U.S. MILITARY VOWS TO TRACK 800 SATELLITES BY OCTOBER 1 - Spurred by last month's collision of two satellites high above the Earth, the U.S. military plans to begin tracking all 800 maneuverable spacecraft currently operating in space by October 1, a senior U.S. Air Force official said on Monday. U.S. Strategic Command and Air Force Space Command will work together to expand the number of satellites being tracked from about 300 currently, Air Force Colonel Dusty Tyson, chief of the Pentagon's National Security Space Office, told reporters at a space conference in Colorado Springs. More (Source: Reuters - Mar 31)
MYSTERIOUS EAST COAST BOOM WAS FALLING RUSSIAN ROCKET - The mysterious boom and flash of light seen over parts of Virginia Sunday night was not a meteor, but actually exploding space junk from the second stage of a Russian Soyuz rocket falling back to Earth, according to an official with the U.S. Naval Observatory. "I'm pretty convinced that what these folks saw was the second stage of the Soyuz rocket that launched the crew up to the space station," said Geoff Chester of the Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. More (Source: Space.com - Mar 30)
SPACE SHUTTLE LANDS IN FLORIDA - The shuttle Discovery glided to a hazy Florida landing on Saturday, leaving the International Space Station behind in orbit with a complete set of solar arrays and a repaired water recycling system. Running one orbit late because of high winds and low clouds, the shuttle commander, Col. Lee J. Archambault of the Air Force, and the pilot, Cmdr. Dominic A. Antonelli of the Navy, guided Discovery to a smooth touchdown here at 3:13 p.m., ending a 13-day mission with three spacewalks. “Welcome home, Discovery, after a great mission to bring the International Space Station to full power,” an astronaut, George Zamka, radioed from mission control in Houston. More (Source: New York Times - Mar 30)
ASTRONAUTS CLOSE SPACE SHUTTLE'S DOORS FOR LANDING - The shuttle Discovery crew closed their ship's doors for landing on Saturday, hoping to beat out an encroaching cold front at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Touchdown was scheduled for 1:39 p.m. EDT, with a backup opportunity at 3:14 p.m EDT. Flight directors hope to have the shuttle back on the ground before a layer of clouds moving toward the seaside spaceport thickens. "It's going to be a matter of timing," said mission commentator Kyle Herring. More (Source: Reuters - Mar 28)
FINAL IN-ORBIT SHUTTLE INSPECTION COMPLETE - Astronauts aboard the space shuttle Discovery prepared for the trip back to Earth with a final inspection of the vehicle Thursday, and a first look at the results revealed no significant damage to the craft's protective heat shield. Mission managers will decide whether it's safe for Discovery to land Saturday at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida once engineers finish studying the results of the five-hour, routine survey. They said Thursday afternoon they hadn't detected any areas of concern so far. More (Source: Associated Press - Mar 27)
SEA LAUNCH PREPARING FOR LAUNCHING SATELLITE FROM SEA PLATFORM IN APRIL - The international consortium Sea Launch is preparing for the launch of a telecommunications satellite on board a Zenit-3SL rocket from a launch pad in the Pacific Ocean in April, which will be its first launch in 2009. Paula Korn, a Sea Launch spokesperson, said the Zenit-3SL launch in April will be the 30th launch under the program marking its 10th anniversary on March 27. The company is planning seven launches in 2009, including three launches from the sea-based launch pad and four under the Land Launch program, two of them for the U.S. company Intelsat. More (Source: Kyiv Post - Mar 27)
SHUTTLE DISCOVERY UNDOCKS FROM STATION - Space shuttle Discovery undocked from the International Space Station at 3:53 p.m. EDT. The shuttle spent 9 days, 20 hours and 10 minutes docked to the station. Sandy Magnus spent 129 days at the station and 134 days in space. After completing a fly around of the space station, shuttle Discovery will perform a maneuver to separate from the station. More (Source: NASA - Mar 25)
SHUTTLE, SPACE STATION CREWS PART AFTER 8 DAYS - After eight days together, it's time for the space shuttle and space station crews to say goodbye. The hatches between the linked spacecraft will be sealed early Wednesday afternoon. Three hours later, Discovery will undock. Discovery will be bringing back five months' worth of science experiments from the space station. The blood, urine and saliva samples need to be kept cold for as long as possible, and will remain in the station freezer until the last possible moment. More (Source: Associated Press - Mar 25)
OBAMA SEEKS NEW FRONTIERS IN ASTRONAUTS CALL - President Barack Obama looked to the stars Tuesday, taking time out from his daily grind to delight in the wonders of space in a very long-distance video chat with astronauts orbiting the Earth. During a nearly 30-minute conference call, the president, flanked by some Washington schoolchildren, peppered the 10 astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) with questions. A curious Obama wanted to know everything about life in space from the latest mission of the Discovery space shuttle to fitness, food and hairstyles. More (Source: AFP - Mar 25)
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