Sunday: December 9, 2001   0442 GMT New space station crew moves aboard outpost The Expedition Three crew -- commander Frank Culbertson, pilot Vladimir Dezhurov and flight engineer Mikhail Tyurin -- officially ended their four-month residency onboard the International Space Station on Saturday as the new Expedition Four astronauts moved over from shuttle Endeavour.    FULL STORY    UPDATED FLIGHT PLAN Video coverage for subscribers only:    VIDEO: CARGO MODULE LIFTED FROM ENDEAVOUR QT or RV    VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS HAVE JOINT MEAL TOGETHER QT or RV    VIDEO: SATURDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING QT or RV    MORE: COMPLETE SFN+ VIDEO INDEX Satellites help study dining habits of sea lions, seals Figuring out what a northern fur seal has eaten recently can be a messy business, says fisheries biologist Jeremy Sterling of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Marine Mammal Laboratory in Seattle, Wash. Determining where they have been eating is a bit more high-tech.    FULL STORY Saturday: December 8, 2001   0503 GMT Two science satellites launched by 100th Delta 2 Two spacecraft that will use the unique vantage point of space to study our home planet were successfully launched into orbit Friday by the 100th Boeing Delta 2 rocket.    FULL STORY    MISSION STATUS CENTER Video coverage for subscribers only:    VIDEO: RE-EDIT OF FULL LAUNCH VIDEO QT or RV    VIDEO: DELTA 2 LAUNCHES INTO MORNING SKY QT or RV    VIDEO: ONBOARD CAMERA VIEW OF LIFTOFF QT or RV    VIDEO: ONBOARD VIEW OF BOOSTER SEPARATION QT or RV    VIDEO: ONBOARD VIEW OF ROCKET STAGING QT or RV    MORE: COMPLETE SFN+ VIDEO INDEX Endeavour docks to station Space shuttle Endeavour docked with the International Space Station on Friday to deliver the next resident crew to live aboard the orbiting outpost and pick up the current occupants for return to Earth.    MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates    DETAILED DOCKING TIMELINE Video coverage for subscribers only:    VIDEO: SHUTTLE DOCKS TO SPACE STATION QT or RV    MORE: COMPLETE SFN+ VIDEO INDEX Friday: December 7, 2001   0318 GMT Boeing Delta 2 rocket poised for launch on Friday A spacecraft that will make global measurements of Earth's oceans for climate research and a satellite designed to study a mysterious region of the atmosphere are scheduled for launch into space Friday atop the 100th Delta 2 rocket.    MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates!    DETAILED LAUNCH TIMELINE    JASON 1 FACT SHEET    TIMED SATELLITE FACT SHEET    DELTA 2 ROCKET OVERVIEW Endeavour heads for docking with space station Space shuttle Endeavour is on course for its rendezvous and docking with the International Space Station on Friday afternoon to deliver the next resident crew to live aboard the orbiting outpost. The link up is now scheduled for 2:59 p.m. EST (1959 GMT).    MISSION STATUS CENTER    DETAILED DOCKING TIMELINE Probe sees possible climate change on Red Planet The planet Mars we know today is a cold, dry, desert world, but suppose the martian climate is changing even now, year to year and decade to decade? New observations by NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft are expanding our understanding of the martian climate and may indicate the climate is changing significantly even today.    FULL STORY A giant star factory in neighboring galaxy Resembling curling flames from a campfire, this magnificent nebula in a neighboring galaxy is giving astronomers new insight into the fierce birth of stars as it may have more commonly happened in the early universe. The glowing gas cloud, called Hubble-V, has a diameter of about 200 light-years.    FULL STORY Thursday: December 6, 2001   0510 GMT Shuttle Endeavour soars into orbit Under fighter jet protection, the heavily guarded space shuttle Endeavour finally rocketed into orbit Wednesday, carrying a fresh crew for the international space station and thousands of flags to honor the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.    FULL STORY    MISSION STATUS CENTER - live updates!    UPDATED FLIGHT PLAN More mission coverage here:       Video coverage for subscribers only:    VIDEO: CREW DEPARTS QUARTERS FOR LAUNCH PAD QT or RV    VIDEO: CLIMBING INTO THE COCKPIT QT or RV    VIDEO: SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR BLASTS OFF QT or RV    VIDEO: ENDEAVOUR RISES INTO SUNLIGHT QT or RV    VIDEO: BACK VIEW OF SHUTTLE DURING LIFTOFF QT or RV    VIDEO: SHUTTLE 'TWANG' DURING IGNITION QT or RV    MORE: COMPLETE SFN+ VIDEO INDEX First image taken of a dark matter object released Astronomers have observed a dark matter object directly for the first time. Images and spectra were taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and the ground-based Very Large Telescope to give a strong confirmation of the theory that a large fraction of dark matter exists as small, faint stars in galaxies such as our Milky Way.    FULL STORY Delta 2 rocket remains set to launch two satellites Launch of the Boeing Delta 2 rocket with the Jason 1 and TIMED spacecraft remains on scheduled for Friday. Officials held the Launch Readiness Review on Wednesday and gave approval for activities to continue for the mission.    MISSION STATUS CENTER - updated Wednesday: December 5, 2001   0403 GMT Weather delays Endeavour launch until Wednesday Unacceptable weather conditions over the launch pad and at the emergency runway at Kennedy Space Center forced NASA to scrub Tuesday's liftoff of space shuttle Endeavour. Launch was rescheduled to 5:19 p.m. EST (2219 GMT) Wednesday.    MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates!    LAUNCH EVENTS TIMELINE    UPDATED FLIGHT PLAN Video coverage for subscribers only:    VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS GATHER IN DINING ROOM QT or RV    VIDEO: CREW DEPARTS QUARTERS FOR LAUNCH PAD QT or RV    VIDEO: COMMANDER GORIE STRAPS INTO SEAT QT or RV    VIDEO: PILOT KELLY CLIMBS INTO HIS SEAT QT or RV    VIDEO: ASTRONAUT BURSCH TAKES SEAT ON MIDDECK QT or RV    VIDEO: LAUNCH OF ENDEAVOUR IS SCRUBBED QT or RV    MORE: COMPLETE SFN+ VIDEO INDEX Boeing Delta 2 to launch two satellites for NASA The 100th Delta 2 rocket is awaiting launch on Friday to deliver two Earth-research satellites into orbit from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The Jason 1 and TIMED spacecraft will be lofted into two distinctly different orbits during a complex launch.    FULL STORY A very massive stellar black hole in Milky Way Galaxy One of the most enigmatic stellar systems in our Milky Way Galaxy has been shown to harbor a very massive black hole. With 14 times more mass than the Sun, this is the heaviest known stellar black hole in the Galaxy.    FULL STORY Tuesday: December 4, 2001   0208 GMT Endeavour set to launch Space shuttle Endeavour has been cleared for launch at 5:45 p.m. EST (2245 GMT) Tuesday from Kennedy Space Center. The shuttle's 11-day mission will ferry the next resident crew to the International Space Station and return the current occupants back to Earth.    MISSION STATUS CENTER - live updates!    LAUNCH EVENTS TIMELINE    UPDATED FLIGHT PLAN Spacewalkers clear debris, cargo ship latched to station The two Russian cosmonauts living aboard the International Space Station ventured outside their orbiting home Monday and successfully cut away a rubbery O-ring seal that was preventing an unmanned cargo freighter from properly docking to the complex. The seal is believed to have been left by the last supply ship.    FULL STORY Mars' lumpy magnetic field New research reveals that areas of the surface of Mars may be protected from the full force of solar radiation by areas of intensely magnetized crust. The startling vision of Mars' magnetosphere is being explored by using magnetometer data from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft.    FULL STORY Genesis begins mission to collect samples of the Sun NASA's Genesis mission officially opened for business Monday, as it extends its special collector arrays to catch atoms from the solar wind. The atoms it collects, believed to have been part of the solar nebula "cloud" from which our solar system developed, will help scientists gain a better understanding of the conditions in the distant past before the Earth and other planets formed.    FULL STORY Monday: December 3, 2001   0046 GMT Crucial spacewalk set for Monday outside Alpha The two Russian cosmonauts living aboard the International Space Station will go outside their orbiting home on Monday in hopes of clearing the obstruction keeping an unmanned cargo freighter from properly docking to the complex.    MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates Mars was once all wet Although covered by frozen deserts today, Mars could have been born with more water in proportion to its mass than the Earth, according to new observations from NASA's Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) spacecraft.    FULL STORY Orbital's GEO satellite biz gets boost from PanAmSat Orbital Sciences received another major industry endorsement for its smaller-sized geostationary satellite systems this past week when PanAmSat exercised a contract option to purchase two additional company-built C-band spacecraft.    FULL STORY				Earlier news Nov. 26-Dec. 2: Supply ship fails to firmly dock to station; Endeavour launch delayed; Planet orbiting nearby star found to have atmosphere; Ocean inside Jupiter moon may have cushioned impact; NASA picks Pluto mission for further study; Ariane 4 rocket launches DirecTV satellite. Nov. 19-25: Evidence of Martian life dealt critical blow; Mars Global Surveyor snaps its 100,000th image; Two satellites transmit data using laser light. Nov. 12-18: NASA administrator replacement found; Genesis spacecraft performs crucial maneuver; Mars Odyssey takes first visible picture; Meet Europe's gigantic Environment Satellite. Nov. 5-11: Impact craters give clues about Europa's ice crust; Taurus failure update; Four shuttle astronauts enter Hall of Fame; Sky survey lowers estimate of asteroid impact risk. 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