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Sunday:
December 19, 1999 | |
1615 GMT |
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Discovery poised for another launch attempt
NASA has cleared space shuttle Discovery for a final try at launching in 1999. Liftoff is planned for 7:50 p.m. EST tonight (0050 GMT Monday) on a shortened 8-day mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. The past two days have ended in scrubs for Discovery due to poor weather. See our 'Mission Status Center' for the very latest news on the flight.
MISSION STATUS CENTER
MISSION PREVIEW
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Ariane 4 rocket set for Tuesday night launch
Arianespace has cleared an Ariane 44L rocket to launch PanAmSat's Galaxy 11 spacecraft on Tuesday night. The European company made the decision following its launch readiness review on Saturday in Kourou, French Guiana. Galaxy 11 will be the largest commercial communications satellite ever launched. Liftoff is planned for 7:50 p.m. EST Tuesday (0050 GMT Wednesday), the opening of a 30-minute window.
EARLIER STORY
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Galileo sees dazzling lava fountain on Jovian moon Io
During a recent close flyby of Jupiter's moon Io, NASA's Galileo spacecraft observed a fiery lava fountain shooting more than a mile above the moon's surface.
FULL STORY
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Saturday:
December 18, 1999 | |
1950 GMT |
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Atlas rocket launches NASA's Terra satellite
The first Atlas-Centaur rocket to launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California was a success Saturday. The Lockheed Martin Atlas 2AS vehicle placed NASA's Terra environmental research satellite into near-polar orbit. Read a full report on the countdown and launch in Spaceflight Now's Mission Status Center.
MISSION STATUS CENTER
LAUNCH PHOTO GALLERY
ATLAS INDEX
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Bad weather delays Discovery's launch again
Tonight's launch of space shuttle Discovery has been scrubbed due to the forecast of poor weather at Kennedy Space Center. NASA officials will meet in the morning to decide whether to make another attempt to launch on Sunday at 7:50 p.m. EST (0050 GMT Monday). For the latest news see Spaceflight Now's Mission Status Center.
MISSION STATUS CENTER
COUNTDOWN SUMMARY
MISSION PREVIEW
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Friday:
December 17, 1999 | |
0515 GMT |
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Discovery poised to launch
NASA is trying again tonight to launch space shuttle Discovery on its nine-day mission to fix the crippled Hubble Space Telescope, but bad weather is threatening to scrub the launch. For the latest news see Spaceflight Now's Mission Status Center.
MISSION STATUS CENTER
COUNTDOWN SUMMARY
MISSION PREVIEW
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Atlas launch of NASA's Terra slips to Saturday
The second attempt to launch a Lockheed Martin Atlas rocket and NASA's Terra satellite will not occur today after all. Officials decided late Thursday that more time was needed to complete a check of ground software and allow team members to rest. Launch is now scheduled for Saturday from California. Follow the countdown and launch with Spaceflight Now's Mission Status Center.
MISSION STATUS CENTER
ATLAS INDEX
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Moss on the sun found by NASA's Trace probe
A new feature near the surface of the Sun, termed "solar moss" because its weird, sponge-like appearance resembles the plant, has been discovered by astronomers using NASA's Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE) spacecraft.
FULL STORY
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DAILY BRIEFING Other stories making news today
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ISS controllers work power, docking system issues -- The International Space Station in orbit around Earth continues its life without any major issues. However, controllers are spending time watching over battery recharging and troubleshooting a problem with the station's automatic docking system.
NASA's FAST spacecraft discovers invisible aurora -- Researchers using NASA's Fast Auroral Snapshot (FAST) spacecraft have established the presence of the invisible aurora as a companion to the familiar visible aurora.
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NEWSWIRE Links to news across the internet
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Scientists look to Jupiter's moon for possible life -- (Reuters/Yahoo!) Scientists looking for possible alien life are focusing on Jupiter's moon Europa, where huge cracks in the surface indicate that a massive liquid ocean may be sloshing under an icy crust.
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Thursday:
December 16, 1999 | |
1905 GMT |
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Atlas rocket grounded by last-minute glitch
An Atlas 2AS rocket launch was scrubbed in the final minute of the countdown today, keeping the $1.5 billion Terra Earth-observing mission for NASA on the ground for another day. Follow the countdown and launch with Spaceflight Now's Mission Status Center.
MISSION STATUS CENTER
ATLAS INDEX
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Shuttle launch delayed
NASA has postponed by at least 24 hours the much-delayed launch of shuttle Discovery on a 10-day mission to fix the Hubble Space Telescope. This latest delay was caused by concerns about welds in the shuttle's aft engine compartment. For the latest news see Spaceflight Now's Mission Status Center.
MISSION STATUS CENTER
COUNTDOWN SUMMARY
MISSION PREVIEW
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Boeing sets sail with world's newest rocket ship
Today a 312-foot rocket ship will be launched from the banks of the Pascagoula River in Mississippi.The Delta Mariner will be used to ferry Boeing Delta 4
rockets from Decatur, Alabama, to launch sites in Florida and California.
FULL STORY
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NEWSWIRE Links to news across the internet
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Planet may be reflecting starlight -- (AP/Yahoo!) Astronomers say they might have seen the first reflected light from a planet outside our solar system. More than two dozen planets have been discovered in orbit around stars in recent years. But astronomers have never actually seen these planets; they have inferred their existence by looking for a wobble in the star.
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Wednesday:
December 15, 1999 | |
0440 GMT |
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Discovery countdown continues without problems
The first day of the countdown for this week's launch of space shuttle Discovery has gone smoothly with no problems reported. The third shuttle mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope remains scheduled for liftoff at 9:18 p.m. EST Thursday (0218 GMT Friday). Follow the launch countdown and 10-day flight with Spaceflight Now's Mission Status Center.
MISSION STATUS CENTER
COUNTDOWN SUMMARY
MISSION PREVIEW
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Atlas rocket set to launch Thursday from California
The first Atlas-Centaur rocket to launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California stands ready for liftoff on Thursday. The Lockheed Martin Atlas 2AS vehicle will carry NASA's Terra satellite into near-polar orbit from the refurbished Space Launch Complex-3 East. Follow the countdown and launch with Spaceflight Now's Mission Status Center.
MISSION STATUS CENTER
ATLAS INDEX
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Hughes satellite will launch technology to new era
Hughes Space and Communications Company will open a new era in communications satellites with this month's launch of Galaxy 11, the company's first HS 702 satellite, built for PanAmSat Corp.
FULL STORY
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DAILY BRIEFING Other stories making news today
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Europe's XMM telescope boosted to operational orbit -- Ground controllers of the European Space Agency's X-ray Multi-Mirror observatory have maneuvered the craft toward its final orbit over the past few days. XMM was launched into space Friday aboard an Ariane 5 rocket.
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NEWSWIRE Links to news across the internet
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Chinese train for space colonies -- (AP/Yahoo!) China is training astronauts for its fledgling manned space program with the aim of eventually colonizing other planets, a state-run newspaper quoted a leading Chinese aerospace scientist as saying.
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Tuesday:
December 14, 1999 | |
1430 GMT |
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Countdown begins ticking for shuttle Discovery
At long last the launch countdown has begun for space shuttle Discovery and the STS-103 mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope. Clocks started ticking at 1:30 a.m. EST (0630 GMT) today for Thursday's launch. Follow the launch countdown and 10-day flight with Spaceflight Now's Mission Status Center.
MISSION STATUS CENTER
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Chandra ploughs up a snake in Hydra
NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory image of the Hydra A galaxy cluster has revealed a possible solution to a Herculean puzzle about the fate of the largest objects in the universe.
FULL STORY [Astronomy Now]
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DAILY BRIEFING Other stories making news today
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Loral Skynet, EUTELSAT agree on Atlantic orbital slots -- Loral Skynet and EUTELSAT, two of the world's leading satellite operators, Monday signed a far-reaching agreement which clears the way for each of them to pursue business opportunities without risk of mutual interference in the geostationary arc over the Atlantic Ocean between 12.5 degrees West and 15 degrees West.
EUTELSAT Atlantic Gate beams TV to North America -- The first regular television broadcasts to North America from Europe using EUTELSAT's Atlantic Gate satellite capacity began this month with Digitaly, the 24-hour 'image of Italy' channel which features programmes on the multiple facets of Italian culture.
Vandenberg AFB space team wins outstanding unit award -- For the fifth time this decade, the 30th Space Wing received the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award. The award covers the period from Jan. 1, 1998 to Sept. 30, 1999.
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NEWSWIRE Links to news across the internet
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Scientists go to camera in search for Mars lander -- (Reuters/Yahoo!) Scientists will try to learn later this week whether the ill-fated Mars Polar Lander landed on the Martian surface even though they have not been able to make direct contact with the spacecraft, a project scientist on the mission said on Monday.
Brazil scraps satellite series after failed launch -- (Reuters/Yahoo!) Brazil has decided to scrap its current generation of scientific satellites after two botched efforts to blast one into space, but the glitches do not mean the country's space program has failed, scientists said on Monday.
Man is not alone: There may be bacteria out there -- (Reuters/Yahoo!) British scientists vowed Monday to scour the universe in the new millennium for signs of extraterrestrial life but quashed any hopes of finding little green men.
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Monday:
December 13, 1999 | |
2130 GMT |
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Discovery gets green light to visit Hubble this week
NASA today cleared shuttle Discovery for launch Thursday on the long-awaited mission to restore the Hubble Space Telescope to working order.
FULL STORY
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Shuttle Endeavour makes trek to launch pad
NASA rolled space shuttle Endeavour from the Vehicle Assembly Building to launch pad 39A today in preparation for next month's radar mapping mission. The 5 1/2-hour trip began at 6:59 a.m. EST (1159 GMT). The move was delayed nearly a week so workers could replace a suspect main engine on Endeavour. The STS-99 launch date is uncertain because of the engine-related delay.
PHOTO GALLERY
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Terra to lead the way in NASA's Earth research
NASA plans to launch Terra on Thursday, the "flagship" to the Earth Observing System series of satellites. EOS is part of a precedent setting program designed to provide daily information on the health of the planet.
FULL STORY
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Mission seeks first stereo views of solar eruptions
NASA has announced selections of four investigations to be flown on the Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO) mission, planned for launch in 2004. The STEREO mission will for the first time unveil the Sun in three dimensions.
FULL STORY
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