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Sunday:
July 18, 2004 | |
0523 GMT |
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Astronomers measure mass of a single star
A faint star nearly 2,000 light-years away now has something in common with our sun that no other single star has. Astronomers have directly measured the mass of that star.
 FULL STORY
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Ariane 5 lofts broadband communications satellite
The largest commercial communications satellite, designed to offer two-way broadband Internet services across Canada and the United States, was successfully heaved into space Saturday night by Europe's powerful Ariane 5 rocket.
MISSION STATUS CENTER
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OTHER HEADLINES Additional stories today
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Space station update -- Aboard the International Space Station, the Expedition 9 crew concentrated on a host of scientific experiments and routine systems maintenance work in a busy week in orbit. The crew spent part of its week stowing trash in the Progress resupply craft docked to the far end of Zvezda. The unpiloted Progress will detach from the Station by Russian flight controllers on July 30 and deorbited to burn up in the Earth's atmosphere.
NASA, National Academies team on Space Exploration Vision -- Responding to the recommendations of the President's Commission on Implementation of United States Space Exploration Policy, NASA is teaming with the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering to evaluate and explore opportunities created by the Space Exploration Vision.
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Saturday:
July 17, 2004 | |
0301 GMT |
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NASA's Mars rovers roll into martian winter
As winter approaches on Mars, NASA's Opportunity rover continues to inch deeper into the stadium-sized crater dubbed "Endurance." On the other side of the planet, the Spirit rover found an intriguing patch of rock outcrop while preparing to climb up the "Columbia Hills" backward. This unusual approach to driving is part of a creative plan to accommodate Spirit's aging front wheel.
FULL STORY
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NASA studies new lunar sampling, Jupiter missions
NASA said Friday it is examining two candidates for the next mission in the agency's New Frontiers Program. The "Moonrise" mission would drop robotic landers into a crater at the south pole of the moon and return samples to Earth. The other mission, called "Juno," would orbit Jupiter from pole to pole for the first time to conduct an in-depth study of the giant planet.
FULL STORY
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Ariane 5 rocket launch postponed once again
Arianespace scrubbed Friday night's attempt to launch the Anik F2 communications satellite payload aboard an Ariane 5 rocket due to technical troubles with ground equipment. It is the third postponement this week for the mission. Launch is rescheduled for Saturday night at 0044 GMT (8:44 p.m. EDT).
MISSION STATUS CENTER
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Friday:
July 16, 2004 | |
0435 GMT |
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Cassini exposes Saturn's two-face moon Iapetus
The moon with the split personality, Iapetus, presents a perplexing appearance in the latest images snapped by the Cassini spacecraft. One hemisphere of the moon is very dark, while the other is very bright. Scientists do not yet know the origin of the dark material or whether or not it is representative of the interior of Iapetus.
FULL STORY
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Weather scrubs Ariane 5
Stormy weather over the Guiana Space Center kept the Ariane 5 rocket on the launch pad Thursday night, delaying by 24 hours the massive booster's mission to haul a Canadian broadband communications satellite into space. Follow the launch in our status center:
MISSION STATUS CENTER
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OTHER HEADLINES Additional stories today
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Crew changed for future shuttle mission -- NASA has named astronaut Piers Sellers to replace Carlos Noriega as a mission specialist on STS-121, the second Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station once flights resume. Noriega is being replaced due to a temporary medical condition that affects his qualification for flight.
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Thursday:
July 15, 2004 | |
1258 GMT |
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Craft launched to probe atmosphere's chemistry
A school bus-sized space observatory that will monitor the health of Earth's atmosphere in unprecedented detail rocketed into polar orbit Thursday, finally darting away from its California launch pad atop a Boeing Delta 2 booster after several frustrating delays.
FULL STORY
MISSION STATUS CENTER
LAUNCH EVENTS TIMELINE
GROUND TRACK MAP
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Additional coverage for subscribers:
VIDEO:
THE DELTA ROCKET LAUNCHES AURA QT
VIDEO:
AURA IS DEPLOYED FROM THE DELTA ROCKET QT
VIDEO:
POST-FLIGHT INTERVIEW WITH NASA LAUNCH DIRECTOR QT
VIDEO:
WEDNESDAY'S LAUNCH ATTEMPT IS SCRUBBED QT
VIDEO:
LAUNCH DIRECTOR EXPLAINS WEDNESDAY'S PROBLEMS QT
VIDEO:
TUESDAY'S LAUNCH ATTEMPT IS SCRUBBED QT
VIDEO:
AURA'S LAUNCH CAMPAIGN SHOWN WITH NARRATION QT
VIDEO:
DELTA 2 ROCKET IS ASSEMBLED ON THE LAUNCH PAD QT
VIDEO:
MOBILE SERVICE TOWER IS ROLLED BACK MONDAY EVENING QT
VIDEO:
ANIMATION SHOWS DELTA LAUNCHING AURA INTO ORBIT QT
VIDEO:
AURA SCIENTIST EXPLAINS WHAT MISSION AIMS TO DO QT
VIDEO:
WATCH FRIDAY'S PRE-LAUNCH NEWS CONFERENCE QT
VIDEO:
ANIMATION OF AURA STUDYING THE ATMOSPHERE QT
VIDEO:
FLASHBACK TO THE AQUA LAUNCH IN 2002 QT
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NASA teams honored for practical contributions
NASA is honoring teams of NASA researchers -- and their industry and university partners -- whose work in safe and affordable air transportation, growth in critical national industries, enhanced national security, and scientific exploration and discovery has contributed to society.
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OTHER HEADLINES Additional stories today
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Telstar 18 satellite recovers from launch vehicle anomaly -- Loral Space & Communications has announced that the Telstar 18 communications spacecraft, which was launched into a lower-than-planned orbit last month, has successfully reached its in-orbit testing position.
ILS Proton to launch another satellite for DIRECTV -- International Launch Services will launch the DIRECTV 8 satellite in the spring of 2005 on a Proton M/Breeze M vehicle, under a new contract with DIRECTV. Financial details were not disclosed.
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Wednesday:
July 14, 2004 | |
1259 GMT |
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Aura launch delayed again
The launch of NASA's Aura environmental research satellite has been delayed once more. The countdown was halted today in its final minutes when flight controllers detected a technical problem with the Delta 2 rocket. Check our status center for updates:
MISSION STATUS CENTER - live updates!
LAUNCH EVENTS TIMELINE
GROUND TRACK MAP
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Additional coverage for subscribers:
VIDEO:
TODAY'S LAUNCH ATTEMPT IS SCRUBBED QT
VIDEO:
NASA LAUNCH DIRECTOR EXPLAINS TODAY'S PROBLEMS QT
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Panel says keep options open for Hubble repair
In an interim report, a National Academy of Sciences panel Tuesday recommended that NASA leave open the option of launching a shuttle mission to repair and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope while engineers assess the viability of a complex robotic servicing flight.
FULL STORY
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Tuesday:
July 13, 2004 | |
1100 GMT |
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NASA postpones launch of environmental probe
Worries about a recorder aboard NASA's Aura atmospheric research satellite forced officials to scrub this morning's launch with a half-hour remaining in the countdown at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.
MISSION STATUS CENTER - live updates!
LAUNCH EVENTS TIMELINE
GROUND TRACK MAP
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Additional coverage for subscribers:
VIDEO:
TODAY'S LAUNCH ATTEMPT IS SCRUBBED QT
VIDEO:
AURA'S LAUNCH CAMPAIGN SHOWN WITH NARRATION QT
VIDEO:
DELTA 2 ROCKET IS ASSEMBLED ON THE LAUNCH PAD QT
VIDEO:
MOBILE SERVICE TOWER IS ROLLED BACK MONDAY EVENING QT
VIDEO:
ANIMATION SHOWS DELTA LAUNCHING AURA INTO ORBIT QT
VIDEO:
AURA SCIENTIST EXPLAINS WHAT MISSION AIMS TO DO QT
VIDEO:
WATCH FRIDAY'S PRE-LAUNCH NEWS CONFERENCE QT
VIDEO:
ANIMATION OF AURA STUDYING THE ATMOSPHERE QT
VIDEO:
FLASHBACK TO THE AQUA LAUNCH IN 2002 QT
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South pole on Saturn
Details observed in Saturn's south polar region by Cassini demonstrate that this area is far from featureless. Lighter colored clouds dot the entire region, which is dominated by a central, sharply-defined circular feature.
FULL STORY
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Cassini spacecraft's solar conjunction ends
The Cassini spacecraft emerged from behind the Sun on Monday after being in solar conjunction since July 5. The most recent spacecraft telemetry was acquired from the Deep Space Network's Goldstone tracking station. The spacecraft is in excellent health and operating normally.
FULL STORY
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Rocket glitch postpones Canadian satellite launch
A problem with the Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket scrubbed Monday night's launch of the Canadian Anik F2 communications satellite. Workers must move the vehicle back to its hangar for repairs.
MISSION STATUS CENTER
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Monday:
July 12, 2004 | |
0410 GMT |
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Atmospheric observatory ready to launch Tuesday
A Boeing Delta 2 rocket is poised to launch NASA's latest environmental research satellite early Tuesday from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The Aura spacecraft will study the atmosphere as part of the Earth Observing System constellation of satellites.
MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates!
LAUNCH EVENTS TIMELINE
GROUND TRACK MAP
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Additional coverage for subscribers:
VIDEO:
AURA SCIENTIST EXPLAINS WHAT MISSION AIMS TO DO QT
VIDEO:
WATCH FRIDAY'S PRE-LAUNCH NEWS CONFERENCE QT
VIDEO:
ANIMATION OF AURA STUDYING THE ATMOSPHERE QT
VIDEO:
FLASHBACK TO THE AQUA LAUNCH IN 2002 QT
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Canadian satellite to be launched Monday night
A massive satellite to provide broadband Internet services and digital communications across North America will ride an Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket into space Monday night.
MISSION STATUS CENTER
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NASA crew goes under water to study outer space
Four NASA crewmembers will look to the deep seas this month to help prepare for journeys into deep space. They'll use an undersea laboratory to study what it may be like to live and work in other extreme environments, such as the Moon and Mars.
FULL STORY
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OTHER HEADLINES Additional stories today
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Space station status update -- Aboard the International Space Station, work is focused on science, spacesuit troubleshooting and routine maintenance as the Expedition 9 crew is sailing through its twelfth week in space.
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An interview with astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin takes viewers in a retrospective through the Apollo 11 mission. (30min 39sec file)
1960's animation provides this overview of the Saturn 5 rocket and the Apollo 11 mission from launch through return to Earth. Narration is provided. (2min 43sec file)
Film footage from onboard the Saturn 5 rocket captures with stunning beauty the separation of the first stage and a short adapter ring with the blue Earth as backdrop. (1min 36sec file)
On this 35th anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 mission, re-live the thrilling launch as the astronauts depart Earth for their lunar voyage. (9min 01sec file)
The three astronauts don their spacesuits and head for the launch pad in the final hours before liftoff of Apollo 11 on July 16, 1969. (3min 53sec file)
This NASA film from July 1965 entitled "Thrust to the Moon" looks at the work to develop the Saturn 5 launcher and the Apollo spacecraft. (4min 30sec file)
A detailed look at development of the Saturn 5 rocket is captured in this NASA film from October 1967 entitled "The Next Giant Leap: Apollo Saturn." (13min 53sec file)
The Boeing Delta 2 rocket launches NASA's Aura atmospheric research satellite July 15 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. This movie following the flight from liftoff through ignition of the second stage and jettison of the payload fairing with ground cameras and infrared trackers. (5min 12sec file)
The Aura spacecraft is deployed from the Delta 2 rocket 64 minutes after liftoff while flying over Africa. (59sec file)
This is an interview with NASA launch director Chuck Dovale following the successful launch of Aura aboard the Delta 2 rocket. (2min 48sec file)