Washington (AFP) May 31, 2007 - NASA said Thursday that on June 8 it would attempt to launch the US shuttle Atlantis to the orbiting International Space Station, a mission that has been delayed since March due to fuel tank damage. We're good to go, shuttle program director Wayne Hale told reporters after he met with top officials from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Moscow (RIA Novosti) May 30, 2007 - Russia has successfully launched four U.S. Globalstar satellites into orbit on board a Soyuz-FG carrier rocket from a space center in Kazakhstan, the Russian space agency said Wednesday. The rocket lifted off from the Baikonur space center at 00.31 a.m. Moscow time (8.31 p.m. GMT Tuesday) and put the satellites into transitional orbit.
Houston TX (SPX) May 28, 2007 - Two International Space Station cosmonauts will begin an almost six-hour spacewalk from the Pirs docking compartment airlock about 2:20 p.m. EDT Wednesday to install Service Module Debris Protection (SMDP) panels on Zvezda and reroute a Global Positioning System antenna cable.
Houston TX (SPX) May 28, 2007 - NASA this week wrapped up six months of system requirements reviews for the Orion spacecraft, the Ares launch vehicles and other support systems, bringing together the Constellation Program's list of basic capability needs. The Constellation Program is developing a new space transportation system that will take astronauts to Earth orbit, the moon, and eventually to Mars.
Albuquerque NM (SPX) May 28, 2007 - Microgravity Enterprises has successfully recovered ingredients that were successfully launched into space onboard UP Aerospace's SpaceLoft-2 (SL-2) rocket on April 28th. These ingredients will be used to make the world's first consumer food products fortified by elements that have been flown in space. MEI's initial product offering will include an energy drink called Antimatter, a purified water with important electrolytes called Space2O, and the world's first true space beer called Comet's Tail Ale.
Kourou, French Guiana (SPX) May 28, 2007 - Another Ariane 5 has started the assembly process at Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana as Arianespace moves ahead with plans to conduct a total of six missions during 2007 with the workhorse launch vehicle. To meet the goal of performing its next two flights in an interval of less than one month, the vehicle now taking shape in the Launcher Integration Building is an Ariane 5 GS version, which is to orbit the Intelsat-11 and Horizons-2 satellites on a mission targeted for mid-September.
Moscow (RIA Novosti) May 28, 2007 - A Proton-M rocket carrying a U.S. telecommunications satellite, DirecTV-10, has been scheduled for launch in June this year from a space center in Kazakhstan, a leading Russian space company said Monday. The DirecTV-10 is a commercial telecommunications satellite designed and manufactured by Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems to provide consumers across the continental part of the United States, Hawaii and Alaska with local and national High Definition Television (HDTV).
Santa Ana CA (SPX) May 24, 2007 - Airborne Systems, which has combined the world's leading parachute brands specializing in aerial delivery, rescue and survival equipment, and engineering services announced that its Space and Recovery Systems Engineering team (formerly Irvin Aerospace) has been selected to provide Recovery Systems for Space Exploration Technologies Corp.'s (SpaceX) Falcon 9/Dragon system.
Moscow (RIA Novosti) May 22, 2007 - Energia, a Russian rocket and space company, said Monday its net profit calculated to Russian Accounting Standards (RAS) grew 220% year-on-year in 2006 to 509.5 million rubles (about $20 million). S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia, which designs Soyuz-piloted spaceships and Progress carrier rockets, launches communications satellites, and operates the Russian segment of the International Space Station, attributed the higher figure to a dynamic increase in revenue from commercial services in 2006.
Washington DC (SPX) May 21, 2007 - The House Committee on Science and Technology's Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics today examined a range of National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) workforce issues identified by the recently released reports of two independent review panels. The Subcommittee's work is aimed at ensuring the health and vitality of the NASA workforce in the 21st century.
Houston TX (SPX) May 21, 2007 - Expedition 15 crew unpacked new supplies and began preparing for the arrival of the next visiting spacecraft and two upcoming spacewalks at the International Space Station. The ISS Progress 25 docked to the aft port of the Zvezda Service Module at 12:10 a.m. CDT Tuesday. During the week, the crew began unloading the more than 5,000 pounds of cargo from the supply ship.
The Plains VA (SPX) May 21, 2007 - A team from Newark (California) Memorial High School won the Team America Rocketry Challenge Saturday, beating out 99 other squads with a near-perfect score. team, which consists of Ramon Arias, Anthony Camarra, Donny Evans, Matthew Jacuzzi, and Emily Thym, came one foot shy of the altitude goal of 850 feet. The rocket was also .86 of a second from the perfect time aloft mark of 45 seconds.
Beijing (AFP) May 20, 2007 - China aims to launch its first lunar orbiter later this year, part of a three-step plan it hopes will eventually see moon samples brought back to Earth, state media said Sunday. The launch of the Chang'e I, envisaged in the second half of 2007, would be a landmark for China's space programme, China's space agency chief Sun Laiyan was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua news agency.
Kuala Lumpur (AFP) May 20, 2007 - Malaysia's first space travellers will head to NASA in the United States next month for further training after their current stint in Russia ends, news reports said Sunday. Science Minister Jamaluddin Jarjis said the two candidates will be with NASA in Texas for up to three weeks, as part of the Malaysian Astronaut Programme, according to the Star daily.
Cape Canaveral FL (SPX) May 18, 2007 - Visitors to Kennedy Space Center in Florida recently poured into the Saturn V Center and curiously stepped up to a display. They watched as a small group of lab-coated experts surrounded an aluminum box about the size of a file cabinet. The air filled with cautious excitement as the box was slowly unbolted and carefully lowered, exposing the contents for the first time in decades.
Aquarius Underwater Laboratory (AFP) May 17, 2007 - Surrounded by friendly sharks and curious turtles 18 meters (60 feet) below the surface of the ocean, NASA astronauts are working to prepare future missions to the Moon. Sporting huge, bright yellow helmets and dive suits -- sans fins -- astronaut Jose Hernandez and NASA flight surgeon Josef Schmid took lunar-like slow-motion leaps as they assembled a tubular structure on the ocean floor.
