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Amazing STS-51I flight
Imagine a space shuttle mission in which the astronaut crew launched two commercial and one military communications spacecraft, then conducted a pair of incredible spacewalks to recover, fix and redeploy a satellite that malfunctioned just four months earlier. The rescue mission was a success, starting with an astronaut making a catch of the spinning satellite with just his gloved-hand. Enjoy this post-flight presentation narrated by the astronauts as they tell the story of shuttle Discovery's August 1985 mission known as STS-51I.

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Discovery's debut
In our continuing look back at the classic days of the space shuttle program, today we show the STS-41D post-flight presentation by the mission's astronauts. The crew narrates this film of home movies and mission highlights from space shuttle Discovery's maiden voyage in August 1984. STS-41D deployed a remarkable three communications satellites -- a new record high -- from Discovery's payload bay, extended and tested a 100-foot solar array wing and even knocked free an icicle from the shuttle's side using the robot arm.

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"Ride of Your Life"
As the title aptly describes, this movie straps you aboard the flight deck for the thunderous liftoff, the re-entry and safe landing of a space shuttle mission. The movie features the rarely heard intercom communications between the crewmembers, including pilot Jim Halsell assisting commander Bob Cabana during the landing.

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Message from Apollo 8
On Christmas Eve in 1968, a live television broadcast from Apollo 8 offered this message of hope to the people of Earth. The famous transmission occurred as the astronauts orbited the Moon.

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ISS receives supply ship
The International Space Station receives its 20th Russian Progress cargo ship, bringing the outpost's two-man Expedition 12 crew a delivery of fresh food, clothes, equipment and special holiday gifts just in time for Christmas.

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Rendezvous with ISS
This movie features highlights of the December 23 rendezvous between the Russian Progress 20P vessel and the International Space Station. The footage comes from a camera mounted on the supply ship's nose.

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Stardust return preview
NASA's Stardust spacecraft encountered Comet Wild 2 two years ago, gathering samples of cometary dust for return to Earth. In this Dec. 21 news conference, mission officials and scientists detail the probe's homecoming and planned landing in Utah scheduled for January 15, 2006.

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Science of New Horizons
The first robotic space mission to visit the distant planet Pluto and frozen objects in the Kuiper Belt is explained by the project's managers and scientists in this NASA news conference from the agency's Washington headquarters on Dec. 19.

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New views of icy moons
NASA's Cassini spacecraft orbiting Saturn is wrapping up a phenomenally successful year of observing the mysterious icy moons, including Enceladus, Dione, Rhea, Hyperion and Iapetus.

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Cassini's maps of several Saturn moons released
CASSINI PHOTO RELEASE
Posted: January 2, 2006


Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
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Dione: This global digital map of Saturn's moon Dione was created using data taken during Cassini and Voyager spacecraft flybys. The map is an equidistant projection and has a scale of 977 meters (3,205 feet) per pixel.

The mean radius of Dione used for projection of this map is 560 kilometers (348 miles). The resolution of the map is 10 pixels per degree.


Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
Download larger image version here

 
Enceladus: This global digital map of Saturn's moon Enceladus was created using data taken during Cassini and Voyager spacecraft flybys. The map is an equidistant projection and has a scale of 110 meters (361 feet) per pixel.

The mean radius of Enceladus used for projection of this map is 252 kilometers (157 miles). The resolution of the map is 40 pixels per degree.


Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
Download larger image version here

 
Iapetus: This global digital map of Saturn's moon Iapetus was created using data taken during Cassini and Voyager spacecraft flybys. The map is an equidistant projection and has a scale of 641 meters (2,103 feet) per pixel.

Some territory seen in this map was imaged by Cassini using reflected light from Saturn.

The mean radius of Iapetus used for projection of this map is 735 kilometers (457 miles). The resolution of the map is 20 pixels per degree.


Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
Download larger image version here

 
Mimas: This global digital map of Saturn's moon Mimas was created using data taken during Cassini and Voyager spacecraft flybys. The map is an equidistant projection and has a scale of 434 meters (1,424 feet) per pixel.

The mean radius of Mimas used for projection of this map is 199 kilometers (124 miles). The resolution of the map is 8 pixels per degree.


Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
Download larger image version here

 
Phoebe: This global digital map of Saturn's moon Phoebe was created using data taken during the Cassini spacecraft's close flyby of the small moon in June 2004. The map is an equidistant projection and has a scale of 233 meters (764 feet) per pixel.

The mean radius of Phoebe used for projection of this map is 107 kilometers (66 miles). The resolution of the map is 8 pixels per degree.


Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
Download larger image version here

 
Rhea: This global digital map of Saturn's moon Rhea was created using data taken during Cassini and Voyager spacecraft flybys. The map is an equidistant projection and has a scale of 667 meters (2,188 feet) per pixel.

The mean radius of Rhea used for projection of this map is 764 kilometers (475 miles). The resolution of the map is 20 pixels per degree.


Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
Download larger image version here

 
Tethys: This global digital map of Saturn's moon Tethys was created using data taken during Cassini and Voyager spacecraft flybys. The map is an equidistant projection and has a scale of 293 meters (961 feet) per pixel.

The mean radius of Tethys used for projection of this map is 536 kilometers (333 miles). The resolution of the map is 32 pixels per degree.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.