|
Sunday:
June 18, 2000 | |
0126 GMT |
 |
Supernovas found in record numbers in nearby galaxies
The world's most successful automated search for nearby supernovas has found 70 of these exploding stars in its first two years of operation, providing valuable information about the evolution and physics of stellar explosions.
 FULL STORY
 | |
|
|
Defrosting polar dunes on the Red Planet
As NASA's Mars Global Surveyor orbits the Red Planet, the craft's camera has spotted dark spots on defrosting dune surfaces during springtime.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
|
Saturday:
June 17, 2000 | |
0458 GMT |
|
Mars probe sees sand avalanching in crater dunes
Dark streaks on the steep, down-wind slopes of sand dunes in Rabe Crater are seen at several locations in a Mars Global Surveyor picture, indicating recent movement of the sand.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
Sugar discovered in space
The prospects for life in the Universe just got sweeter, with the first discovery of a simple sugar molecule in space. The sugar molecule glycolaldehyde was found in a giant cloud of gas and dust near the center of our own galaxy.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
Argon find bodes well for Rosetta's noble mission
A group of astronomers, including several who are playing a leading role in the Rosetta mission, has announced the discovery of the noble gas argon in Comet Hale-Bopp.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
|
Friday:
June 16, 2000 | |
0546 GMT |
|
Star-struck businessman to make ultimate trip to Mir
A major step forward in the commercial conquest of the final frontier could be taken in January when the first private citizen, Dennis Tito, ventures to the Russian space station Mir.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
Mir crew returns to Earth
The first privately-financed manned space mission concluded safely on the steppes of Kazakhstan on Friday as a Soyuz capsule with two Russian cosmonauts returned to Earth after a 2 1/2-month trip to Mir.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
RadioShack to sponsor commercial Moon mission
A fresh era of Moon exploration came one giant leap closer Thursday as LunaCorp announced its initiatives to send advanced robots to the lunar surface. RadioShack, the nation's largest consumer electronics retailer, became the first corporate sponsor of this effort.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
Radio astronomy wins earthly battle
Astronomers using the millimeter-wave region of the radio spectrum to catch faint signals from the cosmos have won crucial protection for their science from the World Radiocommunication Conference.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
DAILY BRIEFING Other stories making news today
|
 |
One month until launch of Zvezda to new space station -- Flight controllers in Houston and Moscow are beginning to prepare of the International Space Station for the launch of its third major component, the Zvezda Service Module, expected in a few weeks.
|
|
NEWSWIRE Links to news across the internet
|
|
Chasing profits in the void -- (Florida Today) Much of the public discussion of the recent commercial mission to Mir has focused on the question of whether reviving Mir will cause the Russians to neglect their commitments to the International Space Station. Far less attention has been paid to MirCorp's business strategy and whether or not it will be successful.
Warner Bros. and Space Camp sign marketing deal -- (The Huntsville Times) The U.S. Space & Rocket Center has signed a marketing agreement with Warner Brothers that will publicize Space Camp on the Internet.
|
|
|
Thursday:
June 15, 2000 | |
2150 GMT |
|
Cosmonauts depart Russian space station Mir
Seated inside their Soyuz capsule, two cosmonauts have undocked from the Russian space station Mir bound for Earth. Touchdown in Kazakhstan is expected around 0043 GMT tonight.
ENTRY PREVIEW STORY
| |
|
|
Unveiling the secret of a Virgo dwarf galaxy
Dwarf galaxies may not be the most impressive members of the cosmic menagerie, but they sometimes have hidden qualities. A team of astronomers has made detailed observations which show that a seemingly normal dwarf galaxy has an unexpected spiral structure.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
Officials seek to extend Ulysses sun probe mission
The European Space Agency has agreed to fund the Ulysses mission through 2004, nearly three years longer than currently planned, so the craft can observe the Sun's environment as activity gradually declines after this year's sunspot maximum.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
DAILY BRIEFING Other stories making news today
|
|
First two Cluster 2 satellites fueled for July launch -- Another major landmark in the Cluster 2 launch campaign has been completed with the successful pressurization and fueling of the first two spacecraft. The satellites are slated for launch in July, and will be joined a month later by two sistercraft to study the solar wind.
|
|
|
Wednesday:
June 14, 2000 | |
1800 GMT |
|
Delta 3 to fly demonstration flight on August 19
After suffering two stinging failures in its first two launches, Boeing's third Delta 3 rocket will fly without a paying cargo in August as the company tries to build confidence in the new vehicle.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
New rocket technology could cut Mars travel time
Development of an advanced rocket technology could cut in half the time required to reach Mars, opening the solar system to human exploration in the next decade, NASA announced Tuesday.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
DAILY BRIEFING Other stories making news today
|
|
NASA to plant monitors on planets for virtual presence -- NASA scientists have gone back to the garden, "planting" wireless webs of small sensors in gardens here on Earth in preparation for missions to help monitor biological activity on planets.
Better rocket engine debuts to boost Hughes satellites -- Hughes Space and Communications has begun using an innovative, high-performance engine to boost its satellites toward their final orbit. The first use of the engine was in January on Galaxy 10R.
|
|
|
Tuesday:
June 13, 2000 | |
0917 GMT |
|
Bumps found on the Sun
Scientists using the SOHO spacecraft have discovered that the surface of the Sun is covered with long-lasting depressions and humps that are very similar to features on the Earth's oceans.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
New coating developed for Hubble is potential spin-off
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope team and a private-industry manufacturer will use a carbon coating on cooling device to be hooked up to the spacecraft next year. The coating has potential for uses outside the space program, too.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
Danish institute to build mirrors for space telescope
The Danish Space Research Institute will develop main elements of ESA's Planck satellite, due for launch in 2007 to observe the first light that filled the Universe after the Big Bang.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
DAILY BRIEFING Other stories making news today
|
|
Galileo research goes on; Io data waiting to be returned -- NASA's Galileo begins to transition from a purely data-gathering mode to concentrating on playing back science data stored on its onboard tape recorder. Through the end of this week, Galileo's data transmissions will be shared by the two activities.
Chandra wins award -- The Chandra X-ray Observatory, NASA's newest and most powerful X-ray space telescope, has been selected as the winner of the Editor's Choice category of the 2000 Discover Magazine Awards for Technological Innovation.
|
|
|
Monday:
June 12, 2000 | |
0001 GMT |
|
Watching solar wind to help forecast disruptions on Sun
Three-dimensional images of magnetic storms from the Sun are allowing space-weather forecasters to improve their predictions of solar disruptions on cycle.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
Regional view of Martian Tharsis volcanoes
The volcanoes of the Tharsis region are highlighted by a color image mosaic obtained on a single Martian afternoon by the Mars Orbiter Camera onboard the Global Surveyor spacecraft.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
DAILY BRIEFING Other stories making news today
|
|
Two theories offered on how neutron stars get their 'kick' -- When a massive star runs out of nuclear fuel, its core collapses into a neutron star. The newly-formed star is then sent whizzing along at speeds up to 600 miles a second. But what causes the kick at birth.
|
|
 |
