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Sunday:
October 5, 2003 | |
0307 GMT |
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Hubble makes mosaic of majestic Sombrero Galaxy
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has trained its razor-sharp eye on one of the universe's most stately and photogenic galaxies, the Sombrero galaxy. The galaxy's hallmark is a brilliant white, bulbous core encircled by the thick dust lanes comprising the spiral structure of the galaxy.
 FULL STORY
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Odyssey orbiter continues to share Mars adventure
NASA's Mars Odyssey team has released another significant installment of science data for the public and science community to review and analyze.
FULL STORY
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Saturday:
October 4, 2003 | |
0001 GMT |
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NASA moves shuttle target; formally adds new flight
As expected, NASA on Friday set a new, more realistic target date for launch of the next shuttle mission -- between September 12 and October 10, 2004 -- and announced a new flight that will be inserted into the launch manifest to complete tasks originally planned for the first mission.
FULL STORY
RETURN-TO-FLIGHT COVERAGE
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Friday:
October 3, 2003 | |
0123 GMT |
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Evidence for hydrocarbon lakes on Titan found
The smog-shrouded atmosphere of Titan, Saturn's largest moon, has been parted by Earth-based radar to reveal the first evidence of liquid hydrocarbon lakes on its surface.
FULL STORY
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Saturn-bound spacecraft tests Einstein's theory
An experiment by Italian scientists using data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft, currently en route to Saturn, confirms Einstein's theory of general relativity with a precision that is 50 times greater than previous measurements.
FULL STORY
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Thursday:
October 2, 2003 | |
0352 GMT |
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Galaxy far, far away eyed by Hawaiian telescopes
A galaxy far beyond our own Milky Way, with a monstrous, churning black hole in its center, has been observed by two optical telescopes working in unison as an interferometer. These observations reveal the finest level of detail in a galaxy ever produced at infrared wavelengths.
FULL STORY
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IN OTHER NEWS Additional stories making news today
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Cablevision's Rainbow DBS to introduce world's first comprehensive HDTV service -- Rainbow DBS, the satellite service division of Cablevision Systems Corporation, announced that it would introduce, on October 15, the first service to offer a comprehensive array of HDTV programming to customers across the continental United States. The state-of-the-art Rainbow 1 telecommunications satellite, launched in July from Cape Canaveral, will begin broadcasting to beta-test homes on October 1.
Loral to build two high-power satellites for DIRECTV --
Space Systems/Loral announced Wednesday that it will design and construct the DIRECTV 8 and DIRECTV 9S direct-to-home television broadcast satellites.
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Wednesday:
October 1, 2003 | |
1707 GMT |
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SMART 1 fires up its ion engine for first time
The ion engine aboard the European Space Agency's newly-launched SMART 1 lunar probe was successfully ignited high above Earth on Tuesday.
FULL STORY
LAUNCH STORY
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Communications satellite launched from Pacific Ocean
The Galaxy 13/Horizons 1 spacecraft boosted into space Wednesday aboard a Sea Launch Zenit 3SL rocket promises to relay High-Definition Television services across the United States as part of its joint American and Japanese ownership.
FULL STORY
MISSION STATUS CENTER
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Boeing's Delta 4 rocket wins NRO launch order
The Air Force has awarded Boeing a contract to purchase one Delta 4 Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle to launch a National Reconnaissance Office payload from Vandenberg Air Force, California in 2005.
FULL STORY
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DigitalGlobe awarded $500 million NIMA contract
DigitalGlobe announced it has won a contract in excess of $500 million issued by the National Imagery and Mapping Agency to assure the availability of imagery from the next-generation, commercial high-resolution imaging satellites.
FULL STORY
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Tuesday:
September 30, 2003 | |
0438 GMT |
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Sea Launch ready for next satellite deployment tonight
From a platform in the Pacific Ocean, a Ukrainian-Russian rocket stands ready for blastoff tonight carrying a commercial communications satellite jointly owned by U.S. and Japanese firms. The Sea Launch Zenit 3SL rocket is scheduled to fly at 0403 GMT (12:03 a.m. EDT).
MISSION STATUS CENTER - live updates!
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ESA awards the first Aurora mission design contracts
A major milestone in ESA's long-term Aurora program of Solar System exploration has been passed with the announcement of the winners of competitive contracts for two of the key robotic missions -- ExoMars, an exobiology mission to Mars, and the Earth re-entry Vehicle Demonstrator that will serve as a test for Mars sample return.
FULL STORY
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IN OTHER NEWS Additional stories making news today
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Lockheed, Northrop Grumman join forces for NASA's OSP -- Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman have agreed to establish a teaming arrangement to compete for the full-scale development of NASA's Orbital Space Plane. Lockheed Martin will lead the new team as the system prime contractor while Northrop Grumman will serve as Lockheed Martin's principal teammate and subcontractor. NASA expects to select a prime contractor team for the full-scale OSP development by August 2004.
Two Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission ideas to be studied -- In the first step of a two-step process, NASA has selected two teams to conduct concept studies for the Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission. The proposals address the scientific objective of the MMS mission, to explore and understand fundamental plasma-physics processes of magnetic reconnection, particle acceleration and turbulence in the Earth's magnetosphere.
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Monday:
September 29, 2003 | |
0652 GMT |
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History flashback: Space shuttle return-to-flight
On this day 15 years ago, Americans triumphantly returned to space with the launch of shuttle Discovery. It had been 32 months since the Challenger tragedy grounded the shuttle fleet and all U.S. human spaceflights. We are marking this anniversary with a package of mission STS-26 video clips for our Spaceflight Now Plus service subscribers.
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Video coverage for subscribers only:
VIDEO: THE FIVE ASTRONAUTS HAVE PRE-LAUNCH BREAKFAST QT
VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS DON THEIR ORANGE SPACESUITS QT
VIDEO: CREW DEPARTS QUARTERS FOR LAUNCH PAD QT
VIDEO: AERIAL VIEWS OF CREW ARRIVING AT PAD QT
VIDEO: COMPILATION OF CREW ENTERING ORBITER QT
VIDEO: LAUNCH OF DISCOVERY! QT
VIDEO: TRACKING AND DATA RELAY SATELLITE PREPPED QT
VIDEO: SCENES OF ASTRONAUTS READYING FOR TDRS DEPLOY QT
VIDEO: THE TDRS SPACECRAFT IS LAUNCHED FROM DISCOVERY QT
VIDEO: CREW PAYS TRIBUTE TO FALLEN CHALLENGER ASTRONAUTS QT
VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS STRUGGLE TO DON SUITS IN MICROGRAVITY QT
VIDEO: A MASSIVE CROWD FLOCKS TO CALIFORNIA LANDING SITE QT
VIDEO: DISCOVERY LANDS AT EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE QT
VIDEO: VICE PRESIDENT BUSH GREETS ASTRONAUTS ON RUNWAY QT
SUBSCRIBE NOW
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U.S. military looks forward to weather satellite launch
The U.S. Air Force is targeting October 15 for the long-delayed launch of its next polar-orbiting weather satellite atop a refurbished Titan 2 missile from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.
FULL STORY
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Ozone hole approaches, but falls short of record
This year's Antarctic ozone hole is the second largest ever observed, according to scientists from NASA, NOAA and the Naval Research Laboratory. The Antarctic ozone hole is defined as thinning of the ozone layer over the continent to levels significantly below pre-1979 levels.
FULL STORY
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