Sunday: November 12, 2000   0511 GMT Flickering quasar helps measure Universe Astronomers using the Chandra X-ray Observatory have identified a flickering, four-way mirage image of a distant quasar. A carefully planned observation of this mirage may be used to determine the expansion rate of the Universe as well as to measure the distances to extragalactic objects.    FULL STORY Supernovae may give rise to gamma-ray bursts A team of Italian and Dutch astronomers have discovered a 'fingerprint' from a gamma-ray burst which might be the key to unraveling the origin of these intense flashes of energy that occur a few times per day throughout the Universe.    FULL STORY DAILY BRIEFING  Other stories making news today Coping with the steady data stream from XMM-Newton -- Observations by the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton X-ray telescope are in full swing. After the commissioning of the spacecraft and the calibration of its science instruments, the mission has now entered its operational, routine phase nearly a year after launch. Saturday: November 11, 2000   0230 GMT 3-hour nuclear explosion on star details unimagined fury As if daily nuclear explosions on neutron stars releasing more energy in 10 seconds than the Sun does in a week weren't fantastic enough, a NASA astronomer observed a far more powerful blast lasting 1,000 times longer.    FULL STORY Venerable Delta 2 notches another successful launch A $45 million replacement satellite for the Global Positioning System constellation was lobed into space on Friday by a Boeing Delta 2 rocket following a midday blastoff from Cape Canaveral.    FULL STORY    MISSION STATUS CENTER    VIDEO: DELTA 2 ROCKET LIFTS OFF Friday: November 10, 2000   0358 GMT Boeing Delta 2 rocket set for next launch try Friday After resolving a last-minute concern with a locking wire inside the rocket, officials have cleared a Boeing Delta 2 rocket for liftoff from Cape Canaveral around lunchtime Friday carrying a $45 million Global Positioning System military navigation satellite.    MISSION STATUS CENTER    LIVE LAUNCH WEBCAST Alpha crew completes first week in orbit Keeping tabs on a solar flare sending sheets of radiation toward Earth, the Alpha astronauts Thursday completed their first full week aboard the international space station and set their sights on three well-earned days off after a grueling start to their four-month stay.    FULL STORY    MISSION STATUS CENTER    VIDEO: STORM WARNING Choose from this menu:       Hubble sees lone neutron star streaking across galaxy Several hundred million of them may be found in our galaxy, but the world's most powerful telescope has captured the one thought to be closest to Earth. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has caught up with a runaway neutron star believed to be 200 light years away.    FULL STORY Thursday: November 9, 2000   1600 GMT Launch of Boeing Delta 2 rocket scrubbed Officials have called off today's planned launch of the Boeing Delta 2 rocket after photos showed a possible mis-installed locking wire nut inside the vehicle. When the rocket is launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, it will truck a $45 million Global Positioning System military navigation satellite into Earth.    MISSION STATUS CENTER    LIVE LAUNCH WEBCAST Mission control issues solar storm warning Flight controllers early today asked the space station Alpha astronauts to activate a radiation alarm because of a major solar flare that has increased the flux of high-energy protons near Earth 100,000 times above normal levels.    MISSION STATUS CENTER    VIDEO: STORM WARNING Choose from this menu:       Collar of gas surrounds particle jet from black hole Astronomers have detected a collar of gas shaped like an Elizabethan ruff that surrounds the fountainhead of particle jets emanating from SS433, a well-studied binary star system with a suspected black hole.    FULL STORY DAILY BRIEFING  Other stories making news today Most powerful explosions of universe have two origins -- Astronomers still don't know where gamma ray bursts come from, but NASA researchers have concluded that they may originate from at least two different types of cosmic explosions. Wednesday: November 8, 2000   1930 GMT Boeing Delta 2 rocket to loft GPS craft on Thursday A Boeing Delta 2 rocket is sitting inside its metal cocoon-like gantry at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's pad 17A today awaiting a lunchtime blastoff tomorrow to truck a $45 million military navigation satellite into Earth.    MISSION STATUS CENTER Mission control to station: Bush wins... perhaps not Like millions of his fellow Americans, space station commander Bill Shepherd was told early this morning that George W. Bush was his new President, only to learn hours later that the election was in fact too close to call.    FULL STORY    MISSION STATUS CENTER    VIDEO: BUSH WINS    VIDEO: MISSION CONTROL RETRACTS    CREW COMPLAINS OF GRUELING SCHEDULE Choose from this menu:       Chandra telescope catches a galactic football Using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, astronomers have found a giant football-shaped cavity within X-ray emitting hot gas surrounding the galaxy Cygnus A. The cavity in the hot gas has been created by two powerful jets emitted from the central black hole region in the nucleus of Cygnus A.    FULL STORY High rate of star births linked to black holes The unusually high rates of star births seen in some galaxies may be linked to voracious black holes at the center of those galaxies, according to a new analysis of astronomical data by researchers at The Johns Hopkins University.    FULL STORY DAILY BRIEFING  Other stories making news today Ariane 507 prepped for launch -- A European Ariane 5 rocket with four satellites onboard is due for blastoff next Tuesday evening from the spaceport in the Amazon jungle in French Guiana. Tuesday: November 7, 2000   0420 GMT Cosmic traffic pile-up seen in energetic quasar jet Using the unrivaled high resolution of NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, astronomers have seen important new details in the powerful jet shooting from the quasar 3C273. This research, coupled with optical and radio data, may reveal how these very high velocity jets are driven from the supermassive black holes that scientists believe lurk in the center of quasars.    FULL STORY Solving the X-ray background mystery The long standing uncertainty over the origins of the X-ray background may perhaps be a thing of the past. Observations by Europe's XMM-Newton are backing up the view that this faint glow of X-rays pervading the cosmos comes essentially from many individual but so-far undetected celestial objects and not just from the hot environment within galaxies.    FULL STORY Cassini spacecraft watches as Jupiter turns New images of Jupiter taken by the NASA's Cassini spacecraft show the changing face of the planet as it twirls more than 360 degrees. Although it is the biggest planet in our solar system, Jupiter hurries through a complete rotation in about 10 hours.    FULL STORY Europa shines in front of giant Jupiter Another new image from Cassini, taken through an infrared filter, shows one of Jupiter's large moons, Europa, gleaming brightly as it passes in front of the planet.    FULL STORY DAILY BRIEFING  Other stories making news today New NOAA-16 weather satellite checks out -- The nation's newest polar-orbiting environmental satellite, NOAA-16, has successfully completed a comprehensive, on-orbit verification by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. The satellite was turned over to NOAA yesterday. Monday: November 6, 2000   0244 GMT Armada of probes makes solar system family portrait Pictures from eight robotic spacecraft and a ground observatory have been stitched together to create a montage of the solar system's nine planets, our moon and four of the large Jovian moons backdropped against the Rosette Nebula.    FULL STORY Space object not really a threat to Earth in 2030 Additional observations of a space object have shown that a asteroid-like object will not impact planet Earth in 2030 as had been announced last week. The object could either be a space rock or a spent rocket booster from the Apollo era.    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 Oct. 30-Nov. 5: First residents arrive at international space station; Sulfur-rich 'snow' found on Io; Research could pave way for discovery of life on Mars; Hubble gives a bird's eye view of galaxy collision. Oct. 23-29: Discovery lands in California; Four new moons found orbiting Saturn; Strange shapes on the sizzling world of volcanic Io; Revealing Neptune's icy atmosphere, Uranus' rings; 100th Ariane 4 launch. Oct. 16-22: Space station construction mission successful; Gigantic gamma-ray burst breaks all distance records; New light shed on Milky Way's elusive center; Atlas, Proton and Sea Launch rocket missions. 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.