INDIAN ROCKET TUMBLES BACK TO EARTH DURING TEST LAUNCH - A new hydrogen-fueled third stage tumbled out of control during the launch of India's most powerful rocket Thursday, dooming the $74 million test flight and dealing a blow to the country's burgeoning space program. The objectives of the sixth flight of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle "were not met fully," said K. Radhakrishnan, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization.    More
(Source: Space Flight Now - Apr 15)

NASA EXTENDS SPACE SHUTTLE FLIGHT - The U.S. space agency NASA has added a day to the flight of the space shuttle Discovery to allow time to review a routine inspection of the orbiter's heat shields. NASA said Saturday a problem with Discovery's communication system prompted the extension. Astronauts will use communications equipment aboard the International Space Station to transmit heat shield video and laser scans to engineers on the ground.    More
(Source: Voice of America - Apr 11)

NASA PLANS TO REFUEL MOCK SATELLITE AT THE SPACE STATION - The technology and tools already exist to allow people and robots to repair and refuel satellites in orbit. What is lacking is the recognition of that capability by senior government officials and a business model to enable commercial companies to profit from the enterprise, according to government and industry officials attending a workshop March 24-26 sponsored by the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and held at the University of Maryland University College in Adelphi, Md.    More
(Source: Space.com - Apr 10)

ASTRONAUTS TAKE 1ST SPACEWALK OF SHUTTLE MISSION - A pair of spacewalking astronauts disconnected an old empty ammonia tank outside the International Space Station on Friday and got a new one ready to put in its place. In the first of three spacewalks needed to complete the job, Clayton Anderson had no problem taking apart the ammonia lines on the old tank. But he needed a pry bar to remove the new tank out of space shuttle Discovery's payload bay. The tank got hung up on a bolt.    More
(Source: ABC News - Apr 10)

EUROPE LAUNCHES SATELLITE TO OBSERVE POLAR ICE CAPS - After a brief ride atop a converted Soviet-era ballistic missile, a $187 million European satellite arrived in orbit Thursday to spend more than three years measuring Earth's eroding polar ice caps. Scientists expect the CryoSat 2 satellite will not only determine the rate ice is melting, but also provide clues on how the changes will affect Earth's fickle climate and sea levels.    More
(Source: Space Flight Now - Apr 8)

CREWS OPEN SHUTTLE, STATION HATCHES - At 5:11 a.m. EDT, the crews opened shuttle and station hatches. Discovery's seven-person crew joined the six-person space station crew, beginning more than a week of work together. Four women are aboard the same spacecraft for the first time as Discovery Mission Specialists Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger, Stephanie Wilson and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Naoko Yamazaki join Expedition 23 Flight Engineer Tracy Caldwell Dyson. Yamazaki and Expedition 23 Flight Engineer Soichi Noguchi are the first JAXA Astronauts to fly in space at the same time.   More
(Source: NASA - Apr 7)

SHUTTLE LIFTS OFF FOR SPACE STATION - Lighting up the pre-dawn sky, the shuttle Discovery climbed out of darkness and into the glare of the rising sun early Monday, putting on a spectacular sky show as it thundered away on a space station resupply mission. Carrying a crew of seven and 10 tons of supplies and equipment, Discovery lifted off from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center at 6:21 a.m. EDT after a problem-free countdown.    More
(Source: New York Times - Apr 5)

ASTRONAUTS HEAD TO LAUNCH PAD 39A - Amid cheers and applause from space center workers, the seven STS-131 astronauts walked out of the Operations and Checkout Building that houses their crew quarters at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Dressed in their familiar, bright-orange launch-and-entry suits, they waved to the crowd before departing in the silver Astrovan. The trip to Launch Pad 39A takes about 25 minutes.   More
(Source: NASA - Apr 5)

RUSSIAN SPACECRAFT DOCKS AT ORBITING STATION - A U.S.-Russian space team sent their Easter greetings down to Earth Sunday after their Soyuz spacecraft docked flawlessly at the International Space Station. "Happy Easter to you all," Souyz captain Russian Alexander Skvortsov said in a broadcast from the station shortly after the ship hooked up with the orbiting station using an automatic docking system. His teammates, California native Tracy Caldwell Dyson and Russian Mikhail Kornienko joined him in greeting the world's Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox Christians who celebrate their belief in Jesus' resurrection on the same day this year because of a coincidence in the Julian and Gregorian calendars.    More
(Source: The Associated Press - Apr 5)

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