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Archive for January, 2008

Astronauts leave space station for repair work (Reuters)

Wednesday, January 30th, 2008

Spacewalker Dan Tani makes his way to a worksite during a spacewalk outside the International Space Station in this image from NASA TV January 30, 2008. (NASA/Reuters)Reuters – Two U.S. astronauts serving aboard the International Space Station floated outside the complex early on Wednesday to begin a spacewalk considered critical to the growth of the outpost.


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At ‘JTAGs,’ Japan and the U.S. press ahead on missile defense (The Christian Science Monitor)

Wednesday, January 30th, 2008

The Christian Science Monitor – One of only four in the world, the Joint Tactical Ground Station sits in a field of snow behind the high fences of this remote base in northern Japan like a windowless trailer home with a few good satellite dishes out back.

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Spacewalk repair boosts station’s power (AP)

Wednesday, January 30th, 2008

In am image from NASA television flighrt engineer Dan Tani works on the solar array  on the space station  Wednesday Jan. 30, 2008.  Space station commander Peggy Whitson and f Tani will remove and replace equipment that rotates one of the station's two starboard solar wings. (AP Photo/HO/NASA)AP – Two astronauts pulled off a riskier and trickier-than-usual spacewalk Wednesday, replacing a failed electric motor and giving the international space station a much-needed power boost.


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NASA Spots Mysterious ‘Spider’ on Mercury (SPACE.com)

Wednesday, January 30th, 2008

SPACE.com – Mercury has revealed a whole newside of itself through pictures taken by NASA’s MESSENGER probe, which flew bythe tiny planet two weeks ago in the first mission to Mercury in more thanthree decades.

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NASA photos reveal Mercury is shrinking (AP)

Wednesday, January 30th, 2008

This image provided by NASA shows: The Spider  Radial Troughs within Caloris. The Narrow Angle Camera of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS) on the MESSENGER spacecraft obtained high-resolution images of the floor of the Caloris basin on January 14, 2008. Near the center of the basin, an area unseen by Mariner 10, this remarkable feature  nicknamed the spider by the science team  was revealed. A set of troughs radiates outward in a geometry unlike anything seen by Mariner 10. The radial troughs are interpreted to be the result of extension (breaking apart) of the floor materials that filled the Caloris basin after its formation. Other troughs near the center form a polygonal pattern. This type of polygonal pattern of troughs is also seen along the interior margin of the Caloris basin. An impact crater appears to be centered on the spider. The straight-line segments of the crater walls may have been influenced by preexisting extensional troughs, but some of the troughs may have formed at the time that the crater was excavated.  (AP Photo/NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington)AP – The first pictures from the unseen side of Mercury reveal the wrinkles of a shrinking, aging planet with scars from volcanic eruptions and a birthmark shaped like a spider.


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Space shuttle cleared for February 7 liftoff (Reuters)

Wednesday, January 30th, 2008

Spacewalker Dan Tani works outside the International Space Station as he and fellow spacewalker Peggy Whitson (not pictured) work to repair one of the station's solar arrays with the Earth in the background in this image from NASA TV January 30, 2008. (NASA/Reuters)Reuters – NASA managers on Wednesday cleared the shuttle Atlantis for launch on February 7 to deliver Europe’s first permanent space laboratory to the International Space Station.


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AF General: Spy satellite could hit US (AP)

Tuesday, January 29th, 2008

Air Force Gen. Victor 'Gene' Renuart Jr., commander, North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command, speaks during an interview with the Associated Press at the Pentagon, Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2008, in Washington. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)AP – The U.S. military is developing contingency plans to deal with the possibility that a large spy satellite expected to fall to Earth in late February or early March could hit North America.


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Europe sets launch window for maiden mission of space freighter (AFP)

Tuesday, January 29th, 2008

The Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) is assembled in French Guiana. The European Space Agency (ESA) has said it expects to carry out the maiden launch of a robot supply ship to the orbital space station between February 22 and March 8 or 9.(AFP/File)AFP – The European Space Agency (ESA) on Tuesday said it expected to carry out the maiden launch of a robot supply ship to the orbital space station between February 22 and March 8 or 9.


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ATV ‘Jules Verne’ presented at media briefing

Tuesday, January 29th, 2008

With the launch of the first Automated Transfer Vehicle ‘Jules Verne’ rapidly approaching, ESA Programme managers and industry specialists participated in a media briefing at ESA Head Office in Paris, France, earlier today.

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Asteroid zooms past Earth: NASA (AFP)

Tuesday, January 29th, 2008

Artist's rendition released by NASA shows an asteroid belt in orbit around a star. Professional and amateur astronomers took their best look at a huge asteroid as it zoomed past Earth on Tuesday at a little more than half a million kilometers distance, NASA said.(AFP/NASA-HO/File)AFP – Professional and amateur astronomers took their best look at a huge asteroid as it zoomed past Earth on Tuesday at a little more than half a million kilometers distance, NASA said.


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