SPACE.com – Fifty yearsago today, the 70-foot (21-meter) tall Juno 1 rocket, a modified Redstonemissile, launched the Explorer I satellite, marking the first U.S. builtpayload to enter Earth orbit. Three of the booster’s four stages fell into theocean while the fourth, which was used to boost Explorer I’s velocity, enteredorbit behind the satellite.
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AFP – The space shuttle Atlantis is tentatively set to launch February 7 on a mission to the International Space Station carrying the European lab Columbus, NASA said.
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NASA managers formally set the launch date of Space Shuttle Atlantis for 7 February at 20:45 CET (14:45 Florida time). Atlantis is set to carry the European Columbus laboratory into orbit.
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SPACE.com – WASHINGTON— The maiden flight of an unmanned European cargo ship is just one of several oftightly-packed arrivals and departures coming up for the International SpaceStation (ISS).
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SPACE.com – Twospacewalking astronauts brought the International Space Station (ISS) a stepcloser to full power Wednesday after replacing a broken motor at the base ofone of their orbiting lab’s wing-like solar arrays.
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SPACE.com – Five years after NASA’s shuttle Columbia disintegratedduring reentry and killed seven astronauts, the agency looks to test new safetyfeatures even beyond the upcoming launch of the Atlantis orbiter.
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SPACE.com – NASA’s shuttleAtlantis is on target for a Feb. 7 launch so long as a kinked radiator hose doesn’tput a crimp in the agency’s plans.
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AFP – Two astronauts aboard the orbiting International Space Station on Wednesday replaced an electric motor on one of three solar wings that provide power to the station during a seven-hour-long spacewalk, NASA said.
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Reuters – A NASA probe that shot past Mercury this month detected a puzzling geological feature that scientists on Wednesday labeled “The Spider” and found evidence of past volcanic activity on the closest planet to the sun.
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AFP – NASA on Wednesday unveiled images and data taken by the MESSENGER probe on its flight over unchartered terrain of Mercury, the solar system’s smallest and closest planet to the sun.
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