The Space Shuttle Endeavour lights up the early morning sky at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, lifting off at 2:28 a.m.
Endeavour’s mission, STS-123, will carry two new components to the International Space Station: the first section of the Japanese Kibo lab and Canada’s two-armed robotic system, known as Dextre.
The developing International Space Station (ISS) has changed its appearance again. On mission STS-117, the Space Shuttle Atlantis visited the ISS and added pieces of the Integrated Truss Structure that mirrored those added in September 2006, including a second impressively long array of solar panels. The entire array of expansive solar panels are visible at the edges of the above image taken by the Shuttle Atlantis Crew after leaving the ISS to return to Earth. The world’s foremost space outpost can be seen developing over the past several years by comparing the above image to past images. Also visible above are many different types of modules, a robotic arm, another impressive set of solar panels, and a supply ship.
Space Shuttle Discovery and its crew of seven astronauts lift off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, beginning the STS-116 mission to the International Space Station. This is Discovery’s 33rd mission and the first night launch since 2003.
A star 40 times more massive than our sun is blowing a giant bubble of material into space. In this colorful picture, the Hubble Telescope captured a glimpse of the expanding bubble, dubbed the Bubble Nebula (NGC 7635). The beefy star is embedded in the bright blue bubble. The stellar powerhouse is so hot that it is quickly shedding material into space. The dense gas surrounding the star is shaping the castoff material into a bubble. The bubble’s surface is not smooth like a soap bubble’s. Its rippled appearance is due to encounters with gases of different thickness. The nebula is 6 light-years wide and is expanding at 4 million miles per hour (7 million kilometers per hour). The nebula is 7,100 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cassiopeia.
n October 19, 2005, a rocket blasted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base - the last Titan rocket. Carrying a payload for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office, the successful Titan IV B launch brought to a close the Titan program whose first launch was in 1959. Originally designed as an intercontinental ballistic missile, the Titan rocket ultimately evolved into a heavy lift workhorse, launching defense, commercial and scientific payloads to Earth orbit and beyond. In fact, many historic space explorations began with Titan launches, including manned Gemini missions, the Viking missions to Mars, the Voyager tours of the outer solar system, and the Cassini spacecraft now orbiting Saturn. Cassini’s probe Huygens accomplished the most distant landing on another world, while Voyager 1 is now humanity’s most distant spacecraft.
The opening drag chute slowed Endeavour as it landed on runway 15 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The Endeavour crew, led by Commander Scott Kelly, completed a 13-day mission to the International Space Station. The STS-118 mission began Aug. 8 and installed a new gyroscope, an external spare parts platform and another truss segment to the expanding station. Endeavour’s main gear touched down at 12:32 EDT, on Aug. 21, 2007, after traveling more than 5 million miles.
I am looking forward to seeing this documentary. This is going to be a must have in the collection.
Between 1968 and 1972, 12 men walked upon the surface of the moon. All of the surviving crew from the Apollo missions tell their stories. With visually stunning NASA footage as counterpoint to this riveting firsthand testimony, the Sundance Audience award winner vividly conveys the daring and the danger of this remarkable achievement.
