|
Sunday:
May 23, 2004 | |
0001 GMT |
 |
Theory proposes new view of Sun and Earth's creation
Like most creation stories, this one is dramatic: we began, not as a mere glimmer buried in an obscure cloud, but instead amidst the glare and turmoil of restless giants.
 FULL STORY
 | |
|
|
Asteroids reveal their age in color, astronomers say
In an article published in the journal Nature, a team led by Robert Jedicke of the University of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy provides convincing evidence that asteroids change color as they age.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
|
Saturday:
May 22, 2004 | |
0323 GMT |
|
Cassini peers closer at Titan
The Cassini orbiter continues its observations of Saturn's mysterious moon Titan, stealing another early peek at the haze-enshrouded surface. Cassini's view of Titan now surpasses Earth-based observations in its ability to show detail.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
Asteroid with the smallest orbit discovered
The ongoing search for near-Earth asteroids at Lowell Observatory has yielded another interesting object. Designated 2004 JG6, this asteroid is located between Earth and Venus and goes around the Sun in just six months, making it the asteroid with the shortest known orbital period.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
Latest station crew marks one month in orbit
Aboard the International Space Station, the Expedition 9 crew is closing out its first month in space with a busy week of spacewalk preparations that included a spacesuit dress rehearsal. The suit checkout was conducted in preparation for a spacewalk to replace a failed power controller on the station's truss, now scheduled for no earlier than June 16.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
|
Friday:
May 21, 2004 | |
0519 GMT |
|
Taurus XL rocket launches Taiwan's new orbiting eye
The first Taurus XL rocket, a beefed up model of Orbital Sciences' small satellite launcher, darted into polar orbit Thursday, deploying a Taiwanese spacecraft and potentially attracting customers for future missions.
FULL STORY
MISSION STATUS CENTER
LAUNCH PHOTO GALLERY
| |
|
|
First shuttle Columbia debris loaned for research
The first pieces of space shuttle Columbia debris, loaned to a non-governmental agency for testing and research, are on their way from Kennedy Space Center to The Aerospace Corporation in California.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
NEWSWIRE Links to news across the internet
|
|
NASA hasn't given up on Mars -- (Houston Chronicle) President Bush's top science adviser said Thursday that NASA will continue pressing for a manned mission to Mars despite Congress' recoil from the price tag.
Moon missions could be step to Mars -- (USA Today) Astronauts could go to the moon for as long as 90 days in the first step toward reaching President Bush's goal of sending a man to Mars, NASA says.
NASA to launch robot aircraft program -- (AP) NASA said Thursday it is launching a program that could place robot planes and aircraft flown by human pilots in the same airspace by 2008.
|
|
Photo gallery: Launch of Atlas 2AS rocket
Wednesday's spectacular late afternoon liftoff of Lockheed Martin's next-to-last Atlas 2AS rocket from Cape Canaveral is captured in this gallery of photos.
OPEN GALLERY
| |
|
|
Photo gallery: Mobile Service Tower rollback
This collection of images shows the retraction of launch pad 36A's mobile service tower from around the Lockheed Martin Atlas 2AS rocket during Wednesday's countdown.
OPEN GALLERY
| |
|
|
|
Thursday:
May 20, 2004 | |
0452 GMT |
|
Next-to-last Atlas 2AS rocket lofts TV satellite
With its retirement looming on the horizon, Lockheed Martin's Atlas 2AS rocket kept its flawless success record alive and well Wednesday with the launch of a broadcasting satellite that will aid the expansion of high-definition TV programming across the United States.
FULL STORY
MISSION STATUS CENTER
| |
|
|
Additional coverage for subscribers:
VIDEO:
ATLAS 2AS ROCKET LAUNCHES AMC-11 QT
VIDEO:
CAMERA ON LAUNCH PAD TOWER PROVIDES DRAMATIC VIEW QT
VIDEO:
PAYLOAD IS SUCCESSFULLY RELEASED FROM UPPER STAGE QT
VIDEO:
OFFICIALS MAKE CELEBRATORY SPEECHES AFTER LAUNCH QT
VIDEO:
SATELLITE AND ROCKET PRE-LAUNCH ACTIVITIES QT
VIDEO:
WATCH TUESDAY'S PRE-LAUNCH NEWS CONFERENCE QT
VIDEO:
NARRATED ATLAS/AMC-11 LAUNCH PREVIEW QT
VIDEO:
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE AMC-11 SATELLITE QT
SUBSCRIBE NOW
|
Taurus rocket to launch satellite for Taiwan today
A new, more powerful version of Orbital Sciences' Taurus rocket makes its maiden flight today carrying a research spacecraft designed to study the environment around Taiwan.
MISSION STATUS CENTER
| |
|
|
Station crew troubleshoots spacesuit problems
Space station astronauts Gennady Padalka and Mike Fincke were forced to interrupt a planned seven-hour rehearsal Wednesday for an upcoming spacewalk when they ran into a series of cooling problems with their NASA spacesuits.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
IN OTHER NEWS Additional stories making news today
|
|
Eutelsat's W3A brought into full service without a hitch -- Eutelsat has announced that its new W3A satellite was successfully brought into full commercial service at 7 degrees East during the nights of May 15-16 and May 16-17, with the seamless transfer of all traffic to the new satellite from W3.
|
|
|
Wednesday:
May 19, 2004 | |
0330 GMT |
|
Atlas rocket to launch cable TV satellite Wednesday
The next-to-last Lockheed Martin Atlas 2AS rocket is ready for liftoff at 5:52 p.m. EDT (2152 GMT) today from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The booster will propel a U.S. cable TV satellite into Earth orbit.
MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates
LAUNCH TIMELINE
GROUND TRACK MAP
| |
|
|
Additional coverage for subscribers:
VIDEO:
WATCH TUESDAY'S PRE-LAUNCH NEWS CONFERENCE QT
VIDEO:
NARRATED ATLAS/AMC-11 LAUNCH PREVIEW QT
VIDEO:
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE AMC-11 SATELLITE QT
SUBSCRIBE NOW
|
Chandra opens new dark energy investigation
Astronomers have detected and probed dark energy by applying a powerful, new method that uses images of galaxy clusters made by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. The results trace the transition of the expansion of the universe from a decelerating to an accelerating phase several billion years ago.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
NASA's Terra satellite tracks global pollution
Data from NASA's Terra satellite is adding to our understanding of how pollution spreads around the globe. The information will help scientists protect and understand the Earth.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
|
Tuesday:
May 18, 2004 | |
0340 GMT |
|
Mars rover inspects stone ejected from crater
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has begun sampling rocks blasted out from a stadium-sized impact crater the rover is circling, and the very first one may extend our understanding about the region's wet past.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
Additional coverage for subscribers:
VIDEO:
INTERVIEW WITH ROVER PROJECT SCIENTIST QT
VIDEO:
NARRATED PRESENTATION OF CRATER PANORAMA QT
SUBSCRIBE NOW
|
Scientists look to Saturn moon in search for life
While the Cassini spacecraft has been flying toward Saturn, chemists on Earth have been making plastic pollution like that raining through the atmosphere of Saturn's moon, Titan. Scientists suspect that organic solids have been falling from Titan's sky for billions of years and might be compounds that set the stage for the next chemical step toward life.
FULL STORY
| |
|
|
IN OTHER NEWS Additional stories making news today
|
|
Florida Air Guard receives new space-launch tracking system -- For nearly half a century, Florida has been at the forefront of space-launch technology, and recently the state's Air National Guard acquired new equipment to help maintain that distinction.
|
|
|
Monday:
May 17, 2004 | |
0410 GMT |
|
Penultimate Atlas 2AS rocket poised for flight
Three months after its twin successfully rocketed into space, a U.S. cable TV satellite called AMC-11 is awaiting launch this week aboard the next-to-last Lockheed Martin Atlas 2AS booster.
MISSION STATUS CENTER
LAUNCH TIMELINE
GROUND TRACK MAP
| |
|
|
The Lockheed Martin Atlas 2AS rocket launches from Cape Canaveral carryin the AMC-11 communications satellite. (4min 30sec file)
This retrospective looks to the daring inaugural flight of space shuttle Endeavour in May 1992 as three spacewalking astronauts rescued the wayward Intelsat communications satellite.