Spaceflight Now

Sunday: December 8, 2002		0601 GMT

Endeavour shuttles station residents back to Earth Running three days late, the shuttle Endeavour finally glided back to Earth Saturday - just one day before the astronauts would have run out of clean air - leaving a fresh crew behind on the international space station and bringing their three predecessors home after a marathon six-month stay in orbit. FULL STORY MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates ENTRY AND LANDING TIMELINE
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Saturn's moon Titan may hold clues to origin of life Enshrouded in an atmosphere impenetrable to the visible light, Saturn's largest moon has never revealed its surface. No one has been able to see through the orange-brown atmospheric haze and admire the unknown world below. FULL STORY

Saturday: December 7, 2002		0237 GMT

Endeavour landing scrubbed for third day The shuttle Endeavour's hard-luck crew was forced to pass up two more Florida landing opportunities Friday because of dismal weather at the Kennedy Space Center. The astronauts now are setting their sights on a landing Saturday, in Florida or California, to finally bring their marathon mission to a close after a record fourth extension day. FULL STORY MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates

Space station action plan approved The leaders of the five space agencies that are International Partners in the International Space Station met Friday in Tokyo and concluded work on the 2002 Program Action Plan. FULL STORY

NASA selects four Mars Scout concepts for study In the first step of a two-step process, NASA selected four proposals for detailed study as candidates for the 2007 "Scout" mission in the agency's Mars Exploration Program. The selection process is the first fully competed opportunity for scientific missions to the Red Planet. FULL STORY

Friday: December 6, 2002		0230 GMT

Shuttle Endeavour landing delayed to Friday Slim hopes dashed, NASA managers Thursday morning ordered the shuttle Endeavour's crew to forego any afternoon landing attempts and to remain in orbit until at least Friday because of low clouds, high winds and rain at the Kennedy Space Center. FULL STORY MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates WEDNESDAY'S LANDING DELAY STORY LANDING PREVIEW STORY ENTRY AND LANDING TIMELINE MASTER FLIGHT PLAN NASA TV SCHEDULE
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Hubble sees double bubble in neighboring galaxy A unique peanut-shaped cocoon of dust, called a reflection nebula, surrounds a cluster of young, hot stars in this view from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. The "double bubble," called N30B, is inside a larger nebula. Hubble captures the glow of fluorescing hydrogen and sulfur, as well as the brilliant blue-white colors of the hot stars. FULL STORY

New research explores past, present water on Mars A pair of studies published this week reveals that while Mars may not have been as warm and wet as once thought, it does have substantial amounts of water ice, including newly-discovered deposits near the planet's south pole. FULL STORY

Thursday: December 5, 2002		00757 GMT

NASA communications relay craft rides Atlas into space Blasted into orbit Wednesday by Lockheed Martin's final Atlas 2A booster, an advanced replacement satellite is en route to join NASA's flotilla of communications spacecraft designed to relay Hubble's dazzling views of the cosmos, link astronauts and mission control and track launching rockets. FULL STORY MISSION STATUS CENTER LAUNCH EVENTS TIMELINE TDRS-J FACT SHEET

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Shuttle Endeavour's landing delayed at least 24 hours Entry flight director Wayne Hale, faced with deteriorating weather at the Kennedy Space Center, called off a second attempt to land the shuttle Endeavour Wednesday and delayed re-entry at least 24 hours. NASA's Spaceflight Meteorology Group is predicting solidly "no-go" conditions Thursday, raising the prospect of a delay to at least Friday and possibly longer. FULL STORY MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates LANDING PREVIEW STORY ENTRY AND LANDING TIMELINE MASTER FLIGHT PLAN NASA TV SCHEDULE

Wednesday: December 4, 2002		0450 GMT

Endeavour homeward bound, weather permitting While there's a chance of rain and even thundershowers near the Kennedy Space Center this afternoon, NASA Spaceflight Meteorology Group is predicting a 70 percent chance of acceptable weather for the shuttle Endeavour's planned landing. Touchdown on runway 15 is targeted for 3:48 p.m. EST. FULL STORY ENTRY AND LANDING TIMELINE MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates MASTER FLIGHT PLAN NASA TV SCHEDULE

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Crew looks ahead to landing Shuttle commander James Wetherbee says his crew has more than enough food, fuel and other supplies to remain in orbit a few extra days if the weather doesn't permit an on-time landing Wednesday. But just in case, the shuttle skipper said the crew is foregoing second helpings. FULL STORY

Station arm transporter to be moved before spacewalk NASA flight controllers now plan to move the space station's $190 million robot arm transporter back to its central work site on the lab's solar array truss just before a spacewalk Dec. 12 by Expedition 6 commander Kenneth Bowersox and flight engineer Nikolai Budarin. FULL STORY

Atlas rocket to launch NASA's TDRS-J satellite The last in the line of Lockheed Martin Atlas 2A rockets will fly tonight, if all goes according to plan, to launch the final satellite in NASA's advanced series of tracking and data relay spacecraft. Liftoff is scheduled for 9:42 p.m. EST from Cape Canaveral, Florida. MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates! LATEST WEATHER FORECAST LAUNCH EVENTS TIMELINE TDRS-J FACT SHEET

Tuesday: December 3, 2002		0607 GMT

Endeavour leaves station With pilot Paul Lockhart at the controls, the shuttle Endeavour undocked from the international space station Monday, leaving a fresh three-man crew behind and ending seven days of work to install and activate a new solar array truss segment. Later in the day, the shuttle launched two tiny picosats connected by a 50-foot tether. FULL STORY UNDOCKING PREVIEW STORY UNDOCKING TIMELINE

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Hubble precisely measures distant planet's true mass Hubble Space Telescope's crisp view has allowed an international team of astronomers to apply a previously unproven technique (called astrometry) for making a precise measurement of the mass of a planet outside our solar system. FULL STORY

Simulating cosmic explosions A $22 million contract from the U.S. Department of Energy will help the University of Chicago's Center for Astrophysical Thermonuclear Flashes model the turbulent mix and flow of gases that trigger exploding stars over the next five years. FULL STORY

Monday: December 2, 2002		0501 GMT

NASA's TDRS-J satellite to launch Wednesday The third member in a trio of advanced tracking and data relay spacecraft for NASA heads into orbit this week, joining a satellite constellation that has linked Earth and space for nearly 20 years. The TDRS-J satellite is scheduled for blastoff at 9:42 p.m. EST Wednesday aboard an Atlas 2A rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida. MISSION STATUS CENTER LATEST WEATHER FORECAST TDRS-J FACT SHEET LAUNCH EVENTS TIMELINE

News Archive
Nov. 25-Dec. 1: Russian Proton mission fails; Go for a ride on Endeavour; New station crew takes over; Station grows with addition of another truss; Ariane 5 launch aborted.

Nov. 18-24: Boeing's Delta 4 rocket debuts successfully; Endeavour launches to continue building station; Fast-flying black hole yields clues to supernova origin; Two supermassive black holes found in same galaxy.

Nov. 11-17: Boeing delays debut launch of Delta 4 rocket; Endeavour launch delayed by oxygen leak, robot arm accident; Exceptionally bright eruption on Jovian moon Io; New evidence for dark energy in the Universe; Black hole at Milky Way's center is on starvation diet.

Nov. 4-10: A spectacular solar show; Soyuz returns to Earth; Endeavour ready to fly; Mars glows in X-rays; Hubble shows an old star that gave up the ghost; Stunning views of Mt. Etna eruption from space station; Galileo enters safe mode during last science mission; Cargo mounted atop Delta 4 as debut launch nears.

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The ultimate Apollo 11 DVD

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Gemini 12

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Fallen Heroes special patch

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Soviet Space

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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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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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Gemini 12

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STS-134 Patch

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The final planned flight of space shuttle Endeavour is symbolized in the official embroidered crew patch for STS-134. Available in our store!

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Final Shuttle Mission Patch

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The crew emblem for the final space shuttle mission is now available in our store. Get this piece of history!

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Apollo Collage

This beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.

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STS-133 Patch

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The final planned flight of space shuttle Discovery is symbolized in the official embroidered crew patch for STS-133. Available in our store!

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Anniversary Shuttle Patch

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This embroidered patch commemorates the 30th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Program. The design features the space shuttle Columbia's historic maiden flight of April 12, 1981.

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Mercury anniversary

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Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Alan Shephard's historic Mercury mission with this collectors' item, the official commemorative embroidered patch.

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Fallen Heroes Patch Collection

The official patches from Apollo 1, the shuttle Challenger and Columbia crews are available in the store.

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Station Calendar

NEW! This beautiful 12" by 12" wall calendar features stunning images of the International Space Station and of the people, equipment, and space craft associated with it, as it takes shape day by day in orbit high above the Earth.

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