Sunday: November 4, 2001  1500 GMT
NASA keeping close eye on Hurricane Michelle
Routine pre-launch preparations continue on space shuttle Endeavour at Kennedy Space Center's pad 39B. NASA officials met Sunday morning and decided it wasn't necessary to move Endeavour off its oceanside launch pad and back into the protective confines of the Vehicle Assembly Building given the small threat from Hurricane Michelle.
Rollout
Getting closer to probing the origin of comets
Observations made with the Subaru Telescope have, for the first time, allowed astronomers to measure the formation temperature of ammonia ice in a comet, providing not only direct evidence of the environment in which the comet was born, but also establish brand new methods for probing the origin of comets.
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Comet
XMM-Newton's new vision of a classic "Deep Field"
In January 1996, the Hubble Space Telescope released a picture of part of the sky in the Ursa Major constellation. Known as the Hubble Deep Field, it offered mankind's deepest and most detailed optical view of the Universe. Since then the image has become a reference for astronomers with numerous follow-up observations. Today, XMM-Newton contributes its own X-ray vision of this region.
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XMM
Four NASA astronauts end spaceflight careers
Several astronauts are concluding their successful spaceflight careers for new pursuits on Earth. The group of space travelers takes a wealth of space station and shuttle experience into new fields of pursuit.
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Astronaut
Saturday: November 3, 2001  0114 GMT
Commission report blasts space station management
Calling the current plan to complete the International Space Station "not credible", an independent panel recommended Friday that NASA make a number of changes to the management and structure of the program.
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NASA
Engineering test firing of shuttle SRB called a success
A full-scale static test of an engineering test motor for the Space Shuttle's Solid Rocket Booster was fired for 123.1 seconds Thursday. There were 72 test objectives including the demonstration of a new low temperature O-ring seal material and an asbestos-free flexible nozzle boot.
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SRB test
Friday: November 2, 2001  0323 GMT
Hubble reveals ultraviolet galactic ring
The appearance of a galaxy can depend strongly on the color of the light with which it is viewed. This spiral galaxy, when seen in visible light, exhibits tightly wound spiral arms that give it a pinwheel shape similar to that of many other spirals. However, when the galaxy is viewed in ultraviolet light with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, its shape is startlingly different.
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Hubble
Surveyor sees ancient layered rocks in Mars crater
One of the earliest results of the Mars Global Surveyor shortly after the craft began to orbit Mars in 1997 was the discovery of layered rock outcrops reaching deep down into the martian crust. A spectacular example is this image showing the floor of an impact crater located near the equator in northwestern Schiaparelli Basin.
   FULL STORY
Mars
DAILY BRIEFING  Other stories making news today
Arecibo Observatory to receive prestigious award -- In a joint ceremony Saturday, the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers will commemorate the engineering and scientific contributions of Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. The 1,000-foot-diameter Arecibo radio/radar telescope, the world's largest, will be declared a Milestone in Electrical Engineering and a Landmark in Mechanical Engineering.
Thursday: November 1, 2001  0610 GMT
Mars Odyssey snaps first picture of the Red Planet
NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey gave mission managers a real treat this Halloween with its first look at the Red Planet. It's a thermal infrared image of the Martian southern hemisphere that captures the polar carbon dioxide ice cap at a temperature of about minus 120 C (minus 184 F).
   FULL STORY
Mars
Endeavour rolled to pad under cloak of secrecy
With a pair of F-15 fighter jets seen flying overhead, space shuttle Endeavour made the slow crawl to the launch pad Wednesday at Kennedy Space Center amid extraordinary secrecy never before experienced for such a routine event. Endeavour is slated for launch Nov. 29 to ferry a new resident crew to space station Alpha.
   FULL STORY
   MISSION QUICKLOOK FACTS
   COMPREHENSIVE FLIGHT PLAN
   LAUNCH WINDOWS CHART
   LAUNCH EVENTS TIMELINE
   MEET THE CREW
Rollout
Curiosities on the surface of asteroid Ceres are revealed
An international team has discovered some curious properties of the largest asteroid, Ceres. By observing Ceres with the Hubble Space Telescope using a resolution higher than previously attained, the resulting images are the first to show detail on the asteroid's surface.
   FULL STORY
Ceres
DAILY BRIEFING  Other stories making news today
Goldin receives French Legion of Honor award -- In ceremonies Tuesday night in Washington, NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin was awarded one of France's highest and most distinguished honors, the "Officer of the Legion of Honor."
Wednesday: October 31, 2001  0550 GMT
Old Soyuz craft undocks from Alpha, lands on Earth
The Russian-French Soyuz "taxi crew" completed its mission Tuesday night by riding the international space station's aging lifeboat capsule back to Earth, one week after delivering a fresh craft to the orbiting outpost.
   MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates
   SOYUZ UNDOCKING/LANDING TIMELINE
Soyuz
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Cronkite chats with crew
Famed newsman Walter Cronkite interviewed the Expedition Three astronauts living aboard the international space station on Tuesday. The wide-ranging talk included the September 11 attacks, the approaching one-year anniversary of the station's occupation and the end of Mir. Spaceflight Now+Plus subscribers can watch the interview in its entirety!
Station
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Station residents reflect on the Sept. 11 terror attacks
The three-man Expedition Three astronauts took a bit of time Tuesday to talk with ABC's "Good Morning America" TV show about the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Spaceflight Now+Plus subscribers can watch the interview in its entirety!
NYC
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Goldin challenges NASA, aerospace industry
Outgoing NASA administrator Dan Goldin called on the aerospace industry and NASA Tuesday to embrace privatization and advanced technology or else risk obsolescence at the hands of rapidly advancing terrestrial industries.
   FULL STORY
Goldin
ILS to launch Superbird-6 on Atlas in 2003
International Launch Services and Space Communications Corp. of Tokyo have signed a contract for launch of the SUPERBIRD-6 satellite in October 2003 aboard an Atlas 2AS rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
   FULL STORY
Atlas
28-year-old NASA probe reaches end of marathon
The Interplanetary Monitoring Platform (IMP 8) spacecraft has retired after 28 years on duty being buffeted by the solar wind and zapped by cosmic rays. Launched in 1973, IMP 8 provided important space physics data as part of NASA's Sun-Earth Connection research program. Last commands were sent to the spacecraft on Sunday.
   FULL STORY
IMP-8
Tuesday: October 30, 2001  0633 GMT
Old Soyuz craft to depart space station Alpha
The Russian-French Soyuz "taxi crew" will complete their mission on Tuesday by riding the international space station's aging lifeboat capsule back to Earth, one week after delivering a fresh craft to the orbiting outpost.
   MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates
   SOYUZ UNDOCKING/LANDING TIMELINE
Soyuz
Bulldozer rovers could get the scoop on Mars
Tiny bulldozer rovers may some day dish up the dirt and pack it in on Mars. The scoop-and-dump design of a prototype bulldozer rover being developed by NASA engineers mimics that of a bulldozer and dump truck.
   FULL STORY
Rover
Funding launches National Virtual Observatory
"... I think this is likely to change astronomy as we know it." The Internet brings its users the world online. Astronomers from 17 research institutions have announced that they're starting an ambitious new project to put the universe online.
   FULL STORY
NVO
Monday: October 29, 2001  0145 GMT
Martian 'cemented' surface
Two newly released images of Mars from the Global Surveyor spacecraft show the fractures and pits in the "cemented" crust of the Northern Plains and the "cemented" dunes in Herschel Crater.
   FULL STORY
Mars
Testing spacecraft's gamma ray vision down on Earth
Once in orbit, space telescopes can produce heavenly pictures. ESA's new gamma-ray observatory INTEGRAL - to launch next year - will be focusing on some of the highest energy celestial sources. Before seeing the stars, one of INTEGRAL's four instruments has been taking some down-to-Earth but surprising pictures - a famous discus thrower and a bottle of champagne.
   FULL STORY
INTEGRAL



Earlier news
Oct. 22-28: Odyssey enters Martian orbit; Replacement Soyuz capsule docks to space station; Leaky engine seals delay weather satellite launch; ISO finds 30 'failed stars' in nearby stellar nursery; SOHO sees solar eruptions and comet collision; India launches satellite trio aboard one PSLV rocket.

Oct. 15-21: NASA Administrator Goldin to leave space agency; Commercial Earth-imager rockets into space on Delta; Extrasolar planet 'cousins'; Galileo makes closest flyby of Jovian moon Io; Spacewalkers mount experiments outside Alpha.

Oct. 8-14: Spacecraft track massive dust storm on Mars; Atlas 2AS rocket propels top-secret cargo into orbit; Spacewalk outfits space station Alpha's new module; Andromeda's black hole not as cool as believed.

More news  See our weekly archive of space news.


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The Hubble Space Telescope's majestic view of the Eskimo Nebula. This spectacular poster is available now from the Astronomy Now Store.
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