
The Mission

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Rocket: Minotaur
Payload: COSMIC
Date: April 14, 2006
Window: 5:10-8:10 p.m. PDT (8:10-11:10 p.m. EDT; 0010-0310 GMT)
Site: SLC 8, Vandenberg Air Force Base, California


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Spaceflight Now +

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Premium video content for our Spaceflight Now Plus subscribers.

New lunar mission
During this NASA news conference on April 10, agency officials unveil the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, that will launch piggyback with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft in October 2008. LCROSS will use the launch vehicle's spent upper stage to crash into the moon's south pole in an explosive search for water.

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LCROSS mission plan
Daniel Andrews, the LCROSS project manager from NASA's Ames Research Center, narrates this animation depicting the mission from launch through impact on the lunar surface.

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STS-1 crew looks back
In this highly entertaining program, commander John Young and pilot Bob Crippen of the first space shuttle crew tell stories and memories from STS-1. The two respected astronauts visited Kennedy Space Center on April 6 to mark the upcoming 25th anniversary of Columbia's maiden voyage.

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STS-41G crew film
The October 1984 flight of space shuttle Challenger featured a diverse set of accomplishments. The Earth Radiation Budget Satellite environmental spacecraft was deployed and a planet-mapping radar was tested. The seven-person crew was led by Bob Crippen and included the first Canadian in space, Marc Garneau, and the first time two women, Sally Ride and Kathryn Sullivan, had flown aboard one flight. Sullivan and Dave Leestma also conducted a spacewalk to demonstrate techniques for refueling satellites. The crew narrates this post-flight film of STS-41G.

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Next station crew
Full coverage of the Expedition 13 crew's launch aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to begin a six-month mission aboard the International Space Station.

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Solar eclipse from ISS
External cameras on the International Space Station captured this incredible footage of the March 29 solar eclipse. The station flew through the eclipse over the Middle East as the moon passed in front of the sun and cast its shadow on the Earth.

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Total solar eclipse
A total solar eclipse occurred March 29. This video from Side, Turkey shows the period of totality when the moon slid between the Earth and Sun. The eclipse revealed the Sun's glowing outer halo of million-degree gas, called the solar corona.

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Pre-launch photo gallery
SPACEFLIGHT NOW Posted: April 14, 2006
Photographers set up their sound-activated cameras around Space Launch Complex 8 on Friday during the final hours before the Minotaur rocket's planned liftoff carrying six atmospheric research satellites. Credit: Gene Blevins/LA Daily News
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Expedition 20
The official embroidered patch for the International Space Station Expedition 20 crew is now available from our stores.
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STS-128 patch
The official embroidered patch for shuttle Discovery's flight to deliver equipment and research gear to the space station.
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Hubble Patch
The official embroidered patch for mission STS-125, the space shuttle's last planned service call to the Hubble Space Telescope, is available for purchase.
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New DVD! One Giant Leap
Hosted by Corbin Bernsen, this award winning documentary marks the 50th anniversary of the U.S. space agency and features exclusive interviews with veteran astronauts.
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Viking patch
This embroidered mission patch celebrates NASA's Viking Project which reached the Red Planet in 1976.
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Shuttle pin
This lapel pin features the official crew emblem for the STS-121 space shuttle mission. The emblem depicts Discovery docked to the International Space Station.
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Apollo 7 DVD
For 11 days the crew of Apollo 7 fought colds while they put the Apollo spacecraft through a workout, establishing confidence in the machine what would lead directly to the bold decision to send Apollo 8 to the moon just 2 months later.
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From the NASA Archives
This three-disc DVD contains rare footage from the pioneering Gemini space missions of the 1960s and an original hour-long documentary.
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