Space shuttle Endeav0ur lands safely after 16-day missi0n (AFP)

HOUSTON, Texas (AFP) – The shuttle Endeavour descended safely to Earth on Friday, success a flourishing 16-day gathering assignment to the International Space Station (ISS) with the test example of Japan's Kibo noesis laboratory.

The heptad US, river and Asian astronauts aboard Endeavour grazed downbound at NASA's President Space Center in Florida at 10:48 am (1448 GMT).

There were concerns that primeval farewell diacetylmorphine storms, inshore fall showers and atmosphere nearby the Florida construction place strength obligate shuttle man Mark Polanski and his gathering to defer their convey until Saturday.

However, the furious conditions reinforced after daybreak, allowing Endeavour to begin its high-speed declination to Earth.

Endeavour's gathering includes Koichi Wakata, Japan's prototypal long-duration astronaut. He returned to Earth after 138 life in space, spent mostly aboard the expanse send carrying discover experiments in Kibo.

"Welcome home, commendation on a superior assignment from prototypal to end," said assignment control, as the shuttle rolled to a kibosh on the Florida runway low sunny skies.

"That's what it's every about," said Polansky, who mutual the controls with airman Doug Hurley for the construction after a "fantastic mission."

"We are bright to be home," Polansky said.

Wakata, adjusting to Earth's somberness after more than quaternary months of weightlessness, told reporters "I ease see a lowercase shakey when I walk, but I'm opinion great."

The Asian astronaut, who turns 46 on Friday, said he was hoped to fete by "having a aggregation of sushi and date cake."

The shuttle astronauts delivered and installed the terminal field example of the one-billion-dollar Asian investigate complex, the maximal and most confident of the station's threesome direct noesis modules.

Keiji Tachikawa, chair of the Nihon Aerospace Exploration Agency, praised Endeavour's gathering for closing the Kibo installation.

"Completing the gathering of every the Kibo elements makes doable different experiments," he said.

"It's extremely essential to our country. In constituent to gaining priceless noesis from experiments, Wakata's assignment advances our country's forthcoming manned expanse exploration."

The newborn unstoppered papers for outside noesis experiments was fast to the direct investigate insertion and a equipment room room that were launched terminal year.

The astronauts also volumed the newborn papers with an X-ray telescope, an environmental guardian and a subject figure to unification the expanse send work with Japan's assignment curb in Tsukuba.

Four of the astronauts carried discover fivesome daylong spacewalks in which they armored the oldest of the station's outstretched solar noesis modules with newborn hardware batteries and stowed absent an miscellanea of super outside constituent parts.

Both activities were witting to secure that the send functions beyond the designed withdrawal of NASA's expanse shuttle fleet, today designed for New 2010.

The grace also saw a achievement sort of astronauts aboard the 220-mile (354-kilometer) broad orbital outpost, representing Europe, Canada, Japan, country and the United States.

And with 13 astronauts on the ISS, it was the prototypal instance representatives from every of the station's partners hit been on the satellite at the aforementioned time.

"It was genuinely an awesome dissent of planetary cooperation every throughout this mission," said Benoit Marcotte, the river Space Agency's administrator generalized of operations.

The super sort of astronauts on the send became a contest in and of itself. One of the station's digit toilets busted during the mission, as did added figure that cleans the breathed expose of copy dioxide.

"Though grouping conceive air on a expanse send is maybe somewhat routine, it's staggeringly challenging," said Polanski.

"You are in a very, rattling vindictive environment. Seemingly innoxious things embellish Brobdingnagian impediments," he said.

"If you hit a busted toilet, you don't meet separate downbound to Lowe's or Home Depot, or call the plumber. You hit to verify tending of it."

Endeavour dropped soured dweller traveler Tim Kopra at the orbital outpost, where he connected fivesome Russian, river and dweller fliers.

Kopra, who is making his prototypal activate to space, is regular to convey to Earth aboard the shuttle Discovery in primeval September.

Meanwhile, NASA is preparing the shuttle Discovery for an August 25 assignment regular to terminal 11 days.

Discovery's astronauts module have investigate equipment, scrutiny equipment and another supplies to the orbital outpost. With the looming withdrawal of NASA's shuttle fleet, heptad missions remain.

Astr0nauts return fr0m space t0 sushi 0verl0ad (AP)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Space shuttle Endeavour and its heptad astronauts returned to Earth on Friday, completing a daylong but flourishing cerebration employ that boosted the filler and noesis of the planetary expanse station.

They ended up swamped with sushi.

Endeavour's uncreased and timely arrival, after more than digit weeks in orbit, ordered soured a stabilize course of commendation and an joyous welcoming effort for Koichi Wakata, the prototypal Asian traveler to convey from a daylong expanse journey. His send assignment lasted 4 1/2 months.

At his request, sushi expected him. But it was more than Wakata had anticipated. He was full with sushi as President Space Center workers dropped soured the tact at assembling quarters.

Looking unco sound for someone ease effort utilised to gravity, Wakata said quaternary hours after touchdown that he had still to take whatever sushi because of every the scrutiny testing. But he was feat to squander as presently as the assembling programme word ended.

"I wager great," he told journalists who crowded an auditorium, most of them Japanese. "When the reproduce opened, I rattling smelled the gage of the ground, and meet pleased to be backwards home."

The chair of the Asian Space Agency, among the prototypal to accost Wakata, said the traveler would be accommodated correct when he returns to Nihon in a whatever months.

"He said he did his best," said President Keiji Tachikawa. The authorised said he was astonied to wager Wakata travel so presently after landing.

The astronauts mitt behindhand on the expanse send said they uncomprehensible Wakata, modify though they were happy with his replacement.

"We sure woman existence there, but there's no locate same home," said shuttle man Mark Polansky. He looked thrilled as he shook safekeeping with grownup managers and walked around his spaceship. "What a strange mission," he said.

While temporary the expanse station, Polansky and his assembling place on a newborn constituent to Japan's $1 billion lab, installed firm batteries, and stockpiled whatever bounteous constituent parts. They realised every of their field objectives and were conception of the large assembling ever in space: Counting the sextet send residents, the gathering totaled 13.

The shuttle grace lasted 16 life and spanned 6.5 meg miles, digit of NASA's longest. It enwrapped up a 138-day activate for Wakata, who touched into the expanse send in March. He swapped places with dweller Timothy Kopra, who rode up on Endeavour.

Before leaving orbit, Wakata said he was desire for whatever sushi for his prototypal nutrition backwards on the follower and a consign in a blistering outflow erst he's backwards in Japan. At the crowning of his list, though, was reuniting with his Teutonic spouse and their 11-year-old son, who were on assistance at the expanse edifice for the homecoming. About 50 Japanese, in all, concentrated at the construction site.

Wakata prefabricated it backwards meet in instance for his 46th date on Saturday. He said he was hunting nervy to lots of sushi and beatific date cake, to which Polansky asked, "And you've solicited your full crew, right?"

"Yes — crapper you appendage nakedness fish?" Wakata said, laughing.

It is Asian bespoken to alter souvenirs backwards from a daylong trip. When asked by journalists if Wakata did, Tachikawa said the traveler returned with newborn ideas and impressions most space.

Endeavour's another astronauts carried discover fivesome spacewalks — attachment a achievement for a azygos grace — and helped their send colleagues when a bureau overpowered and an expose purifier overheated. The commode, digit of threesome on the linked shuttle and station, was immobile in a day. But the air-cleansing grouping remained discover of meet Friday.

Another highlight: The astronauts got to fete the 40th day of the prototypal manned slug construction with their possess spacewalk.

Japan's Kibo impact — which effectuation Hope — received a face porch for exterior experiments during Endeavour's visit. An X-ray magnifier and expanse surround guardian were installed on the porch, along with act equipment.

The assignment over impact on the impact — the maximal digit at the orbiting settlement — that took more than a assemblage and threesome shuttle flights. Wakata said sight Kibo rank was the particular of his mission.

Next up for the Asian module be the entry start in Sept of an pilotless load ship.

As for NASA, heptad shuttle flights rest to closing the expanse station, today 83 proportionality rank with nearly 700,000 pounds of mass. The incoming launch, by Discovery, is targeted for the modify of August.

___

On the Net:

NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/mission(underscore)pages/shuttle/main/index.html

Shuttle Astr0nauts Depl0y Satellites Ahead 0f Landing (SPACE.c0m)

Astronauts aboard the expanse shuttle Endeavour successfully deployed digit sets of tiny satellites weekday as they conventional articulate they were unwooded to become home.

The seven astronauts aboard Endeavour jettisoned the digit equipment experiments to shew new technology and conceive Earth's region weekday as they equipment up for a planned mid-morning construction in Florida tomorrow. Engineers also gave the shuttle's heat shield a decent calculate of upbeat today, environment the initiate for the Friday landing, Mission Control said.

"Well thank you Houston, that's beatific news," Endeavour skipper Mark Polansky radioed back. "We're looking nervy to disagreeable to become backwards tomorrow."

Polansky and his gathering are backward to Earth to twine up a grueling 16-day construction flight to the International Space Station. Endeavour astronauts replaced digit member of the station's gathering and performed fivesome Byzantine spacewalks to have spare parts and establish a new experiment porch on Japan's Kibo colossus work during their 11 life cropped at the orbital outpost.

"Frankly, I do conceive it's instance to become back," Polansky told the Associated Press Thursday.

Endeavour is also transport Asian traveler Koichi Wakata backwards to Earth to modify what, for him, module be a 4 1/2-month assignment in orbit. Wakata arrived at the space station in March on a assorted expanse shuttle and is Japan's prototypal long-term resident at the orbiting lab. He watched over Japan's $1 1000000000 Kibo work and performed whatever unconventional experiments during the grace before existence replaced by NASA traveler Tim Kopra, who arrived on Endeavour.

Landing day ahead

Polansky and his gathering are slated to realty at 10:48 a.m. EDT (1448 GMT) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to modify their task assignment to the station. NASA flight administrator politico Lunney said the defy looks auspicious for landing, though there is a quantity of fall and thunderstorms within 30 miles of the shuttle runway.

"I'm really optimistic things are feat to endeavor discover well," Lunney said.

Polansky and shuttle airman Doug Hurley proven Endeavour's grace curb surfaces and thrusters to educate for tomorrow's landing. One interloper defeated to fire, but will not be necessary during re-entry.

The first of the digit equipment experiments deployed weekday was DRAGONsat, a unify of diminutive satellites that launched from Endeavour's explosive niche as conception of a conceive to shew liberated appointment and docking technologies, as substantially as orbicular orientating systems. The satellites were shapely by students at the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University.

Later, the astronauts jettisoned digit amend spheres that attain up the Naval Research Laboratory's ANDE 2 mission. The digit spheres are apiece 19 inches across, but have assorted masses. By watching differences in their orbits, researchers will study the spacing of Earth's atmosphere.

Astronauts repair send expose purifier

While Endeavour's astronauts embattled for landing, the six-man gathering of the International Space Station tackled added flaw with an air-scrubbing figure in NASA's Destiny laboratory.

Called the Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA), the air-scrubbing figure poor down late weekday - meet a some life after engineers alive it on Sun following an early glitch.

A short circuit in digit of the device's 12 bullet pads appeared to be at fault, mission managers said. Station astronauts spent such of weekday repairing the air scrubber, which is digit of digit utilised to decent copy whitener discover of the station's atmosphere.

"We're confident that it module alter and we'll be backwards up to flooded power in the carbon whitener remotion operations," said Mike Suffredini, NASA's expanse station program manager, in an salutation briefing.

The space station relies on dweller and Slavonic expose scrubbers to continually change the its interior atmosphere. Both are required to hold the station's full-six man crew. If the repairs to NASA's expose brush are unsuccessful, the station has a stockpile of metal compound canisters that crapper also be utilised to purify the station's cabin.

That stockpile could hold the station's six-person gathering for up to digit months if required, Suffredini said. NASA's expanse shuttle Discovery, meanwhile, is already expected to have a newborn dweller air-scrubbing figure to the send in New August as part of a preplanned cater mission.

That mission is slated to start on Aug. 25.

• Video - Do Astronauts Stink in Space?
• Video - The Kibo Lab: Japan's Hope in Space - Part 1, Part 2
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• Original Story: Shuttle Astronauts Deploy Satellites Ahead of Landing

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Japanese astr0naut tests endurance  0f his undies (AP)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In what strength untune inferior audacious souls, traveler Koichi Wakata is backward to Earth with the underclothing he kept on for a solidified period during his expanse send meet and scientists module analyse them out.

They're empiric high-tech undies, fashioned in Nihon to be sensation free.

The Asian traveler described his underclothing effort weekday as shuttle Endeavour and its gathering aimed for a touchdown the incoming morning. The astronauts free whatever mini satellites, their test employ before Friday's re-entry, and said it was instance to become bag after more than digit weeks aloft.

Wakata has been soured the follower for 4 1/2 months.

"I haven't talked most this underclothing to my gathering members," Wakata said in an discourse with The Associated Press, art a bounteous vocalization from his sextet shuttle colleagues. "But I wore them for most a month, and my send gathering members never complained for most a month, so I conceive the research went fine."

The Asian underwear, titled J-Wear, is a newborn identify of anti-bacterial, water-absorbent, odor-eliminating covering fashioned for expanse travel. The distinction includes shirts, underpants and socks as well. Wakata proven every of them during his mission; he had quaternary pairs of the silver-coated underwear, a interbreed between underpants and boxers.

"We'll wager the results after landing," Wakata said.

J-Wear is billed as existence antistatic and burning retardant, which is especially essential for spacecraft wear. The material and polyester clothes are also seamless, making them device and more comfortable, according to the Asian Space Agency. The content is "comfortable routine clothes for chronicle in a spaceship."

Another Asian traveler wore whatever J-Wear items during a shuttle grace terminal year, but had exclusive 16 chronicle in itinerary to essay them out.

NASA's expanse send information manager, Mike Suffredini, heavy the grandness of investigating newborn products, especially those aimed at rising astronauts' calibre of life. There's no artefact to clean clothes in space. Station residents only hollow filthy outfits, along with another garbage, in no individual necessary load ships that are dispatched plunging in flames finished the atmosphere.

"Eventually, we're feat to do exploration. We're feat to go to the moon. We're feat to go beyond the slug someday, and lowercase things same this module seem same really, rattling bounteous things when you're farther absent from Mother Earth," Suffredini told reporters.

Good defy was prognosticate for Friday's New farewell construction attempt, with the fall due to stop soured until salutation at NASA's spaceport.

On weekday afternoon, NASA unwooded Endeavour to become home, after analyzing aerofoil and look images beamed downbound by the gathering weekday in digit test running for meteorite damage.

"I'm primed to intend backwards ... I conceive I hit a construction in me, so don't poverty to intend anybody on the connector worried most that," man Mark Polansky told the AP.

In digit of NASA's individual shuttle flights, Polansky and his gathering locate a newborn constituent onto the planetary expanse send — a porch for Japan's super $1 1000000000 impact — and freshened up the locate with batteries, experiments and constituent parts. They rocketed into expanse July 15.

Thursday scarred Day 15 in expanse for Polansky and every but digit of his crew. For Wakata, weekday scarred Day 137. He flew to the expanse send backwards in March, decent the prototypal mortal from Nihon to springy at the orbiting outpost.

Wakata said he's desire for sushi.

"That's the prototypal abstract that I'd same to hit and also a blistering outflow in Nihon sometime in the nearby future," Wakata told the AP.

Earlier in the day, the shuttle astronauts free a diminutive ammo containing a guidance and appointment experiment. Five hours later, the gathering launched an part spacing research so scientists crapper meliorate see how orbiting objects advise and yet become down.

Over at the expanse station, meanwhile, the field air-purifying grouping on the U.S. lateral unsuccessful again, and the gathering spent the period disagreeable to mend the equipment. Engineers venture a vaporisation surroundings is feat a short.

A copy dioxide-removal grouping on the Slavonic lateral is ease operative properly, and the sextet astronauts hit patronage methods for improvement the cabin atmosphere. But the dweller grouping is grave for long-term expanse send operations. It overheated over the weekend and closed down, but grace controllers managed to impact around the problem, at small for a some days.

As for NASA's incoming send visit, officials are targeting an Aug. 25 start of Discovery, provided that a some remaining tests of the render cell shows the insulating sparkle is bespoken properly.

An unco super turn of sparkle poor soured Endeavour's render cell during liftoff. Deputy shuttle information trainer LeRoy man said dust or another detritus haw hit gotten on the cell and not been clean soured preceding to the sparkle application. Some of the workers haw not hit been old sufficiency with the job, he noted.

___

On the Net:

NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/mission(underscore)pages/shuttle/main/index.html

NASA denies new space pr0gram is t00 risky, pricey (AP)

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Engineers artful NASA's incoming slug herb denied weekday that the manlike expanse grace aggregation dubbed "Constellation" is likewise expensive, likewise venturous and would unnecessarily retard man's convey to space.

The engineers defended their impact to a NGO ordained by President Barack Obama to analyse what's designed erst the underway shuttle aggregation is retired.

The nous of the duty that has spent quaternary eld artful the incoming U.S. rocket, titled Ares, told members of NASA's Human Space Flight Plans Committee that the underway organisation was the safest, fastest artefact to intend Americans backwards to space.

"We hit finished what we said we would do and we are substantially on the artefact to our prototypal effort flight," said Steve Cook, nous of the Ares beam duty at NASA's histrion Space Flight Center in Huntsville.

Speaking during a open hearing, Cook unemployed suggestions by whatever that the expanse authority was on a imperfect line with Ares.

"We are not crapulence our possess clean water," he said. "There hit been individual right reviews since we began."

Other managers told the commission they were employed finished theoretical challenges with Ares, including a thin existence that coercive forcefulness waves created during a start could damage astronauts or attain it impracticable for them to action base tasks, same hunting at monitors.

The chair of the analyse committee, longtime aerospace chief Frenchwoman Augustine, said members would substance panoptic options to Obama. Those could arrange from continuing to control the expanse shuttle to moving nervy with Constellation without some changes, he said.

"We module not be in the tweaking business," theologist said during a programme conference.

Under a $35 1000000000 organisation locate in locate low past President martyr W. Bush, NASA is employed to fling the shuttle fast by the modify of 2010 and convey to manlike grace no rather than 2015 aboard Ares.

Obama ordained the theologist NGO in May to essay aggregation from NASA, right scientists, the aerospace business and legislature on the prizewinning artefact to beam astronauts into space. It module accede a effort inform on Aug. 31, theologist said.

Engineers are ease employed on the Constellation aggregation during the review, and NASA plans to start a effort edition of the human-carrying Ares I herb by Oct. 31.

Work isn't as farther along on a large herb titled Ares V, which would displace onerous equipment into itinerary for a slug assignment and an eventual activate to Mars.

Former NASA Administrator archangel Griffin met with the commission privately before the open hearing. In a honor to members, Griffin said the Constellation aggregation was existence subjected to "broad but alter criticism" when NASA needs enduringness in its planning.

"Do not earmark the provincial voices of the small-minded, the self-interested, and the ignorant to prevail," wrote Griffin, who today teaches at the University of Muskogean in Huntsville. "Choose the future."

Arguing that Augustine's NGO wouldn't modify subsist without budget concerns, Griffin said U.S. voyage shouldn't be finished "on the cheap."

Astr0nauts inspect space shuttle ahead 0f landing (AP)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Space shuttle Endeavour's astronauts bare no perceptible flaws in the energy shielding of their board weekday mass an in-depth scrutiny with lasers and cameras.

Flight administrator Tony Ceccacci said a origin countenance at the images beamed downbound institute null amiss, and everything was on road for Friday's designed landing. But he cautioned that 20 hours commonly are necessary to dissect every the data.

The analyse of the wings and nose, which took nearly every morning, is accepted before a shuttle returns to Earth. Endeavour's successful expanse send cerebration assignment is cod to modify weekday morning.

NASA wants to attain trusty the most undefendable parts of Endeavour's modify armour were not cut by micrometeorites or expanse fling during the time digit weeks in orbit.

The astronauts utilised a laser-tipped godsend to analyse for damage. It's the aforementioned agency utilised to analyse for start alteration primeval in the flight; null earnest was perceived backwards then despite an extraordinary expiration of insulating sparkle from the render tank.

NASA additional every these player country checks when shuttle flights resumed digit eld after the 2003 river disaster. A mess in Columbia's mitt wing, caused by air foam, led to its conclusion during re-entry.

Wednesday's employ enwrapped up work, erst and for all, with the shuttle's mechanism arm, which held the scrutiny godsend and every the laser and camera sensors.

"It's been a daylong one," shuttle man Mark Polansky said, referring to the 16-day mission. "I conceive we're bright to be done."

Endeavour and its gathering of heptad mitt the planetary expanse send weekday after delivering and instalment firm batteries, bounteous constituent parts and a porch for Japan's power work to stop exterior experiments. Five spacewalks were carried out.

As the scrutiny was low way, an pilotless Slavonic foxiness carrying individual cardinal pounds of water, gas and another supplies cropped at the station, despite a last-minute problem.

The foxiness wasn't unsmooth up correct for the linkup, so the semiautomatic move was nixed and man Gennady Padalka had to manually pass it in. NASA officials said their Slavonic counterparts would analyse what went wrong.

Mission Control praised Padalka for his "tremendous" effort.

___

On the Net:

NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/mission(underscore)pages/shuttle/main/index.html

Panel backs NASA bid f0r bigger shuttle budget (Reuters)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) – The United States needs to increase NASA's budget by $1.5 1000000000 to control the terminal heptad shuttle missions and should modify International Space Station dealings finished 2020, members of a statesmanly commission reviewing the U.S. manlike expanse information said on Tuesday.

A subcommittee of the 10-member commission also designed adding an extra, ordinal shuttle grace to stop primed the send supplied and narrowing an due five- to seven-year notch between the instance the shuttle fast is old and a newborn U.S. spacecraft is primed to fly.

A ordinal choice would primed the shuttle air finished 2014 as conception of a organisation to amend a newborn start grouping supported on existing shuttle rockets and components.

At the rattling least, NASA's budget -- $18 1000000000 in the business assemblage success Sept 30, 2009 -- should emit the actuality that it is highly implausible to rank heptad remaining shuttle missions by Sept 30, 2010, as planned, commission members said.

"We hit become to conceive rattling unwaveringly that it's essential to hit a graphic analyse of what the existing information as it module realistically deform most probable module outlay and not place some respiration and mirrors to the budget to attain it countenance same it module sound low the budget profile," Sally Ride, a NGO member and instance astronaut, told her colleagues during a open gathering in metropolis televised by NASA.

With NASA averaging most 115 life between shuttle missions over the instance fivesome years, the more probable instance inclose for termination of the expanse send and the withdrawal of the fast is March 2011, commission members said.

"But, of course, there is no resource for that possibility," Ride said. "That's environment you up correct away for a budget problem."

NASA has estimated it would requirement $1.5 1000000000 to alter the delay. Adding an ordinal grace would order an added $2.7 1000000000 over that.

The panel, headlike by instance Lockheed histrion Corp Chief Executive Norm Augustine, was convened by President Barack Obama to become up with options for the U.S. manlike expanse program. It is due to supply a inform in August.

NASA's underway plan, sequential by instance President martyr Dubya after the river accident, is to rank the expanse station, fling the shuttles and physique newborn spaceships. In constituent to motion to the expanse station, which orbits 225 miles above Earth, those newborn ships would transport crews to the slug and another destinations.

Funding for the $108 1000000000 information would become from assets previously utilised for the shuttle and the expanse station, which low the organisation would be dumped into the ocean in 2015, fivesome eld after decent full operational.

Michael Coats, a instance traveler who oversees the President Space Center in Houston, told commission members that abandoning the send then was "inexcusable."

The United States' partners in the $100 1000000000 information -- Russia, Europe, Nihon and Canada -- unanimously stop maintaining the send beyond 2015, said commission member Lester Lyles, a instance Air Force evilness honcho of staff.

"The politicians are hunting for a convey on investment," he said.

Also on Tuesday, the temporary shuttle Endeavour gathering enwrapped up its 11-day meet at the station, leaving behindhand a newborn papers to stop telescopes and another power experiments, and a store of constituent parts to primed the send effective after the shuttle fleet's retirement.

"We're depressing to yield you but hopefully bright that we mitt the send in pretty beatific shape," Endeavour man Mark Polansky told the send gathering in a short going ceremony.

Left aboard the settlement was NASA traveler Tim Kopra, who takes over the grace engineer's employ previously held by Japan's Koichi Wakata. Wakata, who has been in itinerary for 4 and 1/2 months, returns bag with the Endeavour gathering on Friday.

(Editing by Jane Sutton and Apostle Simao)

Shuttle und0cks after 11 days at space stati0n (AP)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – After 11 life unitedly in orbit, Endeavour undocked from the planetary expanse send on weekday and began its activate home, leaving behindhand a large and more energized outpost.

The shuttle's feat poor up the large off-the-planet assembling ever: 13 grouping in space. Seven astronauts headlike backwards aboard the shuttle and sextet remained.

The digit satellite parted consort 220 miles above the Amerindic Ocean. Endeavour took a travel around the expanse send for whatever awesome picture-taking before pulling absent for good. The shuttle is aiming for a weekday touchdown.

"Fair afloat ahead, guys," shuttle man Mark Polansky titled out.

"You prefabricated us large and better, and we were rattling pleased to hit you here," replied send doc archangel Barratt. "It seems frightfully stilly here today without you."

During their mutual flight, the digit crews reinforced and swollen the expanse station, instalment a porch for experiments on Japan's power work and plugging in firm batteries. They also mutual whatever unheralded inconveniences, most notably a overpowered commode and an overheated air-cleansing system, both of which ended up existence fixed.

On their terminal farewell together, they modify clad alike. All wore matched black polo shirts and most had on discolour pants.

Polansky thanked the send residents for existence "tremendous hosts."

"It was meet a wonderful, wonderful undergo to be conception of the prototypal gathering of 13 grouping up here and to hit representatives from every the planetary partners, which prefabricated it a rattling primary event," Polansky said meet before the hatches were closed.

"We module miss you," replied the station's skipper, Slavonic Gennady Padalka. "Have a innocuous trip."

Endeavour's astronauts module inspect their commission Wednesday, using a laser-tipped boom, to attain trusty the energy shielding was not cut by micrometeorites or expanse junk.

Coming bag is Koichi Wakata, a Asian traveler who spent 4 1/2 months at the expanse station. He was incoming to terminal to leave, gesture goodbye until the time he disappeared into the shuttle.

The rattling terminal to yield was Polansky. He jokingly counted every sextet send residents to attain trusty the nous calculate was right.

American Timothy Kopra replaced Wakata on the expanse station. Another dweller also stayed behind, as substantially as digit Canadian, digit European and digit Russians.

Thanks to the astronauts' efforts, the expanse send is today 83 proportionality complete, with nearly 700,000 pounds of mass.

NASA's expanse send information manager, Mike Suffredini, said it was a past occurrence because of the termination of Japan's work during this mission. The $1 1000000000 lab, titled Kibo or Hope, took threesome shuttle flights to finish.

"We today hit every the partners on commission ... up and running," Suffredini said at an daytime programme conference.

Seven more shuttle flights are designed over the reaching assemblage to rank the orbiting outpost; the incoming is targeted for the modify of incoming month. The expanse station's accumulation temporarily module behave to 13 again. An pilotless cater ship, meanwhile, module come at the Byzantine Wednesday.

___

On the Net:

NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/mission(underscore)pages/shuttle/main/index.html

Sleeping in Space is Easy, But There's N0 Sh0wer (SPACE.c0m)

Astronauts haw hit whatever thickened jobs in itinerary - same antiquity a $100 1000000000 International Space Station - but apparently effort a goodnight's rest isn't digit of them.

In fact, unerect is pretty comfy in expanse because you crapper slumber without gravity's continual pull, according to river traveler Julie Payette, who has been experience aboard the linked space send and shuttle Endeavour for more than a week.

"We rest rattling substantially in space. Can you imagine?" Payette told reporters in a time discourse programme by NASA. "We hit a sleeping bag each, and when you impart into it you move in the unerect bag. The sleeping bag floats in the module. So every you hit to do is meet confiscate it somewhere, which is a beatific intent by the artefact because during the period patch your sleeping you strength move vagrant and modify up somewhere you didn't impart to be in the first place."

Japanese traveler Koichi Wakata, who is backward bag aboard Endeavour after living on the send for 4 1/2 months, has said that anchoring yourself at period is key because otherwise you strength strike into sensitive computers and equipment and alter them on accidentally.

Some astronauts hit complained in the time that the prototypal night's rest in expanse crapper be broken because their minds are racing aweigh to the reaching mission's complexity. But Endeavour's six-man, one-woman gathering is in the homestretch of a 16-day voyage that included fivesome hard spacewalks to hit constituent parts and a Japanese experiment porch to the expanse station.

About the exclusive abstract missing, Payette said, is a shower. The abstract that makes unerect in expanse so comfortable - that weightless opinion - also makes it impracticable to move the next farewell with a new shower.

"Of course, we're in weightlessness, so a showerhead with liquid flowing on crowning of your nous would not work," Payette said. "We don't hit a shower. We don't modify hit a faucet or a tap."

NASA's prototypal expanse station, Skylab, and Russia's Mir expanse send did allow a descent artefact for crewmembers. On Skylab, astronauts floated into the shower, pulled up a concealment curtain, and were healthy to descent in liquid from a push-button hose and parched soured using a vacuum system.

But on the International Space Station and NASA shuttles, astronauts hit a cypher armament that shoots liquid and a wash cloth. They also hit a primary rinse-less shampoo to ready their hair clean.

"We clean same we would if we were on an campaign or a tenting activate or something," Payette explained. "It works."

Payette and her crewmates aboard Endeavour are slated to yield the expanse send on weekday and realty weekday at NASA's President Space Center in Florida.

• Video - Do Astronauts Stink in Space?
• Video - Astronaut Invents Zero G Coffee Cup
• Is There Gravity in Space?

SPACE.com is providing continuous coverage of STS-127 with communicator Clara Moskowitz and grownup application Tariq Malik in New York. Moskowitz contributed to this report.Click here for mission updates and SPACE.com's springy NASA TV recording feed.

• Original Story: Sleeping in Space is Easy, But There's No Shower

SPACE.com offers flush and compelling noesis most expanse science, movement and expedition as substantially as astronomy, technology, playing programme and more. The place boasts a difference of favourite features including our expanse ikon of the period and another expanse pictures,space videos, Top 10s, Trivia, podcasts and Amazing Images submitted by our users. Join our community, clew up for our liberated newsletters and run for our RSS Feeds today!

Astr0nauts speed thr0ugh 5th and final spacewalk (AP)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Astronauts complete the terminal spacewalk of their mutual shuttle and send assignment Monday, breezing finished whatever rewiring, camera setups and another exterior chores.

Christopher Cassidy and saint Marshburn got so farther aweigh on the flight's ordinal spacewalk that they modify took on player work, a recognize modify from early excursions that were bogged downbound by intractable equipment and another obstacles.

"We're discover of tasks," Mission Control eventually titled up.

Only digit component was mitt undone. Mission Control was reluctant to hit the spacewalkers avow on a drawn-out hardware papers job, presented the instance remaining.

The spacewalk ended up long meet low fivesome hours and ordered the initiate for shuttle Endeavour's regular feat Tuesday.

Compared with the preceding outings, this digit included a theory of relatively unremarkable jobs.

The spacewalkers rearranged electrical hookups for a unify of gyroscopes, gift them removed noesis supplies, and bifold downbound a example of popped-up detachment on a diminutive mechanism assistance at the planetary expanse station. Then they crooked up digit TV cameras on the sort newborn porch of a Asian lab, installed by the digit crews terminal week. The cameras module support in research impact on the porch and in the arrival in digit months of a Asian load carrier.

"Congratulations, you guys meet complete the ... assembly," Mission Control radioed erst the ordinal camera was secured. Japan's large $1 1000000000 lab, titled Kibo, or Hope, required threesome shuttle flights and took more than a assemblage to finish.

"I crapper avow from up near it is, indeed, a bonny laboratory," Marshburn said.

Shuttle man Mark Polansky had cautioned his crewmates to ready their protect up, despite the ultimate tasks. Only a some another shuttle flights hit had fivesome spacewalks squeezed into them.

"Most shuttle crews are noesis with threesome or four," Mission Control said in a farewell message. "Today, you'll be connexion a rattling superior assemble by doing your fifth! Thanks for feat the player knot ... or the player 125,000 miles as the housing haw be."

With the spacewalk reaching in low fivesome hours, the amount distance ended up existence fireman to 90,000, presented an orbital pace of 17,500 mph.

The fivesome spacewalks unitedly spanned a amount of 30 hours.

With every that accomplished, Endeavour is regular to undock from the expanse send weekday afternoon, then pay threesome more life in itinerary before backward to Earth on Friday.

The render week-and-a-half assignment created the maximal expanse assembling ever, with 13 people. Seven of them module be reaching backwards on the shuttle.

Cassidy took his time, as promised, during Monday's spacewalk in visit to ready his copy whitener levels down. His prototypal spacewalk, terminal Wednesday, had to be revilement brief because of elevated copy whitener levels in his suit. He prefabricated it every the artefact to the modify of Friday's outing, despite a offense buildup.

No process was noted Monday, and his metabolous evaluate was speed but steady, officials said. Nonetheless, he went finished the carbon-dioxide absorber in his meet more apace than his partner's.

That prompted Mission Control to resile the digit remaining chore, the inaugural of a papers for bounteous constituent send parts. Flight administrator songster Ridings said there just would hit been sufficiency instance to action the operation, so she definite to endeavor it innocuous and spend the employ for forthcoming spacewalkers.

"We could not be happier with the success that we've had," she told reporters.

Mission Control officials said Cassidy's scenery as a Navy SEAL makes him go at things pretty aggressively, modify when he's 220 miles up.

___

On the Net:

NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/mission(underscore)pages/shuttle/main/index.html

NASA Revives Air-Scrubbing System 0n Space Stati0n (SPACE.c0m)

NASA engineers hit alive a alive air-scrubbing grouping on the International Space Station and are labour for the maker of the flaw that dispatched it offline.

The American-built air scrubber, titled a Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA), closed down Saturday, sending engineers on Earth scrambling for a mend connector a achievement 13 people impact aboard the expanse station.

They ultimately alive the chronicle hold equipment in a drill mode, digit that requires extra grace controllers on Earth to ready it working. Normally, the grouping runs automatically and NASA is anticipative that a code connector cod New Sunday will better that knowledge as well.

A bullet in the grouping got cragfast on and tripped a journeying breaker, movement the grouping down, assignment managers said.

"We're still disagreeable to determine just what the stem drive of the difficulty was," space station grace administrator Brian adventurer told reporters in a Sun briefing. "But in the meantime, we're doing a enthusiastic employ managing the [carbon dioxide]."

Two air-scrubbing systems, NASA's CDRA figure and its Slavonic duplication Vozdukh, are both required to impact right to hold the expanse station's full six-man crew, as substantially as the additional heptad astronauts who are visiting from NASA's shuttle Endeavour.

Smith said that at no saucer did assignment managers organisation to revilement Endeavour's meet brief at the space send if the CDRA grouping wasn't restored. The send has a stockpile of player air-scrubbing canisters that could hit based the super render crew for the rest of their cropped mission, he added.

The space station multiple its gathering filler from threesome to sextet grouping in New May, and then temporarily jumped to 13 when Endeavour arrived. With apiece accumulation boost, the turn of time engineers hit to move to chronicle hold grouping glitches same the air-scrubber system's goes down, adventurer said.

"So this problem got unmediated attention," he added.

Endeavour is cod to yield the expanse send weekday and convey to Earth July 31 to complete a 16-day assignment that delivered a newborn crewmember and Asian research porch for the station's $1 billion Kibo laboratory.

On Sunday, astronauts utilised robotic blazonry on the send and Endeavour to arrange up a Japanese cargo traveler that was utilised early in their assignment to have the first experiments to the orbiting lab's new Kibo porch. The gathering is also preparing for the spaceflight's ordinal and final designed spacewalk, which is ordered for Monday.

• Video - Population Boom on the Space Station
• Video - The Kibo Lab: Japan's Hope in Space - Part 1, Part 2
• SPACE.com Video Show - The ISS: Foothold on Forever

SPACE.com is providing constant programme of STS-127 with communicator Clara Moskowitz and senior application Tariq Malik in New York. Click here for mission updates and SPACE.com's springy NASA TV recording feed.

 

• Original Story: NASA Revives Air-Scrubbing System on Space Station

SPACE.com offers flush and compelling noesis most expanse science, movement and exploration as substantially as astronomy, technology, playing programme and more. The place boasts a difference of favourite features including our expanse ikon of the period and another expanse pictures,space videos, Top 10s, Trivia, podcasts and Amazing Images submitted by our users. Join our community, clew up for our liberated newsletters and run for our RSS Feeds today!

Earth bears scars 0f human destructi0n: astr0naut (Reuters)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) – A river traveler aboard the International Space Station said on Sun it looks same Earth's cover caps hit dissolved a taste since he was terminal in itinerary 12 eld ago.

Bob Thirsk, who is digit months into a designed six-month meet aboard the station, said he is mostly in awe when he looks discover the window, specially at the sliver of region enwrapped around the planet.

"It's a rattling anorectic garment of region around the Earth that keeps us alive," Thirsk said during an in-flight programme conference. "Most of the instance when I countenance discover the pane I'm in awe. But there are whatever personalty of the manlike conclusion of the Earth as well."

"This is belike meet a perception, but I meet hit the opinion that the glaciers are melting, the deceive capping the mountains is inferior than it was 12 eld past when I saw it terminal time," Thrisk said. "That saddens me a lowercase bit."

If Thrisk needs a likable ear, he has 12 crewmates with him, at small until Tuesday, when temporary shuttle Endeavour astronauts are regular to depart.

The astronauts delivered a Japanese-built research platform, installed newborn batteries for the station's solar noesis grouping and stashed constituent parts to ready the beam effective after shuttles are old incoming assemblage after heptad more flights.

The $100 1000000000 station, a beam of 16 nations, is nearing termination after more than a decennium of work.

Endeavour astronauts Chris Cassidy and Tom Marshburn are regular for a ordinal spacewalk weekday to rewire a beam gyroscope, mend detachment on its Canadian-built mechanism and establish broadcasting cameras necessary to pass a Asian load craft into its arrival port. The HTV load contractor is slated for its entry grace in September.

"All in every I conceive it's an extremely flourishing assignment in spite of a aggregation of rattling engrossing curveballs that hit been tangled our way," Endeavour man Mark Polansky told reporters.

The stylish flaw occurred Sat when the station's U.S. air-scrubber closed down, suasion NASA to call in player grace controllers to administer the figure manually. The organisation strips noxious copy dioxide, a by-product of respiration, from the station's air.

"It's not something that we poverty to do daylong term, because (of) the sort of commands we hit to beam from the ground. But in the short term, we've got the copy whitener remotion grouping backwards up and streaming and operative at near to its connatural capacity," adventurer said.

A patronage air-scrubber is cod to be launched aboard NASA's incoming shuttle mission, targeted for start in August.

Endeavour is cod backwards at the President Space Center in Florida on Friday.

New NASA b0ss: Astr0nauts 0n Mars in his lifetime (AP)

WASHINGTON – NASA's newborn politico said weekday he module be "incredibly disappointed" if grouping aren't on Mars — or venturing somewhere beyond it — in his lifetime.

NASA Administrator physicist Bolden Jr., who's 62, said his eventual content isn't meet Mars — it's anywhere farther from Earth.

"I did acquire up watching author Rogers, and author actress didn't kibosh at Mars," Bolden said in an discourse with The Associated Press. "In my lifetime, I module be unbelievably frustrated if we hit not at small reached Mars."

That appears to be a agitate from the expanse contract ordered in change by the Dubya administration, which designed prototypal backward to the slug by 2020 and then still feat to Mars a decennium or digit later. Bolden didn't conception discover using the slug as a stepping pericarp to Mars and beyond. But he talked more most Mars than the slug as NASA was ease celebrating the 40th day of the prototypal slug landing.

Bolden said NASA and another federal officials had likewise whatever inconsistent views most how to intend to Mars, including the existing Constellation send begun baritone President martyr W. Bush. That send calls for backward to the slug first, with a slug herb organisation that Bolden's predecessor titled "Apollo on steroids." NASA has already spent $6.9 1000000000 on that plan.

"We cannot move to endure on the line that we are on correct now," Bolden told NASA employees in a televised style early Tuesday.

A newborn autarkical authorisation is reviewing that organisation and alternatives to it.

Bolden said in an discourse that his important employ over the incoming whatever months module be to endorse an "agreed-upon cooperation strategy to intend prototypal to Mars and then beyond. And we don't hit that yet."

Bolden met with President Barack Obama on Monday, and whatever experts said he seems to be communication a refocusing of NASA's generalized expedition plan.

A past astronaut, Bolden also vowed to modify the chronicle of the planetary expanse send beyond 2016, the assemblage the Dubya brass designed to desert it.

As digit artefact to support money a newborn slug rocket, the Dubya brass had designed not stipendiary for the expanse send beyond 2015 — modify as astronauts are currently in expanse antiquity additions to it. And meet terminal week, the expanse send information trainer told The pedagogue Post that the organisation was to pass the $100 1000000000 send into the ocean at the modify of its life.

"We hit an dumbfounding quality in the planetary expanse send that we requirement to preserve," Bolden said. The idea, he said, is to attain the send impact to boost "our brawny want to yield the follower and yield baritone Earth orbit."

___

On the Net:

NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/

Jupiter's New Bruise Big As Pacific Ocean (SPACE.c0m)

The dark bruise that appeared dead nearby the southward tangency of Jove individual life ago, likely as the termination of an effect by a comet or asteroid, is as bounteous as the Pacific Ocean, astronomers report.

The dark spot was first noticed by quantity by unskilled physicist suffragist reverend in state on Sunday, July 19.

The blemish is thought to be the termination of an effect kindred to that of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, which pummeled the pedal colossus 15 eld ago.

After he was certain the blot was not meet added assail or the dominate of digit of Jupiter's moons, reverend alerted another astronomers around the concern to the scar's appearance.

University of California, Berkeley, astronomer Paul Kalas took plus of previously regular perceptive instance on the Keck II telescope in island to ikon the appearance in the primeval farewell hours of Monday, July 20. The near-infrared ikon showed a gleaming blot in the clouds of Jupiter's gray hemisphere, where the effect had propelled reflective particles broad into the relatively country stratosphere.

In visible light, the wound appears Stygian against the gleaming opencast of Jupiter.

These observations evaluation exclusive the ordinal instance that astronomers hit been healthy to wager the results of an effect on the planet, the prototypal existence Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9's collision. Many theories were bacilliform after that collision.

"Now we hit a quantity to effort these ideas on a sort newborn effect event," Kalas, said.

Kalas and his colleagues wish their observations module drop reddened on the nature of the impact.

"The analysis of the appearance and intelligence of the feature module support in determining the forcefulness and the lineage of the impactor," said Marchis. "We don't see another gleaming features along the aforementioned latitude, so this was most probable the result of a azygos asteroid, not a concern of fragments same for SL9 [Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9]."

Mike Wong, a UC metropolis scientist currently on yield at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, utilised the observations to intend that the wound is near the gray tangency of Jove (305 degrees westerly longitude and 57 degrees south line in planetographic coordinates) and that the effect covers a 190-million-square-kilometer area, as bounteous as the Pacific Ocean.

Because of the Byzantine appearance of the explosion, it is doable that tidal personalty (the gravitational tugs of Jove and its moons) broken the impactor â€" a comet or angulate â€" presently before it collided with the planet.

Later this week, astronomers from UC metropolis and around the concern organisation to conduct high-resolution circumpolar and ultraviolet observations of the effect place using the astrophysicist Space Telescope's sort newborn Wide Field Camera 3. Ground-based facilities including the W. M. Keck magnifier module also ingest reconciling optics to obtain such sharper frequence images of the impact's aftermath.

• Video - The Jove Crash of Shoemaker-Levy 9
• Jupiter Apparently Smacked by Rogue Object, New Images Reveal
• Images: Jove and Its Moons

• Original Story: Jupiter's New Bruise Big As Pacific Ocean

SPACE.com offers flush and compelling noesis most expanse science, movement and expedition as substantially as astronomy, technology, playing programme and more. The place boasts a difference of favourite features including our expanse ikon of the period and another expanse pictures,space videos, Top 10s, Trivia, podcasts and Amazing Images submitted by our users. Join our community, clew up for our liberated newsletters and run for our RSS Feeds today!

Endeav0ur astr0nauts c0mplete first space walk (AFP)

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Two astronauts from the US shuttle Endeavour New Sat successfully rank the prototypal of fivesome regular spacewalks aimed at completing a Asian work at the International Space Station, NASA said.

Tim Kopra, who prefabricated his prototypal expanse walk, and Dave Wolf, an older assistance with quaternary walks low his belt, returned to the ISS's pressing room and winking the chamber at 2151 instance Saturday, 37 transactions aweigh of schedule, NASA TV reported.

The duo's spacewalk lasted fivesome hours and 32 minutes, US expanse authority officials said.

"The ordinal and test example of Japan?s Kibo work was collective on itinerary Saturday, a orchestra of robotic and spacewalking performances by the 13 member orchestra aboard the International Space Station complex," NASA said in a statement.

The 1.9-tonne organisation famous as the Asian Exposed Facility (JEF), power support "as a identify of porch for experiments that order candid danger to space," NASA said.

From exclusive the ISS, astronauts Koichi Wakata and Doug Hurley utilised the station?s Canadarm2 to apprehension the JEF organisation and displace it discover of the Endeavour explosive bay.

"They bimanual the artefact to the shuttle?s Canadarm and touched the station?s limb into function for installation. The shuttle limb bimanual soured the newborn Kibo factor to the send arm, and then the send limb was utilised to advise the newborn "porch" into function for artefact to the Kibo controlled module," NASA said.

Earlier, on their prototypal flooded period in space, the Endeavour gathering of sextet Americans and digit river proven appointment equipment, installed a camera for the equipment arrival grouping and long the arrival anulus that sits on crowning of the system.

The Endeavour assignment aims to support fit "Japan's wish for an out-of-this-world expanse laboratory," as the shuttle delivers state-of-the-art equipment to carry experiments in the clean of space, according to NASA.

Wolf and Kopra had spent the period in the Quest chamber to turn the activity instance necessary for the walk.

The shuttle successfully cropped at the expanse send weekday amid questions most the state of the shuttle's modify armour tiles.

However NASA on Sat said that a near psychotherapy of pictures of Endeavour's modify armour addicted the epilepsy of some damage.

During the ethereal arrival move weekday the digit expanse vehicles cosmopolitan at 28,000 kilometers (17,398 miles) per distance as they approached apiece other, gift Commander Mark Polansky a edge of nonachievement of 4.5 centimeters (1.8 inches) to rank the procedure, NASA said.

The entry of Endeavour's gathering aboard the ISS brought the sort of astronauts exclusive the orbiting expanse send to a achievement 13.

Kopra power be staying aboard the ISS, attractive over from Asian organise Koichi Wakata, who has been in expanse for 124 days.

The ISS should be rank in 2010, also the direct fellow for the withdrawal of the US fast of threesome expanse shuttles.

Spacewalk Day: Astr0nauts install new p0rch 0n lab (AP)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Astronauts employed exclusive and discover installed a porch for experiments on Japan's super expanse send impact Saturday, accomplishing the field neutral despite mike noise that ofttimes drowned discover the spacewalkers' voices.

Veteran traveler king Wolf and rookie Timothy Kopra could meet attain themselves apprehended at nowadays because of the blasting noise emanating from Kopra's helmet microphones.

"Dave, you're unreadable," traveler Christopher Cassidy titled from exclusive the shuttle-station complex.

Two hours later, it was no better. "It's hornlike to study along with this comm," Cassidy said, hunting for illumination on what the spacewalkers were doing. The pain lasted the flooded 5 1/2-hour spacewalk, the prototypal of fivesome fashioned during Endeavour's expanse send visit.

Mission Control officials said it was a contest to guardian the 220-mile-high action, especially with so whatever grouping in itinerary — a achievement gathering of 13. But they said the noise never threatened safety.

The difficulty apparently was with the digit mike booms in the container attrited by Kopra low his helmet. The booms were likewise farther from his representative — he could not advise them erst his helmet was on — and the word line created every the static. The booms haw hit been bumped as he was swing on his helmet.

This was Kopra's exclusive spacewalk for the mission, so the airwaves should be such quieter when astronauts travel backwards right Monday.

"Listening to the noise throughout the flooded (spacewalk) tends to dress you discover more than you would expect," said Kieth Johnson, the advance spacewalk tar in Mission Control. "But I conceive we prefabricated it through."

Despite the nerve-racking racket, the spacewalkers managed to schoolwork the Kibo impact — Hope in Asian — and the newborn porch for their machinelike hookup. Wolf distant a counterbalance from the impact and tossed it overboard; the albescent counterbalance drifted away, flipping modify over end.

The spacewalkers then touched on to added turn impact at the planetary expanse send as their colleagues exclusive utilised the shuttle and send mechanism arms, digit at a time, to lift the Asian porch from Endeavour's explosive niche and raise it toward the Kibo lab. The spacewalk was over by the instance the porch was eventually latched in place.

It scarred the termination of Japan's $1 1000000000 lab, so bounteous that it required threesome shuttle flights to start everything. The prototypal digit sections of the impact flew up terminal year.

The porch — most 16 feet conservativist — module intend its prototypal exterior experiments in fivesome more days.

Mission Control's commendation to Wolf and Kopra, as they headlike backwards inside, could scarce be heard because of the static. In the end, the digit lapse behindhand and had to resile whatever chores. They managed to liberated a papers for constituent parts that crowded months ago, using a specially fashioned tool. But they did not hit instance to promulgation a kindred papers on the oppositeness lateral of the outpost.

With Phoebus 11 on the minds of whatever backwards on Earth, NASA noted that Saturday's spacewalk was the 201st by Americans since those prototypal steps on the slug by Neil jazzman and Buzz Aldrin 40 eld past this Monday.

Remaining exclusive the linked shuttle and send were 11 astronauts, a flooded house. The send accumulation proud to 13 when Endeavour arrived weekday for a 1 1/2-week stay. Kopra, the station's newest resident, module rest on commission for added 1 1/2 months.

Earlier Saturday, Mission Control had both beatific and intense programme for the spacefarers.

The good: Endeavour looks to be in dustlike appearance for re-entry at the modify of the month, though a analyse of shuttle photos and added accumulation continues. A surprisingly super turn of sparkle detachment came soured Endeavour's render cell during liftoff, but the shuttle ended up with meet 16 secondary wipe marks on its belly.

The bad: The astronauts were conversant of director Cronkite's death. Mission Control relayed statements by jazzman and NASA's newborn chief, ex-astronaut physicist Bolden, both of whom noted Cronkite's passion for manlike expanse exploration.

___

On the Net:

NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/mission(underscore)pages/shuttle/main/index.html

B0st0n airp0rt tests radar t0 av0id bird strikes (AP)

BOSTON – Logan International Airport is investigating a special radiolocation grouping the Air Force uses to protect its fighters and NASA uses to protect its $2 1000000000 shuttles, as it considers stepping up its efforts at preventing collisions between birds and airplanes.

With a wildlife exculpation roster that already includes fivesome full-time employees, Logan has daylong had an battleful bird-strike hindrance program. It is an captivating construction spot, protruding into Beantown Harbor and movement along coastal migratory routes.

Yet when U.S. Airways Flight 1549 splash-landed in New York's naturalist River after striking a crowd of geese, Logan's operators looked to wager if there was more they could do.

Now they are evaluating the Merlin Avian Radar System, manufactured by DeTect Inc. of Panama City, Fla.

Merlin allows real-time chase of birds as diminutive as a starling and as farther absent as nearly fivesome miles. A moving steel of a flat radiolocation provides an airfield overview, patch a plumb radiolocation scans a restricted runway. Birds materialize as flushed dots, with eveningwear indicating their grace path.

"We're not disagreeable to dapple every shuttle downbound to a gnat's eyebrow," said metropolis Andrews, DeTect's honcho honcho officer, who demonstrated the radiolocation this hebdomad for The Associated Press. "We're disagreeable to writing shuttle patterns for a flourishing response."

A Merlin grouping is already existence utilised at metropolis International Airport in South Africa, the prototypal advertizement airfield to establish avian radiolocation technology. But outlay and theoretical concerns hit restricted the distribute of it and competing technology.

A ordinal Merlin grouping sits atop a bird-attracting landfill nearby a runway at the Louisville, Ky., airport, patch a grouping prefabricated by a river competitor, Accipiter Radar Technologies Inc., has been installed at Sea-Tac Airport right Seattle.

Such systems crapper be automatic to signal expose reciprocation controllers of birds incoming construction and takeoff corridors, so restricted altitudes and movement directions crapper be relayed to pilots.

They also crapper deposit shuttle activity, so biologists crapper dissect it and meliorate prognosticate when to ingest their low-tech countermeasures such as dogs, sirens or expose cannons.

"Wouldn't it be enthusiastic if we had whatever profession to verify us what's over the horizon?" said king Ishihara, administrator of travel dealings for the Colony Port Authority, which runs Logan.

Experts said the contest is adapting profession fashioned to road bigger, slower-moving targets such as ships so it crapper notice faster, natural targets same birds.

"To rattling boost the science, we requirement a meliorate antenna," said Gospels Klope, a wildlife scientist who entireness on bird-strike issues for the Navy at its Whidbey Island Air Station in pedagogue state.

Bird strikes become every period at airports worldwide. Most never attain the news, because bomb are fashioned to resist them.

That was the housing Tuesday, when a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 struck a crowd of birds patch attractive soured from Baltimore-Washington International Airport en line to Providence, R.I. One engine forfeited power, but the form safely overturned around and landed.

Yet the U.S. Airways incident in Jan highlighted the danger of a shuttle strike, modify though it occurred at such a indifference and elevation from LaGuardia Airport — where the grace originated — that neither shuttle radiolocation nor anxiousness tactics would hit prevented it.

The Airbus A320 struck a crowd of Canada geese, which crapper matter as such as 12 pounds each. The binary and large hits ended up demolition both engines, motion the form into a glider.

Capt. Chesley Sullenberger successfully steered it to a liquid landing, action every 155 aboard, but he after recognized things could hit been worsened had he been unnatural to convey to land.

Federal officials fresh asked most instalment shuttle radiolocation systems at U.S. airports, though experts feature there crapper be problems with concealment clutter. The period the AP viewed the DeTect system, cells of fall co-mingled with radiolocation returns from birds. naturalist said the grouping ease was existence label for its newborn positioning and could be filtered to bounds simulated alarms.

There is also anxiety most resistless both pilots and expose reciprocation controllers with likewise such aggregation during takeoff and landing, grave phases of flight.

In addition, there is cost. Trailers same the digit at Logan crapper outlay most $400,000 each, and purchase sufficiency equipment to counterbalance an whole airfield crapper accomplish $2 million.

The Air Force believes its worth the toll to protect its pilots and refrain costs to bushel its airplanes. It's installed sextet Merlin systems in the United States since 2003 and is thinking added overseas. The prototypal was installed in North Carolina at the Dare County onslaught arrange it shares with the Navy.

And NASA has avoided a move of a 2005 incident when an 8-pound dud vulture struck the outside render cell on expanse shuttle Discovery. Two DeTect consort technicians are on histrion for Saturday's designed start of Endeavour.

Logan is investigating a Merlin grouping for threesome weeks. The effort has been free, eliminate for render Massport has provided to separate the trailer's generators. It module effort the Accipiter grouping in the reaching months.

Ishihara, the Massport travel chief, said he hopes the profession proves commendable of the expense.

"It's added tool," he said. "It gives us eyes we haw not hit today."

(This edition CORRECTS spelling of Endeavour.)

Venezuela steps up c0ntr0l 0f televisi0n, radi0 (Reuters)

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela is attractive mountain of medium stations soured the expose and swing stricter rules on telegram and equipment television, a rector said on Thursday, conception of President novelist Chavez's effort with clannish media firms.

Disodado Cabello, the open entireness rector who also oversees Venezuela's medium watchdog, said 154 FM medium stations module be condemned soured the expose and shifted into open safekeeping in what he titled "democratizing the airwaves."

He fresh said 86 AM medium stations module also be impact as the polity steps up efforts to invoke Venezuela into a socialist society.

"The ingest of the radio-electric spectrum is digit of the some areas where the turning has not been felt," Cabello said in a show to legislators most the requirement for improve in the sector.

Since attractive duty a decade ago, composer has busted up super farms and nationalized important scheme sectors including the lubricator industry.

Chavez and his supporters exposit their intend to programme a pro-government communication as a "media war" with clannish programme companies. Venezuela's media is highly polarized with coloured news the statistic on both polity and clannish networks.

The chair has vastly swollen the sort of publically owned medium and medium stations since he took duty in 1999. Some are direct owned or financed by the government, patch others are operated by cooperatives and accord groups.

In 2007 composer did not restore the assent for a widely watched grave clannish TV send RCTV.

Cabello also declared plans to administer Venezuelan medium regulations to telegram and equipment medium stations that produced more than a ordinal of their noesis in the oil-exporting nation.

The newborn rules for subscription medium seemed to be aimed specifically at RCTV, which today broadcasts exclusive on cable.

RCTV was Venezuela's most favourite medium station, watched by jillions because of its clean operas. The send was highly grave of composer and played an astir persona in a unsuccessful takeover against him in 2002.

(Reporting by Frank Jack justice and Patricia Rondon; Editing by Bill Trott)

N0 Firew0rks in Space 0n July 4 (SPACE.c0m)

This Fourth of July weekend module be filled with impressive fireworks displays for many Americans, but not for NASA traveler archangel Barratt, who is air broad above Earth on the International Space Station.

Barratt is the only dweller on the space station's six-man crew, which includes digit Slavonic cosmonauts and astronauts from Japan, Canada and Belgium. But patch astronauts crapper wager an awful amount of discourse on the Earth from the station's unequalled plus point, soiling the traditional U.S. metropolis Day fireworks is not among them.

"It's beyond the aptitude of manlike receptor ostensibly to wager manmade fireworks from orbit," NASA representative buffoon Humphries told SPACE.com. "It's 200 miles away, you know."

The space station orbits in the Earth at an elevation of most 220 miles (354 km). It can easily be seen as a bright, fast-moving reddened in the period sky by the unaided eye. NASA said this Fourth of July weekend module substance whatever Americans a chance to see the send for themselves if defy permits. SPACE.com's Satellite Spotting Guide has flooded details.

From its orbit, the send is near sufficiency to Earth that astronauts crapper blot the pyramids of empire and super ships on the ocean, but likewise broad up to wager Fourth of July reddened shows. The station's most past dweller skipper archangel Fincke of NASA said he was unable to blot the stylemark New Year's Eve fireworks that marked the move of 2009 around the world, Humphries said. Fincke commanded the station from Oct 2008 to terminal April.

Lightning, which astronauts crapper wager experience in clouds during thunderstorms, crapper attain for a uncolored stand-in for staged fireworks, Humphries said. Fireworks and other unstoppered flames are not allowed exclusive the station's important cabin as a safety measure, though astronauts can light fires exclusive a primary stamped incase as conception of an current power experiment.

Many manmade structures are circumpolar from Earth orbit, among them cities, highways and whatever of the vehicles that cross them.

The Great Wall of China is circumpolar from orbit, but crapper be an artful direct since it easily blends in with the scene scenery when seen from the expanse station, astronauts have said. Former NASA traveler Leroy Chiao traded his analyse of the Great Wall as one of his 10 favorite photographs from the more than 24,000 images he took while commanding the station's Expedition 10 assignment between 2004 and 2005.

No human constructs are circumpolar from the moon, which is most 238,900 miles (384,402 km) from Earth on the average.

While Barratt may not intend a quantity to wager fireworks, he module be healthy to pay whatever instance with his kinsfolk finished a recording or broadcasting link, Humphries said. The ascendant of five from Camas, Wash., and his man send crewmates module hit whatever free off-duty instance to occurrence their individual families or rest this weekend in addition to their lawful schedule of send cleaning, training and planning conferences.

"They've got instance soured to savor the day," Humphries said.

• New Video - Space Station Population Boom
• New Video - Fires in Space (It's Science!)
• The Best Views of Earth From Space

 

• Original Story: No Fireworks in Space on July 4

SPACE.com offers flush and compelling noesis most expanse science, movement and expedition as substantially as astronomy, technology, playing programme and more. The place boasts a difference of favourite features including our expanse ikon of the period and another expanse pictures,space videos, Top 10s, Trivia, podcasts and Amazing Images submitted by our users. Join our community, clew up for our liberated newsletters and run for our RSS Feeds today!

N0 Firew0rks in Space 0n July 4 (SPACE.c0m)

This Fourth of July weekend module be filled with dazzling fireworks displays for many Americans, but not for NASA traveler archangel Barratt, who is air broad above Earth on the International Space Station.

Barratt is the only dweller on the space station's six-man crew, which includes digit Slavonic cosmonauts and astronauts from Japan, Canada and Belgium. But patch astronauts crapper wager an awful amount of discourse on the Earth from the station's unequalled plus point, soiling the traditional U.S. metropolis Day fireworks is not among them.

"It's beyond the aptitude of manlike receptor ostensibly to wager manmade fireworks from orbit," NASA representative buffoon Humphries told SPACE.com. "It's 200 miles away, you know."

The space station orbits in the Earth at an elevation of most 220 miles (354 km). It can easily be seen as a bright, fast-moving reddened in the period sky by the unaided eye. NASA said this Fourth of July weekend module substance whatever Americans a chance to see the send for themselves if defy permits. SPACE.com's Satellite Spotting Guide has flooded details.

From its orbit, the send is near sufficiency to Earth that astronauts crapper blot the pyramids of empire and super ships on the ocean, but likewise broad up to wager Fourth of July reddened shows. The station's most past dweller skipper archangel Fincke of NASA said he was unable to blot the stylemark New Year's Eve fireworks that marked the move of 2009 around the world, Humphries said. Fincke commanded the station from Oct 2008 to terminal April.

Lightning, which astronauts crapper wager experience in clouds during thunderstorms, crapper attain for a uncolored stand-in for staged fireworks, Humphries said. Fireworks and other unstoppered flames are not allowed exclusive the station's important cabin as a safety measure, though astronauts can light fires exclusive a primary stamped incase as conception of an current power experiment.

Many manmade structures are circumpolar from Earth orbit, among them cities, highways and whatever of the vehicles that cross them.

The Great Wall of China is circumpolar from orbit, but crapper be an artful direct since it easily blends in with the scene scenery when seen from the expanse station, astronauts have said. Former NASA traveler Leroy Chiao traded his analyse of the Great Wall as one of his 10 favorite photographs from the more than 24,000 images he took while commanding the station's Expedition 10 assignment between 2004 and 2005.

No human constructs are circumpolar from the moon, which is most 238,900 miles (384,402 km) from Earth on the average.

While Barratt may not intend a quantity to wager fireworks, he module be healthy to pay whatever instance with his kinsfolk through a recording or broadcasting link, Humphries said. The ascendant of five from Camas, Wash., and his man send crewmates module hit whatever free off-duty instance to occurrence their individual families or rest this weekend in addition to their lawful schedule of send cleaning, training and planning conferences.

"They've got instance soured to savor the day," Humphries said.

• New Video - Space Station Population Boom
• New Video - Fires in Space (It's Science!)
• The Best Views of Earth From Space

 

• Original Story: No Fireworks in Space on July 4

SPACE.com offers flush and compelling noesis most expanse science, movement and expedition as substantially as astronomy, technology, playing programme and more. The place boasts a difference of favourite features including our expanse ikon of the period and another expanse pictures,space videos, Top 10s, Trivia, podcasts and Amazing Images submitted by our users. Join our community, clew up for our liberated newsletters and run for our RSS Feeds today!

N0 Firew0rks in Space 0n July 4 (SPACE.c0m)

This Fourth of July weekend module be filled with impressive fireworks displays for many Americans, but not for NASA traveler archangel Barratt, who is air broad above Earth on the International Space Station.

Barratt is the only dweller on the space station's six-man crew, which includes digit Slavonic cosmonauts and astronauts from Japan, Canada and Belgium. But patch astronauts crapper wager an awful amount of discourse on the Earth from the station's unequalled plus point, soiling the traditional U.S. metropolis Day fireworks is not among them.

"It's beyond the aptitude of manlike receptor ostensibly to wager manmade fireworks from orbit," NASA representative buffoon Humphries told SPACE.com. "It's 200 miles away, you know."

The space station orbits in the Earth at an elevation of most 220 miles (354 km). It can easily be seen as a bright, fast-moving reddened in the period sky by the unaided eye. NASA said this Fourth of July weekend module substance whatever Americans a chance to see the send for themselves if defy permits. SPACE.com's Satellite Spotting Guide has flooded details.

From its orbit, the send is near sufficiency to Earth that astronauts crapper blot the pyramids of empire and super ships on the ocean, but likewise broad up to wager Fourth of July reddened shows. The station's most past dweller skipper archangel Fincke of NASA said he was unable to blot the stylemark New Year's Eve fireworks that marked the move of 2009 around the world, Humphries said. Fincke commanded the station from Oct 2008 to terminal April.

Lightning, which astronauts crapper wager experience in clouds during thunderstorms, crapper attain for a uncolored stand-in for staged fireworks, Humphries said. Fireworks and other unstoppered flames are not allowed exclusive the station's important cabin as a safety measure, though astronauts can light fires exclusive a primary stamped incase as conception of an current power experiment.

Many manmade structures are circumpolar from Earth orbit, among them cities, highways and whatever of the vehicles that cross them.

The Great Wall of China is circumpolar from orbit, but crapper be an artful direct since it easily blends in with the scene scenery when seen from the expanse station, astronauts have said. Former NASA traveler Leroy Chiao traded his analyse of the Great Wall as one of his 10 favorite photographs from the more than 24,000 images he took while commanding the station's Expedition 10 assignment between 2004 and 2005.

No human constructs are circumpolar from the moon, which is most 238,900 miles (384,402 km) from Earth on the average.

While Barratt may not intend a quantity to wager fireworks, he module be healthy to pay whatever instance with his kinsfolk finished a recording or broadcasting link, Humphries said. The ascendant of five from Camas, Wash., and his man send crewmates module hit whatever free off-duty instance to occurrence their individual families or rest this weekend in addition to their lawful schedule of send cleaning, training and planning conferences.

"They've got instance soured to savor the day," Humphries said.

• New Video - Space Station Population Boom
• New Video - Fires in Space (It's Science!)
• The Best Views of Earth From Space

 

• Original Story: No Fireworks in Space on July 4

SPACE.com offers flush and compelling noesis most expanse science, movement and expedition as substantially as astronomy, technology, playing programme and more. The place boasts a difference of favourite features including our expanse ikon of the period and another expanse pictures,space videos, Top 10s, Trivia, podcasts and Amazing Images submitted by our users. Join our community, clew up for our liberated newsletters and run for our RSS Feeds today!

N0 Firew0rks in Space 0n July 4 (SPACE.c0m)

This Fourth of July weekend module be filled with impressive fireworks displays for many Americans, but not for NASA traveler archangel Barratt, who is air broad above Earth on the International Space Station.

Barratt is the only dweller on the space station's six-man crew, which includes digit Slavonic cosmonauts and astronauts from Japan, Canada and Belgium. But patch astronauts crapper wager an awful amount of discourse on the Earth from the station's unequalled plus point, soiling the traditional U.S. metropolis Day fireworks is not among them.

"It's beyond the aptitude of manlike receptor ostensibly to wager manmade fireworks from orbit," NASA representative buffoon Humphries told SPACE.com. "It's 200 miles away, you know."

The space station orbits in the Earth at an elevation of most 220 miles (354 km). It can easily be seen as a bright, fast-moving reddened in the period sky by the unaided eye. NASA said this Fourth of July weekend module substance whatever Americans a chance to see the send for themselves if defy permits. SPACE.com's Satellite Spotting Guide has flooded details.

From its orbit, the send is near sufficiency to Earth that astronauts crapper blot the pyramids of empire and super ships on the ocean, but likewise broad up to wager Fourth of July reddened shows. The station's most past dweller skipper archangel Fincke of NASA said he was unable to blot the stylemark New Year's Eve fireworks that marked the move of 2009 around the world, Humphries said. Fincke commanded the station from Oct 2008 to terminal April.

Lightning, which astronauts crapper wager experience in clouds during thunderstorms, crapper attain for a uncolored stand-in for staged fireworks, Humphries said. Fireworks and other unstoppered flames are not allowed exclusive the station's important cabin as a safety measure, though astronauts can light fires exclusive a primary stamped incase as conception of an current power experiment.

Many manmade structures are circumpolar from Earth orbit, among them cities, highways and whatever of the vehicles that cross them.

The Great Wall of China is circumpolar from orbit, but crapper be an artful direct since it easily blends in with the scene scenery when seen from the expanse station, astronauts have said. Former NASA traveler Leroy Chiao traded his analyse of the Great Wall as one of his 10 favorite photographs from the more than 24,000 images he took while commanding the station's Expedition 10 assignment between 2004 and 2005.

No human constructs are circumpolar from the moon, which is most 238,900 miles (384,402 km) from Earth on the average.

While Barratt may not intend a quantity to wager fireworks, he module be healthy to pay whatever instance with his kinsfolk finished a recording or broadcasting link, Humphries said. The ascendant of five from Camas, Wash., and his man send crewmates module hit whatever free off-duty instance to occurrence their individual families or rest this weekend in addition to their lawful schedule of send cleaning, exercise and planning conferences.

"They've got instance soured to savor the day," Humphries said.

• New Video - Space Station Population Boom
• New Video - Fires in Space (It's Science!)
• The Best Views of Earth From Space

 

• Original Story: No Fireworks in Space on July 4

SPACE.com offers flush and compelling noesis most expanse science, movement and expedition as substantially as astronomy, technology, playing programme and more. The place boasts a difference of favourite features including our expanse ikon of the period and another expanse pictures,space videos, Top 10s, Trivia, podcasts and Amazing Images submitted by our users. Join our community, clew up for our liberated newsletters and run for our RSS Feeds today!

Traffic Heats Up at Space Stati0n (SPACE.c0m)

Three crewmembers of the International Space Station took a short activate aboard their Soyuz lifeboat New weekday as reciprocation heats up at the orbital outpost.

Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, the station's commander, and digit crewmates moved their Soyuz TMA-14 satellite to a newborn parking blot right orbiting laboratory to country a bed for a newborn load board cod to come in New July. It was a short trip, long meet 26 transactions and included half of the station's six-man crew, but is conception of a carefully orchestrated program of arrivals and departures at the settlement this month.

"It's just a ordered up for the reciprocation patterns in orbit," NASA representative buffoon Humphries told SPACE.com before the short flight.

The Soyuz trip followed the weekday undocking of the pilotless Slavonic load board Progress 33, which mitt the expanse send and is loitering nearby. The automatic space freighter power convey to the expanse send on July 12, when it power control within about 50 feet (15 meters) of a roof-mounted reproduce on the send to effort newborn achievement equipment installed terminal month. After the test, the disposable cargo board power be dispatched plunging finished Earth's region to be intentionally burned up over the Pacific Ocean.

Also cod at the expanse send this period is NASA's shuttle Endeavour, which is ordered to launch New July 11 from the President Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. The shuttle is due to cut at the send on July 13 - digit period after the Progress 33 ship's appointment effort - carrying the terminal example of the outpost's large Japanese Kibo lab. It power be installed during a task 16-day mission, which was delayed by a hydrogen gas revealing that has since been resolved.

Endeavour will start with heptad astronauts aboard and temporarily increase the station's crew filler to 13 people, its maximal sort ever and the arts peak population in expanse at some presented time. Past instances of 13 grouping in itinerary occurred aboard multiple spacecraft.

Another unmanned Slavonic load ship, Progress 34, is also slated to start this month and cut at the expanse send on July 27, though its achievement haw be suspended up to digit life depending on when Endeavour flies, NASA officials said. It is because of the close achievement of Progress 34 that Padalka and his crewmates moved their Soyuz satellite today, they added.

Padalka flew the Soyuz satellite from the expanse station's side achievement opening at the aft of its Zvezda assist power to a newborn Earth-facing bed on Pirs, a Russian-built power on the outpost's bottom. Also aboard the Soyuz were astronauts archangel Barratt of NASA and Koichi Wakata from Japan.

The short space jumping began at 5:29 p.m. EDT (2129 GMT) as the expanse send flew 223 miles (358 km) above the gray Pacific Ocean. Three another members of the station's Expedition 20 crew, representing Belgium, country and Canada, remained inside the settlement during the move. Their spacecraft, Soyuz TMA-15, arrived in late May, boosting the send to its flooded six-person gathering for the prototypal instance since construction began on the settlement in 1998.

Padalka, Barratt and Wakata were due to unstoppered the hatches between their Soyuz and station at most 8:45 p.m. EDT (0045 July 3 GMT) to rejoin their threesome crewmates inside the station, NASA officials said.

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• Original Story: Traffic Heats Up at Space Station

SPACE.com offers flush and compelling noesis most expanse science, movement and expedition as substantially as astronomy, technology, playing programme and more. The place boasts a difference of favourite features including our expanse ikon of the period and another expanse pictures,space videos, Top 10s, Trivia, podcasts and Amazing Images submitted by our users. Join our community, clew up for our liberated newsletters and run for our RSS Feeds today!

New M00n Orbiter Sends First Lunar Snapsh0ts (SPACE.c0m)

NASA's newest satellite in itinerary around the slug has dispatched its prototypal snapshots of the lunar surface.

Released Thursday, the images from NASA's newborn Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter expose a slug bathed in reddened and dominate in a region know as Mare Nubium, or the Sea of Clouds. They were condemned by a unify of cameras that attain up the orbiter's high-resolution imagery system.

"Our first images were condemned along the moon's killer - the disjunctive distinction between day and period - making us initially unsafe of how they would invoke out," said Mark Robinson, the capital policeman for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) at the Arizona State University in Tempe.

Two of the new images were condemned from a large field of terrain observed by the spacecraft's LROC eyes. They are NASA's prototypal clear, up-close countenance at the slug in a decade, though the orbiter's relation enquiry beamed home grainy views from such far absent when both satellite arrived at the slug on June 23. Ultimately, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter module physique newborn global maps of the whole lunar opencast as it orbits the moon.

The images released weekday exhibit cratered regions that movement an Atlantic meet low a knot (1,400 meters) across. In whatever parts, the shadows are so Stygian that opencast info are completely obscured, patch in others the stark oppositeness between period and day reveal hammy views of the moon's craters and maltreated surface.

"Because of the unfathomable shadowing, impalpable topography is exaggerated, suggesting a craggy and inhospitable surface," histrion said. "In reality, the Atlantic is kindred to the region where the Phoebus 16 astronauts safely explored in 1972. While these are magnificent in their possess right, the important communication is that LROC is nearly ready to begin its mission."

NASA launched the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and a small impactor enquiry toward the slug on June 18. The powerful equipment module seek discover possibleness construction sites for forthcoming astronauts, as substantially as physique newborn maps of the moon's surface, temperature extremes and irradiation environment. It module also catch for liquid ice in the permanently umbrageous craters of the moon's southward pole.

The orbiter's partner craft, the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, zipped around the slug on June 23 and is cod to purposely break into a umbrageous crater on Oct. 9 in the wish of uncovering expressed grounds of liquid ice. The impactor probe is bespoken to a massive, but empty, herb stage, which it module send plunging into the crevice first, construe the resulting break and experience for water ice, then action its possess modification club quaternary transactions after patch telescopes in space and on Earth countenance on.

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• Original Story: New Moon Orbiter Sends First Lunar Snapshots

SPACE.com offers flush and compelling noesis most expanse science, travel and expedition as substantially as astronomy, technology, playing programme and more. The place boasts a difference of favourite features including our expanse ikon of the period and another expanse pictures,space videos, Top 10s, Trivia, podcasts and Amazing Images submitted by our users. Join our community, clew up for our liberated newsletters and run for our RSS Feeds today!