Beijing (AFP) Oct 16, 2007 - China said Tuesday it remained open to cooperating on space development with the United States, amid concern there about the Asian state's burgeoning space programme.
Washington (AFP) Oct 16, 2007 - NASA on Tuesday gave the go-ahead for the October 23 launch of the space shuttle Discovery, despite an independent panel's recommendation to first replace three thermal tiles on the shuttle.
Korolyov, Russia (AFP) Oct 16, 2007 - Astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) recounted Tuesday how they tucked into Malaysian home cooking to mark the end of Ramadan this weekend.
Denver CO (SPX) Oct 16, 2007 - United Launch Alliance was awarded launch services contracts Oct. 3 for two future NASA space exploration missions, Landsat and Juno, scheduled to launch in 2011 aboard Atlas V rockets. Landsat will launch from Space Launch Complex-3 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., and Juno from SLC-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. Under the terms of the contract, ULA is responsible for conducting vehicle integration and payload processing along with launch services.
Washington DC (SPX) Oct 15, 2007 - NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson arrived at the International Space Station Friday to begin her tenure as the first woman to command a station mission. Whitson, Soyuz Commander and Flight Engineer Yuri Malenchenko and Malaysian Spaceflight Participant Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor docked their Soyuz TMA-11 spacecraft to the station at 10:50 a.m. EDT. The crew launched on Wednesday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Moscow (RIA Novosti) Oct 15, 2007 - The first tests of a new breed of Russian space launch vehicles, Angara carrier rockets, will start on schedule in 2011, a Russian first deputy prime minister said on Friday. The Angara carrier rockets are a new generation of Russian modular launch vehicles developed by the Khrunichev State Research and Production Center. They will be powered by engines fueled with eco-friendly liquid oxygen-kerosene mixture.
Beijing, China (XNA) Oct 15, 2007 - Major breakthroughs are expected by 2010 in the country's ambitious space programs - from manned flights to the lunar probe - a senior space administrator said Thursday. Scientists are working toward astronaut space walks, and spacecraft rendezvous and docking procedures by the end of the decade, said Sun Laiyan, chief of the China National Space Administration. The deep space exploration program aims to achieve the first phase goal of the lunar probe, which is to have the orbiter Chang'e I circle the moon, he said.
Cape Canaveral FL (UPI) Oct 14, 2007 - National Aeronautics and Space Administration managers and scientists were considering delaying the scheduled Oct. 23 launch of space shuttle Discovery. While the shuttle's STS-120 astronauts practiced for launch this week, shuttle program managers were preparing for next Tuesday's Flight Readiness Review. NASA said one topic being discussed involved reinforcing carbon on Discovery's leading edge wing panels.
Kuala Lumpur (AFP) Oct 13, 2007 - Malaysia, whose first astronaut is at the International Space Station, will send a second citizen into space in the next two years, the science minister said according to reports Saturday.
Beijing (AFP) Oct 12, 2007 - China is offering 2,000 tickets to view the launch of the country's first lunar mission, the Chang'e 1 probe satellite, a company said Friday.
Moscow (AFP) Oct 12, 2007 - A Soyuz space craft carrying a Malaysian, a Russian and a US astronaut docked Friday with the International Space Station (ISS), an official at ground control outside Moscow said.
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (SPX) Oct 12, 2007 - Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has said the other astronaut candidate, Dr Faiz Khaleed, would be the second Malaysian to go to space if a place is offered by Russia in the next mission to the ISS, local media reported on Thursday.
Baikonur, Kazakhstan (AFP) Oct 11, 2007 - Five star it is not: few creature comforts await the tourists who trickle to the birthplace of modern space flight for launches such as this week's Soyuz blast-off.
Kuala Lumpur (AFP) Oct 11, 2007 - Malaysia celebrated Thursday as its first astronaut hurtled through space on board a Russian Soyuz rocket, in a landmark for the nation which is marking 50 years of independence.
Baikonur, Kazakhstan (SPX) Oct 10, 2007 - The Soyuz rocket that will launch Expedition 16 to the International Space Station was placed at its launch pad over the weekend. Commander Peggy Whitson, Flight Engineer Yuri Malenchenko and spaceflight participant Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome Wednesday at 9:22 a.m. EDT. Two days later the Soyuz TMA-11 vehicle carrying the new crew will dock to the Earth-facing port of the station's Zarya module.
Baikonur, Kazakhstan (AFP) Oct 10, 2007 - A Russian rocket carrying Malaysia's first astronaut and the first female commander of the International Space Station blasted off on a Soyuz rocket on Wednesday from Baikonur.
