News Headlines from Spaceflight now
Sunday, 6th March, 2006
PROBE BUILT TO VISIT ASTEROIDS KILLED IN BUDGET SNARL
A robotic mission to study two of the solar system's largest asteroids has been killed by NASA after months of uncertainty while extensive reviews probed the mission's funding and technical credentials.
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0603/03dawn/
A SHOCKING SURPRISE IN STEPHAN'S QUINTET
This image of the Stephan's Quintet galaxy cluster clearly shows one of the largest shock waves ever seen (green arc). The wave was produced by one galaxy falling toward another at speeds of more than one million miles per hour. The image is made up of data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and a ground-based telescope in Spain.
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0603/03stephan/
NASA, PARTNERS UNVEIL NEW STATION ASSEMBLY SEQUENCE
NASA and its international partners unveiled a new space station assembly sequence Thursday, one that takes into account the looming 2010 end of the shuttle program by deferring science operations in favor of construction flights to ensure completion of the orbital outpost.
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0603/02isssequence/
CREWS BEGIN ASSEMBLING NEXT COMMERCIAL ATLAS 5
Another Atlas 5 launch campaign has commenced at Cape Canaveral for a commercial satellite deployment mission slated for blastoff April 20. Assembly of the Lockheed Martin rocket started Wednesday when the 10-story tall bronze first stage was hoisted upright on the mobile launch platform.
http://spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av008/060302stacking.html
DOES TITAN'S METHANE ORIGINATE UNDERGROUND?
Data from the European Space Agency's Huygens probe have been used to validate a new model of the evolution of Titan, Saturn's largest moon, showing that its methane supply may be locked away in a kind of methane-rich ice.
http://spaceflightnow.com/cassini/060301methane.html
MARS MISSIONS MAPPING POLAR CAPS, IMPACT CRATERS
Two Mars orbiter missions - one from NASA, the other from the European Space Agency - will open new vistas in the exploration of Mars through the use of sophisticated ground-penetrating radars, providing international researchers with the first direct clues about the Red Planet's subsurface structure.
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0603/01mars/
Monday, 27th February, 2006
MARS RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER NEARS ARRIVAL
NASA's $720 million Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission faces a make-or-break milestone March 10 when it fires its main engines for nearly a half hour, slowing the craft enough to slip into orbit around the red planet. If the burn doesn't work or is too short, MRO will race past Mars and on into a useless orbit around the sun.
http://spaceflightnow.com/mars/mro/060224moipreview.html
A BLAST TO CHASE
Possibly similar to what our own Milky Way looks like, Messier 100 is a grand design spiral galaxy that presents an intricate structure, with a bright core and two prominent arms, showing numerous young and hot massive stars as well as extremely hot knots. The galaxy was the target of the European Southern Observatory to perform detailed observations of the newly found supernova SN 2006X.
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0602/26spiral/
SPACECRAFT DETECTS NEW KIND OF COSMIC EXPLOSION
Scientists using NASA's Swift satellite have detected a new kind of cosmic explosion. The event appears to be a precursor to a supernova, which is expected to reach peak brightness in one week.
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0602/25grb/
SATELLITE BACK AFTER 'NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE'
NASA's Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer astronomy satellite is back in full operation, its aging onboard software control system rejuvenated and its mission extended by enterprising scientists and engineers after a near death experience in December 2004.
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0602/25fuse/
MILKY WAY MAP REVEALS MILLIONS OF UNSEEN OBJECTS
Nearly 400 years after Galileo determined the wispy Milky Way actually comprises myriad individual stars, scientists using NASA's Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer have done the same for the "X-ray Milky Way."
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0602/23milkyway/
RHEA'S WISPS IN COLOR
Bright, wispy markings stretch across a region of darker terrain on Saturn's moon Rhea. In this extreme false-color view, the roughly north-south fractures occur within strips of material that are a different color from the surrounding cratered landscape. Subtle differences in the surface composition or grain sizes making up the icy soil could explain the origin of these markings.
http://spaceflightnow.com/cassini/060223rhea.html