STARGAZERS CAN SPOT SHUTTLE, SPACE STATION PASS OVER D.C. - The space shuttle Endeavour and the international space station, docked together and replete with a tiny town of astronauts, will cross Washington skies Saturday and Sunday nights, according to the U.S. Naval Observatory. The shuttle and the space station are 220 miles above the Earth and traveling at 17,500 mph. "It's going to be a bright, fast-moving dot with 13 of your fellow humans on board. More (Source: Washington Post - Jul 25)
SPACE SHUTTLE STS-127 FLIGHT DAY 10 - The fourth spacewalk for the STS-127 Mission was completed today at 5:06 pm EDT after seven hours and 12 minutes. Chris Cassidy and Tom Marshburn finished replacing old batteries on the Port 6 truss of the station. This task had been started on the third spacewalk of the mission, but was not finished due to a CO2 issue with Cassidy's spacesuit. There was no immediate danger, but ground control decided to end the walk prematurely just as a precaution. More (Source: Examiner.com - Jul 25)
SPACE SHUTTLE STS-127 FLIGHT DAY 9 - On their ninth day in space the crew of Endeavour, along with their ISS crewmate Koichi Wakata from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, finished transferring three payloads to Kibo's Exposed Facility from a cargo carrier. The astronauts used the Kibo robotic arm for the first time to do the task. MAXI, the Monitor of All-sky X-ray image experiment and SEDA-AP, the Space Environment Data Acquisition equipment - Attached Payload experiment are installed on the Exposed Facility. More (Source: Examiner.com - Jul 24)
CARBON DIOXIDE BUILDUP IN SUIT ENDS SPACEWALK EARLY - Flight controllers cut short today's STS-127 spacewalk when a carbon dioxide scrubber in astronaut Chris Cassidy's spacesuit failed to keep up with the steady work pace. Flight surgeons were closely monitoring the situation as sensors indicated a gradual buildup of carbon dioxide. Mission managers sent Cassidy and fellow spacewalker David Wolf back inside the International Space Station about half an hour eary. More (Source: Examiner.com - Jul 23)
SPACE SHUTTLE STS-127 FLIGHT DAY 5 - On their 5th day in space, the crew performed various duties in the shuttle and space station, including a look into to the Waste and Hygiene Compartment (WHC) for an unexpected malfunction. The WHC is one of the toilets in the space station. After some troubleshooting the crew indicated that the liquid separator was flooded. Some repairs will likely need to be performed when crew members get replacement parts. More (Source: Examiner.com - Jul 22)
TOILET IS FIXED ON SPACE STATION - As their colleagues on the ground signified the 40th anniversary of a man’s stepping onto the Moon’s surface, astronauts on the International Space Station tended to a more mundane task: fixing a toilet. A pump on the recently installed toilet in the American laboratory, Destiny, broke Sunday, contaminating part of the system. The pump’s function was to inject chemicals that helped separate liquids from solid waste. More (Source: New York Times - Jul 21)
NEW LOCKHEED MARTIN-BUILT MILITARY COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE COMPLETES ENVIRONMENTAL TESTING - The first of a new generation of military communications satellites built by Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) for the U.S. Air Force has successfully completed final thermal vacuum testing at the company's Sunnyvale, Calif. facilities. Known as the Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) program, the system will provide global, highly secure, protected, survivable communications for all warfighters serving under the U.S. Department of Defense. The AEHF constellation will also serve international partners including Canada, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. More (Source: PR Newswire - Jul 21)
TERRESTAR-1 COMPLETES FIRST CALL - With first satellite call ever made between integrated satellite-terrestrial smart phones, TerreStar completes FCC licensing milestone for world’s largest, most advanced commercial communications satellite. Almost three weeks after launching the world's largest commercial satellite to deliver 3G voice, data and video communications, TerreStar said July 20 it had completed the first successful end-to-end phone call over TerreStar-1. More (Source: eWeek - Jul 21)
40 YEARS AFTER APOLLO 11, NASA MAPS OUT THE FUTURE - There are some clear trends in the NASA’s goals that seem likely to extend into the future. Manned exploration outside Earth’s orbit went away and cheaper, robotic missions gained prominence. The moon received less attention and the search for extraterrestrial life and exoplanets became concrete. Studying the Earth from orbit became a key goal, particularly with the hard-won knowledge that humans can create global change. More (Source: Wired News - Jul 20)
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