Sunday: September 24, 2000   0427 GMT Mystery of asteroid Eros: So much rock, so little gravity How could something so small have so much debris lying around? That is the puzzle presented by asteroid 433 Eros in the first major reports on the composition and history of the 21-mile-long body, the solar system's first asteroid to be subjected to close study.    FULL STORY Military satellite testing new way of imaging Earth Part of a winning military strategy relies not only on smart tactical planning, but on theater commanders who can quickly collect detailed information about the battlefield. A new U.S. Air Force research satellite is testing a space-based technique to do just that.    FULL STORY DAILY BRIEFING  Other stories making news today Health research in space benefits humans on Earth -- Experiments conducted in space -- in conditions of microgravity -- have contributed to our knowledge about the effects of exercise on the human machine here on earth. Saturday: September 23, 2000   0658 GMT Monstrous black hole found in center of the Milky Way For the first time ever, astronomers have seen stars accelerate around a supermassive black hole. Astronomers report that three stars have accelerated by more than 250 thousand miles per hour per year as they orbit the monstrous black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy.    FULL STORY DAILY BRIEFING  Other stories making news today Another Progress cargo ship to fly to space station Mir -- MirCorp has funded the launch of a new Progress unmanned cargo spacecraft to Russia's Mir, ensuring the space station will remain operational for continued commercial use. Satellite cargo swapped for next Arianespace launch -- After conducting three launches from its South American spaceport in one month's time, Arianespace, albeit delayed by almost two weeks due to satellite difficulties, is making preparations for its next mission on Flight 133. Friday: September 22, 2000   0442 GMT Tiny probe unlocking secrets of ancient asteroid Findings from NASA's Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) mission confirm that asteroid 433 Eros is a consolidated, primitive sample from the solar system's beginnings.    FULL STORY New weather craft snaps its 1st image after good launch The new global weather satellite launched Thursday has already opened its eye on planet Earth, beaming back pictures of Greenland and the Eastern Seaboard of the United States.    FULL STORY    MISSION STATUS CENTER    LAUNCH PAD TOUR Hope fades to salvage Japanese space telescope In a message to scientists, officials with the Japanese/American ASCA X-ray observatory said this week they will not be able to recover the craft. The Earth-orbiting satellite was lost in July during a geomagnetic storm.    FULL STORY DAILY BRIEFING  Other stories making news today New PanAmSat satellite goes live in time to show Olympics -- When the national football teams from Chile and Spain, two contenders for Olympic gold, faced off in Melbourne, Australia, millions of viewers throughout the two countries, and most of Latin America, were able to watch the action thanks to PanAmSat's brand new PAS-9 satellite. Thursday: September 21, 2000   1230 GMT U.S. weather satellite launched by Titan 2 rocket A vintage Titan 2 rocket successfully launched the NOAA-L global weather satellite today from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The craft's onboard kick motor later completed the boost into a near-circular orbit around Earth's poles.    MISSION STATUS CENTER    LAUNCH PAD TOUR Hubble goes Hollywood with movies of infant stars Time-lapse movies made from a series of pictures taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope are showing astronomers that young stars and their surroundings can change dramatically in just weeks or months. The movies show jets of gas plowing into space at hundreds of thousands of miles per hour and moving shadows billions of miles in size.    FULL STORY DAILY BRIEFING  Other stories making news today Climate change: new impressions from space -- The latest results from spacecraft that observe the Sun and the Earth provoke many questions. Are variations in the Sun's brightness an important cause of climate change? Could changes in the Sun's magnetism affect the Earth's clouds? Why do temperature trends in the lower atmosphere give a different impression of global warming from measurements at ground level? Wednesday: September 20, 2000   1438 GMT Atlantis returns home Plunging through a slightly hazy, moon-lit sky, the space shuttle Atlantis glided home today, closing out a trail-blazing flight to outfit the international space station for arrival of its first full-time crew in just six weeks.    FULL STORY    MISSION STATUS CENTER    VIDEO: ATLANTIS LANDS (233k file)    VIDEO: LANDING INFRARED VIEW (228k file)    LANDING GROUND TRACKS    DEORBIT AND LANDING OPPORTUNITIES Choose from this menu:       Iridium's fall a mixed blessing for astronomers Motorola intends to deorbit all 66 of the satellites owned by its bankrupt offshoot Iridium LLC, after attempts to find a buyer for the satellite phone company failed. Astronomically, the news is a mixed blessing.    FULL STORY Tuesday: September 19, 2000   0807 GMT Atlantis homeward bound after flawless adventure The seven space shuttle astronauts are due back on Earth early Wednesday with a nighttime landing at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew's mission to furnish the international space station for the first permanent residents went off without a hitch.    MISSION STATUS CENTER    LANDING GROUND TRACKS    DEORBIT AND LANDING OPPORTUNITIES Choose from this menu:       100th shuttle flight packed with dramatic space work The shuttle Discovery is poised for blastoff Oct. 5 on the 100th shuttle mission, a high stakes flight to mount an 18,400-pound truss housing four stabilizing gyroscopes and critical electronic gear on the international space station. Learn all about the mission in our five-part preview.    FULL REPORT Choose from this menu:       Converted ICBM missile to loft U.S. weather satellite A refurbished U.S. Air Force Titan 2 rocket is scheduled to make a predawn trek to space Wednesday from California, propelling a new weather satellite into orbit that will observe planet Earth from pole to pole.    MISSION STATUS CENTER DAILY BRIEFING  Other stories making news today Earth to receive more recorded data from Galileo -- Galileo becomes selective in its playback schedule this week, returning bits and pieces from observations of Jupiter's moons Io and Ganymede stored on its onboard tape recorder. NEWSWIRE  Links to news across the internet 2001: A space laptop -- (SpaceRef) Like most busy commuters these days, astronauts need to take their laptop computers with them on the road - even if they are travelling at 17,500 miles per hour in a billion dollar space shuttle between Earth and the International Space Station. Given that NASA often touts itself as being at the cutting edge of technology you'd expect that they'd lavish nothing but the latest and speediest laptop computers on their astronauts. Alas, that isn't the case. Here's a question: Do neutron stars bend gravity? -- (Christian Science Monitor) According to Einstein's general relativity theory, material mass bends space and distorts time. If that mass is rotating, the theory says, it also drags nearby space-time around with it. NASA's Rossi X-ray observing satellite now is tantalizing astronomers with hints that it is seeing space being stirred, as well as bent, by fast-spinning superdense objects called neutron stars. Monday: September 18, 2000   0711 GMT Atlantis undocks from international space station Shuttle Atlantis gently undocked from the international space station today, slowly backing away after eight successful days joined to the orbiting outpost. The undocking occurred at 11:46 p.m. EDT while the two craft flew 240 miles above Ukraine. Follow the undocking in our Mission Status Center.    MISSION STATUS CENTER    STATION READY FOR FIRST CREW    UNDOCKING PREVIEW STORY    VIDEO: ATLANTIS UNDOCKS FROM STATION Choose from this menu:       Next shuttle launch hinges on reusing spacesuit parts Running out of time, NASA plans to cannibalize parts from spacesuits currently aboard the shuttle Atlantis to clear the way for a complex space station assembly mission scheduled for launch in less than three weeks. Even if the work goes smoothly, officials say, there is little margin for error in meeting Discovery's Oct. 5 launch target.    FULL STORY X-ray telescope to provide virtual journey to black hole Scientists have designed and successfully tested a new type of X-ray telescope that, when fully developed and placed in orbit, may capture the first images of a black hole and resolve details of nearby stars as clearly as we see our own Sun today.    FULL STORY				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. 11-17: Astronauts delivery supplies to space station; Chandra clinches case for new type of black hole; Hubble finds possible crater of fresh ice on space rock; Star-making factory; Inside cauldron of exploded star; Ariane 5 launch. 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.