ENDEAVOUR AND STATION CREWS SAY GOODBYE - The hatches between space shuttle Endeavour and the International Space Station were closed at 3:08 a.m. EST Friday. During 9 days, 52 minutes of joint operations, the station got a new module and a viewport offering a valuable, enjoyable vantage. Hatch closure came after a farewell ceremony by the two crews. Endeavour Commander George Zamka, Pilot Terry Virts and Mission Specialists Kathryn Hire, Stephen Robinson, Nicholas Patrick and Robert Behnken said their goodbyes in the Harmony module to Station Commander Jeff Williams and Flight Engineers Maxim Suraev, Oleg Kotov, Soichi Noguchi and T.J. Creamer.    More
(Source: NASA - Feb 19)

EUTELSAT SWAPS ROCKETS FOR SATELLITE LAUNCH THIS SUMMER - Eutelsat is switching a communications satellite launch this summer from a Chinese booster to the Ariane 5 rocket, citing international trade regulations and consequences from an earthquake in Italy last year. The W3B satellite was scheduled for launch this year on a Long March 3B rocket provided by China Great Wall Industry Corp.   More
(Source: Space Flight Now - Feb 19)

SPOT THE SPACE STATION AND SHUTTLE TOGETHER - When the space shuttle Endeavour leaves the International Space Station (ISS), skywatchers across much of the United States and southern Canada are in for a real treat early on Saturday and Sunday morning. Weather permitting, there will be opportunities to see the space station and Endeavour and the ISS flying across the sky from many locations once the shuttle undocks from the orbiting lab Friday night.    More
(Source: Space.com - Feb 19)

INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION GETS A 'WINDOW TO THE WORLD' - The international space station now has a room with a view -- and oh, what a view it is. Astronauts from space shuttle Endeavour installed a connecting module, or node -- sort of an orbiting sun porch -- that will provide additional room for crew members and the space station's life-support systems. The node's crowning feature is a cupola -- a robotic control station with six windows around its sides and another in the center. NASA expects the windows to provide a panoramic view of Earth, celestial objects and visiting spacecraft.    More
(Source: CNN - Feb 18)

COLD WEATHER FORCES NASA TO DELAY NEXT SHUTTLE LAUNCH - Cold weather in Florida has forced NASA to delay its next space shuttle launch to no earlier than April 5, even as its current shuttle mission is still under way. An unusually long cold snap has kept engineers at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., from moving the shuttle Discovery out of its maintenance hangar so it can be attached to the external tank and rocket boosters that will help it launch into orbit, NASA officials said Tuesday.    More
(Source: Space.com - Feb 17)

SATELLITE FOR RESEARCH OF ICE EARTH'S SURFACE TO BE LAUNCHED FROM BAIKONUR - he European Space Agency (ESA) informed of readiness of the launch of the most complex satellites to research ice surface of the planet, the agency reports citing information portal UPI.com. It is planned that CryoSat satellite will be launched on February 25 from the cosmodrome Baikonur and put into orbit at the height of 435 kilometers over the Earth.   More
(Source: Gazeta.KZ - Feb 16)

NASA EXTENDS SHUTTLE MISSION BY A DAY - NASA is extending the mission of the space shuttle Endeavour by a day so astronauts can do more work on the International Space Station, mission managers announced Sunday. The shuttle is now scheduled to return to Earth on February 21, after a 14-day mission, the space agency said. The announcement came as two astronauts completed a spacewalk lasting nearly six hours, NASA said in a statement.    More
(Source: CNN - Feb 14)

IRAN UNVEILS NEW SPACE ROCKET AND SATELLITE DESIGNS - Iran has revealed the development of a new Simorgh space booster and three new satellites, including an imaging spacecraft that may provide Iran with a rudimentary space reconnaissance capability. In addition, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad indicated that Iran may be studying the use of its new space capabilities for a rudimentary antisatellite weapons capability, by noting that the new booster will enable Iran to fly missions up to 621 mi. (1,000 km.) altitude.    More
(Source: Space Flight Now - Feb 14)

ORBITING SPACE SHUTTLE ASTRONAUTS ANSWER QUESTIONS FROM STUDENTS NATIONWIDE - Students in elementary and middle schools nationwide will have their questions about space answered live on Feb. 14 by space shuttle astronauts orbiting 220 miles above Earth. The students, who attend nine NASA Explorer Schools nationwide, submitted their questions to NASA via video. Space shuttle Pilot Terry Virts and Mission Specialist Kathryn Hire will answer the students' questions on NASA TV.   More
(Source: PR Newswire - Feb 12)

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