NASA MOVES SPACE SHUTTLE LAUNCH TO NEXT WEDNESDAY - NASA is now targeting next Wednesday for the launch of space shuttle Discovery. The mission has been delayed repeatedly over the past month for tests on critical engine valves. Shuttle managers decided Wednesday to move up liftoff by one day. They say they are confident that the three latest hydrogen gas valves aboard Discovery are free of cracks and will perform as expected during launch. Top officials will meet Friday to finalize the date. More (Source: Associated Press - Nov 30)
NIGHT SHUTTLE LAUNCH TO BE VISIBLE FROM MOST OF EAST COAST - People in the eastern United States will get a great opportunity, weather permitting, to see the Space Shuttle Discovery launched into orbit Wednesday evening. The shuttle flight (STS-119) will be the 28th to rendezvous and dock with the International Space Station (ISS), and the glow of its engines will be visible along much of the Eastern Seaboard of the United States. A SPACE.com map shows the area of visibility. To reach the ISS, Discovery must be launched when Earth's rotation carries the launch pad into the plane of the station's orbit. More (Source: Fox News - Nov 30)
SPACE SHUTTLE MOVES TO AVOID CHUNK OF SPACE JUNK - NASA has ordered the astronauts aboard the orbiting shuttle-space station complex to move out of the way of a piece of space junk. Late Sunday afternoon, Shuttle Discovery's crew fired the ship's thrusters to reorient it so it is in front of the international space station. NASA says it will stay that way for three hours, resulting in a natural drag of about a foot per second. That will move the complex enough to avoid a chunk of a Chinese rocket that's about four inches in diameter. The closest approach was supposed to happen about two hours into a spacewalk planned for Monday. More (Source: Associated Press - Nov 30)
ORBITAL'S GLORY EARTH SCIENCE SATELLITE TO BE LAUNCHED ON TAURUS XL ROCKET - Orbital Sciences Corporation, a space technology company, revealed that the Glory satellite has arrived at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California to be integrated with the company’s Taurus XL rocket that will launch the satellite into low-Earth orbit in late February. According to official sources, the satellite was built by Orbital for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The Glory satellite is the latest in an extensive series of Earth science satellites that were designed, developed, built by Orbital and tested for NASA. More (Source: TMC Net - Nov 30)
EUTELSAT'S ATLANTIC BIRD™ 7 SATELLITE SET FOR SEPTEMBER 24 LAUNCH - Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL) announces that its ATLANTIC BIRD 7 satellite is set for launch on Saturday September 24. The satellite will be delivered into orbit by a Zenit-3SL rocket operated by Sea Launch AG from the ocean-based Odyssey Launch Platform in international waters of the Pacific Ocean. Lift-off is planned for 13:18 pm Pacific Daylight Time (20:18 GMT, 22:18 CET), at the opening of a 74-minute launch window. More (Source: Sacramento Bee - Nov 30)
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