shuttle

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla.--A $2 billion, 7.5-ton physics experiment bound for the International Space Station aboard the last planned shuttle flight in February arrived at the Florida launch site Thursday after a busy summer of work to replace the magnet at the heart of the costly particle detector.

With Nobel laureate Samuel Ting, the lead scientist of the AMS project looking on with shuttle commander Mark Kelly and his crew, an Air Force C-5 transport jet taxied to a stop at the Shuttle Landing Facility after a flight from Geneva where the payload was assembled and tested.

If … Read more

As NASA's space shuttle era draws to a close, the space program is inviting online fans to partake in one of its traditions: voting for the "Wakeup Song" traditionally played for astronauts to roust them in the mornings, which have in the past been chosen by family and friends of the shuttle crews.

"Space shuttle crews really enjoy the morning wake-up music," shuttle commander Mark Kelly said in a NASA announcement from last Friday. "While we don't have the best quality speaker in the space shuttle, it will be interesting to hear what … Read more

A House committee on Thursday approved an amendment to a bill that would clear NASA to launch an additional shuttle flight next summer to deliver critical supplies and equipment to the International Space Station.

The move came as the House Committee on Science and Technology was reviewing its version of NASA's $19 billion 2011 funding package. The Senate version of the appropriations legislation already included the additional flight. But major differences remain in other key areas, including how much money goes to support development of a new private-sector manned launch industry, the timetable for development of a NASA heavy-lift … Read more

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla.--After assessing payload-processing issues and projected traffic to and from the International Space Station, NASA managers on Thursday formally retargeted the program's final two missions for launches November 1 and February 26.

The shuttle Discovery, which had been scheduled for launch September 16 on mission STS-133, is now targeted for liftoff at 4:33 p.m. EDT on November 1. The primary goals of the two-spacewalk mission are to deliver spare parts and supplies, along with a modified cargo transfer module that will be permanently attached to the station to provide additional storage space.

The … Read more

I doubt I'll be able to take a cool self-portrait in space like astronaut Garrett Reisman did last month, but NASA is giving me a chance to do the next best thing: put a digital image of my mug on one of the final two Space Shuttle missions scheduled for later this year.

The program's called Face in Space, and it's easy enough to join. You just sign up, pick your mission, upload your photo for free, and you're set.

You'll get a flight confirmation and shuttle updates in your inbox throughout the mission and … Read more

Facebook rolls out its new privacy changes live during our show! How nice of them. In a nutshell, near as we can tell, everything is going to be simpler and Facebook is really sorry that they really mean it about the whole privacy thing. And we get that, but we need some time to get over it, you know? Also, the DOJ may be looking into Apple's iTunes monopoly and we have a big discussion about the future of American space shuttle. Get your emails ready now.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla.--The shuttle Atlantis closed out its 32nd and final planned mission with a smooth Florida landing Wednesday, wrapping up a quarter century of service with a successful space station assembly mission.

Approaching from the south, commander Kenneth Ham took over manual control at an altitude of 50,000 feet above the spaceport and guided Atlantis through a 320-degree right turn to line up on runway 33.

Diving at a steep 21-degree angle, Ham pulled the nose up, pilot Dominic "Tony" Antonelli deployed the main landing gear, and Atlantis settled to a tire-smoking, on-time touchdown … Read more

Currently on its final trip of a career spanning 25 years and nearly 120 million miles since its delivery to Kennedy Space center in April 1985, NASA's primary flight shuttle, the space shuttle Atlantis, is nearing the end of mission STS-132. It is the vehicle's 32nd flight mission.

As part of STS-132, space shuttle Atlantis will deliver an integrated cargo carrier and a Russian-built mini research module to the International Space Station, and astronauts Michael Good, Garrett Reisman, and Steve Bowen are capturing some stunning images of the shuttle's final trip to the interstellar outpost.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla.--The shuttle Atlantis undocked from the International Space Station on Sunday, wrapping up a week of assembly work to install a new Russian module, a backup Ku-band antenna, six new solar array batteries, and more than three tons of other equipment and supplies.

With pilot Dominic "Tony" Antonelli at the controls, the shuttle's payload bay docking mechanism disengaged its counterpart on the space station's forward port at 11:22 a.m. EDT as the two spacecraft sailed 220 miles above the southern Indian Ocean southwest of Perth, Australia.

"Houston and station, … Read more