January 2006 Space News |
- U.S. Landsat Earth-Imaging Satellite Resumes Operations Washington File 31 Jan 2006 -- The Landsat 5 Earth observation satellite is back in operation after imaging operations temporarily were suspended in November 2005 because of technical difficulties.
- NASA Mars Rovers Advance Understanding of Red Planet Washington File 30 Jan 2006 -- NASA's Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, have been working overtime to help scientists better understand ancient environmental conditions on the red planet.
- International Space Station Status Report: SS06-004 NASA 27 Jan 2006 -- Preparations for a walk in space took center stage this week on the space station.
- Astronomers Find Smallest Planet Yet Outside Our Solar System VOA 25 Jan 2006 -- Astronomers report finding the smallest, possibly most Earth-like planet ever detected around a star outside our solar system.
- Japan's ALOS in orbit: ESA will deliver its data to European researchers ESA 24 Jan 2006 -- ALOS, Japan's latest Earth Observation satellite, was successfully launched at 02:33 CET (10:33 Japan time) on 24 January.
- NASA Announces Senior Management Changes NASA 23 Jan 2006 -- NASA announced senior management changes today involving three agency field centers.
- Rocket journeys to edge of solar system AFPN 23 Jan 2006 -- The 45th Space Wing helped successfully launch the NASA Pluto New Horizons spacecraft on an Atlas V rocket here Jan. 19.
- NASA's Space Shuttle Processing Status Report: S06-002 NASA 20 Jan 2006 -- The shuttle arm was installed Monday. Arm verification testing starts next week. All three main engines were installed last week and leak checks continue.
- NASA Magnetic Field Mission Ends NASA 20 Jan 2006 -- NASA's Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration (IMAGE) satellite recently ceased operations, bringing to a close a successful six-year mission.
- NASA's Pluto Mission Launched Toward New Horizons NASA 19 Jan 2006 -- The first mission to distant planet Pluto is under way after the successful launch today of NASA's New Horizons spacecraft from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.
- NASA New Horizons Spacecraft on Its Way to Pluto Washington File 19 Jan 2006 -- NASA has launched a spacecraft designed to explore for the first time distant Pluto, its moons and possibly the icy Kuiper Belt mini-worlds 1.6 billion kilometers beyond the orbit of the planet Neptune.
- US Launches Decade-Long Mission to Pluto VOA 19 Jan 2006 -- The United States has launched the first spacecraft to the distant, icy planet Pluto.
- NASA Stardust Mission Capsule Brings Comet Dust to Earth Washington File 15 Jan 2006 -- After spending nearly seven years in space and traveling more than 4.6 billion kilometers, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA’s) Stardust capsule returned to Earth in the early morning hours of January 15, carrying precious samples of cometary and interstellar dust.
- US Space Capsule Returns Comet Dust for Study of Solar System Formation VOA 15 Jan 2006 -- A U.S. space capsule containing precious grains of star dust has landed intact in Utah, giving scientists the chance to study matter dating from the formation of our solar system.
- U.S. Agency Proposes Rules for Commercial Human Space Flights Washington File 13 Jan 2006 -- The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), whose Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST) is newly charged with regulating commercial space flight crew and passengers, has proposed requirements for crew qualifications and training and for passenger training and informed consent.
- Astronomers Find That Many Milky Way Planets Have Multiple Suns VOA 12 Jan 2006 -- As astronomers detect more and more planets outside our solar system, they are finding that many of them have more than one sun, unlike Earth and its companions.
- Missile Defense Program Moves Forward AFPS 11 Jan 2006 -- The Missile Defense Agency continues to move forward in its efforts to protect the nation against a ballistic missile attack.
- NASA Refines Design For Crew Exploration Vehicle NASA 11 Jan 2006 -- NASA's Constellation Program is making progress toward selecting a prime contractor to design, develop and build the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), America's first new human spacecraft in 30 years.
- Sea-Based X-Band Radar Arrives in Pearl Harbor Navy NewsStand 10 Jan 2006 -- The Sea-Based X-Band Radar (SBX) arrived in Pearl Harbor Jan. 9 for planned repairs and refurbishment, after completing a 15,000-mile journey from Corpus Christi, Texas aboard the heavy lift vessel MV Blue Marlin.
- US Spacecraft Bringing Clues to Solar System Origin VOA 10 Jan 2006 -- A U.S. spacecraft is returning to Earth with a precious cargo of stardust that was gathered during a 4.5 billion kilometer roundtrip journey to a distant comet.
- NASA Will Pay Russia for Astronauts' Flights to Space Station VOA News 07 January 2006 The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration will pay Russia to ferry U.S. astronauts to the International Space Station aboard a Soyuz spacecraft.
- 23:59:60… Atomic clock takes quantum leap AFPN 06 Jan 2006 -- A leap second. It’s a time on the clock that doesn’t come along very often, and it’s a subject of debate between astronomers and clock watchers.
- Group chops away at space system’s weaknesses AFPN 06 Jan 2006 -- Several times a year, a group of junior U.S. military officers and federal government employees use open source databases -- such as the Internet and libraries -- in an attempt to reveal potential weaknesses in the Department of Defense's space systems.
- US Mars Rovers Enter Third Year of Exploration VOA 07 Jan 2006 -- It has been two years since two U.S. robotic rovers landed on Mars to begin a search for water. The plan was for them to roam for about three months and then die because of the red planet's extremely rugged conditions. But to the surprise of everyone involved, the robots continue operating and adding to scientists' understanding of the red planet.
- NASA's Space Shuttle Processing Status Report: S06-001 NASA 06 Jan 2006 -- On Tuesday, the vehicle was powered up so technicians could open the payload bay doors and deploy the Ku-band antenna, putting the vehicle back into a processing configuration. Crew module leak checks were successfully performed.
- NASA Announces Next International Space Station Crew NASA 05 Jan 2006 -- NASA and its international partners have selected astronaut Jeffrey Williams and Russian cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov as the next crew for the International Space Station, designated as Expedition 13.
