Space

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla.--NASA managers reviewing the progress of repairs to the shuttle Discovery's external tank and the rationale for making another launch attempt decided today to pass up an early December launch window, delaying the flight to at least December 17 and possibly all the way to February.

Shuttle Program Manager John Shannon said engineers need more time to understand what caused cracks to develop in structural ribs, or stringers, during fueling on November 5 so they can better assess the likelihood of additional cracks forming during flight that could lead to potentially damaging foam insulation losses … Read more

SpaceX has won the first-ever license from the Federal Aviation Administration allowing a private-sector spacecraft to re-enter Earth's atmosphere.

The California company says that next month it plans to launch its unmanned Dragon spacecraft into Earth orbit, where it will be traveling at speeds of greater than 17,000 miles per hour. With the one-year FAA license in hand, SpaceX will also be able to bring the spacecraft back home a few hours later and have it splash down in the Pacific Ocean, where it will be recovered.

The event will mark the first commercial launch paired with an … Read more

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla.--Engineers are pressing ahead with work to repair small cracks in the shuttle Discovery's external tank and to finish the replacement and testing of a part that leaked and grounded the ship on November 5.

At the same time, however, troubleshooters are assessing the structural integrity of the tank and its foam insulation to develop the necessary "flight rationale," or justification, for proceeding with another launch as early as November 30.

Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for space operations at NASA headquarters, and John Shannon, the shuttle program manager at the Johnson Space Center … Read more

We tend to think of paper planes as small things, thrown in class in order to get 7-year-olds through the crushing boredom of, say, arithmetic.

But you might not have guessed that some adventurous sort would, one day, try to build a paper plane with a three-foot wingspan.

If you did, I feel sure that it would not have crossed your mind, as it did that of three British amateurs, to build a paper plane with a three-foot wingspan and send it into space.

John Oates, one of the threesome, cheerily told the BBC: "I knew we'd be … Read more

NASA management miscues threaten to drive up the cost of the agency's next generation space telescope by some $1.5 billion, an independent review panel reported today, pushing the overall cost of the project into the neighborhood of $6.5 billion. That's a best-case assessment that assumes the agency launches the observatory in 2015, the earliest realistic target.

But making that earliest possible launch date also assumes NASA comes up with an additional $250 million in both 2011 and 2012, an unlikely prospect in the current political environment. Barring a sudden infusion of cash, it's not yet … Read more

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla.--After three launch delays due to technical problems and bad weather, the shuttle Discovery was grounded again Friday. Its final launch is delayed until at least November 30 because of a hydrogen leak in a vent line attached to the ship's external tank.

After the scrub was declared, engineers discovered a large crack in the protective foam insulation on the tank that likely would have caused a launch delay, even if the leak had not developed. Engineers have not yet evaluated the crack to know what sort of repairs, if any, might be needed or … Read more

A recycled NASA spacecraft passed within 435 miles of Comet Hartley 2 today and beamed back spectacular pictures revealing a strange, peanut-shaped nucleus spewing multiple jets of icy debris.

The Deep Impact spacecraft, the centerpiece of a repurposed mission known by the acronym EPOXI, flew past Hartley 2 at more than 7 miles per second, or 27,000 mph, making its closest approach at 7 a.m. PT.

A few moments later, the spacecraft reoriented itself and aimed its high-gain antenna back toward Earth to begin relaying stored pictures and telemetry. In 2005, the spacecraft flew past comet Tempel 1, … Read more

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla.--With rain showers and low clouds sweeping over NASA's Florida spaceport, agency managers decided early today not to fuel the shuttle Discovery and delayed launch another 24 hours to 3:04 p.m. EDT tomorrow.

While conditions will improve in the wake of a cold front, forecasters are predicting a 40 percent chance of high winds that could cause another scrub.

NASA's Mission Management Team made the decision to delay launch after a 5:30 a.m. EDT teleconference and a weather briefing that called for a broken decks of clouds at 3,000 … Read more

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL--The shuttle Discovery's launch on a space station resupply mission tomorrow was delayed at least 24 hours, to no earlier than 3:29 p.m. EDT Thursday, to give engineers more time to troubleshoot an apparent electrical glitch in circuitry associated with a backup main engine computer.

"It's another day in paradise," joked Launch Director Michael Leinbach after the countdown was extended. "This is part of the business, you fly when you're ready and you don't if you're not, and we're not ready to go."

"Discovery'… Read more