission extension, Galileo continues to return science data acquired during its most recent flyby of Jupiter's volcanic moon Io. During the flyby, the spacecraft flew over the surface of Io at an altitude of 123 miles.
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NEWSWIRE Links to news across the internet
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Space still calls 'perpetual astronaut' -- (Houston Chronicle) An unsurpassed half-dozen risky trips into space and nearly four decades at NASA have done nothing to bridle veteran astronaut John Young's enthusiasm for the exploration of the final frontier.
Piece of Mars finds its way to museum -- (L.A. Times) It traveled millions of years through space, dropped into the Mojave Desert.ðIt's been a long journey for the so-called Los Angeles meteorite, now on exhibit at the Natural History Museum in Exposition Park. UCLA scientists have confirmed that the half-pound chunk of basalt came from Mars -- one of only 14 Martian meteorites to have been found on Earth.
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Monday:
March 13, 2000 | |
0650 GMT |
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Disaster strikes Sea Launch carrying 1st ICO satellite
The Sea Launch venture experienced the agony of defeat on Sunday when its Zenit rocket veered off course and crashed into the Pacific Ocean, destroying the first ICO mobile communications satellite.
FULL STORY
MISSION STATUS CENTER
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Experimental spy satellite healthy after launch
The U.S. Dept. of Energy's Multispectral Thermal Imager spacecraft is alive and well following its fiery overnight launch aboard an Orbital Sciences-built Taurus rocket on Sunday.
MISSION STATUS CENTER
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