Sunday: December 31, 2000   0001 GMT Cassini and Galileo space probes double-team Jupiter Joint observations of Jupiter by NASA's Cassini and Galileo spacecraft are providing an unprecedented look at the giant planet's atmosphere and magnetosphere, scientists said Saturday, just hours after Cassini made its closest approach to the solar system's largest planet.    FULL STORY    FLYBY SPECIAL REPORT Year's end for Galileo The end of the year 2000 finds the Galileo spacecraft starting to wrap up another encounter with the Jovian system. The spacecraft's camera takes the stage over the weekend, with observations to capture global color views of Io, plus images of Jupiter's main ring.    FULL STORY Saturday: December 30, 2000   0350 GMT Cassini has close encounter of the Jovian kind today NASA's Cassini space probe makes its 6-million mile flyby of Jupiter today at 1012 GMT (5:12 a.m. EST). The encounter acts as a gravity-assisted sling-shot, boosting the craft's speed by 2,500 mph to over 30,000 mph for its continued trek to Saturn.    FULL REPORT Cassini eyes Jupiter's clouds in great detail Images taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft using three different filters reveal cloud structures and movements at different depths in the atmosphere around Jupiter's south pole.    FULL STORY Heavy dose of radiation causes Galileo glitches NASA's Galileo spacecraft passed through the highest radiation environment it will experience in its current orbit of Jupiter late Thursday. The exposure caused an alarm from the probe's camera system and a computer reset in another portion of the spacecraft.    FULL STORY Space station residents give New Year's message The Alpha astronauts beamed down New Year's greetings Friday, saying "let the real space odyssey 2001 proceed." Commander William Shepherd, flight engineer Sergei Krikalev and Soyuz pilot Yuri Gidzenko fielded questions from reporters in an early morning communications session, saying they plan to mark the arrival of the new year with at least one - and probably two - special meals.    FULL STORY    WATCH VIDEO OF CREW'S MESSAGE Friday: December 29, 2000   0615 GMT Cassini resumes Jupiter observations just in time With concerns over its pointing system resolved, NASA's Cassini spacecraft was switching back to picture-taking mode on Thursday, just two days before the probe makes a cosmic visit to our solar system's largest planet.    FULL STORY Galileo has successful flyby of Ganymede during eclipse NASA's Galileo space probe successfully swooped 1,452 miles above the surface of Ganymede on Thursday while the moon was in Jupiter's shadow, allowing a unique opportunity to study auroral glow during the eclipse.    FULL STORY    EARLIER STORY    VIDEO: ANIMATION OF GALILEO FLYBY    VIDEO: AURORA SHOWN IN ANIMATION 'Red dots' may re-write the history of the Universe The earliest stars of the Universe may be much older than previously thought following the discovery of the strongest evidence for an entirely new kind of galaxy by scientists using CSIRO's Australia Telescope and the Hubble Space Telescope.    FULL STORY Formation of present-day spiral galaxies observed An international team of astronomers has made a significant advance in the study of galaxy formation by linking a particular class of distant galaxies with present-day spiral galaxies.    FULL STORY Six Russian satellites lost as rocket fails A Ukrainian-made Tsyklon 3 rocket loaded with six Russian communications satellites failed to reach orbit after blasting off Wednesday, according to news reports from Moscow. The launch occurred at approximately 1900 GMT (2 p.m. EST) from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Northern Russia.    FULL STORY Thursday: December 28, 2000   0439 GMT Cassini makes first color movie of Jupiter's clouds Imagery from NASA's Cassini spacecraft has been used to generate this first color movie of Jupiter's horizontal bands of clouds from the Saturn-bound probe. The orange and white bands slide in opposite directions from each other and a swirl of winds gyrate around Jupiter's Great Red Spot.    FULL STORY Galileo has dark encounter with Jupiter's Ganymede NASA's intrepid Galileo spacecraft zips past Ganymede on Thursday for a unique close encounter that provides a chance to study the faint auroral glows on the solar system's largest moon.    FULL STORY    VIDEO: ANIMATION OF GALILEO FLYBY    VIDEO: AURORA SHOWN IN ANIMATION Martian water may be ice in planet's interior Liquid water that once flowed on the surface of Mars could now be locked up deep in the planet's interior as an unusual form of ice, scientists reported earlier this month.    FULL STORY Surprise switch for Mir emergency crew Russian space managers have changed the makeup of a two-man cosmonaut crew on standby for a flight to the abandoned Mir space station in the event of any future emergency that might cause an uncontrolled re-entry.    FULL STORY Wednesday: December 27, 2000   2000 GMT Researcher proposes daring asteroid sample return In the wake of NASA's successful Near-Earth Asteroid Rendezvous space mission, a University of Arkansas researcher is putting together a team of scientists to take asteroid research to the next level -- bringing asteroid samples back to Earth.    FULL STORY Contact restored with new amateur radio satellite The amateur radio community received a welcome Christmas present Monday when workers were able to restore contact with the AMSAT-OSCAR 40 satellite that had been silent for nearly two weeks.    FULL STORY Iridium satellites used to map global space weather Scientists are now able to simultaneously measure the magnetic and electrical fields over large areas of the ionosphere above the Earth's polar regions, allowing great improvement in the understanding and forecasting of global space weather and helping prevent disruption of communication and power systems.    FULL STORY DAILY BRIEFING  Other stories making news today Russians launch six communications satellites -- A Ukrainian-made Tsyklon 3 rocket loaded with six Russian communications satellites blasted off Wednesday. The launch occurred at approximately 1900 GMT (2 p.m. EST) from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Northern Russia. Tuesday: December 26, 2000   1820 GMT Brief loss of contact raises fears about Mir station Contact with the unmanned Russian Mir space station was briefly lost early today after a computer in the lab's motion control system allowed the station to drift out of its normal orientation, depleting on-board batteries.    FULL STORY (Updated 1820 GMT) Cargo ship redocks to international space station Cosmonaut Yuri Gidzenko remotely piloted an unmanned Progress supply ship to a trouble-free manual redocking with the international space station today as the two spacecraft sailed 230 miles above Mongolia.    FULL STORY    MISSION STATUS CENTER    TIMELINE OF THE REDOCKING SEQUENCE    ILLUSTRATION OF APPROACH TO STATION Ocean-harboring moon Ganymede seen by Cassini The solar system's largest moon, Ganymede, is captured here alongside the planet Jupiter in a color picture taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft earlier this month at a distance of 16.5 million miles.    FULL STORY Monday: December 25, 2000   0038 GMT An out-of-this-world holiday greeting The international space station crew offer the people of planet Earth greetings for the holiday season in a message from their orbiting home 235 miles up. The three men are the first residents of the new station, beginning what is planned to be a continuous human presence in space for the 21st century.    VIDEO: MESSAGE FROM EXPEDITION ONE CREW    VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS REPORT SANTA SIGHTING Rare Christmas eclipse viewable in North America On Christmas Day, step outside and get a rare Christmas present-a partial solar eclipse! Sky watchers living in the continental United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean will have a perfect view of the partially eclipsed Sun.    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 Dec. 18-24: Problem hits Cassini's pointing system; NASA revives Pluto mission; Landing site selected for Beagle 2 mission to Mars; Booster repairs delay next shuttle launch; Ariane 5 hoists cargos for Europe, U.S. and Japan; Europe will build new Vega rocket. Dec. 11-17: Ocean believed hidden on Jupiter's moon Ganymede; Shuttle returns to Earth; China pledges development of manned space program; New report offers evidence of primitive life on Mars; More pictures from Cassini of Jovian system. Dec. 4-10: Astronauts spread solar wings of international space station; Evidence of ancient Martian lakes, shallow seas found; Four more moons discovered orbiting Saturn; U.S. military buys airtime on Iridium; Atlas rocket launches classified cargo. Nov. 27-Dec. 3: Shuttle Endeavour launches to space station rendezvous; XMM-Newton spacecraft finds most distant quasar; Sirius 3 radio satellite launched; Hubble spies extraordinary and powerful active galaxy; Frosty craters of Mars. Nov. 20-26: Jupiter: the movie; Delta launches three satellites; Launch failure for QuickBird 1; Daring high wire act to mount space station arrays; China lifts veil on its secret space program; U.S. Galaxy 7 TV satellite lost. Nov. 13-19: Cosmonaut docks cargo ship in dramatic fashion; Russia decides to dump Mir; Iridium system saved; Hot stars of Orion cluster uncovered in the making; Ariane 5 launch. 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.