Sunday: September 8, 2002   0001 GMT Chandra's view of Tycho's supernova remnant This Chandra image reveals fascinating details of the turbulent debris created by a supernova explosion that was observed by the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe in the year 1572. The colors show different X-ray energies, with red, green, and blue representing low, medium and high energies, respectively.    FULL STORY Perspective on asteroid threat evolving Direct measurements of the surface properties and interior structures of asteroids and comets should be fundamental elements of future spacecraft missions to these primitive solar system bodies, according to participants in a scientific workshop held last week.    FULL STORY Chemist dates first objects to form in the solar system A geochemist from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, teaming with researchers from the Royal Ontario Museum, the University of Hawaii and Moscow State University, has accurately dated Calcium Aluminum-rich inclusions, the oldest objects in our solar system, to be 4.57 billion years old.    FULL STORY Saturday: September 7, 2002   0310 GMT No place for life to hide from Mars Express Of all missions sent to Mars only one, the Viking 26 years ago, has dared to search for life. Its only conclusive result was that finding proof of extraterrestrial life proved to be much harder than expected. Second attempts never followed. Until now.    FULL STORY Airborne observatory's telescope assembly arrives NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), the largest airborne observatory in the world, received a key component this week when its telescope assembly arrived in Waco, Texas, completing a 7,000-mile journey from Germany.    FULL STORY Friday: September 6, 2002   0730 GMT Intelsat satellite rockets to orbit atop Ariane 4 When an Ariane 4 rocket completed its mission of deploying the Intelsat 906 communications satellite into space early Friday it meant the venerable commercial booster is only two flights away from retirement and Intelsat has just one additional craft to launch in this next-generation series.    MISSION STATUS CENTER A wheel within a wheel A nearly perfect ring of hot, blue stars pinwheels about the yellow nucleus of an unusual galaxy known as Hoag's Object. This image from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captures a face-on view of the galaxy's ring of stars, revealing more detail than any existing photo of this object. The image may help astronomers unravel clues on how such strange objects form.    FULL STORY First launch of Boeing's Delta 4 rocket delayed Boeing has decided to postpone the maiden flight of the Delta 4 rocket a few weeks -- to late October or early November -- to sort out a problem with a ground software program. The issue was uncovered last week during the first countdown dress rehearsal.    ARCHIVED DELTA 4 COVERAGE Comets break up far and near Some comets may break apart over and over again in the farthest reaches of the solar system, challenging a theory that comets break up only occasionally and not too far from the Sun, says a researcher from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.    FULL STORY Thursday: September 5, 2002   0414 GMT Ariane 4 rocket to launch Intelsat 906 satellite For the second time in just over a week, Arianespace is gearing up for another commercial rocket launch from the South American spaceport in French Guiana. The liftoff of the Ariane 4 rocket carrying the Intelsat 906 communications satellite is expected at 0644 GMT (2:44 a.m. EDT) Friday morning.    MISSION STATUS CENTER Anicent impact debris sparked global wildfires Global wildfires ignited by high-velocity debris from the catastrophic impact of an asteroid or comet with Earth 65 million years ago spread over southern North America, the Indian subcontinent and most of the equatorial part of the world one to three days after impact, according to a new study.    FULL STORY Team seeks to unearth origin of Iturralde Crater NASA scientists will venture into an isolated part of the Bolivian Amazon to try and uncover the origin of a 5 mile (8 kilometer) diameter crater there known as the Iturralde Crater. Traveling to this inhospitable forest setting, the Iturralde Crater Expedition 2002 will seek to determine if the unusual circular crater was created by a meteor or comet.    FULL STORY Wednesday: September 4, 2002   0311 GMT Intel operations delayed as Iraq, Al Qaeda loom Nearly a year after the Sept. 11 attacks, the National Reconnaissance Office and National Security Agency lack two $1-billion secret eavesdropping spacecraft that should have been operational by now to provide critical intelligence to help track terrorist operations and plan for a possible war with Iraq.    FULL STORY Scientists attempt to measure speed of gravity Ever since Albert Einstein proposed the general theory of relativity in 1916, physicists worldwide have tested the theory's underlying principles. While some principles - such as the speed of light is a constant - have been proven, others have not. Now, through a combination of modern technology, the alignment of a unique group of celestial bodies, and an experiment conceived by a physicist, one more of those principles might soon be proven.    FULL STORY Tuesday: September 3, 2002   1200 GMT Video collection from maiden launch of Atlas 5 When the inaugural Lockheed Martin Atlas 5 rocket blasted off recently, dozens of video cameras were used to capture every conceivable view as the booster climbed from its Cape Canaveral launch pad. We have picked some of the best pad camera views and present them to our Spaceflight Now Plus subscribers.    FULL VIDEO LISTING    NOT YET A SUBSCRIBER?    FREE ATLAS 5 VIDEO SAMPLE! Reports: Lance Bass removed from October flight A spokesman for the Russian space agency Rosaviakosmos said Tuesday that 'N Sync's Lance Bass has been told to leave the Star City cosmonaut training center after continuing to miss payment deadlines. Bass had hoped to fly to the International Space Station during a Soyuz lifeboat exchange mission in October.    EARLIER STORY Video coverage for subscribers only:    VIDEO: SOYUZ 5 TAXI CREW NEWS CONFERENCE QT or RV    VIDEO: LANCE BASS IN TRAINING QT or RV    SUBSCRIBE NOW Teams developing the future of space propulsion In the future, NASA's fleet of robotic spacecraft might cruise among the planets like sailboats in space, or perhaps they will be propelled from planet to planet by advanced ion engines. NASA's Office of Space Science announced that those technologies and other advanced propulsion ideas have been selected for development as part of a suite of in-space propulsion technologies.    FULL STORY Monday: September 2, 2002   0312 GMT Pluto meets triple star A rare celestial phenomenon involving the distant planet Pluto has occurred twice within the past month. Seen from the Earth, this planet moved in front of two different stars on July 20 and August 21, respectively, providing observers at various observatories in South America and in the Pacific area with a long awaited and most welcome opportunity to learn more about tenuous atmosphere of that cold planet.    FULL STORY				The ultimate Apollo 11 DVD This exceptional chronicle of the historic Apollo 11 lunar landing mission features new digital transfers of film and television coverage unmatched by any other.  U.S. STORE  U.K. WORLDWIDE STORE NEW! Mission Report Apollo 11 - The NASA Mission Reports Vol. 3 is the first comprehensive study of man's first mission to another world is revealed in all of its startling complexity. Includes DVD!  U.S. STORE  WORLDWIDE STORE Contact us If you have a comment or question for Spaceflight Now, just send us an e-mail.