Sunday: August 26, 2001   0345 GMT 'Quantum weirdness' may lead to more accurate GPS Exploiting "quantum weirdness" would dramatically improve the precision of radar, sonar, the global positioning system (GPS) and other object locators, MIT researchers report.    FULL STORY Lockheed Martin selected to build, fly microsatellite Lockheed Martin Space Systems has been selected by the Air Force Research Laboratory to design, build and demonstrate in flight the Experimental Satellite System (XSS-11) microsatellite. The contract is valued at $21 million.    FULL STORY DAILY BRIEFING  Other stories making news today Meteorite yields clues to carbon evolution in space -- The first results are in from the organic analysis of the Tagish Lake Meteorite, a rare, carbon-rich meteorite classified as a 'carbonaceous chondrite' that fell on a frozen Canadian lake in January 2000 and is the most pristine specimen ever studied of this group of important space objects. Saturday: August 25, 2001   0207 GMT Hubble finds the Rotten Egg Nebula in shock A new, detailed Hubble image of a planetary nebula in the making shows for the first time the complex gas structures predicted by theory. Astronomers are thrilled by observations showing the violent gas collisions that give rise to supersonic shock fronts.    FULL STORY Proton rocket launched A Russian Proton rocket lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome Friday on a classified military mission. Details about the rocket's cargo remain secret. A launch attempt on Thursday was scrubbed due to an unspecified reason. Delta 2 picked to launch ESSP 3/CloudSat craft NASA has announced that it is exercising a contract option with Boeing for a Delta 2 vehicle to launch the ESSP 3/CloudSat mission. The spacecraft are planned for launch in 2004 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.    FULL STORY Friday: August 24, 2001   0505 GMT New object dethrones Ceres as largest minor planet European astronomers have confirmed that an object in the outer solar system discovered earlier this year is the largest minor planet in the solar system, bigger than both the asteroid Ceres and Pluto's moon Charon.    FULL STORY Looking to the moon for better satellite images For the first time, Australian U.S. scientists are using the moon to check and calibrate sensors on board weather satellites. The 'moon tuned' sensors are expected to provide a wealth of improved information about climate change and air pollution.    FULL STORY JFK Library releases White House tape on space race The John F. Kennedy Library has made available for research a tape recording of a 73-minute White House meeting that took place on November 21, 1962 during which President Kennedy made clear his administration's priority that the United States land on the moon before the Soviet Union.    FULL STORY Thursday: August 23, 2001   0242 GMT Expedition Two astronauts shuttled back to Earth Space shuttle Discovery landed at the Kennedy Space Center Wednesday, bringing home the second resident crew to live and work aboard the international space station after their 167-day expedition in orbit.    FULL STORY    MISSION STATUS CENTER    DETAILED ENTRY AND LANDING TIMELINE More mission coverage here:       Video coverage for subscribers only:    VIDEO: DISCOVERY LANDS IN FLORIDA QT or RV    VIDEO: USACHEV SPEAKS AFTER LANDING QT or RV    VIDEO: HELMS SPEAKS AFTER LANDING QT or RV    VIDEO: VOSS SPEAKS AFTER LANDING QT or RV    MORE: COMPLETE LANDING VIDEO INDEX Expedition Three begins scientific work aboard Alpha Scientific research on the Expedition Three mission got off to a rapid start in the past week, with the setup and activation of several new experiments and others continuing from Expeditions One and Two.    FULL STORY Galileo's flyby reveals Callisto's bizarre landscape A spiky landscape of bright ice and dark dust shows signs of slow but active erosion on the surface of Jupiter's moon Callisto in new images from NASA's Galileo spacecraft. The pictures give the highest resolution view ever seen of any of Jupiter's moons.    FULL STORY Solar sail scheduled for launch early next year The Planetary Society announced Wednesday that it plans to continue a project to fly a solar sail despite the failure of a suborbital test flight last month. Officials said that they will attempt an orbital test flight of the Cosmos 1 solar sail early next year.    FULL STORY Wednesday: August 22, 2001   0615 GMT Shuttle to bring Expedition Two crew home today It is homecoming day for the international space station's Expedition Two astronauts after 167 days in Earth orbit. If the Florida weather cooperates today, space shuttle Discovery will head for a 12:46 p.m. EDT landing at Kennedy Space Center. Meanwhile, an old cargo freighter undocked from the station today.    MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates    DETAILED ENTRY AND LANDING TIMELINE More mission coverage here:       Video coverage for subscribers only:    VIDEO: PRE-LANDING NEWS CONFERENCE QT or RV    VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS INTERVIEWED BY CBS QT or RV    MORE: FULL VIDEO INDEX Fuel concern postpones California Atlas launch Launch of a top secret national security payload originally scheduled for this weekend is being delayed because of concerns that the Lockheed Martin Atlas 2AS rocket might not have enough fuel to successfully loft its heaviest cargo to date.    FULL STORY DAILY BRIEFING  Other stories making news today Teledesic to name builder for Internet-in-the-Sky network -- Teledesic LLC, a satellite communications services company, announced Tuesday that it has down-selected satellite manufacturers Alenia Spazio and Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems as the two finalists to build Teledesic's global, broadband Internet-in-the-Sky satellite communications network. Tuesday: August 21, 2001   1000 GMT Russian cargo ship bound for space station Alpha The Russians' fifth Progress cargo craft for the international space station was launched atop a Soyuz rocket from Central Asia today. The freighter is scheduled to dock automatically with the station on Thursday to deliver its load of supplies, fuel, water and air.    MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates More mission coverage here:       Discovery departs station The shuttle Discovery undocked from the international space station Monday, leaving a fresh three-man crew behind and bringing the lab's departing Expedition Two crew one step closer to Earth after five-and-a-half months in space.    FULL STORY    DETAILED UNDOCKING TIMELINE    ASTRONAUTS' MASTER FLIGHT PLAN Video coverage for subscribers only:    VIDEO: WATCH ENTIRE FAREWELL CEREMONY QT or RV    VIDEO: SHUTTLE UNDOCKS FROM STATION QT or RV    VIDEO: SIMPLESAT LAUNCHED FROM DISCOVERY QT or RV    MORE: FULL VIDEO INDEX California Atlas rocket launch postponed The planned Saturday liftoff of a Lockheed Martin Atlas 2AS rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California is being delayed so officials can finish technical reviews before the mission. A big meeting is planned for Tuesday afternoon. A new launch date hasn't been set. The rocket will launch a secret payload for the National Reconnaissance Office. Concern raised with one of Mars Odyssey's instruments Flight controllers have turned off the Martian radiation environment experiment aboard NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft after the instrument did not respond during a downlink session last week.    FULL STORY Pole-to-pole view of cloud heights, winds given Scientists for the first time ever can simultaneously measure the height and motion of clouds over Earth from pole to pole, which may improve weather forecasts.    FULL STORY Monday: August 20, 2001   0425 GMT Leonardo module put back into shuttle's payload bay The Italian-built Leonardo cargo module was detached from the international space station Sunday and returned to shuttle Discovery's payload bay for the trip back to Earth. The reusable module delivered over three tons of supplies and equipment to the station for the new Expedition Three crew. Discovery is slated to undock from Alpha on Monday.    MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates    ASTRONAUTS' MASTER FLIGHT PLAN More mission coverage here:       DAILY BRIEFING  Other stories making news today Loral to build digital satellite for Mobile Broadcasting Corp. -- Space Systems/Loral has received the OK from Mobile Broadcasting Corporation of Japan to design and build MBSAT, a satellite that will deliver digital multimedia information services such as CD-quality audio, MPEG-4 video and data to mobile users throughout Japan.				Earlier news Aug. 13-19: Changing of the guard aboard Alpha; Spacewalkers lay backup cables for future assembly; Star formation burst drives bubble in galaxy's core; Extrasolar planet discovered in the Big Dipper. 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. 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