NASA: News About the Space Exploration Agency - Page 54

Mar 15, 2008 1:46 PM CDT

Dextre Lives! Space Robot Gets Power

NASA solves glitch; astronauts continue assembly tonight

(Newser) - Dextre's finally getting some juice. Astronauts aboard the international space station solved a glitch last night and got power flowing to their partially built robot, the AP reports. Now they can go ahead with a spacewalk tonight to finish assembling it. “There was obviously some real concern over the...

Space Robot Taking Shape

Mar 14, 2008 9:11 AM CDT

Space Robot Taking Shape

Astronauts begin assembling Dextre, despite early glitch

(Newser) - Astronauts began assembling a 12-foot robot named Dextre last night outside the international space station. The overnight spacewalking mission hit a slight glitch when the robot failed to power up, but NASA officials expect to resolve it soon, the Houston Chronicle reports. Spacewalks on Saturday and Monday will be needed...

Endeavour Docks After
New Damage Check

Mar 13, 2008 3:45 AM CDT

Endeavour Docks After New Damage Check

Shuttle docks without hitch but launch video shows possible bird hit

(Newser) - The Endeavour docked with the international space station without a glitch yesterday just after the shuttle was again examined for damage, AP reports. The craft did a full backflip before docking so every inch of it could be inspected. Launch videos first revealed that something may have hit the...

Shuttle Safe, Mission On

Mar 12, 2008 4:07 AM CDT

Shuttle Safe, Mission On

No sign of dings in heat shield after blast-off

(Newser) - The crew of the space shuttle Endeavour is on course to dock with the international space station with apparently no damage to the heat shield during takeoff, the Houston Chronicle reports. Tracking cameras indicated possible debris near the shuttle just after launch that may have struck near the ship's nose....

Endeavour Blasts Into Space

Mar 11, 2008 6:30 AM CDT

Endeavour Blasts Into Space

Shuttle will dock with space station tomorrow

(Newser) - The shuttle Endeavour thundered off its launch pad early this morning, carrying seven astronauts and two major pieces of hardware to the International Space Station. On board is a $1 billion science module that contains research gear for the station's lab, the first Japanese contribution to the orbital base, reports...

Europe to Launch Space Truck

Mar 8, 2008 3:20 PM CST

Europe to Launch Space Truck

Automated vehicle can haul tons of supplies to space station

(Newser) - Europe is about to launch its most sophisticated spacecraft ever, the BBC reports. The “Jules Verne,” set to take off tomorrow, will deliver supplies to the International Space Station while nudging the station higher into its orbit to prevent it from falling to Earth. The freighter is fully...

Suspect Charged in Auburn Killing

Mar 8, 2008 2:18 PM CST

Suspect Charged in Auburn Killing

NASA-enhanced photo helps police nab man in Alabama

(Newser) - A man has been arrested and charged with killing 18-year-old Auburn University student Lauren Burk, thanks to a photo enhanced with help from NASA, the AP reports. Police arrested Courtney Lockhart, 23, in Phenix City, Ala., after a car and foot chase. He was initially sought as a suspect in...

Astronauts Will Have to Hitch Rides With
the Russians

Mar 7, 2008 2:04 PM CST

Astronauts Will Have to Hitch Rides With the Russians

NASA will soon have no way to get to ISS

(Newser) - When NASA retires its fleet of space shuttles in 2010, the agency will have no way of sending men into space until 2015, at the earliest, the Washington Post reports. To carry astronauts and cargo to the International Space Station, largely funded by American taxpayers, the US will have to...

NASA to Smash Moon in Hunt
for Lunar Ice

Feb 27, 2008 8:08 PM CST

NASA to Smash Moon in Hunt for Lunar Ice

Spacecraft will study dust after partner vessel crashes

(Newser) - No, they're not angry at the moon—but NASA is preparing two spacecraft for head-on collisions with the lunar South Pole. The idea is that the double impact might uncover ice suspected to be hiding in the moon's poles, Space.com reports. Scientists detected large amounts of hydrogen there on...

Scheme to Plant Telescope
on Moon
Gathers Steam

Feb 25, 2008 5:16 AM CST

Scheme to Plant Telescope on Moon Gathers Steam

MIT, Navy working on far-side plans

(Newser) - The moon may have to start earning its keep if NASA gets its way. With the far side of our lunar satellite a perfect environment for delicate, deep-space measurements, two research teams are furiously plotting ways to deploy astronomy equipment there. If astronauts return to the moon after 2019, they...

Atlantis Lands Safely in Fla.

Feb 20, 2008 8:46 AM CST

Atlantis Lands Safely in Fla.

Landing clears way for military to shoot down satellite

(Newser) - Space shuttle Atlantis landed safely at Kennedy Space Center this morning, capping a successful 13-day mission in which it delivered Europe's first permanent lab to the International Space Station after months of delay, reports Space.com. The shuttle's return clears the way for the US Navy to shoot down a...

City Lights Linked
to Breast Cancer

Feb 20, 2008 4:45 AM CST

City Lights Linked to Breast Cancer

Scientists believe lights suppress tumor-fighting hormone

(Newser) - Women who live in areas with a large about of night-time light face an increased risk of breast cancer, and scientists believe it may be because the light interferes with a tumor- fighting hormone, reports the Washington Post. Researchers compared satellite images at night with cancer registries and found breast...

Navy Ship Prepares to
Shoot Down Spy Satellite

Feb 19, 2008 3:48 AM CST

Navy Ship Prepares to Shoot Down Spy Satellite

Attempt will be made Thursday from ship

(Newser) - The US Navy will attempt to shoot down a rogue American spy satellite Thursday, just days before it re-enters the earth's atmosphere, reports CNN. Officials plan to bring down the satellite from an Aegis cruiser at sea while it is still 150 miles above the earth, leaving enough time for...

Space Shuttle Heads for Earth

Feb 18, 2008 7:58 AM CST

Space Shuttle Heads for Earth

Atlantis returns as March 11 flight rolls onto launch pad

(Newser) - The space shuttle Atlantis parted ways with the International Space Station this morning and headed back towards the confines of Earth, even as NASA was rolling another shuttle onto the launch pad, preparing for its March 11th mission. In its 9-day stay, Atlantis attached Europe’s first permanent laboratory to...

Mars Was Too Salty for Life

Feb 16, 2008 7:58 AM CST

Mars Was Too Salty for Life

Rock analysis shows even microbes couldn't have survived in planet's early history

(Newser) - Hopes that Mars may once have supported life have taken a blow with the discovery that the planet has been too salty for life for much of its history, the BBC reports. "It was salty enough that only a handful of known terrestrial organisms would have a ghost of...

Astronauts Often a Bit Woozy

Feb 15, 2008 12:52 PM CST

Astronauts Often a Bit Woozy

Spacesickness a common malady for unearthly missions

(Newser) - We all know about carsickness and seasickness—but spacesickness? NASA is cagey about its vomiting astronauts, but about half of the 500 who’ve been to the final frontier suffer from “space adaptation syndrome,” reports Ned Potter for ABC News. So it comes as no surprise to Potter...

Want Oil? Try Saturn's Titan

Feb 14, 2008 5:09 PM CST

Want Oil? Try Saturn's Titan

Moon has hundreds of times more oil and natural gas than Earth

(Newser) - Titan, one of Saturn's dozens of moons, has supplies of natural gas and liquid hydrocarbons hundreds of times greater than Earth’s oil reserves, Space.com reports. The unmanned Cassini spacecraft has mapped only 20% of Titan’s surface with radar, and has already discovered dozens of bodies of hydrocarbon...

Recovered Astronaut
Steps Up for Spacewalk

Feb 13, 2008 4:00 AM CST

Recovered Astronaut Steps Up for Spacewalk

Illness over, German astronaut readies for spacewalk

(Newser) - A German astronaut who was too sick for a scheduled spacewalk earlier this week is feeling much better, and preparing for his first step into the great outdoors today, reports Space.com. "I'm doing very fine," Hans Schlegel, 56, said via videolink from the International Space Station. Schlegel...

Illness Delays Spacewalk
to Install Columbus Lab

Feb 10, 2008 8:10 AM CST

Illness Delays Spacewalk to Install Columbus Lab

Crew investigates minor heat shield damage

(Newser) - Today's planned spacewalk to install the Columbus lab on the International Space Station was pushed back until tomorrow after Atlantis astronaut Hans Schlegel experienced an undisclosed medical problem. The shuttle crew will spend today instead examining a minor tear in their craft's heat shield, and performing such routine chores as...

Atlantis
Docks With Space Station

UPDATED

Feb 9, 2008 11:43 AM CST

Atlantis Docks With Space Station

Shuttle's crew is delivering $2B European laboratory

(Newser) - Space shuttle Atlantis docked flawlessly with the international space station today, the AP reports. Atlantis is delivering a $2 billion lab eagerly awaited by European scientists. Before docking, the shuttle performed a giant backflip so station crew members could take images of the shuttle's thermal shield. NASA engineers will examine...

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