DISCOVERY CLOSING IN ON STATION - Space shuttle Discovery's astronauts entered the rendezvous timeline at 11:49 a.m. EDT, kicking off the final lap in their chase of the International Space Station. Discovery is about 1310 miles behind the station, closing at a rate of almost 600 miles per 90-minute orbit. A series of maneuvers and engine burns will lead to a planned docking at 5:12:46 p.m. More (Source: NASA - Mar 17)
SPACE STATION SAFE FROM SPACE JUNK - Commander Mike Fincke and his colleagues on the International Space Station got good news from Mission Control this evening: There is no need to dash into the Soyuz or move the space station. The floating junk that threatened the orbiting outpost won't come near enough to cause a problem. More (Source: ABC News - Mar 17)
LAUNCH POSTPONED FOR EUROPEAN GRAVITY PROBE - A modified Russian ballistic missile was scheduled for launch today with a $450 million European probe that will measure the tug of Earth's gravity with finer detail than ever before. But the launch was scrubbed due to problems retracting the pad gantry. Liftoff could be attempted again Tuesday. Engineers were prepping a modified Russian ballistic missile for launch Monday with a $450 million European probe that will measure the tug of Earth's gravity with finer detail than ever before. More (Source: Space.com - Mar 17)
SATELLITE DEBRIS EXPECTED WITHIN HALF A MILE OF SPACE STATION - A piece of an old Soviet-era satellite spinning through space could threaten the International Space Station overnight, NASA said Monday. On its current course, the piece of the Russian Kosmos 1275 will arrive about a half a mile (.79 kilometers) from the space station at 2:14 a.m. CDT Tuesday, said Bill Jeffs, a spokesman at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas More (Source: CNN - Mar 16)
SHUTTLE DISCOVERY LIFTS OFF FOR SPACE STATION - After a month of delays, the space shuttle Discovery and its crew of seven had a spectacularly uneventful liftoff on Sunday evening, rising into a cool, clear Florida twilight en route to the International Space Station. The Discovery is carrying a last set of solar arrays for the space station and a replacement part for a water recycling system, needed to transform urine into drinkable water. NASA would like the recycling system fully functional before the station crew is expanded to six members from three, a move planned for late May. More (Source: New York TImes - Mar 16)
NASA EYES NEW DISCOVERY LAUNCH TRY ON SUNDAY - NASA Friday appeared likely to make a new attempt to launch the space shuttle Discovery on Sunday even if the cause of the hydrogen leak that delayed its mission this week remains unknown. "We are prepared if we found nothing to go ahead, reassemble, reconnect and get back into a launch configuration," Mike Leinbach, the launch director, told reporters at a briefing. More (Source: AFP - Mar 14)
SPACE STATION'S CLOSE CALL WITH JUNK: MORE TO COME - The near-hit of space junk Thursday was a warning shot fired across the bow of the international space station, experts said. There's likely more to come in the future. With less than an hour's notice, the three astronauts were told they'd have to seek shelter in a Russian capsule parked at the space station in case a speeding piece of space junk hit Thursday. If it hit and they were in the main part of the station, they'd have only 10 minutes of safety, Mission Control told them. A hole in the space station could mean loss of air, loss of pressure and eventual loss of life. More (Source: Associated Press - Mar 13)
STATION CREW TAKES PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES DUE TO SPACE DEBRIS - International Space Station Expedition 18 crew members are taking precautionary measures due to space debris that has been determined to be within the range where a collision is possible. News of the close approach came too late for flight controllers to coordinate an avoidance maneuver. A portion of a spent satellite motor is within the distance of the station's debris avoidance maneuver requirement "box." More (Source: NASA - Mar 12)
NORTH KOREA PLANS APRIL SATELLITE LAUNCH, YONHAP SAYS - North Korea has notified international agencies that it plans to launch a satellite between April 4 and 8, Yonhap News reported, a move that the U.S. and South Korea say would violate a UN resolution. North Korea has informed the International Maritime Organization and the International Civil Aviation Organization of the launch, the official Korea Central News Agency said. More (Source: Bloomberg.com - Mar 12)
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