ENDEAVOUR ASTRONAUTS TALK WITH TUCSON ELEMENTARY STUDENTS - The elementary school classmates of a young girl killed in the January shootings in Tucson spoke with astronauts aboard NASA's space shuttle Endeavour late Sunday to get a glimpse of what life in space is like. About 400 students from Mesa Verde Elementary School in Tucson, Ariz., stayed up late Sunday night (May 22) for the chance to talk to Endeavour shuttle commander Mark Kelly and mission specialist Mike Fincke as the astronauts sailed 216 miles (347 km) above Earth. The cosmic call was organized by NASA for Kelly, the husband of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was wounded in the Jan. 8 attack that killed six people. Among those killed was 9-year-old Christina Taylor-Green, a student at Mesa Verde.    More
(Source: Space.com - May 24)

SOYUZ UNDOCKING COULD BE SHUTTLE PHOTO OPP - For the first time, a Russian space taxi is scheduled to leave the station while a shuttle is docked there. The departure presents what may be the only opportunity to take pictures NASA and many space fans covet of the shuttle, on the eve of its retirement, parked at the $100 billion outpost that is its greatest legacy. "Hopefully those pictures will show up in textbooks for years to come," said Kenny Todd, NASA's station manager for operations and integration.    More
(Source: USA Today - May 24)

ORBIT RAISING OPERATION OF GSAT-8 CONDUCTED SUCCESSFULLY - The first critical orbit-raising manoeuvre of GSAT-8 was successfully conducted on Sunday with the firing of the 440 Newton Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) on board the satellite for 95 minutes by commanding the spacecraft from ISRO’s Master Control Facility at Hassan in Karnataka. The satellite was oriented suitably before the start of LAM operations prior to this critical manoeuvre, Bangalore- based Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said.    More
(Source: The Hindu - May 23)

TAIWAN, SINGAPORE LAUNCH SATELLITE - Taiwanese telecom operator Chunghwa Telecom has launched its second communications satellite in a joint venture with Singapore Telecommunications. The launch of the ST-2 satellite took place from the Kourou Space Centre in French Guiana late Friday local time, Taiwan's state-funded Central News Agency reported. The satellite will have a life span of 15 years and will replace the ageing ST-1 satellite that Chunghwa Telecom and Singapore Telecommunications put into orbit in 1998, according to the agency.    More
(Source: NEWS.com.au - May 23)

SATELLITE LAUNCH WITH CHINA PLANNED - The country would launch a communication satellite together with China on August 14 as a part of Independence Day celebrations, the local newspaper Dawn reported on Saturday. The new communication satellite would replace the SAT-1 which is on the verge of expiry, Dawn quoted an official in Beijing as saying. The satellite would go into orbit on August 14 as a mark of friendship between Pakistan and China, an official said after Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s visit to China’s Academy of Space Technology on Friday.    More
(Source: Oman Tribune - May 23)

NEXT-GENERATION WEATHER SATELLITE READY FOR OCT. 25 LAUNCH - Ball Aerospace workers have successfully completed two months of subjecting the next-generation U.S. weather satellite to the rigors of launch and space. The car-size orbiter — called NPP, for the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project — is set for an Oct. 25 launch. The NPP — a collaboration of NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Department of Defense and private contractors such as Ball — will continue what experts call the critical monitoring of weather, atmosphere, oceans, land and near-space environment.    More
(Source: Denver Post - May 19)

NASA OCEAN-WATCH SATELLITE READY FOR JUNE LAUNCH - The US space agency said Tuesday it is preparing to launch a satellite to observe levels of salt on the surface of the world's oceans and how changes in salinity may be linked to future climate. The June 9 launch of Aquarius/SAC-D comes three months after NASA lost Glory, a 424-million-dollar Earth-observing satellite that failed to separate properly from its rocket launcher and plunged into the ocean. The orbiting science instrument will aim to map the entire open ocean every seven days from its position 408 miles (657 kilometers) above Earth, producing monthly estimates that show how salt levels change over time and location.    More
(Source: AFP - May 19)

BANGALORE: LAUNCH OF INDIAN SATELLITE PUT OFF TO MAY 21 - The launch of and Indian geo-stationary satellite (GSAT-8) on board an Ariane-V rocket from Kourou in French Guiana has been postponed by a day to May 21, the state-run Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said late Monday. "The launch postponement has been necessitated for certain additional inspection by the launch agency Arianespace. The timing of the launch will be confirmed soon," the Indian space agency said in a statement here. The indigenously built 3.1-tonne (3,100kg) GSAT-8 has 24 Ku-band transponders for direct-to-home (DTH) services by state-run and private broadcasters.    More
(Source: Mangalorean.com - May 18)

SPACE SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR BLASTS OFF FROM FLORIDA - The space shuttle Endeavour blasted off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday on its final voyage which will deliver a pioneering physics experiment to the International Space Station. Endeavour roared off the launch pad at 8:56 a.m. EDT, carrying a six-member crew. The U.S. space agency NASA plans just one more shuttle mission this summer with sister ship Atlantis before ending the 30-year-old shuttle program.    More
(Source: Reuters - May 16)

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