Sunday: February 17, 2002   0141 GMT Distant space travel better conducted as family affair Forget Starship Troopers and steely-eyed astronauts -- the right stuff for spaceship travel to faraway solar systems is more likely to be a family affair conducted by mom, dad, the kids, kinfolk, and generations to come, says a University of Florida anthropologist.    FULL STORY A voyage from space to sea with Envisat From its vantagepoint in sun-synchronous orbit, the European Space Agency's new spacecraft Envisat, whose launch is scheduled end of February, will tirelessly sweep the Earth's surface and atmosphere, using a suite of ten different scientific instruments.    FULL STORY Saturday: February 16, 2002   0335 GMT Shortening the list of stars that might have planets Scientists have found the first direct evidence that a bright disc of dust surrounds our Solar System, starting beyond the orbit of Saturn. Remarkably, their discovery gives astronomers a way to determine which other stars in the Galaxy are most likely to harbour planets and allows mission planners to draw up a 'short-list' of stars to be observed by future planet-search missions.    FULL STORY Friday: February 15, 2002   2000 GMT Space shuttle Columbia still set to launch February 28 Shuttle managers on Thursday affirmed plans to launch Columbia on a challenging Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission on February 28, assuming an ongoing technical analysis of bolts used in the ship's hydraulic units doesn't uncover a last-minute concern.    MISSION STATUS CENTER More mission coverage here:       Video coverage for subscribers only:    VIDEO: 30-MINUTE OVERVIEW OF SERVICING MISSION QT or RV    VIDEO: NARRATED TOUR OF COLUMBIA'S PAYLOAD BAY QT or RV    VIDEO: ANIMATION OF HUBBLE RETRIEVAL BY SHUTTLE QT or RV    VIDEO: ANIMATION OF SOLAR ARRAY INSTALLATION QT or RV    VIDEO: ANIMATION OF HUBBLE REDEPLOYED BY SHUTTLE QT or RV    MORE: COMPLETE SFN+ VIDEO INDEX Advanced Camera for Surveys headed to Hubble The Ball Aerospace-built Advanced Camera for Surveys is ready for its launch aboard the shuttle Columbia to be installed on the Hubble Space Telescope during the upcoming servicing mission. ACS, as Hubble's new imaging workhorse, will survey far regions of the universe, search for extrasolar planets and observe weather and other features on planets in our own solar system.    FULL STORY Terra takes sea surface temperature with precision A new sensor orbiting the Earth aboard NASA's Terra satellite is now collecting the most detailed measurements ever made of the sea's surface temperature every day all over the globe. Like a sophisticated thermometer in space, the satellite is helping scientists advance studies of how our world's oceans and atmosphere interact in ways that drive weather patterns and, over the long term, define our climate.    FULL STORY Thursday: February 14, 2002   0534 GMT First view of a newborn millisecond pulsar? Combining Hubble Space Telescope images with radio observations has revealed a highly unusual system consisting of a fast spinning pulsar and a bloated red companion star. The existence of the system is something of a mystery.    FULL STORY Moon's heart melted, say lunar Love numbers Love numbers -- measures of how much a planet's surface and interior move in response to the gravitational pull of nearby bodies -- may indicate that the Moon has something like a molten slush surrounding its core, say researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.    FULL STORY Surveyor images impact crater seen by Viking The Mars Global Surveyor's extended mission has included dozens of opportunities to point the spacecraft directly at features of interest so that pictures of things not seen during the earlier mapping mission can be obtained. The example shown here is a small meteorite impact crater.    FULL STORY Wednesday: February 13, 2002   0237 GMT Global Surveyor sees changes of Martian ice cap The extended mission of the Mars Global Surveyor has provided thousands of opportunities to image sites previously seen by the spacecraft's camera. Often, these are chances to see if anything on the planet has changed. The most surprising changes were documented starting in August 2001, when the south polar cap emerged from winter darkness.    FULL STORY New NASA boss announces more personnel changes NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe on Tuesday named Jefferson Howell as the new Director for NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston and veteran astronaut Shannon Lucid as the agency's next Chief Scientist.    HOWELL ANNOUNCEMENT STORY    LUCID ANNOUNCEMENT STORY Tuesday: February 12, 2002   0347 GMT Delta 2 rocket launches quintet of Iridium satellites Five new satellites that will help keep the resurrected Iridium mobile communications system operating through the decade rode into space Monday aboard a Boeing Delta 2 rocket.    FULL STORY    MISSION STATUS CENTER    LAUNCH EVENTS TIMELINE    GROUND TRACK MAP Video coverage for subscribers only:    VIDEO: BOEING DELTA 2 ROCKET BLASTS OFF QT or RV    VIDEO: INCREDIBLE AERIAL VIEW OF LAUNCH QT or RV    VIDEO: INFRARED CAMERA VIEW OF ROCKET STAGING QT or RV    VIDEO: ANIMATION PREVIEW OF THIS DELTA 2 FLIGHT QT or RV    VIDEO: PRE-LAUNCH PREPARATIONS OF ROCKET QT or RV    MORE: COMPLETE SFN+ VIDEO INDEX Cassini studies ripples in the fabric of space and time NASA's Cassini spacecraft has completed a 40-day period of data collection as part of a multi-year search for gravitational waves, which are are ripples in the fabric of space and time that are set off by acceleration of massive bodies, such as black holes or supernovas.    FULL STORY Everything is right on 'TIMED' with new satellite With its post-launch engineering checkouts complete, NASA's TIMED (Thermosphere, Ionosphere, Mesosphere, Energetics and Dynamics) spacecraft is now globally studying one of Earth's final atmospheric frontiers.    FULL STORY Monday: February 11, 2002   0327 GMT Boeing Delta 2 rocket launch reset for Monday Boeing hopes the fourth time is the charm for its Delta 2 rocket launch carrying five satellites that will serve as orbiting replacements for the Iridium mobile communications constellation. Liftoff from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base has been rescheduled for 1743 GMT (12:43 p.m. EST) Monday.    MISSION STATUS CENTER - live updates    LAUNCH EVENTS TIMELINE    GROUND TRACK MAP    DAILY LAUNCH WINDOWS CHART Video coverage for subscribers only:    VIDEO: ANIMATION PREVIEW OF THIS DELTA 2 FLIGHT QT or RV    VIDEO: PRE-LAUNCH PREPARATIONS OF ROCKET QT or RV    MORE: COMPLETE SFN+ VIDEO INDEX Weather satellite removed from rocket for repairs A U.S. military weather satellite, grounded since January 2001 by technical problems, has been removed from its Titan 2 rocket at a Vandenberg Air Force Base launch pad and returned to the hangar to be repaired for the second time in a year.    FULL STORY				A Year in Space Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now present a 100-page, full-color special publication: 2001: a Year in Space. A stunning month-by-month pictorial record of the space events and discoveries during 2001. Available now from our store.  U.S. STORE  WORLDWIDE STORE Earlier news Feb. 4-10: HESSI solar explorer finally launched by Pegasus rocket; NASA emphasizes basics in 2003 budget proposal; Reentry satellite lost during launch of H-2A rocket; Tides of Jovian moon Europa might support life. Jan. 28-Feb. 3: Updates on new Boeing Delta 4 and Lockheed Martin Atlas 5 rockets; Dennis Tito cautious about space tourism future; Impressive new images released of Saturn and Io. Jan. 21-27: Extraordinary new image of famous Horsehead Nebula; Ariane overcomes computer abort, lofts Indian satellite; U.S. topography data from shuttle mission unveiled. 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