Sunday: April 14, 2002   0230 GMT Spacewalkers finish securing truss to station NASA's most experienced spacewalker, Jerry Ross, and rookie Lee Morin completed a successful 7 1/2-hour excursion outside the International Space Station on Saturday to install the remaining two support struts between the new S0 truss structure and the outpost. Another spacewalk is planned on Sunday, starting at about 10:30 a.m. EDT.    FULL STORY    UPDATED SPACEWALK STATS PAGE    MISSION STATUS CENTER    MASTER FLIGHT PLAN More mission coverage here:       Video coverage for subscribers only:    VIDEO: SATURDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING QT or RV    MORE: COMPLETE SFN+ VIDEO INDEX Dormant volcanoes show signs of life, satellite finds Previously dormant volcanoes in two widely separated areas of the Pacific "ring of fire" are showing signs of life, as documented by new images taken by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer aboard NASA's Terra satellite.    FULL STORY Some asteroids have astronomers seeing double Binary asteroids -- two rocky objects orbiting about one another -- appear to be common in Earth-crossing orbits, astronomers report today in the journal Science. This makes them an important new asteroid class to study in case future generations find one coming near Earth.    FULL STORY Changing Antarctica viewed by NASA satellite NASA instruments flying on the Terra satellite have observed the calving of an iceberg and the breakup of an ice shelf in Antarctica, roughly 2,100 kilometers from one another.    FULL STORY Saturday: April 13, 2002   0128 GMT NASA relaunches teacher-in-space program NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe announced Friday that the space agency was restarting efforts to send educators into space, starting with the runner-up to Christa McAuliffe in the original Teacher in Space competition.    FULL STORY    NASA NEWS RELEASE Spacewalk on tap Saturday NASA's most experienced spacewalker, Jerry Ross, and rookie Lee Morin are set for a 6 1/2-hour excursion outside the International Space Station on Saturday to continue hooking up connections between the new S0 truss structure and the outpost. This second of four spacewalks for Atlantis' mission is due to begin around 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT).    MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates    MASTER FLIGHT PLAN More mission coverage here:       Space station astronauts describe life in orbit The space station crew provided a glimpse of life in orbit today, describing attempts to toss foam balls the length of the outpost, watching "Alien" DVDs while jogging on their treadmill and the pleasure they all felt on welcoming their first visitors aboard. They also said they were pleased to hear that Barbara Morgan, who served as Christa McAuliffe's backup in the ill-fated "Teacher in Space" program, will finally get a chance to fly.    FULL STORY Video coverage for subscribers only:    VIDEO: FRIDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING QT or RV    VIDEO: CBS RADIO INTERVIEW WITH ASTRONAUTS QT or RV    MORE: COMPLETE SFN+ VIDEO INDEX Friday: April 12, 2002   0401 GMT Space station grows with addition of new truss The 27,000-pound S0 truss structure was lifted out of shuttle Atlantis' payload bay and attached to the space station Thursday. A 7-hour, 48-minute spacewalk by shuttle astronauts Steve Smith and Rex Walheim followed, installing support struts and routing umbilicals for the truss.    FULL STORY    SPACEWALK STATS PAGE Video coverage for subscribers only:    VIDEO: THURSDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING QT or RV    MORE: COMPLETE SFN+ VIDEO INDEX Where are the other Earths beyond the solar system? One of the most fascinating areas of astronomical research in recent years has been the search for other 'Earths' circling Sun-like stars far beyond our Solar System. In recent years nearly 100 planets have been discovered in orbits around other stars, but none of these 'exoplanets' remotely resembles the Earth.    FULL STORY Mapping the 'Cosmic Web' of dark matter What is Dark Matter and where is it found? These are two of the major mysteries in current studies of the Universe. Although the nature of this invisible material remains elusive, astronomers are beginning to produce detailed maps of the Cosmos, showing its location in relation to the ordinary matter that we can see in telescopes.    FULL STORY Thursday: April 11, 2002   0024 GMT Atlantis arrives at space station to deliver truss Shuttle Atlantis reached the International Space Station Wednesday, kicking off a week-long visit by Atlantis to deliver the central section of the station's backbone truss structure. The truss will be mounted to the complex early Thursday just before a six-hour spacewalk begins.    FULL STORY    MISSION STATUS CENTER - live updates    PREVIEW STORY    DOCKING TIMELINE    DETAILED FLIGHT PLAN More mission coverage here:       Video coverage for subscribers only:    VIDEO: WEDNESDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING QT or RV    VIDEO: ATLANTIS VIEW OF THE DOCKING QT or RV    VIDEO: SPACE STATION VIEW OF TODAY'S DOCKING QT or RV    VIDEO: ANIMATION OF THE RENDEZVOUS AND DOCKING QT or RV    VIDEO: 9-MINUTE NARRATED MISSION PREVIEW REPORT QT or RV    MORE: COMPLETE SFN+ VIDEO INDEX Evidence suggests a new form of matter NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has found two stars -- one too small, one too cold -- that reveal cracks in our understanding of the structure of matter. These discoveries open a new window on nuclear physics, offering a link between the vast cosmos and its tiniest constituents.    FULL STORY Astronomers detect stellar ashes at the dawn of time Using a powerful instrument on a telescope in Hawaii, UK astronomers have found ashes from a generation of stars that died over 10 billion years ago. This is the first time that the tell-tale cosmic dust has been detected at such an early stage in the evolution of the universe.    FULL STORY Wednesday: April 10, 2002   0324 GMT Atlantis heads for orbital rendezvous with station Space shuttle Atlantis is on course to catch the International Space Station on Wednesday. The two craft are scheduled to dock at 12:05 p.m. EDT (1605 GMT), kicking off a week-long visit by Atlantis to deliver the central section of the station's backbone truss structure.    FULL STORY    DOCKING TIMELINE Crew prepares for docking The seven Atlantis astronauts spent their first full day in space setting up and checking out the systems they will need for Wednesday's planned docking with the space station and testing the shuttle's robotic arm in preparation for mounting the S0 truss to the outpost on Thursday.    MISSION STATUS CENTER    DETAILED FLIGHT PLAN Music of the black holes: They all play the same tune Astronomers have uncovered a remarkable connection between the monstrous black holes residing at the hearts of distant galaxies and their comparatively tiny cousins which inhabit star systems in our own Milky Way: they are playing the same tunes.    FULL STORY Visualization of spectacular galaxy collision created Someday our Milky Way Galaxy and the neighboring Andromeda Galaxy may come crashing together in a horrendous collision that will twist and distort their shapes beyond recognition. Visitors to the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC, will soon witness a visualization of such an event.    FULL STORY Chandra sheds new light on 'Coma Cluster' of galaxies This Chandra image shows the central region - about 1.5 million light years across - of the Coma Cluster. The cluster contains thousands of galaxies enveloped by a vast 100 million-degree Celsius gas cloud.    FULL STORY Tuesday: April 9, 2002   0206 GMT Liftoff of Atlantis! Barely beating the clock, the space shuttle Atlantis rocketed away through a breezy afternoon sky Monday and set off on a four-spacewalk flight to attach a $790 million truss to the international space station that eventually will span the length of a football field.    FULL STORY    MISSION STATUS CENTER - live updates!    LAUNCH EVENTS TIMELINE    DETAILED FLIGHT PLAN    COMPREHENSIVE MISSION PREVIEW More mission coverage here:       Video coverage for subscribers only:    VIDEO: SHUTTLE ATLANTIS BLASTS OFF QT or RV    VIDEO: SIDE VIEW OF ATLANTIS LIFTING OFF QT or RV    VIDEO: DISTANT SHOT OF ATLANTIS LAUNCHING QT or RV    VIDEO: FRONT VIEW OF IGNITION AND LIFTOFF QT or RV    VIDEO: LAUNCH AS SEEN FROM THE PRESS SITE QT or RV    VIDEO: CLOSE-UP VIEW OF MAIN ENGINE START QT or RV    VIDEO: ANOTHER CAMERA SHOT OF ENGINE IGNITION QT or RV    VIDEO: ENGINEERING CAMERA VIEW OF UMBILICALS QT or RV    VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS DEPART QUARTERS FOR PAD QT or RV    VIDEO: SUNDAY'S COUNTDOWN STATUS BRIEFING QT or RV    MORE: COMPLETE SFN+ VIDEO INDEX Maintenance on Voyager from 7 billion miles away Astronauts can make service visits to the Earth-orbiting Hubble Space Telescope, but what do you do if the spacecraft needing a replacement part is the farthest human-made object from Earth, more than twice as distant as Pluto?    FULL STORY India completes pair of rocket engines tests Indian space program technicians tested two rocket engines last weekend in hopes of providing a better domestic capability for the production of rocket hardware and improving performance.    FULL STORY Monday: April 8, 2002   0401 GMT Leak repaired for Monday's launch of shuttle Atlantis With the leaky launch pad hydrogen vent line successfully repaired, NASA is gearing up for another attempt to get shuttle Atlantis off the ground to deliver the keystone truss segment to the International Space Station. Liftoff is targeted for 4:39:31 p.m. EDT (2039:31 GMT) Monday.    FULL STORY    MISSION STATUS CENTER - live updates!    DETAILED FLIGHT PLAN    COMPREHENSIVE MISSION PREVIEW Video coverage for subscribers only:    VIDEO: TODAY'S COUNTDOWN STATUS BRIEFING QT or RV    MORE: COMPLETE SFN+ VIDEO INDEX				News Archive April 1-7: Hydrogen leak scrubs launch of shuttle Atlantis; Deep Space 1 finds Comet Borrelly has hot, dry surface; Hubble resumes scientific work after servicing; Chinese unmanned space capsule returns to Earth. March 25-31: China's third Shenzhou launches; Intelsat 903 spacecraft launched by Proton booster; Ariane 4 launches a pair of commercial satellites; Project cleared to build Mercury orbiter; Chandra discovers black holes in distant quasars. March 18-24: Atlas 5 rocket passes crucial first launch pad test; New evidence: expansion of universe is accelerating; Bright new comet graces evening sky; New NASA communications satellite in trouble. 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.