NewsAlert Sign up for our NewsAlert service and have the latest news in astronomy and space e-mailed direct to your desktop. Enter your e-mail address: Privacy note: your e-mail address will not be used for any other purpose. Spaceflight Now + Premium video content for our Spaceflight Now Plus subscribers. Re-entry trail A space station camera captured this incredible view of the Soyuz's fiery trail during re-entry in the predawn morning sky. (1min 46sec file)  Play video Hatch opening Russian recovery forces at the landing site work to open the Soyuz capsule hatch and roll the craft on its side in preparation for the crew's exit. (2min 23sec file)  Play video Commander exit Expedition 9 commander Gennady Padalka is pulled from the Soyuz capsule following landing in Kazakhstan. (1min 38sec file)  Play video Fincke returns Expedition 9 flight engineer Michael Fincke rests in a reclining chair and speaks to the media about the importance of spaceflight just after exiting the Soyuz. (2min 46sec file)  Play video This date in history Space shuttle Columbia launches on the STS-52 mission on October 22, 1992 carrying the LAGEOS laser ball and package of microgravity research experiments. (2min 59sec file)  Play video Full launch experience This longer-length broadband movie covers the launch of Columbia from T-minus 3 minutes through jettison of the external fuel tank after reaching space. (12min 43sec file)  Play video Change-of-command The International Space Station's Expedition 9 and 10 crews hold their change-of-command ceremony. (3min 51sec file)  Play video Public Service Announcements The space station's new commander, Leroy Chiao, urges Americans to vote in these Public Service Announcements recorded inside the Destiny Laboratory module. (2min 30sec file)  Play video Crew news conference The five crew members aboard the International Space Station answer questions during this in-flight news conference from Wednesday, Oct. 20. (29min 26sec file)  Play video San Fran. interview Expedition 10 commander Leroy Chiao and Expedition 9 flight engineer Michael Fincke answer questions from a reporter with KPIX television in San Francisco. (8min 52sec file)  Play video CBS Radio interview CBS Radio's Peter King and Bill Harwood chat with space station astronauts Leroy Chiao and Michael Fincke during the handover activities between Expedition crews. (11min 06sec file)  Play video Expedition 9 review This narrated movie provides a look back at the six-month Expedition 9 mission aboard the International Space Station with commander Gennady Padalka and flight engineer Michael Fincke. (8min 24sec file)  Play video Become a subscriber More video		Sunday: October 24, 2004   1006 GMT International Space Station crew returns to Earth Leaving behind the International Space Station that served as their orbiting home for the past half-year, the Expedition 9 crew safely journeyed back to Earth on Saturday. Tucked inside the Russian Soyuz TMA-4 capsule, the crew landed in north-central Kazakhstan at 8:36 p.m. EDT (0036 GMT).    FULL STORY    MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates!    EARLIER PREVIEW Additional coverage for subscribers: VIDEO: SATURDAY'S EXPEDITION 9 FAREWELL CEREMONY QT VIDEO: THE THREE CREW MEMBERS BOARD SOYUZ CAPSULE QT VIDEO: SOYUZ CAPSULE UNDOCKS FROM THE SPACE STATION QT VIDEO: STATION EXTERNAL CAMERAS SHOWS DEPARTING SOYUZ QT VIDEO: CREW CONFIRMS IGNITION OF DEORBIT BURN QT VIDEO: THE RE-ENTRY PLASMA TRAIL SEEN FROM SPACE QT VIDEO: SOYUZ TOUCHDOWN IN KAZAKHSTAN ANNOUNCED QT VIDEO: RECOVERY FORCES OPEN THE SOYUZ HATCH QT VIDEO: COMMANDER PADALKA PULLED FROM CAPSULE QT VIDEO: FINCKE SPEAKS ABOUT SPACEFLIGHT AFTER CAPSULE EXIT QT VIDEO: PREVIEW OF LANDING AND RECOVERY PROCESS QT VIDEO: FRIDAY'S CHANGE-OF-COMMAND CEREMONY QT VIDEO: RECAP OF EXPEDITION 9 MISSION QT VIDEO: OVERVIEW OF EXPEDITION 10 GOALS QT VIDEO: BIOGRAPHIES OF CHIAO AND SHARIPOV QT SUBSCRIBE NOW Saturday: October 23, 2004   0405 GMT New target date set for Delta 2 rocket launch The next Global Positioning System satellite could roar into space next weekend, officials said Friday, after technical problems with Boeing's Delta 2 rocket are resolved.    FULL STORY    MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates!    LAUNCH EVENTS TIMELINE    GROUND TRACK MAP NASA spacecraft to demonstrate autopilot Final pre-flight preparations are underway at California's Vandenberg Air Force Base for an experimental spacecraft designed to rendezvous with an orbiting satellite without human interaction, but the weather outlook is iffy for the Tuesday launch opportunity.    MISSION STATUS CENTER Friday: October 22, 2004   0603 GMT Expedition 9 crew heading home after 6-month mission There will be a ceremonial changing of the guard aboard the International Space Station today as the departing Expedition 9 crew members hands control to their replacements in advance of Saturday's return to Earth.    FULL STORY Additional coverage for subscribers: VIDEO: RECAP OF EXPEDITION 9 MISSION QT VIDEO: OVERVIEW OF EXPEDITION 10 GOALS QT VIDEO: BIOGRAPHIES OF CHIAO AND SHARIPOV QT SUBSCRIBE NOW Problem with Spirit rover's steering reappears A problem that affects the steering on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit has recurred after disappearing for nearly two weeks. Engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory are working to fully understand the intermittent problem and then implement operational work-arounds.    FULL STORY    MARS ROVER ARCHIVE Next Boeing Delta 2 rocket launch postponed Monday's predawn launch of a replacement Global Positioning System satellite aboard a Boeing Delta 2 rocket has been postponed due to technical concerns. A new launch date has not been established.    MISSION STATUS CENTER    LAUNCH EVENTS TIMELINE    GROUND TRACK MAP OTHER HEADLINES  Additional stories today Astronaut Scott Horowitz leaves NASA -- A veteran of four Space Shuttle flights, Astronaut Scott J. "Doc" Horowitz, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel, has left NASA for a position with private industry. Astronaut Duane Carey leaves space to see the world -- After fulfilling one dream to pilot a Space Shuttle and see the world from space, Astronaut Duane G. "Digger" Carey (Lt. Col, USAF-Ret) has left NASA to pursue another -- to see the planet up close from the open road. NASA names new chief scientist -- NASA chief scientist and astronaut John Grunsfeld will return to Houston where he is training for an assignment to a long duration mission. Jim Garvin becomes the agency's new chief scientist, effective immediately. Thursday: October 21, 2004   0001 GMT New view of the sky Astronomers have overcome longstanding technical hurdles to map the sky at little-explored radio frequencies that may provide a tantalizing look deep into the early Universe. The scientists have released images and data covering half of the sky, and hope to complete their survey within a year.    FULL STORY I, Robotic Telescope The world of astronomy meets the science fiction world of Isaac Asimov's "I, Robot" with the commissioning of a new robotic telescope. While it lacks the humanoid qualities of the movie version, this robot will aid in humanity's quest to understand the early Universe by observing the most distant and powerful explosions known.    FULL STORY Europe's Hipparcos finds rebels with a cause A team of European astronomers has discovered that many stars in the vicinity of the Sun have unusual motions caused by the spiral arms of our galaxy, the Milky Way. According to this research, based on data from ESA's Hipparcos observatory, our stellar neighborhood is the crossroads of streams of stars coming from several directions.    FULL STORY Wednesday: October 20, 2004   0241 GMT Deep Impact prepares for December launch NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft has arrived in Florida to begin final preparations for a launch on December 30. The probe will fire a copper projectile into the surface of comet Tempel 1 next year to create a crater that could be as large as a football field.    FULL STORY Space shuttle movers get new shoes NASA's two crawler transporter vehicles soon will sport new "shoes." A $10 million project to replace the 456 tread belt shoes, weighing more than one ton each, on both crawlers at Kennedy Space Center begins mid-October.    FULL STORY Tuesday: October 19, 2004   0302 GMT Astronomers discover planet building is big mess Planets are built over a long period of massive collisions between rocky bodies as big as mountain ranges, astronomers announced Monday. New observations from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope reveal surprisingly large dust clouds around several stars. These clouds most likely flared up when rocky, embryonic planets smashed together.    FULL STORY European probe on track for its Moon encounter The ion engine of Euoprean Space Agency's SMART-1 probe carried out a continuous thrust maneuver last week in the final major push that will get the spacecraft to the Moon capture point in mid-November.    FULL STORY OTHER HEADLINES  Additional stories today Teams to research critical issues in electric propulsion -- NASA announced the selection of four teams to conduct research into critical issues in electric propulsion in support of the Vision for Space Exploration. Electric-propulsion critical issues research is part of Prometheus, within NASA's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate. Total value of the work over a three-year period is approximately $6 million. Monday: October 18, 2004   0001 GMT Cassini yields new knowledge of Saturn's rings Although Cassini has only been orbiting the planet Saturn since July 1, data from the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer has already begun to provide new information about the curious nature of Saturn's space environment.    FULL STORY				News Archive Oct. 11-17: Expedition 10 crew launches aboard Soyuz; Glitch prompts manual docking to station; Legendary spacecraft designer Faget dies; NASA begins rehearsals for next space shuttle mission; Russian Proton rocket lofts U.S. broadcasting satellite; Genesis investigators report progress. Oct. 4-10: SpaceShipOne soars to capture $10 million X Prize; Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper gone at age 77; Mars rovers probing more water history at two sites; What is it? Mystery object discovered by astronomers; Unraveling a 400-year-old supernova mystery; Wiring short caused Sea Launch engine shutdown. Sept. 27-Oct. 3: SpaceShipOne takes wild suborbital flight for X Prize; Jeanne 'kindler, gentler' to KSC than Frances; Mars orbiter sees rover, lander and even tracks; Genesis samples 'looking very, very good'; Giant 'pinhole camera' for exoplanet studies. Sept. 20-26: Cape prays as Jeanne hits Florida; Mars rovers renewed; Genesis team ships first recovered sample; India launches educational satellite using GSLV rocket; NASA picks contractor for first Prometheus mission. Sept. 13-19: Cape continues hurricane recovery, damage checks; Galactic contortionists captured in amazing image; Cassini orbiter snaps Saturn's family portrait; Radical Antarctic telescope 'would outdo Hubble'. Sept. 6-12: Genesis space capsule crashes back to Earth; Cape battered by Hurricane Frances; Cassini discovers ring and one, maybe two, objects; Mars may have had large sea near rover landing site. Aug. 30-Sept. 5: Atlas 2 rocket retires with remarkable record; Scientists discover a new class of extrasolar planets; Brightest supernova in a decade captured by Hubble; Space station residents complete spacewalk. Aug. 23-29: History-making Titan 4 rocket put on the pad; South polar storms on Saturn spotted by Cassini; Boeing's Delta 4-Heavy rocket is revealed; Tiny 'David' telescope finds 'Goliath' planet. More news  See our weekly archive of space news. Contact us If you have a comment or question for Spaceflight Now, just send us an e-mail.