|
Sunday:
January 18, 2004 | |
0001 GMT |
 |
Getting closer to the 'Lord of the Rings'
This time next year, the European Space Agency's Huygens spaceprobe will be descending through the atmosphere of Saturn's largest moon, becoming the first spacecraft to land on a body in the outer Solar System.
 FULL STORY
 | |
|
|
|
Saturday:
January 17, 2004 | |
0150 GMT |
|
NASA cancels final Hubble telescope servicing mission
A final planned shuttle mission to service and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope, one of the most scientifically productive spacecraft ever launched, has been cancelled, primarily because of post-Columbia safety concerns and a new directive to retire the shuttle by 2010, NASA officials said Friday.
FULL STORY - updated after news conference
SEE COVERAGE OF EARLIER SERVICING
| |
|
|
Spirit's robot arm extended for detailed study of soil
The Spirit Mars rover unlimbered its robot arm Friday and took the first microscopic images of another planet's surface. The smooth operation of the arm during the rover's 13th day on Mars was another major milestone in a mission that, so far, has sailed through activation and checkout without any significant problems.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
Video coverage for subscribers only:
VIDEO: SEE THE ARM IN ACTION WITH EXPERT NARRATION QT
VIDEO: ANIMATION OF ARM'S ACTUAL MOVEMENTS FRIDAY QT
VIDEO: FIRST MICROSCOPIC IMAGES EXPLAINED BY SCIENTIST QT
VIDEO: FRIDAY'S SPIRIT ROBOT ARM AND SCIENCE BRIEFING QT
SUBSCRIBE NOW
|
|
Friday:
January 16, 2004 | |
0450 GMT |
|
Comet orbiter and lander set for rescheduled voyage
Europe's long-awaited Rosetta space probe is being readied for a second time to begin its ambitious mission that will see it embark on a decade-long journey through the solar system before reaching its mysterious icy objective.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
Scientists find 'spitting star' imitates black hole
A neutron star has been seen spitting out a jet of matter at very close to the speed of light. The discovery challenges the idea that only black holes can create the conditions needed to accelerate jets of particles to extreme speeds.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
A failed star is born
In cosmic circles, brown dwarfs are something of a flop. Too big to be considered true planets, yet not massive enough to be stars, these free-floating celestial bodies are, in fact, sometimes referred to as failed stars. But do they really form as stars do -- from collapsing clouds of gas -- or are their origins completely different?
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
|
Thursday:
January 15, 2004 | |
1717 GMT |
|
First rock, soil observations on tap for Spirit rover
Starting late tonight, engineers will begin putting the rover's robot arm through its paces, checking out its rock-eroding abrasion tool and taking the first microscope images of the rocky soil directly in front of the rover. Late Friday, the arm's two spectrometers will make measurements and then, if all goes well, Spirit will begin moving again late Saturday or Sunday night.
FULL STORY
MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates!
PREVIOUS MISSION COVERAGE
| |
|
|
Video coverage for subscribers only:
VIDEO: MISSION CONTROL TEAM BRIEFED ON SCIENCE PLAN QT
SUBSCRIBE NOW
|
Six-wheeling on Mars: Spirit drives off lander
The Spirit rover successfully drove onto the surface of Mars this morning, leaving behind its lander base for the exploration of Gusev Crater. Spirit made the 10-foot, 78-second drive autonomously before informing Mission Control of the results more than an hour later.
FULL STORY
PHOTO: SPIRIT'S VIEW LOOKING AT LANDER
PHOTO: FORWARD-LOOKING VIEW FROM ROVER
PHOTO: 3D IMAGE OF THE EMPTY LANDER
PREVIEW STORY
| |
|
|
Video coverage for subscribers only:
VIDEO: FLIGHT DIRECTOR CHRIS LEWICKI GIVES OK FOR DRIVE QT
VIDEO: MOMENT WHEN DRIVE ONTO SURFACE IS CONFIRMED QT
VIDEO: CELEBRATIONS AT FIRST VIEW OF EMPTY LANDER BASE QT
VIDEO: IMAGES RECEIVED FROM SPIRIT AFTER THE ROLL-OFF QT
VIDEO: ANIMATION OF SPIRIT'S TURNS & DRIVE FROM LANDER QT
VIDEO: TODAY'S NEWS CONFERENCE AFTER SPIRIT'S DRIVE QT
SUBSCRIBE NOW
|
President Bush reveals new space initiative
President Bush ordered a sharp change of course for NASA Wednesday, directing the agency to complete the space station and retire the shuttle by 2010 and to begin development of a new spacecraft to carry astronauts back to the moon by the middle of the next decade.
FULL STORY
READ THE WHITE HOUSE ANNOUNCEMENT
| |
|
|
Video coverage for subscribers only:
VIDEO: WATCH THE PRESIDENT'S ENTIRE SPEECH QT
VIDEO: POST-ANNOUNCEMENT NEWS CONFERENCE WITH O'KEEFE QT
SUBSCRIBE NOW
|
Hot and cold gas rage in Betelgeuse's atmosphere
A team of astronomers have announced that Hubble Space Telescope observations of a nearby supergiant star directly show hot gas escaping its boiling atmosphere at a larger distance than from any other star. The expelled hot gas somehow survives the cold and harsh conditions in the star's bloated upper atmosphere.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
Stormy cloud of star birth glows in new Spitzer image
A dusty stellar nursery shines brightly in a new image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, formerly known as the Space Infrared Telescope Facility. Spitzer's heat-sensing "infrared eyes" have pierced the veiled core of the Tarantula Nebula to provide an unprecedented peek at massive newborn stars.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
|
Wednesday:
January 14, 2004 | |
0311 GMT |
|
Rover headed toward hilly vista for martian exploration
An exploration strategy has been developed for the Spirit rover after determining the craft's exact location. A close-by crater and a cluster of hills off in the distance are prime scientific targets. "We now know where we are and with that knowledge, we can now intelligently plan a mission-long traverse, a mission-long plan for exploration of this landing site," science chief Steve Squyres says.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
Video coverage for subscribers only:
VIDEO: EASTERN HILLS ARE WHERE SPIRIT IS HEADED QT
VIDEO: SCIENTISTS MAP OUT SPIRIT'S LANDING SITE QT
VIDEO: ONBOARD CAMERA VIEW OF FIRST MOTION & WHEEL TURN QT
VIDEO: SPIRIT'S 45-DEG TURN ON LANDER WITH NARRATION QT
VIDEO: TUESDAY'S BRIEFING ON DRIVE PLAN & ROVER FIRST TURN QT
SUBSCRIBE NOW
|
Spirit's landing more dramatic than first thought
In the end, it was probably just as well flight controllers couldn't watch the Spirit lander's hair-raising descent to the rocky floor of Gusev Crater January 3. Even a base-jumping skydiver might have experienced a jolt of fear given the last-second maneuvers required to turn a high-speed impact into a safe, if bumpy, landing.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
Newly-launched satellite hit by solar array problem
The American-built communications satellite launched Saturday night to serve Brazil has failed to fully deploy one of its two power-generating solar panels. If controllers cannot correct the problem, the Telstar 14/Estrela do Sul 1 spacecraft's future will be in serious doubt.
MISSION STATUS CENTER
| |
|
|
|
Tuesday:
January 13, 2004 | |
0548 GMT |
|
Rock fragmentation at rover site possibly result of water
The first 360-degree panorama taken by the Spirit rover's main camera system provides a spectacular view of Gusev Crater's cracked and churned-up floor, including an abundance of small, cracked rocks and fragments that could be the result of water-driven erosion in the distant past, researchers said Monday.
FULL STORY
DOWNLOAD: 360-DEGREE COLOR PANORAMA
MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates!
PREVIOUS MISSION COVERAGE
| |
|
|
Video coverage for subscribers only:
VIDEO: MONDAY'S IMAGERY AND ROVER UPDATE CONFERENCE QT
VIDEO: VIEW 360-DEGREE COLOR PANORAMA WITH NARRATION QT
VIDEO: EXPLORE COLOR 3D MODEL OF 'MAGIC CARPET' QT
SUBSCRIBE NOW
|
Astronomers: Star may be biggest, brightest observed
A University of Florida-led team of astronomers may have discovered the brightest star yet observed in the universe, a fiery behemoth that could be as much as much as seven times brighter than the current record holder.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
Jets spout far closer to black hole than thought
Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, taking advantage of multiple unique views of black hole particle jet over the course of a year with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, have assembled a "picture" of the region that has revealed several key discoveries.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
Chiao replaces McArthur as next station commander
Veteran NASA astronaut Leroy Chiao will replace Bill McArthur as the commander of Expedition 9, the next mission aboard the International Space Station. The change in crew assignment is a result of a temporary medical issue related to McArthur's qualification for this long duration flight.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
|
Monday:
January 12, 2004 | |
0526 GMT |
|
Rover to drive off lander base in different direction
Engineers now think they'll be ready to roll the Spirit rover off its lander and onto the martian surface early Thursday, a day later than had been hoped, to accommodate rehearsals and a two-day procedure to rotate the rover into position for its long-awaited egress.
FULL STORY
MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates!
PREVIOUS MISSION COVERAGE
| |
|
|
Video coverage for subscribers only:
VIDEO: SUNDAY'S ROVER DRIVE AND SCIENCE PLAN BRIEFING QT
SUBSCRIBE NOW
|
Space station's mystery leak may be resolved
Space station commander Michael Foale on Sunday found a braided flexible hose with an apparent leak in it that may explain the slight loss of air pressure station engineers have been struggling to resolve over the past week.
FULL STORY
EARLIER STORY
| |
|
|
Lifeless suns dominated the early Universe
To most people, the phrase "Sun-like star" calls to mind images of a friendly, warm yellow star accompanied by a retinue of planets possibly capable of nurturing life. But new calculations by Harvard astronomers show that the first Sun-like stars were lonely orbs moving through a universe devoid of planets or life.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
First supernova companion star found
A team of astronomers has for the first time observed a stellar "survivor" to emerge from a double star system involving an exploded supernova. Supernovae are some of the most significant sources of chemical elements in the Universe, and they are at the heart of our understanding of the evolution of galaxies.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
