Sunday: October 8, 2000   0150 GMT Birth of lonely giant planets seen 1,000 light years away Researchers have discovered three giant planets and another fifteen bodies roaming freely in Orion's Sigma cluster a thousand light years from Earth. Their results include unprecedented images of planets expected to be less than five million years old.    FULL STORY New fuel valve installed aboard shuttle Discovery Shuttle technicians have successfully removed and replaced a faulty vibration-suppression fuel valve inside Discovery's aft engine compartment. The valve trouble caused NASA to delay the 100th shuttle mission to Monday.    MISSION STATUS CENTER    LATEST LAUNCH WEATHER FORECAST    MISSION INDEX Nearby star-forming region captured in colorful portrait The R Coronae Australis complex of young stars and interstellar gas clouds is one of the nearest star-forming regions in the Milky Way, at a distance of approximately 500 light-years from the sun.    FULL STORY New telescope array to give clearer view of the stars Astronomers have dedicated a new observatory in California that will enable scientists to observe the details of stars with unprecedented clarity. It consists of six telescopes on Mt. Wilson, outside of Los Angeles.    FULL STORY Saturday: October 7, 2000   0419 GMT Pegasus rocket launch delayed to Monday Today's launch of an Orbital Sciences Pegasus rocket was postponed for 48 hours due to a communications problem and broken cable. The launch is now set for 0545 GMT Monday to place a NASA satellite into space to seek out the most powerful explosions in the universe.    MISSION STATUS CENTER    LAUNCH PREVIEW STORY Ariane 4 sails on smooth flight with Japanese cargo Europe's workhorse Ariane 4 rocket took its 99th flight Friday night and successfully placed a Japanese television and data broadcasting satellite into orbit.    FULL STORY    MISSION STATUS CENTER Replacement of shock absorbing fuel valve begins NASA managers say work to replace a sluggish valve in the shuttle Discovery's engine compartment was expected to be complete by late Friday, setting the stage for a delayed launch attempt at 8:05 p.m. Monday. But that assumes ongoing assessment work with a suspect bolt can be resolved by Monday morning.    FULL STORY    MISSION STATUS CENTER    LATEST LAUNCH WEATHER FORECAST Choose from this menu:       Cassini provides 'first-look' image of Jupiter NASA scientists are extremely pleased with the first image of Jupiter from the Cassini spacecraft, which is closing in on a fly-by of the huge planet over the next several months as it flies by Jupiter.    FULL STORY Friday: October 6, 2000   0100 GMT Suspect valve delays 100th shuttle launch till Monday The launch of space shuttle Discovery has been postponed until Monday night so workers can replace a suspect valve in the craft's aft engine compartment, NASA officials decided Thursday night.    FULL STORY    MISSION STATUS CENTER    SUSPECT BOLT DELAYED DISCOVERY FIRST Choose from this menu:       Data relay glitch threatens mission to Saturn moon NASA and European Space Agency engineers are troubleshooting a problem with the communication system on Huygens probe, which is attached to the Cassini spacecraft bound for Saturn. The problem threatens to cut the flow of science data from Huygens during its descent to the moon Titan.    FULL STORY Jovian moon Io's mantle shown similar to Earth Researchers studying chemical data from the Hubble Space Telescope have determined the eruption conditions of Jupiter's volcanically active satellite, Io, and concluded that the moon has a mantle similar to that of Earth.    FULL STORY Craft captures postcard view of Martian valleys At the beginning of its fourth year in orbit around the Red Planet, NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft has snapped a picture-postcard view of three Martian valleys. The three major valley systems are located east of the Hellas plains.    FULL STORY Ariane 4 to launch Japanese TV satellite tonight A workhorse European Ariane 4 rocket is poised to make its 99th trek to space tonight carrying a television broadcast satellite for Japan. Liftoff is scheduled for 2300 GMT (7 p.m. EDT) from Kourou, French Guiana.    MISSION STATUS CENTER DAILY BRIEFING  Other stories making news today Winged Pegasus rocket to launch from Central Pacific -- An air-launched Pegasus rocket is ready to boost a NASA probe into space at 0545 GMT (1:45 a.m. EDT) on Saturday that will detect the most powerful explosions in the universe. Known as the High-Energy Transient Explorer 2, the tiny craft seeks to detect mysterious gamma ray bursts. Thursday: October 5, 2000   1930 GMT Fuel tank bolt concern scuttles shuttle launch Launch of shuttle Discovery on a space station assembly mission has been delayed at least one day - and possibly longer - because of concern about a suspect bolt in the ship's external fuel tank. A second technical problem is also being reviewed.    FULL STORY    MISSION STATUS CENTER    SEE THE SUSPECT BOLT    VIDEO: DELAY ANNOUNCED (220k file) Choose from this menu:       Hubble peeks into a stellar nursery in a nearby galaxy NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has peered deep into a neighboring galaxy to reveal details of the formation of new stars. The new images show young, brilliant stars cradled within a glowing cloud of gas.    FULL STORY One satellite snaps pictures of other craft in space As a tiny British experimental satellite prepares for a rare rendezvous with a Chinese satellite it accompanied during launch three months ago, officials have released images snapped from the spacecraft.    FULL STORY DAILY BRIEFING  Other stories making news today Ariane 4 rocket gets OK for Friday night launch -- Arianespace officials on Wednesday cleared an Ariane 4 rocket for blastoff on Friday evening carrying a Japanese telecommunications satellite from the spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Wednesday: October 4, 2000   1630 GMT Station living quarters hit by battery breakdowns As NASA readies shuttle Discovery for launch Thursday on a space station assembly mission, Russian engineers are troubleshooting yet another perplexing battery failure in the station's new Zvezda command module.    FULL STORY [Posted: Oct. 4]    MISSION STATUS CENTER Weather picture still iffy for Thursday's shuttle launch Shuttle Discovery's countdown continues to tick smoothly toward blastoff Thursday night. The only concern remains the possibility of showers that could cause a delay. Meteorologists are giving a 60 percent "go" forecast.    FULL STORY [Posted: Oct. 4]    LAUNCH WEATHER FORECAST    MISSION INDEX DAILY BRIEFING  Other stories making news today Better cosmic yardstick helps measure age, size of universe -- Researchers using the testbed interferometer at Palomar Observatory have achieved the best-ever distance measurement to a type of star known as a Cepheid variable. Next launch set for Europe's Ariane 5 rocket -- On cue with its accelerated schedule for the rest of 2000, Arianespace is planning its next Ariane 5 mission for late October carrying one of the most powerful commercial communications satellite, an amateur radio spacecraft and two European military research probes. Tuesday: October 3, 2000   1620 GMT The era of Russia's space station Mir coming to an end The captains of the Russian space industry sealed the fate of the Mir space station during a crucial meeting on Tuesday. Officials decided to send the outpost crashing back to Earth soon after it marks its 15th anniversary in orbit in February 2001.    FULL STORY    MIRCORP ISSUES STATEMENT Tropical weather wild card in shuttle launch plans With Discovery scheduled for liftoff Thursday night on the 100th shuttle flight, NASA managers are assessing the progress of Hurricane Keith and its possible impact on operations at both the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and the Johnson Space Center south of Houston.    FULL STORY    LAUNCH WEATHER FORECAST    MISSION STATUS CENTER Choose from this menu:       Collision reveals 'missing link' in distant galaxy Astronomers using radio telescopes have discovered a cloud of gas apparently being struck by a jet of ultrafast particles powered by the energy of a supermassive black hole at the core of a galaxy 450 million light-years away.    FULL STORY DAILY BRIEFING  Other stories making news today NASA's Pluto mission delayed -- JPL has been directed by NASA to reconfigure a planned mission to Pluto, which will result in a deferment of the launch. NASA's associate administrator for space science, said that for programmatic and technical reasons it is not feasible to implement Pluto-Kuiper Express as currently conceived. What might the Sun do one day? -- A program to monitor large numbers of stars resembling the Sun could give a new perspective on solar effects on the Earth's climate, according to a scientist at a conference last week in Europe. Monday: October 2, 2000   0540 GMT Russian Proton rocket launches GE-1A satellite A Russian Proton rocket carried the GE-1A telecommunications broadcast spacecraft into orbit Sunday night. The American-made satellite that will beam television and data across the Asia-Pacific region.    MISSION STATUS CENTER    VIDEO: PROTON BLAST OFF (234k file)    VIDEO: ROCKET MAKES SMOKE RING (206k file) Astronauts fly to Cape for Thursday's shuttle launch The shuttle Discovery's international crew, clearly eager to take off on a critical space station construction mission, flew to the Kennedy Space Center Sunday evening to prepare for blastoff Thursday on the 100th shuttle flight.    FULL STORY    MISSION STATUS CENTER    FIVE-PART MISSION PREVIEW    MISSION INDEX Choose from this menu:       Pegasus rocket to launch from a locale far, far away After taking a weekend ferry to a tropical paradise in the central Pacific Ocean, an Orbital Sciences air-launched Pegasus rocket is being readied to carry a NASA satellite into space to seek out the most powerful explosions in the universe.    FULL STORY				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. 25-Oct. 1: First images from new observatories; Fountains of fire on the Sun; Top 10 images from commercial eye-in-the-sky; Agreement on new X-33 plan. Sept. 18-24: Hubble movies; Atlantis lands safely; Global weather satellite launched; Mystery of asteroid Eros; X-ray telescope to provide virtual journey to black hole. 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. More news  See our weekly archive of space news. 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