Spaceflight Now

Sunday: October 26, 2003		0001 GMT

Earth monitoring satellite goes silent A $587 million environmental research satellite launched 10 months ago stopped communicating Saturday and is feared dead in space. The Advanced Earth Observing Satellite 2, nicknamed Midori 2, is a joint mission between the Japanese and U.S. space programs to monitor our planet's health from orbit. FULL STORY

Saturday: October 25, 2003		0133 GMT

Green mineral indicates red planet is dry The presence of a common green mineral on Mars suggests that the red planet could have been cold and dry since the mineral has been exposed, which may be more than a billion years according to new research appearing in the current edition of Science. FULL STORY

Five-segment shuttle solid rocket booster test fired The most powerful Space Shuttle Reusable Solid Rocket Motor ever tested pushed beyond typical launch performance boundaries at a Utah test facility Thursday. The five-segment test motor, which ran for 128 seconds and generated more than 3.6 million pounds of thrust, appeared to perform flawlessly. FULL STORY

Video coverage for subscribers only: VIDEO: PRE-TEST VIEWS OF THE BOOSTER QT VIDEO: FIVE-SEGMENT SOLID ROCKET BOOSTER IS TEST FIRED QT VIDEO: CAMERA VIEW FORWARD OF THE SOLID ROCKET BOOSTER QT VIDEO: CLOSE-UP VIEW OF BOOSTER NOZZLE DURING FIRING QT VIDEO: THE FIRING AS SEEN FROM VIEWING SITE QT SUBSCRIBE NOW
IN OTHER NEWS Additional stories making news today

Bankruptcy Court approves Loral's sale of satellites to Intelsat -- Loral Space & Communications announced Friday that the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York has approved the sale of Loral's North American satellites for up to $1.1 billion to Intelsat. As previously reported, Intelsat was the high bidder in an auction held October 20. Leading air and space historians to present symposium -- Daredevil pilots of the barnstorming era, bold entrepreneurs and military strategists of the 30s and 40s, and the visionaries and down-to-earth managers of the Space Age are a few of the aerospace leaders to be profiled at a day-long public symposium, "Realizing the Dream of Flight."

Friday: October 24, 2003		0521 GMT

NASA scientist dives into perfect space storm Newly uncovered scientific data of recorded history's most massive space storm is helping a NASA scientist investigate its intensity and the probability that what occurred on Earth and in the heavens almost a century-and-a-half ago could happen again. FULL STORY

Sun erupts with intense activity Forecasters at the NOAA Space Environment Center observed two dynamic areas of the sun, one of which has produced a coronal mass ejection. The forecasters are predicting a strong geomagnetic storm, G-3 on the NOAA Space Weather Scales, that should reach Earth on Friday. FULL STORY

Space station residents say conditions safe Despite media reports of some NASA managers voting against launching the Expedition 8 crew to the International Space Station due to broken environmental monitoring and exercise equipment, the astronauts said Thursday during an in-flight news conference that they are not worried about the situation, calling the reports "overblown."

Video coverage for subscribers only: VIDEO: IN-FLIGHT NEWS CONFERENCE WITH STATION RESIDENTS QT VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS INTERVIEWED BY CABLE NEWS NETWORK QT VIDEO: CREW INTERVIEWED BY CBS NEWS QT SUBSCRIBE NOW
Thursday: October 23, 2003		0134 GMT

Mars Global Surveyor snaps images of craters Craters formed by meteor impact are the "tools of the trade" for planetary geologists. Craters have formed on every solid Solar System body, and thus they can be compared to each other and provide insights as to the nature of the object on which the crater occurs. Mars is pocked with craters of a wide range of diameters, some of which are illustrated in these Mars Global Surveyor images. FULL STORY

IN OTHER NEWS Additional stories making news today

Long-lost asteroid Hermes is binary -- The re-discovery of Hermes started early on October 15th by Brian Skiff of the Lowell Observatory Near-Earth-Object Search. Not seen since 1937, asteroid Hermes continues to astonish and excite astronomers worldwide. Further observations revealed this week that Hermes is actually two objects -- called a binary -- circling around one another while about to pass by Earth again. Court approves Loral's agreements with DirecTV and PanAmSat -- Loral Space & Communications announced Wednesday that the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York has authorized Loral subsidiary Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) to execute an existing contract with DIRECTV, Inc., as amended, to complete and deliver the DIRECTV 7S satellite. Astrotech to receive $17.5 million termination payment from Boeing -- Astrotech Space Operations will receive a $17.5 million payment due to the termination of a payload processing contract with The Boeing Company. Boeing indicated that the decision to terminate the contract was based on the downturn of the commercial expendable launch market rather than performance related considerations. Boeing announced earlier this year that it would concentrate on pursuing the U.S. Government launch market.

Wednesday: October 22, 2003		0530 GMT

Station crew will miss the views, but ready for landing After six months of circling the Earth inside the International Space Station, Expedition 7 commander Yuri Malenchenko and NASA science officer Ed Lu are preparing to return home Monday night aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule. FULL STORY

Video coverage for subscribers only: VIDEO: 8-MINUTE NARRATED LOOK BACK AT EXPEDITION 7 QT VIDEO: PROFILES OF YURI MALENCHENKO AND ED LU QT VIDEO: TUESDAY'S IN-FLIGHT INTERVIEW WITH ABC NEWS QT VIDEO: CREW INTERVIEWED BY THE HOUSTON CHRONICLE QT SUBSCRIBE NOW
Scientists seek high-energy extraterrestrial particles With the completion of its hundredth surface detector, the Pierre Auger Observatory, under construction in Argentina, this week became the largest cosmic-ray air shower array in the world. The project so far encompasses a 70-square-mile array of detectors that are tracking the most violent -- and perhaps most puzzling -- processes in the universe. FULL STORY

IN OTHER NEWS Additional stories making news today

ARABSAT buys two Proton rocket launches from ILS -- The Arab Satellite Communications Organization has selected International Launch Services to launch its next two satellites on Proton/Breeze M launch vehicles. With the ARABSAT launches, ILS has received orders this year for seven new Proton missions. Alcatel Space to build payloads for two new Arabsat satellites -- Alcatel Space will provide the payloads of the fourth-generation ARABSAT 4A and ARABSAT 4B satellites for EADS Astrium, prime contractor for the ARABSAT program.

Tuesday: October 21, 2003		0442 GMT

Earth monitoring satellite launched by China The second half of a joint Sino-Brazilian environmental satellite program streaked into space Tuesday, less than a week after China made history with its first manned spaceflight. Liftoff of the Long March 4B rocket occurred at 0316 GMT. FULL STORY

Sea Launch to offer land launches from Baikonur Sea Launch has decided to go forward with plans to offer launch services from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, in addition to its sea-based launches at the Equator. The new offering, Land Launch, will loft medium weight commercial satellites beginning in late 2005. FULL STORY

IN OTHER NEWS Additional stories making news today

Loral accepts Intelsat bid for sale of North American satellites -- Loral Space & Communications announced that Intelsat, Ltd., was the highest bidder in an auction held Monday for Loral's North American telecommunications satellites. The winning bid was $1.1 billion. Foundation awards $17.5 million for Thirty-Meter Telescope plans -- The dream of a giant optical telescope to improve our understanding of the universe and its origin has moved a step closer to reality today. The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation awarded $17.5 million to fund a detailed design study of the Thirty-Meter Telescope. This new grant allows the California Institute of Technology and its partner, the University of California, to proceed with formulating detailed construction plans for the telescope.

Monday: October 20, 2003		1041 GMT

New station residents arrive at their orbiting home Two men who know what it's like to live in orbit for months at a time safely arrived at the International Space Station this morning for a half-year tour-of-duty. Riding inside a Russian Soyuz capsule, the Expedition 8 crew docked to the station at 0716 GMT (3:16 a.m. EDT). FULL STORY MISSION STATUS CENTER

Video coverage for subscribers only: VIDEO: SOYUZ DOCKS TO THE STATION AS SEEN LIVE QT VIDEO: PROFILE OF EXPEDITION 8 COMMANDER FOALE QT VIDEO: PROFILE OF EXPEDITION 8 FLIGHT ENGINEER KALERI QT VIDEO: PROFILE OF SPANISH ASTRONAUT DUQUE QT SUBSCRIBE NOW
Titan 2's Vandenberg launch pad to be torn down The curtain closed on the Titan 2 rocket era Saturday, and now plans are being formulated to deactivate and later tear down the booster's launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. FULL STORY PHOTO TOUR OF THE LAUNCH PAD

Massive stars live fast, blow hard and die young Massive stars lead short, yet spectacular lives, as a new multi-wavelength image from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and optical telescopes shows. The data reveals dramatic details of a portion of the Crescent Nebula, a giant gaseous shell of gas created by powerful winds blowing from the doomed massive star HD 192163. FULL STORY

News Archive
Oct. 13-19: CHINA ORBITS MAN; New crew launches to International Space Station; Military weather satellite finally escapes grasp of hard luck; India successfully launches remote sensing satellite; CONTOUR mishap board completes investigation .

Oct. 6-12: China on the cusp of its first human spaceflight; Expansion of universe once sluggish, now speeding up; Team picked to build NASA hypersonic vehicles; Cape's next-to-last Titan 4 rocket moved to launch pad.

Sept. 29-Oct. 5: NASA moves shuttle launch date target and formally adds new flight; Communications satellite launched from Pacific Ocean; Saturn-bound spacecraft tests Einstein's theory; SMART 1 fires up its ion engine for first time; Hubble makes mosaic of majestic Sombrero Galaxy.

Sept. 22-28: Galileo spacecraft crashes into Jupiter; Ariane trifecta: Moon probe, two other craft launched; Hubble uncovers Uranus' smallest moons yet seen; NASA completes Orbital Space Plane design review; Sharpest ever color view of Mars captured by Hubble; 'Planet-swallowing' giant star identified.

Sept. 15-21: NASA mission management team gets major revamp; First supernovae seeded universe with stuff of life; Prevailing theory about cosmic explosions opposed; Distant star bursts provide key to the origin of galaxies; Problem shuts down Telstar 4 communications satellite.

Sept. 8-14: Titan 4 rocket launches cargo cloaked in secrecy; Farthest, faintest solar system objects found; The slant on Saturn's rings; Sunlight makes asteroids spin in strange ways; MIT researchers reassess asteroid hazards.

More news See our weekly archive of space news.

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Next ISS crew

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Apollo 11 special patch

Special collectors' patch marking the 35th anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 moon landing is now available.

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Inside Apollo mission control

An insider's view of how Apollo flight controllers operated and just what they faced when events were crucial.

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The ultimate Apollo 11 DVD

This exceptional chronicle of the historic Apollo 11 lunar landing mission features new digital transfers of film and television coverage unmatched by any other.

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Next ISS crew

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Final Shuttle Mission Patch

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STS-134 Patch

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Ares 1-X Patch

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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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Project Orion

The Orion crew exploration vehicle is NASA's first new human spacecraft developed since the space shuttle a quarter-century earlier. The capsule is one of the key elements of returning astronauts to the Moon.

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Fallen Heroes Patch Collection

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