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Sunday:
July 13, 2003 | |
0022 GMT |
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Rocket telescope sees Sun
Scientists got their closest-ever ultraviolet look at the Sun from space, thanks to a telescope and camera launched aboard a sounding rocket. The images revealed an unexpectedly high level of activity in a lower layer of the Sun's atmosphere. The pictures will help researchers answer one of their most burning questions about how the Sun works.
 FULL STORY
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Europe awards contracts for first Galileo satellites
European space officials have announced the builders of two experimental spacecraft for the Galileo global satellite navigation system. The craft will serve as forerunners for the system's in-orbit validation phase.
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Saturday:
July 12, 2003 | |
0101 GMT |
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Detailed failure scenario released by Columbia board
The Columbia Accident Investigation Board has released a definitive scenario detailing the doomed shuttle's countdown, launch and re-entry. The result is the most complete picture yet showing how a foam strike during launch punched a catastrophic hole in the shuttle's left wing that led to the ship's destruction during re-entry Feb. 1.
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Catching a comet's tail in Earth's upper atmosphere
For more than 20 years, NASA has flown high-altitude research aircraft to collect cosmic dust -- debris of comets and asteroids that fills the inner solar system. In late April though, they made the first attempt to collect dust particles from a very specific target -- comet Grigg-Skjellerup.
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Friday:
July 11, 2003 | |
0430 GMT |
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Shuttle team attempts to recover Atlas 5 boosters
The odds of a successful catch are somewhere between slim and none, but a space shuttle solid rocket motor retrieval team will sail into the Atlantic Ocean next week in hopes of snaring the spent boosters from Lockheed Martin's Atlas 5 rocket.
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Farthest and oldest known planet confirmed
Long before the Earth and sun existed, a Jupiter-sized planet formed around a sun-like star. Now, 13 billion years later, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has precisely measured the mass of this farthest and oldest known planet, and an international team of scientists has determined the age and mass of a companion helium white dwarf.
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Helios investigators issue interim mishap report
The NASA Mishap Investigation Board that is probing the causes of the in-flight mishap that led to the loss of the Helios Prototype solar-electric aircraft June 26 has completed the on-site portion of their task at the U.S. Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, and will now turn towards coming up with a probable cause of the accident.
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Thursday:
July 10, 2003 | |
0220 GMT |
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Pluto's atmosphere is expanding, researchers say
Pluto's atmosphere is expanding even as it continues on its long orbit away from the sun, a team of astronomers report. Scientists said the new results seem counterintuitive, because observers assumed Pluto's atmosphere would begin to collapse as it cooled. In fact, the temperature of Pluto's mostly nitrogen atmosphere has increased around 1 degree Celsius since it was closest to the sun in 1989.
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Opportunity sees Mars as it navigates through space
NASA's Opportunity spacecraft, the second of twin Mars Exploration Rovers, has successfully reduced its spin rate as planned and switched to celestial navigation using a star scanner.
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Cosmic evolution: How the Owl Nebula got its shape
Astronomers have assembled the first effective model for both the shape and evolutionary history of the Owl Nebula, the well-known planetary nebula in the constellation Ursa Major. Named for its ghostly similarity to the face of the carnivorous bird of prey, the Owl Nebula has a complex structure consisting of three concentric shells.
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Wednesday:
July 9, 2003 | |
0200 GMT |
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Mars Express power glitch a minor annoyance, ESA says
Europe's Mars Express orbiter is now over one month into its marathon cruise to the Red Planet, and although the ground team has discovered a few of the probe's quirks in testing, project officials contend the spacecraft is performing well.
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VIDEO: COMMENTS FROM DIR. OF ESA SCIENCE PROGRAMS QT
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2003 comet awards announced
An annual award of several thousand dollars for discoveries of comets by amateur astronomers has just been announced for the fifth consecutive year.
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Tuesday:
July 8, 2003 | |
0702 GMT |
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Earth's Opportunity rover launched to Mars
Recovering from a last-second cliffhanger delay, NASA finally launched its second state-of-the-art rover to Mars late Monday, sending the $400 million "Opportunity" spacecraft on its way atop a hot-rod Delta 2 rocket that lighted the night sky for dozens of miles around.
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MISSION STATUS CENTER
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Video coverage for subscribers only:
VIDEO: 5-MINUTE MOVIE OF DELTA LAUNCHING OPPORTUNITY QT
VIDEO: ONBOARD CAMERA THROUGH FIRST STAGE CUTOFF QT
VIDEO: CAPE CANAVERAL PRESS SITE REPLAY QT
VIDEO: TRACKING CAMERA VIEW FROM PATRICK AFB QT
VIDEO: POWERFUL TRACKER FOLLOWS THE ROCKET QT
VIDEO: VIEW FROM THE SKID STRIP RUNWAY QT
VIDEO: LAUNCH MANAGER RECAPS COUNTDOWN AND ASCENT QT
VIDEO: STATUS OF OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCED AFTER LAUNCH QT
VIDEO: MONDAY'S ROLLBACK OF MOBILE SERVICE TOWER QT
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Foam impact test blows hole in shuttle wing panel
In a dramatic test that drew startled gasps from onlookers, engineers fired a chunk of foam insulation at a mockup of a shuttle wing leading edge Monday, blowing a gaping 16-inch-wide hole in the carbon composite structure and putting to rest any lingering doubts a launch-day foam strike was responsible for the Columbia disaster.
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Lockheed Martin Atlas 5 rocket fitted with Rainbow
Fueled and ready to fly, the Rainbow 1 direct-to-home TV broadcasting satellite was delivered to Lockheed Martin's Atlas 5 assembly building and mounted atop its rocket launcher Monday for next week's liftoff from Cape Canaveral.
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Monday:
July 7, 2003 | |
0042 GMT |
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Mars Exploration Rover poised for Monday liftoff
After a nine-day wait to fix problems with its launcher, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity will take its second shot at departing Earth on Monday night aboard a Boeing Delta 2-Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates!
LAUNCH EVENTS TIMELINE
GROUND TRACK MAP
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Space sailing test could launch within months
The Planetary Society's efforts to build and operate the world's first solar sail are pressing onward for what officials hope will be a launch before the end of this year.
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'Spacewalk squad' joins humans and robots
Humans and robots worked side-by-side this summer at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston to evaluate the concept of using human-robotic teams to improve the productivity of astronauts working outside the International Space Station, other space vehicles, or on the surface of other planets.
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