Note: The links below will
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browsers so that they don't take up the entire screen - this way, you will be
able to go back and forth to all the stories without losing your place.
Evidence of liquid water flowing on Mars!
Water=Life???
30 June 2000 - -generation to
from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Station. begins at 7AM EDT.
's cheap satellite network
may provide high-speed Internet access with .
Did you know? NASA has flown an experiment nicknamed "" which simulates atmospheric currents under
micro-gravity conditions. This is like a miniature . The experiment, officially called the , can be
to simulate the interior of the Sun, conditions on early Earth, or the atmospheres of other planets.
29 June 2000 - There could be previously estimated to be trapped
under the surface of !
Experts , saying it could spur a new
arms race. The of the system (launching a dummy ICBM from and intercepting it with a Pacific- island-launched kill vehicle) on 7
July. Some of are now of "rogue states" launching nuclear-tipped rockets.
[see also 26 June 2000].
Boeing's of expendable rockets are ...
towards the center of our galaxy. Maybe it was something it ate?
28 June 2000 - Scientists have plotted the orbits of over . Such a threat is
remote, but not impossible. Here's hoping we can dodge them for another 65
million years!
Europe is planning to launch a series of and detect solar radiations bursts. Two pairs
of ""
sats will launch this summer from Russia's Baikonur facility in Kazakhstan.
- and will work with
Japan to develop the expertise. Malaysia's equatorial location would give
spacecraft an extra boost due to the Earth's rotation (like the way the edge
of a spinning CD moves faster than its center). The same reasoning is behind
the sites for and
.
27 June 2000 - Finally! for the launch of the "Zvezda" component of the
International Space Station. A Proton Rocket will loft the crew quarters
from Baikonur on 12 July 2000. American astronaut Bill Shepherd will , due in October.
The
spacecraft, the first ever to orbit an asteroid, is busily photographing the
Manhattan-sized Eros, as "summer" begins on its southern half.
Break out the barbeque grill! Hit the beach!!
26 June 2000 - Here's an article about a in Kodiak, Alaska. Just a little chillier than Cape Canaveral, eh?
The has on the U.S. plan. President
has
to in a planned
American-Russian missile warning command center, but threatened to resume
building
if the U.S. persists in the
plan. Putin is supported by other in this controversial matter.
[see also 18 June and 5 June 2000].
Wrap up last week's space news at .
25 June 2000 - Water, water, everywhere: Whatever the state of
water currently on ,
astronomers agree that millions of years ago. Now studies are showing that may have been as .
A Native American tribe from Oregon has with the over the use of the , which the . The 100-century-old, iron (good thing, since it weighs 32000 pounds!), with
the for annual ceremonies.
The from the book
, a collection of
Apollo photographs reproduced from the original master negatives. The tour
will be .
24 June 2000 - More on the on the that could be the result of recent (not ancient) water flowing
on the . If confirmed,
it would be the first liquid water discovered off Earth. The atmosphere on
was thought to be too thin and cold for water to remain in liquid state -
though there are icecaps at the poles and clouds in the pinkish red sky. Why
is ? Because it is one of the requirements for life
to arise. Don't look for little green men, though - if such a discovery were
made, it would be - but it would be one of the . Besides that, it would make a - water that's already there can be used for
drinking, oxygen generation, fuel, etc without being lugged there by
spacecraft.
Russia launched a Proton rocket , carrying a communications satellite.
Boeing and won $5 billion (that's Billion with a B!) in from our favorite government agency, NASA.
On TV This Weekend: Tomorrow (Sunday) "," airing at .
23 June 2000 - NASA budget passed, with (but an increase over this year's budget).
Some people who live around NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (in Alabama)
may wind up .
NASA is trying to program after a series of mishaps befuddled the
agency. Follow the , guys!
When the
broke up in 1991, Russia found its primary launch facility (the Baikonur
Cosmodrome) outside of its borders, in
Kazakhstan. Relations between the two former Soviet states have sometimes
been uneasy, but on Monday, they came to an agreement on .
The of to
showed off
some of Wednesday, visiting .
Latest Shuttle Status Report .
22 June 2000 - UPDATE 11PM EDT -
demonstrated
this morning which show
of recently on
(up to now, such
indicated
ancient sources, or water was locked in the polar icecaps). The
were by JPL's . NASA already had plans to launch another orbiter (called ) next April.
22 June 2000 - NASA will have a to discuss the implications of the
. Check NASA TV schedule
for times. will
show the conference .
ABC News is hosting a with science editor Michael Guillen at 5:30PM EDT. The topic will be the discovery of potentially
life-bearing .
Will NASA for the
's propulsion module?
21 June 2000 - Liquid water on ? The Mars Global Surveyor, a
space-probe which has been orbiting the , reveals of flowing . This is because
any that may have existed was thought to be either frozen or trapped
underground. Liquid water is one of the ingredients to exist. Could there be microbial life on Mars?
More on the (former rocket scientist
) who wants to pay on
Russia's Mir space station. He would become the . Bring plenty of film, and don't drink the
water!
One of the newest jobs out there is a "" forecaster - someone who works on and storms of radiation which could Earth-orbiting satellites. Do you have to wear an ugly blazer?
20 June 2000 - Today is the - the
of the year.
Happy Summer! (or if you're reading this
from the Southern Hemisphere, Happy Winter!)
So, just who wants to be a
?
The privately-financed, remote-controlled Lunar Rover due to go up in
2003 will have a - Radio Shack! [See also 16
June 2000].
People in Huntsville, Alabama who worked with Wernher von Braun in the
50s and 60s have - and defend their reputations
against those who claim that they were just evil scientists doing Hitler's
bidding in the V-2 rocket factories during World War 2.
Did you know that back in the 80s, the Soviet Union copied the
unclassified plans for America's Space Shuttle? Only one of their 4 ever flew in space (remote-controlled and unmanned - and with
some improvements over NASA's design). One of the
others, which has flown in atmospheric tests, is now in .
Its fate? A !
19 June 2000 - NASA to launch to "eavesdrop" on early universe.
no interference from Earth-bound
sources means clearer reception of distant emissions.
Latest status report .
Latest Shuttle status report .
Did you know? Liberty Bell 7, the recovered from the
ocean floor, was the - it was a half-mile deeper than the Titanic! about how the hatch may have blown, which caused
the spacecraft to sink to the bottom of the Pacific after splashdown. [see also 14 June].
What is , and how will this advanced technology help cut mission time
for deep-space probes?
Wrap up last week's space news at .
18 June 2000 -
Happy Father's Day! Space TV special on
[see also 17 June].
Is America's all it's cracked up to be?
Cosmonauts and
say that life aboard the
is getting .
Hey, it was only supposed to last (it's 14 now).
Today In Space History: The 17th anniversary () of the
of
(Shuttle ),
the
(the ).
Mission Facts
and ;
Crew info ;
Image collections . The flight featured several science
experiments, and the deployment of two comm satellites.
's
landing was diverted to , instead of the planned KSC landing
site, due to bad weather at the Cape. On this mission, became the - only the to achieve this goal!
have followed since then.
It was also the largest crew (5 astronauts) to fly up to that time. Ride
also became the in space.
17 June 2000 - Despite the success of the recent Russian mission to the aging
, the future of the
last vestige of the Soviet space program is . If private investors can keep the station going, an is willing to pay $20 million for a trip there, becoming the
.
NASA to launch "Gravity Probe B" to Of Relativity.
Molecules of a . Sugar compounds
are one of the building blocks of life.
On TV This Weekend: Tomorrow at 8PM EDT, (on cable channel
) will
premier "". Check for airtimes elsewhere. If you miss it Sunday, .
16 June 2000 - The Mir cosmonauts returned when their Soyuz TM-30 capsule , ending a to the Russian space outpost.
A shows that most Americans are in favor of their going to . Now if we
could actually go somewhere outside low Earth orbit...
A
is developing a than can be around the lunar surface.
15 June 2000 -
cosmonauts return to ! UPDATE 8:30PM EDT: Cosmonauts and
have
their capsule from the ,
and are to touch down in
(their main ) at 8:43 PM EDT.
press release .
The crew made for a future expedition to the
orbiting ,
but it is will actually .
This week's full moon will appear larger than usual - find out why .
Could a cut the time it would take to get people to Mars? NASA is
teaming up with a to
find out. , the head of plasma propulsion research at NASA
Houston (and a Shuttle veteran), says that NASA could conduct an orbital
test flight "as early as 2004".
14 June 2000 - After on the ocean floor, 's Mercury capsule, which , has been
restored and is on display at NASA's KSC, where it was launched in 1961.
Who is ""? Just the automated
astronaut assistant that we heard about on 9
June 2000. "He" will be controlled remotely, and have cameras for eyes.
The deserts of Nevada are standing in for the surface of Mars, as NASA
researches a for a possible 2003 mission to the .
Today In Space History: 25 years ago today (), the
Soviet Union launched the probe, which would land on the surface of , four months later.
The lander, a twin of the Venera 9 probe launched days
earlier, returned some of the , before the planet's corrosive
atmosphere and crushing pressure silenced the
little over an hour after touchdown.
13 June 2000 - The two cosmonauts aboard Russia's Mir space
station are scheduled to , and a is being planned for November.
Is the totally dead? Some people have seen
,
possibly from gas escaping from the
interior (I hate it when
that happens!)
an instrument for the International Space Station.
12 June 2000 -
starts Tuesday at .
SeaWinds instrument helps weather satellite more quickly.
Wrap up last week's space news at .
11 June 2000 - seen & heard for miles around!
Here's another piece on the
of the .
Latest
status report . NASA states:
With the addition of mission STS-106 to the International Space Station
Assembly sequence, the assignments originally planned for STS-101 were split
between the two missions. While at the International Space Station, the
STS-106 astronauts will conduct at least one space walk to perform tasks
linked to the presence of the service module. Also, they will transfer
various supplies to outfit the station in preparation for the first resident
crew, which is scheduled to launch Oct. 30.
More
shorts from UPI...
10 June 2000 - reports that
found in a indicate that the may have existed in the of the .
Wrap up this week's meeting of the . Each day's summary contains .
As we
the of the , the perennial question comes up - when
first stepped on the ???
9 June 2000 - reveals new
of , (including a !), thanks to the
telescope's . New theories on were also presented.
Futurists say that lunar materials contain almost everything needed to , without hauling supplies from [See also 6 June 2000].
, but the Earth's is settling
down after this week's increase in activity [See also 8
June 2000, 7 June 2000].
is developing a that someday may be used to help
astronauts! It features a , like lifting a small object with
tweezers. "Mr. Data, please report to the Bridge!"
Keep your eyes on the prize - the , that is! The $10 million award goes to the first team that can
put a spacecraft 100 kilometers up, with a crew of 3 aboard - and do it
twice within 14 days!. on some of the entries.
8 June 2000 - U.S. Congress approves , but some will still have to be cut.
Latest Status Report
. NASA states:
Workers removed the SPACEHAB module from Atlantis' payload bay on Monday at
Kennedy Space Center, Fla. Workers have also removed the main engine heat
shield. Atlantis' three main engines are scheduled to be removed Thursday
night. Over the weekend, workers will drain residual reactants from the
orbiter maneuvering system and auxiliary power unit lines. Atlantis is
slated to launch no earlier than Sept. 8 on STS-106.
What are "Ultra High-Energy ", and how is one of history's finding them?
on the and which are this . Better get out the sunscreen lotion!
[See also 7 June 2000].
announces of !
French rocket manufacturer
has signed the in the history of Europe’s space industry.
Astronaut photographs of the can on
the ground .
The space-probe this week, as . The 's other sensors are
, and it continues to orbit an
asteroid named .
Today In Space History: 25 years ago today (), the
Soviet Union launched the unmanned probe, which would land on the surface of Venus, four months later.
The lander returned the , before the planet's corrosive
atmosphere and crushing pressure silenced the
less than an hour after touchdown. Venera 9 was the .
7 June 2000 - : charged may and , but at least we'll get a
out of it!
For the first time ever, a was used to shoot down a short-range rocket in a
simulation. What's next, photon torpedoes??
What is required for the next generation of spaceships? It will take ! One group of engineers is working on a
spacecraft design that will travel , but without any engines or fuel. How
will it work? It's a !
: The former Soviet
republic is now free to send up as many rockets as it wants - (maybe from
its new platform?)
from
on Tuesday, aboard a Proton rocket like the one that will boost modules into orbit. The , at NASA's urging, to overcome problems with the engines
which caused some previous models to explode.
6 June 2000 - Scientists from all over the U.S. are meeting at this week to discuss, among other topics, how astronauts on missions to the Moon or Mars
could be more self-sufficient and .
OK skywatchers, this week is your big chance to catch a glimpse of . The closest planet to our is usually masked by sunlight, making
it difficult to spot. gives tips for viewing . NASA plans to
an
there in 2004.
Latest from .
NASA states:
At Kennedy Space Center, technicians begin preparations to remove Space Shuttle
Atlantis' three main engines, which will occur later this week. Also,
post-flight evaluations show that the orbiter's auxiliary power converter
unit No. 1 does not need to be replaced. Atlantis will launch on STS-106 no earlier than Sept. 8.
Workers disconnected the payload from the
over the weekend, removing the payload yesterday.
Have found a way to move particles ???
Hubble bubbles?
has detected a super-massive in galaxy
NGC 4438. As you may know, black holes are the remains of certain collapsed
stars, whose matter is so dense that it forms a gravitational field so
powerful that ! Black holes can only be detected by
the "event horizon" around them, where swirling gas heats up and
emits radiation as it is being sucked into the "gravity well".
About , and it appears that seem to get that way by .
More on with , who will put the
extensive [See also 3 June 2000]...
5 June 2000 - U.S. President to discuss plans. They reached a
to maintain a in Moscow, and to . (OK, so just - doesn't it remain radioactive for thousands of years???).
U.S. plans to build a system to shoot down ICBMs, but the talks
were characterized as positive overall.
debuted its hi-tech "glass cockpit" on
its recent flight. Read about how the 1970s-era mechanical gauges and green
screens were replaced with new color flat-panel displays .
Latest Shuttle Status report .
X-ray telescope detects a
driving a
winds away from it!
More on how aurorae () are formed...
Wrap up last week's space news at .
4 June 2000 - Compton Update - 11:30AM EDT - More
news stories on the of the 17-ton ,
which was
with a series of thruster firings designed to reduce its
370-mile altitude and in a remote stretch of the . The of the spacecraft that survived reentry around 3AM EDT (last
night/this morning). The of one more of its 3 gyroscopes would have
meant a uncontrolled re-entry, so NASA chose to . Neil Gehrels,
project scientist for the observatory at NASA Goddard, explained:
We agree that risk to civilians should be minimized - it's just that the , aside from the failure of 2 of its 3 stabilizing
gyros. Couldn't NASA have sent up a repair mission - or is the discovery of
black holes, and the violent radiation bursts produced by dying stars, a
harder sell than the spectacular images produced by the ?
[See also 3 June, 2 June &
28 May 2000].
4 June 2000 - Compton Update - 3:00AM EDT - SPLASHDOWN!
has , and debris continues to fall harmlessly in
the target area (nice shot, guys!).
There will be a NASA press conference at 6AM EDT (possibly carried on ).
We're signing off for tonight - check back later today for
.
4 June 2000 - Compton Update - 2:25AM EDT - The crew at
are saying their goodbyes and congratulating
themselves, as confirms that
the
has re-entered the atmosphere. One software engineer quipped that it was
only the first time that the on-board computer had ever taken a hit! of the satellite, but agreed that safety
factors demanded its destruction.
4 June 2000 - Compton Update - 2:10AM EDT - NASA reports that
the
is now tumbling in a controlled (???) descent, with the spacecraft heating up from friction with the atmosphere.
It is breaking up, and reentry is expected within 10-20 minutes!
is monitoring the
falling debris (as well as looking out for incoming nukes!)
4 June 2000 - Compton Update - 1:55AM EDT - NASA reports that the fourth thruster firing ("burn")
is complete, and has exceeded the minimum time required to place the
spacecraft in the target area - the southeastern Pacific Ocean. has links to more
stories at the , ,
and .
4 June 2000 - Compton Update - 1:00AM EDT - The
splashdown time is now estimated at 3AM EDT, with the fourth and due to begin around 1:20AM EDT.
is the , having been
deployed from Atlantis in 1991 on the
mission. In 2005, a satellite called
will take over observation of gamma-ray bursts, the most violent events in
the universe. Until then, will have to suffice.
4 June 2000 - Compton Update - 12:30AM EDT - Engineers at
NASA's
in Greenbelt, Maryland are in the process of sending commands to the 17-ton , so that it may be brought down in a
. It
is down to its last working gyro, and that if the last one fails, the orbiting telescope , possibly resulting in property damage or loss of life.
The
is scheduled to come down 2500 miles southeast of Hawaii this morning
between 3AM - 4AM EDT. Six tons of debris is expected to fall into the
ocean, but to be well away from the area. The . This is the .
We feel that the CGRO could still produce valuable science,
especially in parallel with the
observatory ("sees" X-rays) and the ("sees" visible light). in space rarely penetrate the 's atmosphere, and so
should have planned ahead for a repair mission similar to .
3 June 2000 - The third of 4 de-orbit burns to bring down the
happens . The giant telescope is due for a and . Watch for live coverage! [See also 2
June & 28 May 2000].
Could , be behind the ?
Just how common are ? Maybe more than you think!
NASA has signed a with a company called
to place cameras aboard the and
the Space Shuttle fleet. The plan is to create a searchable database of
space imagery,
(for "standard images" - whatever that means - but with a price on the
hi-res stuff).
is getting ready for the next Shuttle mission,
. NASA reports:
Preparations continue
for STS-106, a mission to the International Space Station. The seven-member
crew is scheduled to launch no earlier than Sept. 8 on Space Shuttle
Atlantis. Meanwhile, Atlantis is in the Orbiter Processing Facility
undergoing post-flight inspection.
You think it's tough sending rockets into space? Try it when you have to
worry about from your launch site!
Is NASA chief nearing the , or just getting started?
2 June 2000 - So, why did the need its orbit boosted - isn't it only a couple of years old? Find out how
the Sun and atmospheric drag . Also, see yesterday's status report
.
NASA states:
Following the visit by Space
Shuttle Atlantis, the International Space Station continues to orbit the
Earth in excellent shape. Zarya's four new batteries and two existing
batteries are working normally. Zvezda is scheduled to launch from the
Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan between July 8 and 14. A final launch date
will be determined later in June. Friday, the Proton rocket that will carry
Zvezda into orbit will arrive in Baikonur by train.
More on Jupiter's moon ...
The bus-sized has
into Earth's atmosphere,
with a into the Pacific Ocean on Sunday. [See also 28 May 2000]
What is the "", and should you worry when fire it up???
- could its be from the
Today In Space History: It's the 2nd anniversary () of the
of
(Shuttle ),
the
(the ).
Mission Facts
and ;
Crew info ;
Image collections ;
News coverage
and . The
was the 9th and final , recovering NASA astronaut from ,
and "dropping off" Russian space chief and retired cosmonaut to inspect the station.
1 June 2000 - captures of surrounding the Earth. The
spacecraft,
launched this past March, has been called "."
More on the of the nearby asteroid Eros...
captures of the Crab Nebula, (remnants of a star that )!
New planet Mercury photos on and ,
captured by a from
.
Now that on the ground, at the "Shuttle Garage"? NASA reports:
Preparations continue for STS-106,
the next shuttle mission to the International Space Station. The STS-106
crew will fly aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis and will launch no earlier
than Sept. 8. STS-106 will follow the arrival of the Zvezda Service
Module, which is scheduled to launch in July.
On Monday, Atlantis completed
STS-101, which was also a mission to the station. Atlantis is in the
Orbiter Processing Facility and routine post-flight inspections and
vehicle safing continue on schedule.
