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Sunday:
October 26, 2003 | |
0001 GMT |
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Earth monitoring satellite goes silent
A $587 million environmental research satellite launched 10 months ago stopped communicating Saturday and is feared dead in space. The Advanced Earth Observing Satellite 2, nicknamed Midori 2, is a joint mission between the Japanese and U.S. space programs to monitor our planet's health from orbit.
 FULL STORY
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Saturday:
October 25, 2003 | |
0133 GMT |
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Green mineral indicates red planet is dry
The presence of a common green mineral on Mars suggests that the red planet could have been cold and dry since the mineral has been exposed, which may be more than a billion years according to new research appearing in the current edition of Science.
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Five-segment shuttle solid rocket booster test fired
The most powerful Space Shuttle Reusable Solid Rocket Motor ever tested pushed beyond typical launch performance boundaries at a Utah test facility Thursday. The five-segment test motor, which ran for 128 seconds and generated more than 3.6 million pounds of thrust, appeared to perform flawlessly.
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Video coverage for subscribers only:
VIDEO: PRE-TEST VIEWS OF THE BOOSTER QT
VIDEO: FIVE-SEGMENT SOLID ROCKET BOOSTER IS TEST FIRED QT
VIDEO: CAMERA VIEW FORWARD OF THE SOLID ROCKET BOOSTER QT
VIDEO: CLOSE-UP VIEW OF BOOSTER NOZZLE DURING FIRING QT
VIDEO: THE FIRING AS SEEN FROM VIEWING SITE QT
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IN OTHER NEWS Additional stories making news today
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Bankruptcy Court approves Loral's sale of satellites to Intelsat -- Loral Space & Communications announced Friday that the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York has approved the sale of Loral's North American satellites for up to $1.1 billion to Intelsat. As previously reported, Intelsat was the high bidder in an auction held October 20.
Leading air and space historians to present symposium -- Daredevil pilots of the barnstorming era, bold entrepreneurs and military strategists of the 30s and 40s, and the visionaries and down-to-earth managers of the Space Age are a few of the aerospace leaders to be profiled at a day-long public symposium, "Realizing the Dream of Flight."
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Friday:
October 24, 2003 | |
0521 GMT |
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NASA scientist dives into perfect space storm
Newly uncovered scientific data of recorded history's most massive space storm is helping a NASA scientist investigate its intensity and the probability that what occurred on Earth and in the heavens almost a century-and-a-half ago could happen again.
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Sun erupts with intense activity
Forecasters at the NOAA Space Environment Center observed two dynamic areas of the sun, one of which has produced a coronal mass ejection. The forecasters are predicting a strong geomagnetic storm, G-3 on the NOAA Space Weather Scales, that should reach Earth on Friday.
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Space station residents say conditions safe
Despite media reports of some NASA managers voting against launching the Expedition 8 crew to the International Space Station due to broken environmental monitoring and exercise equipment, the astronauts said Thursday during an in-flight news conference that they are not worried about the situation, calling the reports "overblown."
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Video coverage for subscribers only:
VIDEO: IN-FLIGHT NEWS CONFERENCE WITH STATION RESIDENTS QT
VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS INTERVIEWED BY CABLE NEWS NETWORK QT
VIDEO: CREW INTERVIEWED BY CBS NEWS QT
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Thursday:
October 23, 2003 | |
0134 GMT |
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Mars Global Surveyor snaps images of craters
Craters formed by meteor impact are the "tools of the trade" for planetary geologists. Craters have formed on every solid Solar System body, and thus they can be compared to each other and provide insights as to the nature of the object on which the crater occurs. Mars is pocked with craters of a wide range of diameters, some of which are illustrated in these Mars Global Surveyor images.
FULL STORY
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IN OTHER NEWS Additional stories making news today
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Long-lost asteroid Hermes is binary -- The re-discovery of Hermes started early on October 15th by Brian Skiff of the Lowell Observatory Near-Earth-Object Search. Not seen since 1937, asteroid Hermes continues to astonish and excite astronomers worldwide. Further observations revealed this week that Hermes is actually two objects -- called a binary -- circling around one another while about to pass by Earth again.
Court approves Loral's agreements with DirecTV and PanAmSat -- Loral Space & Communications announced Wednesday that the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York has authorized Loral subsidiary Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) to execute an existing contract with DIRECTV, Inc., as amended, to complete and deliver the DIRECTV 7S satellite.
Astrotech to receive $17.5 million termination payment from Boeing -- Astrotech Space Operations will receive a $17.5 million payment due to the termination of a payload processing contract with The Boeing Company. Boeing indicated that the decision to terminate the contract was based on the downturn of the commercial expendable launch market rather than performance related considerations. Boeing announced earlier this year that it would concentrate on pursuing the U.S. Government launch market.
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Wednesday:
October 22, 2003 | |
0530 GMT |
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Station crew will miss the views, but ready for landing
After six months of circling the Earth inside the International Space Station, Expedition 7 commander Yuri Malenchenko and NASA science officer Ed Lu are preparing to return home Monday night aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule.
FULL STORY
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Video coverage for subscribers only:
VIDEO: 8-MINUTE NARRATED LOOK BACK AT EXPEDITION 7 QT
VIDEO: PROFILES OF YURI MALENCHENKO AND ED LU QT
VIDEO: TUESDAY'S IN-FLIGHT INTERVIEW WITH ABC NEWS QT
VIDEO: CREW INTERVIEWED BY THE HOUSTON CHRONICLE QT
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Scientists seek high-energy extraterrestrial particles
With the completion of its hundredth surface detector, the Pierre Auger Observatory, under construction in Argentina, this week became the largest cosmic-ray air shower array in the world. The project so far encompasses a 70-square-mile array of detectors that are tracking the most violent -- and perhaps most puzzling -- processes in the universe.
FULL STORY
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IN OTHER NEWS Additional stories making news today
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ARABSAT buys two Proton rocket launches from ILS -- The Arab Satellite Communications Organization has selected International Launch Services to launch its next two satellites on Proton/Breeze M launch vehicles. With the ARABSAT launches, ILS has received orders this year for seven new Proton missions.
Alcatel Space to build payloads for two new Arabsat satellites -- Alcatel Space will provide the payloads of the fourth-generation ARABSAT 4A and ARABSAT 4B satellites for EADS Astrium, prime contractor for the ARABSAT program.
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Tuesday:
October 21, 2003 | |
0442 GMT |
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Earth monitoring satellite launched by China
The second half of a joint Sino-Brazilian environmental satellite program streaked into space Tuesday, less than a week after China made history with its first manned spaceflight. Liftoff of the Long March 4B rocket occurred at 0316 GMT.
FULL STORY
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Sea Launch to offer land launches from Baikonur
Sea Launch has decided to go forward with plans to offer launch services from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, in addition to its sea-based launches at the Equator. The new offering, Land Launch, will loft medium weight commercial satellites beginning in late 2005.
FULL STORY
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IN OTHER NEWS Additional stories making news today
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Loral accepts Intelsat bid for sale of North American satellites -- Loral Space & Communications announced that Intelsat, Ltd., was the highest bidder in an auction held Monday for Loral's North American telecommunications satellites. The winning bid was $1.1 billion.
Foundation awards $17.5 million for Thirty-Meter Telescope plans -- The dream of a giant optical telescope to improve our understanding of the universe and its origin has moved a step closer to reality today. The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation awarded $17.5 million to fund a detailed design study of the Thirty-Meter Telescope. This new grant allows the California Institute of Technology and its partner, the University of California, to proceed with formulating detailed construction plans for the telescope.
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Monday:
October 20, 2003 | |
1041 GMT |
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New station residents arrive at their orbiting home
Two men who know what it's like to live in orbit for months at a time safely arrived at the International Space Station this morning for a half-year tour-of-duty. Riding inside a Russian Soyuz capsule, the Expedition 8 crew docked to the station at 0716 GMT (3:16 a.m. EDT).
FULL STORY
MISSION STATUS CENTER
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Video coverage for subscribers only:
VIDEO: SOYUZ DOCKS TO THE STATION AS SEEN LIVE QT
VIDEO: PROFILE OF EXPEDITION 8 COMMANDER FOALE QT
VIDEO: PROFILE OF EXPEDITION 8 FLIGHT ENGINEER KALERI QT
VIDEO: PROFILE OF SPANISH ASTRONAUT DUQUE QT
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Titan 2's Vandenberg launch pad to be torn down
The curtain closed on the Titan 2 rocket era Saturday, and now plans are being formulated to deactivate and later tear down the booster's launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.
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PHOTO TOUR OF THE LAUNCH PAD
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Massive stars live fast, blow hard and die young
Massive stars lead short, yet spectacular lives, as a new multi-wavelength image from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and optical telescopes shows. The data reveals dramatic details of a portion of the Crescent Nebula, a giant gaseous shell of gas created by powerful winds blowing from the doomed massive star HD 192163.
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