Sunday: April 29, 2001   1110 GMT Computers back online as shuttle undocking nears In the very nick of time, engineers recovered use of a critical hard drive aboard the international space station late Saturday and then restored a third command-and-control computer to operation, clearing the way for shuttle Endeavour to finally undock from the outpost at 1:34 p.m. EDT.    FULL STORY - posted 7:10 a.m. EDT    MISSION THEATER - full video coverage Endeavour set to depart space station Sunday With ground teams "on the brink" of restoring the space station's main computers to relatively good health, the Endeavour astronauts were tentatively cleared to undock from the outpost Sunday, clearing the way for space tourist Dennis Tito and his two Soyuz crewmates to float aboard early Monday.    FULL STORY - posted 10:00 p.m. EDT    MISSION STATUS CENTER    MISSION THEATER - full video coverage More mission coverage here:       SOHO has made the Sun transparent after five years Anyone troubled by storms on the Sun will now have an extra week's early warning of eruption risks, by courtesy of the SOHO spacecraft. Teams in France and the USA have found two different ways of detecting activity on the Sun's far side, before it swings into view from the Earth.    FULL STORY Saturday: April 28, 2001   0800 GMT Tito's tourist trip blasts off A Russian Soyuz spacecraft has launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome bound for the international space station carrying Dennis Tito, the world's first fare-paying space tourist. The rocket lifted off at 0737 GMT after NASA and Russian Space Agency managers reached a last-minute compromise late Friday that could leave Tito and crew in a parking orbit for an additional 24 hours if U.S. efforts to fully revive the station's still-crippled central computer system are not wrapped up in time to permit Endeavour's crew to undock Sunday.    FULL STORY    VIDEO: LIFT-OFF - subscribers only    TITO MISSION THEATER - exclusive video    EARLIER STORY - posted 8:50 p.m. EDT    EARLIER STORY - posted 11:25 a.m. EDT NASA, Russians hammer out Soyuz launch agreement NASA and Russian Space Agency managers reached a last-minute compromise late Friday that will allow U.S. millionaire space tourist Dennis Tito to blast off for the international space station on schedule Saturday.    FULL STORY - posted 8:50 p.m. EDT    EARLIER STORY Effects of recent India quake visible from space The earthquake that struck western India this January brought water to places that had previously been dry. Shaken by the 7.7 magnitude earthquake, water trapped between tiny grains of sand and layers of mud beneath salt flats was squeezed out and forced to the surface.    FULL STORY Friday: April 27, 2001   1045 GMT Station recovery continues The international space station's one working command-and-control computer turned over control of the station's orientation to the shuttle Endeavour's computers early today as part of an ongoing procedure to revive Alpha's still-crippled computer system.    FULL STORY - posted 6:45 a.m. EDT    UPDATED ASTRONAUTS' FLIGHT PLAN    MISSION THEATER - full video coverage Station computer failures delay shuttle departure Mission managers have decided to keep shuttle Endeavour docked to the international space station two extra days, as controllers struggle to regain use of the command computers in the Destiny lab. On Thursday afternoon two more computers unexpectedly shut down.    FULL STORY - posted 8:40 p.m. EDT    MISSION STATUS CENTER - check for updates    MIGHTY MOUSE TO THE RESCUE - p.m. story    SOME PROGRESS MADE - a.m. story    COMPUTERS CRIPPLED - posted Wednesday    MISSION THEATER - full video coverage More mission coverage here:       NASA requests delay of Soyuz carrying space tourist With the International Space Station crippled by computer problems, NASA has requested that the Russians delay Saturday's planned launch of the Soyuz spacecraft carrying U.S. space tourist Dennis Tito. Check our space station mission status center for updates.    MISSION STATUS CENTER Tito's rocket rolls to Baikonur launch pad The booster rocket that will carry the Soyuz TM-32 spacecraft and space tourist Dennis Tito into orbit was rolled to its launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome at sunrise Thursday morning.    FULL STORY    VIDEO: ROLLOUT - subscribers only    SOYUZ READIED - posted Wednesday First steps of planet growth and destruction witnessed A dramatic life-and-death game of planetary survival is taking place inside a gigantic cloud of gas and dust 1,500 light-years from Earth, and the outcome could have far-reaching implications for the number of planets in our Milky Way galaxy.    FULL STORY New main engine promises even safer shuttle ride The next space shuttle crew can expect an even safer ride into orbit, thanks to the completion of a new Space Shuttle Main Engine. Workers installed one of the new engines, called the Block 2, on Atlantis this week. Liftoff is scheduled for mid-June.    FULL STORY DAILY BRIEFING  Other stories making news today X-40A test vehicle's third free flight successful -- The X-40A vehicle successfully performed a third free flight test Thursday at Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards, Calif. The X-40A was lifted by an Army Chinook helicopter and released to make a descent and touchdown. Thursday: April 26, 2001   0107 GMT Serious computer problem strikes space station The international space station's three main control computers were crippled Wednesday by a subtle and so-far-baffling software glitch that disrupted normal operations, forced the crew to delay critical robot arm tests and triggered a massive troubleshooting effort in Houston.    FULL STORY - updated    MISSION STATUS CENTER    MISSION THEATER - full video coverage    WHY ARE WE NOW CHARGING FOR VIDEO? Tito follows tradition as he prepares for blastoff Springtime in Baikonur and the tulips are in full bloom. A small group of reporters is heading to the Cosmonauts Hotel to watch three men hoist flags, a time-honored tradition to mark an impending departure from the planet. One man unfurls an American flag. He is Dennis Tito.    FULL STORY    TITO MISSION THEATER - exclusive video Russia readies Tito's ride Russian space officials gave a green light for the rollout of the booster rocket that will carry the Soyuz TM-32 spacecraft and space tourist Dennis Tito into orbit on Saturday. Read our report from Baikonur.    FULL STORY Scientists, public ask NASA to extend Galileo imaging A group of planetary scientists and space activists are petitioning NASA to keep the cameras on the Galileo spacecraft active long enough to take images of the volcanic moon Io during a unique flyby opportunity next year.    FULL STORY DAILY BRIEFING  Other stories making news today Hot space research yields colder down-to-Earth benefits -- A paper-thin coating of an innovative NASA material used to prevent space vehicles from burning up during planetary reentry may soon be available to protect your house, car and boat from fire. Wednesday: April 25, 2001   0054 GMT NASA loses bid to stop joyride flight of Dennis Tito Faced with no options, the NASA-led panel that manages the International Space Station granted the Russians an exemption on Tuesday to fly tourist Dennis Tito to the orbital outpost.    FULL STORY    TITO ARRIVES IN BAIKONUR Spacewalkers play electricians outside station Two spacewalking electricians wired the international space station's new robot arm into the lab's power grid Tuesday, completing the $900 million crane system's initial installation after extensive troubleshooting to activate an initially dead backup circuit.    FULL STORY    MISSION STATUS CENTER    ASTRONAUTS' MASTER FLIGHT PLAN    MISSION THEATER - full video coverage    HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT THE THEATER? More mission coverage here:       Hubble makes popular observation for its birthday Rising from a sea of dust and gas like a giant seahorse, the Horsehead nebula is one of the most photographed objects in the sky. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope took a close-up look at this heavenly icon. The detailed view was released to celebrate the orbiting observatory's eleventh anniversary.    FULL STORY DAILY BRIEFING  Other stories making news today New satellite to reinforce Eutelsat's expansion paths -- Eutelsat has announced that it has signed a contract with Astrium Space Industries for the delivery of a new satellite called W3A. The 50-transponder spacecraft will meet Eutelsat's ambitions to consolidate its market position in Europe for multimedia services, reinforce its expansion path into Africa and strengthen its in-orbit redundancy program. Tuesday: April 24, 2001   0157 GMT Spacewalkers to play electricians Tuesday Endeavour astronauts Chris Hadfield and Scott Parazynski are slated to make a 6.5-hour spacewalk starting around 9 a.m. EDT on Tuesday to re-wire the Canadarm2 so it can operate from its new home on hull of the international space station's Destiny lab module. We'll have live coverage in the Status Center:    MISSION STATUS CENTER    ASTRONAUTS' MASTER FLIGHT PLAN    MISSION THEATER - full video coverage    HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT THE THEATER? Mars Odyssey takes snapshot of Earth NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft turned its multipurpose camera homeward last week and took its first picture -- a shot of a faint crescent Earth -- as the spacecraft heads off toward its destination, the planet Mars.    FULL STORY Two U.S. communications satellites suffer disruptions Loral's Telstar 6 and PanAmSat's Galaxy 3R telecommunications satellites each went dark for a time over the weekend due to internal computer failures. Both craft, however, were working on backup systems by Monday.    TELSTAR 6 STORY    GALAXY 3R STORY Alcatel to build new GE craft; ILS to launch them France-based Alcatel Space has signed a contract with International Launch Services (ILS) for launch of two spacecraft for GE American Communications Inc. in 2002 and 2003.    FULL STORY DAILY BRIEFING  Other stories making news today Galileo undergoes calibration -- This week on NASA's Galileo spacecraft in orbit around Jupiter sees the continuation of the set of instrument calibrations that began on Sunday. Monday: April 23, 2001   1600 GMT Station and shuttle robotic arms get workouts The Canadarm2 took its first step today by detaching one hand from its launch container and grabbing the international space station's Destiny module. Endeavour's robot arm was also in use today, hoisting the Raffaello cargo module for docking to the station.    MISSION STATUS CENTER    ASTRONAUTS' MASTER FLIGHT PLAN    MISSION THEATER - full video coverage    VIDEO: HATCH OPENING (subscribers only) Canada's robot arm installed on station The Canadian-made space station robotic arm was attached to the orbiting outpost by spacewalking astronauts Sunday and moved its joints for the first time in space.    FULL STORY    MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates    ASTRONAUTS' MASTER FLIGHT PLAN Probe shows Eros' surface the result of impacts NEAR mission science team members have concluded that the majority of the small features that make up the surface of asteroid Eros more likely came from an unrelenting bombardment from space debris than internal processes.    FULL STORY ESA and Chinese explore joint space mission A new East-West scientific collaboration recently took a further step towards acceptance when a group of European Space Agency delegates and space scientists travelled to Beijing to meet their Chinese counterparts. Under discussion was possible European participation in a dual-spacecraft mission known as Double Star.    FULL STORY DAILY BRIEFING  Other stories making news today PanAmSat lands in Kazakhstan for launch -- PanAmSat announced that the company's new PAS-10 Indian Ocean Region satellite has arrived in Kazakhstan in preparation for its May launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. PAS-10 will be rocketed into space aboard a Proton launch vehicle and will provide digital video, data and Internet services throughout a 30-million square mile footprint.				Earlier news April 16-22: Endeavour launches with Canadarm2 for station; New Indian rocket makes inaugural flight; Climate change linked to anomaly in Earth's orbit; What medieval witnesses saw was not lunar impact. April 9-15: A virtual Columbia on its 20th anniversary; NASA's proposed '02 budget; Accident delays solar sail launch; Odyssey's launch put spacecraft on good course; Sun takes another solar shot. April 2-8: 2001 Mars Odyssey successfully launched; Eleven new extrasolar planets discovered; Hubble reveals heart of Whirlpool Galaxy; New evidence offered for planets without parent stars; Russian Proton M rocket debuts. 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. 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