Sunday: August 19, 2001   0057 GMT Spacewalkers lay backup cables for future assembly Astronauts Daniel Barry and Patrick Forrester attached handrails and two 45-foot-long emergency power cables to the hull of the international space station Saturday during a successful spacewalk. The cables will provide backup power for a giant truss segment scheduled for attachment next year.    FULL STORY    MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates    ASTRONAUTS' MASTER FLIGHT PLAN    QUICK-LOOK MISSION FACTS    FULL MISSION COVERAGE More mission coverage here:       Video coverage for subscribers only:    VIDEO: BARRY EXITS AIRLOCK FOR SPACEWALK QT or RV    VIDEO: SPACEWALKER ATTACHES HANDRAIL QT or RV    VIDEO: FORRESTER POSES WITH DISCOVERY'S NOSE QT or RV    VIDEO: SPACEWALKERS UNREEL CABLING QT or RV    VIDEO: SATURDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING QT or RV    MORE: FULL VIDEO INDEX Ocean-observing satellite celebrates ninth year aloft Like "The Little Engine That Could," Topex/Poseidon just keeps chugging along in orbit taking the pulse of our oceans. August 10 marked the 9th anniversary of the launch of this remarkable satellite, which has revolutionized our understanding of the oceans.    FULL STORY Saturday: August 18, 2001   0319 GMT Changing of the guard aboard space station Alpha The Expedition Two commander Yuri Usachev officially handed command of the international space station to Expedition Three commander Frank Culberston in a ceremony in the U.S. Destiny laboratory module on Friday.    MISSION STATUS CENTER    ASTRONAUTS' MASTER FLIGHT PLAN    QUICK-LOOK MISSION FACTS    FULL MISSION COVERAGE Video coverage for subscribers only:    VIDEO: CHANGE OF COMMAND CEREMONY QT or RV    VIDEO: MEET THE EXPEDITION THREE CREW QT or RV    VIDEO: PREVIEW REPORT ON SATURDAY'S SPACEWALK QT or RV    MORE: FULL VIDEO INDEX NASA names 23 astronauts to shuttle flights in 2002 NASA has named crew members to three missions scheduled to visit the international space station in the second half of 2002. STS-112, STS-113 and STS-114 will involve assembly work, and the last two also will exchange space station expedition crews. In all, these missions will carry 23 astronauts and cosmonauts, including nine first-time flyers.    FULL STORY Study details growing problem of light pollution Italian and American scientists have quantified what most urban-dwelling observers have become painfully aware of: that the increasing use of artificial lights has wiped out clear views the night sky for hundreds of millions of people.    FULL STORY Friday: August 17, 2001   0427 GMT Star formation burst drives bubble in galaxy's core New snapshots from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope reveal dramatic activities within the core of the galaxy NGC 3079, where a lumpy bubble of hot gas is rising from a cauldron of glowing matter.    FULL STORY Spacewalk success on station's 1,000th day Two Discovery astronauts -- Dan Barry and Pat Forrester -- stepped outside the shuttle Thursday for a 6-hour spacewalk that successfully mounted an ammonia servicing unit and two suitcase-shaped experiments to the exterior of the international space station.    MISSION STATUS CENTER    SPACEWALK STATISTICS    ASTRONAUTS' MASTER FLIGHT PLAN    QUICK-LOOK MISSION FACTS    FULL MISSION COVERAGE More mission coverage here:       Video coverage for subscribers only:    VIDEO: SPACEWALKERS ATTACH AMMONIA SERVICER QT or RV    VIDEO: CREW MARKS STATION'S 1000-DAY MILESTONE QT or RV    VIDEO: THURSDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING QT or RV    VIDEO: SPACEWALK PREVIEW REPORT QT or RV    VIDEO: CULBERTSON SHOWS OFF HIS 'STATE ROOM' QT or RV    MORE: FULL VIDEO INDEX Galileo's Io flyby yields some pictures after all NASA's Galileo spacecraft is transmitting to Earth scientific information from its dash past Jupiter's moon Io last week, including top-priority measurements of magnetic forces above Io's north pole. Sampling of early data indicates that Galileo's camera appears to have resumed functioning in time to capture some of the final images planned during the encounter.    FULL STORY Additional coverage for subscribers only:    VIDEO: ANIMATION OF GALILEO'S IO FLYBY QT or RV X-43A investigation update The investigators probing June's failed launch of NASA's X-43A hypersonic test aircraft aboard an Orbital Sciences Pegasus booster report some progress has been made in the last month in ruling out possible causes, but officials say finding a "a single root cause of the mishap is still possible but becoming less probable."    FULL STORY Thursday: August 16, 2001   0417 GMT Spacewalk on tap today Two Discovery astronauts -- Dan Barry and Pat Forrester -- will step outside the shuttle today for a 6.5-hour spacewalk to mount an ammonia servicing unit and two suitcase-shaped experiments to the exterior of the international space station.    MISSION STATUS CENTER    ASTRONAUTS' MASTER FLIGHT PLAN    QUICK-LOOK MISSION FACTS    ORBIT OPS SNAPSHOT    FULL MISSION COVERAGE Video coverage for subscribers only:    VIDEO: SPACEWALK PREVIEW REPORT QT or RV    VIDEO: WEDNESDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING QT or RV    VIDEO: CULBERTSON SHOWS OFF HIS 'STATE ROOM' QT or RV    VIDEO: COMMANDERS INTERVIEWED FROM SPACE QT or RV    VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS UNLOAD LEONARDO QT or RV    MORE: FULL VIDEO INDEX Extrasolar planet discovered in the Big Dipper The discovery of a Jupiter-like planet around one star and a cloud of comets around another are the latest clues in the puzzle regarding how solar systems form and how many extrasolar systems may be like our own.    FULL STORY    BERKELEY NEWS RELEASE    NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION RELEASE Swarm of comets found Another team of scientists announced Wednesday that they had found evidence for a cloud of millions of comets that they believe has formed around the young star Beta Pictoris. The results are from new observations using NASA's Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) spacecraft.    FULL STORY    NASA RELEASE ON DISCOVERY Scientists give boost to theory of Moon formation The "giant impact" theory, first proposed in the mid-1970s to explain how the Moon formed, has received a major boost as new results demonstrate for the first time that a single impact could yield the current Earth-Moon system.    FULL STORY Wednesday: August 15, 2001   0047 GMT Galaxy cluster found to test accelerating Universe idea Astronomers have used the distorting effects of a weak gravitational lens to discover and locate a dim cluster of at least 15 galaxies at a significant distance from Earth, using only the mass properties of the cluster, not its visible light.    FULL STORY Dancing around black holes Supermassive black holes are present at the centers of many galaxies, some weighing hundreds of millions times more than the Sun. These extremely dense objects cannot be observed directly, but violently moving gas clouds and stars in their strong gravitational fields are responsible for the emission of energetic radiation from such "active galaxy nuclei".    FULL STORY Tuesday: August 14, 2001   0415 GMT Expedition 3 crew moves in, cargo module attached As the Expedition 3 astronauts moved into their new home aboard space station Alpha Monday, the shuttle crew has used Discovery's robotic arm to attach the Leonardo cargo module to the outpost's Unity node.    MISSION STATUS CENTER    ASTRONAUTS' MASTER FLIGHT PLAN    QUICK-LOOK MISSION FACTS    ORBIT OPS SNAPSHOT    FULL MISSION COVERAGE Video coverage for subscribers only:    VIDEO: MONDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING QT or RV    SNAPSHOT: LEONARDO HOISTED FROM PAYLOAD BAY    SNAPSHOT: MODULE NEARS UNITY NODE    MORE: FULL VIDEO INDEX Prototype of Mars airplane successfully passes test Soaring gracefully down to Earth from a balloon floating 101,000 feet high above Oregon, a NASA prototype of an airplane that someday may fly over Mars successfully completed a high-altitude flight test this week.    FULL STORY ESA considers new probes based on Mars design Space mission planners have devised several proposals to re-use the satellite design created for the European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft. The reasoning behind the decision to pursue a mission that would re-use the Mars Express platform design lies purely in efficiency and cost savings.    FULL STORY DAILY BRIEFING  Other stories making news today Scientists work to retrieve Galileo's Io flyby data -- With the hectic activity of the Io encounter now behind it, Galileo settles into the more peaceful pace of orbital cruise this week. Playback of the science data from last weekend's flyby continues. Due to the effects of the accumulated radiation the spacecraft has received in its nearly six years in orbit around Jupiter, measurements from several instruments have been affected. Monday: August 13, 2001   0240 GMT Discovery arrives at station with Expedition Three crew Space shuttle Discovery crossed the finish line of its two-day race to the international space station on Sunday, docking to the orbiting outpost about 250 miles above northwestern Australia. The main objective of Discovery's visit is the exchange of resident crews living aboard the outpost.    FULL STORY    MISSION STATUS CENTER    ASTRONAUTS' MASTER FLIGHT PLAN    QUICK-LOOK MISSION FACTS    ORBIT OPS SNAPSHOT    FULL MISSION COVERAGE Video coverage for subscribers only:    VIDEO: DISCOVERY APPROACHES STATION QT or RV    VIDEO: SHUTTLE DOCKS TO ALPHA QT or RV    VIDEO: MISSION SUMMARY QT or RV (Running time 5 mins)    VIDEO: STS-105 CREW FEATURE QT or RV (Running time 4 mins)    VIDEO: SUNDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING QT or RV    VIDEO: SATURDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING QT or RV ESA's Cluster satellites tune in to the dawn chorus The vacuum of space is hardly a suitable habitat for birds, but someone tuning in to the signals detected by the Wide Band Data experiment on the European Space Agency's Cluster spacecraft might be forgiven for thinking that this was not the case.    FULL STORY DAILY BRIEFING  Other stories making news today Space doctrine starts from the ground up -- Nothing like what he is doing now has ever been done before. There is little history to it. It is being developed from the ground up. And everyone is watching. That is why Maj. Smokey Reddoch, a doctrine writer for space operations, wants to ensure what he is doing now creates a legacy for Air Force Space Command.				Earlier news Aug. 6-12: Discovery launches with next Alpha resident crew; Genesis launched to retrieve bits of our origins; Titan 4B launches with missile warning satellite. July 30-Aug. 5: Technical concern, bad weather delays Genesis; Scientists find largest flood channels in the solar system; Satellite takes photos of Mt. Etna eruption. July 23-29: Signature of life on Mars found in decades-old data; Atlantis returns home after delivering station airlock; Atlas rocket launches U.S. weather satellite. July 16-22: Spacewalkers christen station's Quest airlock; Does the Red Planet have liquid water today?; Solar sail experiment lost due to launcher problem; Star clusters born in cosmic collision wreckage. July 9-15: Ariane 5 rocket fails; Atlantis launches doorway for space station Alpha; Security breach forces tighter shuttle protection; Scientists: Water-bearing worlds beyond solar system. 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