Sunday: June 15, 2003  0452 GMT
Flattest star ever seen
To a first approximation, planets and stars are round. Think of the Earth we live on. Think of the Sun, the nearest star, and how it looks in the sky. But if you think more about it, you realize that this is not completely true.
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Saturday: June 14, 2003  0003 GMT
Hot news for cold dark matter from Chandra
Astronomers have used NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory to make the most detailed probe yet of the distribution of dark matter in a massive cluster of galaxies. Their results indicate that about 80 percent of the matter in the universe consists of cold dark matter -- mysterious subatomic particles left over from the dense early universe.
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Bridges moves from Kennedy to Langley
Gen. Roy D. Bridges, Center Director for NASA's Kennedy Space Center, has been named Center Director for the agency's Langley Research Center. Bridges, a retired U.S. Air Force Major General and former space shuttle pilot will assume his new duties Aug. 10.
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Friday: June 13, 2003  0205 GMT
Bolt catcher a possible return to flight issue
Accident investigators have stumbled on a potentially catastrophic shortcoming in the explosive bolt attachment system used to latch a space shuttle's boosters to its external fuel tank. While there is no evidence Columbia was struck by falling debris from a faulty "bolt catcher" during its launching Jan. 16, corrective actions almost certainly will be required before shuttle flights resume.
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Comets survive plunge through Sun's atmosphere
A run through the jungle is too easy; for the ultimate reality show contest, try a race through the Sun's atmosphere, where two comets recently lost their heads. The tails from a pair of comets survived a close encounter with the Sun, even after the Sun's intense heat and radiation vaporized their heads, an extremely rare event photographed by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory spacecraft.
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Thursday: June 12, 2003  0317 GMT
Ariane 5 rocket launches double cargo with success
A pair of Australian and Japanese telecommunications satellites shared the ride into Earth orbit Wednesday night, blasting off from the jungles of South America aboard Europe's Ariane 5G rocket.
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First measurement made of a dead star's magnetism
Using the superior sensitivity of ESA's X-ray observatory, XMM-Newton, a team of European astronomers has made the first direct measurement of a neutron star's magnetic field. The results provide deep insights into the extreme physics of neutron stars and reveal a new mystery yet to be solved about the end of this star's life.
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Cargo-carrying craft docks to space station
A Russian Progress resupply ship made a successful automated docking to the international space station Wednesday, linking up with the orbiting lab complex to deliver vital supplies.
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Wednesday: June 11, 2003  0001 GMT
'Spirit' rover begins seven-month cruise to Mars
NASA kicked off an $800 million mission to Mars Tuesday, launching the first of two golf cart-sized robots that will creep across the red planet's surface looking for the geological traces of a warmer, wetter past and the environmental conditions necessary for the evolution of life.
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Sea Launch rocket lofts second Thuraya spacecraft
The Sea Launch consortium has successfully launched its first mission in a year. A Zenit 3SL rocket, carrying a mobile communications satellite, lifted off from a platform in the middle of the Pacific Ocean at 1356 GMT (9:56 a.m. EDT) Tuesday.
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Tuesday: June 10, 2003  0301 GMT
Mars rover mission ready for another launch attempt
If NASA can catch a break with the weather, the space agency's Mars Exploration Rover "Spirit" will depart Earth at 1:58:47 p.m. EDT (1758:47 GMT) Tuesday for the seven-month cruise to the Red Planet. The liftoff was scrubbed for the past two days because of stormy weather conditions at Cape Canaveral launch site.
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Delta 2
Supernova shock wave paints cosmic portrait
Remnants from a star that exploded thousands of years ago created a celestial abstract portrait, as captured in this NASA Hubble Space Telescope image of the Pencil Nebula. Officially known as NGC 2736, the Pencil Nebula is part of the huge Vela supernova remnant.
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Comet X-ray emissions simulated in laboratory
Physicists from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have produced X-ray emissions in a laboratory setting by recreating the conditions that exist when solar winds collide with gases surrounding comets.
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Monday: June 9, 2003  0150 GMT
Mars rover 'Spirit' poised for blastoff Monday
After stormy weather thwarted Sunday's initial attempt, another try at launching NASA's Mars Exploration Rover "Spirit" aboard a Boeing Delta 2 rocket from Cape Canaveral will be made Monday. Liftoff is scheduled for 2:02 p.m. EDT (1802 GMT), weather permitting.
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Mars rovers named 'Spirit' and 'Opportunity'
Twin robotic geologists NASA is sending to Mars will embody in their newly chosen names -- Spirit and Opportunity -- two cherished attributes that guide humans to explore.
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Russian rocket launches supplies to space station
A cargo freighter packed with vital supples to keep the international space station manned while NASA's space shuttle fleet remains grounded roared away its launch pad in Central Asia Sunday.
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Sea Launch to loft second Thuraya spacecraft
The Sea Launch consortium plans to conduct its first mission in a year on Tuesday, boosting a mobile communications satellite into orbit atop the Zenit 3SL rocket from the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
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News Archive
June 2-8: Foam impact cracks wing leading edge panel; Europe's first adventure to Mars successfully launched; Russian Proton rocket flies its 300th launch; Thermal data from Odyssey reveals a changing Mars; 'Razor-sharp image' of star cluster snapped from Earth.

May 26-June 1: Foam impact test causes significant T-seal movement; Demonstration flight not likely for space shuttle; 'Slick Six' launch pad hosts its first Delta 4 rocket; Japanese science cargo returns to Earth for study; Mars rover launch delayed.

May 19-25: Columbia rescue mission feasible, but unlikely; Slag on shuttle debris suggests location of breach; Martian view of Earth; Satellite of Milky Way found in retrograde orbit.

May 12-18: Clearest video yet of foam strike as tests get underway; NASA chief, CAIB chairman testify at Senate hearing; First Greek satellite launch performed by Atlas 5 rocket; Brighter Neptune suggests a change of seasons; NASA picks in-space propulsion innovations.

May 5-11: CAIB accepts, agrees with NASA failure scenario; Japan launches asteroid sample return mission; New shuttle program manager named; Deepest view of space yields young stars in halo; India launches second GSLV rocket.

More news  See our weekly archive of space news.








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