Sunday: September 17, 2000   1259 GMT Superoxides could prevent life on surface of Mars Intense ultraviolet radiation that pierces Mars' thin atmosphere produces an abundance of oxygen ions, a common free radical, at the Martian surface that destroys organic molecules -- the building blocks of life -- according to researchers.    FULL STORY Almost time for Atlantis to pull away from station The Atlantis astronauts re-sealed the international space station early today, turning out the lights and closing a series of hatches behind them as they wrapped up six days of work to outfit and activate the orbital outpost.    FULL STORY    MISSION STATUS CENTER Choose from this menu:       Hurricane Gordon won't scare shuttle off pad Shuttle Discovery will get to remain on its launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center today since Hurricane Gordon no longer poses a serious threat to the Florida spaceport, NASA officials concluded this morning.    FULL STORY Task force to report on deep impact asteroid threat The British Task Force on Near-Earth Objects will release a report on Monday detailing its findings on what threat of cometary and asteroidal impacts pose to our planet and requirements for a comprehensive international program to counter such a disaster.    FULL STORY Saturday: September 16, 2000   1115 GMT Assembly required: Setting up treadmill tricky After a bit of a struggle, the Atlantis astronauts successfully assembled a high-tech vibrationless exercise machine aboard the international space station today, setting the stage for a final day of cleanup work before undocking Sunday night.    FULL STORY    MISSION STATUS CENTER    ASTRONAUT FLIGHT PLAN [Updated today] Choose from this menu:       X-ray observatories team up to view brightest quasar The European XMM-Newton X-ray telescope, plus NASA's Chandra observatory and other satellites recently studied the brightest and first quasar ever to be discovered. Situated some 2 billion light years away, the quasar's luminosity is about 2 trillion times that of our Sun.    FULL STORY DAILY BRIEFING  Other stories making news today Revolutionary tool developed for space welding process -- A specialized welding tool, developed by a NASA engineer, is overcoming a key problem in the joining of metals in a process called friction stir welding. Such a welding technique is being used in manufacturing of space shuttle external fuel tanks, and tested for use in repairing solid rocket booster hardware. Friday: September 15, 2000   1230 GMT Observatory peering into a star-making factory Beautiful images of astronomical objects often contain a lot of scientifically interesting information. A new picture from the European Southern Observatory is a fine example of this old maxime. It provides a deep and unusually wide look into a giant star forming region in the Milky Way.    FULL STORY Space telescope looks into cauldron of exploded star Supernovae are one of the most cataclysmic events in the Universe, violent explosions by which stars end their lives. A star may then have a brightness over a billion times that of our Sun and outshine the galaxy in which it lies.    FULL STORY Astronauts give up on fixing faulty station battery After more overnight inspections by the Atlantis astronauts, Russian engineers decided to forego any additional work with a balky battery aboard the international space station's command module, deferring further troubleshooting until the lab's first full-time crew arrives in early November.    FULL STORY    MISSION STATUS CENTER    ASTRONAUT FLIGHT PLAN [Updated today] Choose from this menu:       Success for Ariane 5 rocket launch of two satellites Europe's next-generation Ariane 5 rocket sailed through its third successful commercial launching Thursday, lofting a pair of communications satellites during a clockwork flight.    FULL STORY    MISSION STATUS CENTER Thursday: September 14, 2000   1043 GMT Hubble finds possible crater of fresh ice on space rock The unexpectedly varied surface of a wayward piece of space debris has given Hubble telescope astronomers new insights into the characteristics and behavior of a ghostly population of faintly observed comet-like bodies that lie just beyond Pluto's orbit.    FULL STORY Space station hits battery snag as toilet gets installed In what is becoming a fairly common occurrence, engineers in Russia are troubleshooting apparent problems with one of the eight batteries aboard the international space station's new Zvezda command module.    FULL STORY    MISSION STATUS CENTER    ASTRONAUT FLIGHT PLAN [Updated today]    REVISED NASA TV SCHEDULE [Rev. F] Choose from this menu:       Ariane 5 to launch today A powerful Ariane 5 rocket is slated for blastoff at 2254 GMT (6:54 p.m. EDT) today carrying a European direct-to-home TV broadcasting satellite and an American telecommunications spacecraft. It will be the second Arianespace launch in just eight days.    MISSION STATUS CENTER DAILY BRIEFING  Other stories making news today Final phase of testing nears for X-33's unique engine -- Preparations are under way at NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Miss., for the final phase of testing to qualify the innovative Linear Aerospike engine that will power the experimental X-33 rocket plane being developed by a Lockheed Martin-led industry team and NASA. New ICO orders 3 more satellites, to modify others -- Hughes Space and Communications will build at least three more satellites for New ICO. In addition, Hughes will modify 11 other spacecraft currently in production for the revamped New ICO system, assisting in the enhancement of the constellation to provide high-quality voice and packet-data services. Space station airlock arrives for shuttle launch -- The Joint Airlock Module -- the gateway from which crew members aboard the International Space Station (ISS) will enter and exit the 470-ton orbiting research facility -- arrived at the Kennedy Space Center yesterday. Wednesday: September 13, 2000   1040 GMT Hammer, chisel needed for space station battery work Wielding a hammer and chisel, a U.S. astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut resorted to brute force early today to remove a poorly placed bracket that was blocking access to a space station electronics bay where a battery needed replacement.    FULL STORY    MISSION STATUS CENTER    UPDATED ASTRONAUT FLIGHT PLAN    REVISED NASA TV SCHEDULE Choose from this menu:       Satellite snaps view of Sydney's Olympic Park Space Imaging's IKONOS satellite has taken a detailed color photograph of the Olympic Park in Sydney, Australia. The spectacular image shows the site of the Olympic Games that begin on Friday.    FULL STORY Comparing dust storms on planets Earth and Mars Scientists have compared a recent dust storm on Mars with one that occurred earlier this year on Earth. For the experiment, images were taken by NASA's Mars Global Surveyor orbiting the Red Planet along with Orbimage's commerical OrbView 2 circling Earth.    FULL STORY NBC launches space odyssey with Mir trip NBC has teamed with "Survivor" producer Mark Burnett to unveil "Destination Mir," a gravity-breaking new reality adventure drama series for the 2001-02 season. The series' sole winner will travel to the Russian space station Mir.    FULL STORY DAILY BRIEFING  Other stories making news today Global Positioning System satellites to be modernized -- The U.S. Air Force recently awarded Lockheed Martin a $53 million contract to begin development of modernization changes for up to 12 Global Positioning System Block 2R satellites. Improvements include more civil and military signals. Tuesday: September 12, 2000   1750 GMT Chandra clinches case for new type of black hole The strongest evidence yet that the universe is home to a new type of black hole was reported by several groups of scientists today. Using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, scientists have zeroed in on an off-center, mid-mass black hole in the galaxy M82.    FULL STORY The mystery of a lonely neutron star Deep inside the Milky Way, an old and lonely neutron star plows its way through interstellar space. An observatory on Earth has spotted an extremely faint "bowshock" nebula near the isolated neutron star.    FULL STORY NASA extends Atlantis' mission Space shuttle Atlantis will get an extra day in orbit. NASA's Mission Management Team today formally approved a one-day extension to the flight, giving the astronauts six days to complete their space station outfitting work instead of five.    MISSION STATUS CENTER    UPDATED ASTRONAUT FLIGHT PLAN    REVISED NASA TV SCHEDULE Choose from this menu:       Shuttle crew enters infant space outpost Wearing protective goggles and breathing masks as a precaution, the Atlantis astronauts floated into the international space station's new Zvezda command module for the first time early today, opening the door to a new era in space exploration.    FULL STORY    NASA FLIGHT STATUS REPORTS    UPDATED SATELLITE TRACKING DATA DAILY BRIEFING  Other stories making news today NASA's Galileo spacecraft enroute back towards Jupiter -- Having passed the farthest point from Jupiter in its current orbit, Galileo now heads back towards an encounter with Ganymede in December 2000. Meanwhile, the spacecraft this week plays back data from earlier encounters with Jupiter and Io. Tropical depressions can't hide behind clouds anymore -- Tropical storms churning into potentially dangerous hurricanes often hide behind a cloak of clouds. But NASA has given forecasters a new way to peek under the covers and identify storms much faster. Monday: September 11, 2000   0500 GMT Atlantis astronauts take high-flying spacewalk Working up to 11 stories above the shuttle Atlantis's cargo bay, two high-flying spacewalkers hooked up power and data cables between the international space station and its newest module early today to accomplish one of the primary goals of the mission.    FULL STORY    MISSION STATUS CENTER    PREVIEW STORY    SPACEWALK TIMELINE    DIAGRAM OF SPACEWALK WIRING JOB    JAMMED SOLAR ARRAY IMAGES Choose from this menu:       DAILY BRIEFING  Other stories making news today Another week, another launch scheduled for Arianespace -- The Ariane 506 rocket has been fitted with its two satellite payloads as Arianespace looks ahead to the planned launch Thursday from Kourou, French Guiana. Sea Launch wins contract to loft Loral's Telstar 8 -- Space Systems/Loral (SS/L), a subsidiary of Loral Space & Communications, has signed an agreement with Sea Launch to launch the Telstar-8 satellite in 2002, the ocean-based launch services company said today.				Shuttle Latest See the Status Center for full play-by-play coverage. Hubble poster The Hubble Space Telescope's majestic view of the Eskimo Nebula. This spectacular poster is available now from the Astronomy Now Store.    MORE Earlier news Sept. 4-10: Atlantis launches and docks to space station; Major Martian volcanoes surveyed by laser; Hubble reveals mysterious layers of planetary nebula and dusty galaxy; Proton and Ariane 4 launches. Aug. 28-Sept. 3: Appearance of stellar object deceives astronomers; Hubble finds stellar cocoon soon to hatch butterfly; Shuttle mission preview; SOHO finds 200th 'sungrazing' comet; Rocketcam video. Aug. 21-27: Boeing Delta 3 rocket launches on demonstration flight; Possible water world under Europa's icy crust; Little black hole works overtime; Hubble gets head count of brown dwarf stars; Chandra turns 1. Aug. 14-20: Titan 4 rocket launches spy satellite; New evidence shows galaxies formed early; Superbubbles bespeak toil and trouble in space; Arianespace resumes flights. More news  See our weekly archive of space news. Contact us If you have a comment or question for Spaceflight Now, just send us an e-mail.