News Headlines for October 2000

Landmark space mission under way See also: Space exploration: Chapter four , Roughing It Astronauts blast off for International Space Station and Movie, toilet first stops on trip to space station The launch of Expedition 1 to the International Space Station (ISS) is a landmark in space exploration. In importance, you can put it alongside Yuri Gagarin's first manned space flight, the first landing on the Moon, or the first space shuttle mission. A name for the space station The first crew of the international space station would like nothing better than to fly to a place with a name. A name like Alpha. That was the working title of the space station back in the early 1990s, but it didn't last long and nothing took its place. Nothing except international space station, known by the icky acronym ISS. Russia's Koptev: Mir is 'worn out' See also: Astronaut Sees Mir Demise Paving Way for New Era and Mir tourist hopes he gets his chance The Russian government's decision to discontinue the use of the aging space station Mir is timely and proper, Yuri Koptev, director general of the Russian Aerospace Agency, told Interfax on Monday. Space station skipper sets the record straight The international space station's first skipper is probably best known, at least in space circles, for something he didn't do. He did NOT kill a man with his bare hands in a covert military operation. All these years later, Bill Shepherd would like to set the record straight. Heavy traffic heads for Mars See also: Plans for the Red Planet The American space agency Nasa has outlined ambitious, long-term plans to explore the planet Mars. Spacecraft moves in on asteroid The Near-Shoemaker spacecraft has passed within 5 km (3 miles) of the Eros asteroid - its closest encounter yet. Spacecraft films spectacular light show Previously unseen aspects of a light show in the sky known as an aurora have been filmed from space. Martian clues to life from space See also: Hitching a Ride Scientists have found evidence that a well-known meteorite would have stayed cool enough to allow lifeforms, if present, to survive the journey from Mars to Earth. Star travel may be light years closer Standby to engage the warp drive, ''Star Trek'' fans: NASA scientists say that spacecraft fueled by antimatter engines could be only decades away. Lunar Leonids 2000 Next month the Moon will plow through a stream of debris from comet Tempel-Tuttle, the parent of the Leonid meteor shower. Meteoroids that strike the Moon don't cause shooting stars as they do on our planet. Instead, they hit the lunar terrain at high speed. Scientists will be watching for signs of impacts as the Moon heads for a close encounter with the Leonids. Listen to this story Waste Not Want Not It takes about 13 tons of water, food and air to keep one person in space for one year. So how is it possible to supply a two-year Mars trip? What goes out must come back in again. NASA’s vision for exploring Mars See also: NASA to announce 2005 mission to Mars After two mission failures and months of soul-searching, NASA has drawn up a plan to send robot scouts to Mars over the next two decades - and officials have indicated that France will play a role in the effort. Four new moons spotted around Saturn See also: Successful satellite-hunting team finds four new moons in the far reaches of the planet Saturn Astronomers say they have found four new moons orbiting Saturn, giving the ringed planet more known moons than any other in the solar system. How we can bring Mars to life It is a "This Old House" restoration plan for Mars: By using synthetic gases, the Red Planet could be returned to the habitable state it was once in, billions of years ago. Certain insects and plants would flourish. Liquid water would run freely. Even pine trees could take root and dot Mars’ surface. Farmer Finds Space Junk Locals report mysterious sightings, streaks of bright lights and plumes of smoke zooming through sky. A central Kansas farmer finds flattened and charred chunks of debris. This isn’t science fiction. Sharper images of far-out planets New adaptive optics on the Keck 2 telescope in Hawaii have allowed astronomers to capture new images of the seventh and eighth rocks from the sun, showing the dark rings that encircle Uranus and the richness of Neptune’s atmosphere. 'Mini-Pluto' spotted orbiting the Sun See also: Scientists discover large asteroid between Neptune, Pluto and Planet 10? ‘Plutino’ almost qualifies Astronomers have discovered the largest object orbiting the Sun since they found Pluto in 1930. Astronomers explore the Internet in search of 'stored-up' discoveries Cyberspace is increasingly breaking the frontiers of space and time... in the most universal sense. The Internet provides astronomers with quick short cuts to the most distant places in the Universe. Simply by allowing free access through the web to the images and data gathered by powerful telescopes, light that has travelled many thousand million years is now at your fingertips. A rapidly growing number of researchers are currently using this new resource, and in the process making valuable 'stored-up' discoveries. ESA's ISO (Infrared Space Observatory) Archive - one of the youngest of these astronomical databases - has recently celebrated the registration of 'user number 1000', who happens to be a young Spanish astronomer. He is convinced that "web-accessible databases are completely changing the way we do astronomy". Stephan's Quintet - A Mammoth Cosmic Collision See also: Hubble returns image of Stephan's Quintet A spectacular new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope of the group of galaxies called Stephan's Quintet provides a detailed view of one of the most exciting star forming regions in the local Universe. France takes role in Mars exploration See also: France to Join U.S. in Mars Exploration Mission France’s Research Ministry says it has signed a 'statement of intent' with NASA for joint cooperation in its Mars exploration program. A ministry statement said details of the agreement with NASA would be made public on Thursday. Shuttle lands in California See also: Discovery Touches Down and Space shuttle makes unusual California landing The space shuttle Discovery has landed in California after being forced by bad weather to stay in orbit for two days longer than scheduled. Spacecraft double-team the king of planets The Near (Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous) - Shoemaker spacecraft will fly to within 5 km (3 miles) of the rocky surface of the asteroid Eros on Wednesday and Thursday. NEAR Scientists Gathering Solid Data on Complex Asteroid Eros When scientists from NASA's Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) mission took their first close-up look at 433 Eros on Feb. 14, they had more questions than facts on their target asteroid. Now, after eight months of examining Eros with the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft's array of instruments and sensors, NEAR team members say they have solid data on the history, makeup and topography of the complex, oddly shaped space rock. Close encounter with asteroid See also: NEAR Shoemaker Closes in For Unprecedented View of an Asteriod The Near (Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous) - Shoemaker spacecraft will fly to within 5 km (3 miles) of the rocky surface of the asteroid Eros on Wednesday and Thursday. Giant storms collide on Jupiter See also: Storms Collide on Jupiter , Cassini Captures Jupiter As Earth Team Tracks Storm Progression and Jupiter White Ovals For the first time, astronomers have seen two giant storms on Jupiter collide and merge to form an even bigger storm. Asteroid estimates 'too low' See also: Crowded Solar System and Estimates raised for killer asteroids Current predictions for the number of potentially dangerous asteroids have been under-estimated by at least 20%, say astronomers. The end for Mir? See also: Mir to Be Dumped , Russia plans to dump Mir space station and Russian official sets date for Mir's demise The Mir space station, the symbol of former Soviet space glory, is to be deliberately burnt-up in the Earth's atmosphere next February, Russian news agencies have reported. Author Willa Cather has asteroid named for her Author Willa Cather's celebrity has reached new heights: She now has an asteroid named after her. Amateur astronomer Robert Linderholm, who discovered the asteroid in 1997, submitted Cather's name to the International Astronomical Union, the group that designates asteroids as new celestial bodies. Chinese Scientist Denies Moon Landing Plan The scientist who leads China's space robotics research has denied reports of a Chinese lunar landing plan anytime soon. Balancing The Rights Of Indigenous Martian Life Over Human Exploration If we discover living or dormant organisms on Mars and these forms represent a different type of life than the life we have on Earth, then we should not bring life from Earth to Mars. Instead we should alter the martian environment so that this native martian life can expand to fill a planetary scale biosphere. New view of giant martian volcano Laser beams from orbit have produced a new view of the biggest volcano in the Solar System. Marshall scientists look for cheaper way of going into space Rocket engineers and scientists at Marshall Space Flight Center are working on a technology initiative that many in the aerospace industry hope will help lower the cost of sending payloads - machine and human - into space. And now the weather on Titan... See also: Overcast Skies on Titan , Titan reveals shades of Earth and NAU astronomer detects clouds in Titan's atmosphere New observations of Titan made in the infrared region of the spectrum have detected clouds of methane gas forming and dissipating in the upper reaches of its thick atmosphere. CU-Boulder experiment on Cassini produces first Jupiter spectral images A $12 million University of Colorado at Boulder-built instrument package on the Cassini mission en route to Saturn has produced the first spectral images of Jupiter, including the planet's aurora and a gigantic glowing ring of gas encircling the planet. XMM-Newton examines a cataclysmic variable Ominously-named "Cataclysmic Variables" - CVs for short - are not the kind of solar systems one would like to approach. End points of stellar evolution, they are binary systems in which one star is sucking material out of its partner. They revolve around each other very rapidly, typically every few hours. CVs can also exhibit outbursts on the time scale of weeks to months. XMM-Newton has been observing one such cataclysmic variable, named OY Car. White Mars: The story of the Red Planet Without Water DDespite intense research, the evidence for water on Mars is scarce. Now a new theory suggests that the single strongest line of evidence for water on Mars - the "outburst flood channels" may have been formed not by liquid water but by cold dry eruptions of gas, dust and rock, fuelled by exploding liquid CO2. NASA Takes Two Hundred Year Rain Check On Pluto Dismay is starting to give way to anger in the wake of NASA's decision to stop work on the long-awaited launch of "Pluto-Kuiper Express" in 2004. Initially dismayed NASA was abandoning a unique opportunity to explore Pluto before its atmosphere freezes out for two centuries, many scientists are angry NASA's planetary program is not being run in consultation. Science Operations Centre coping well with the steady stream of XMM-Newton data An ancient castle looks over ESA's VILSPA establishment, huddled in the hills on the outskirts of Madrid. Its medieval stonework is the first to receive the early morning sunlight, then the line of European flags and the large white antennae which point skywards. On 10 December last, one of these big dishes followed XMM-Newton as it climbed into orbit. 11 billion-year-old gamma ray blast found in space See also: Yet another record: Ulysses detects most distant gamma ray burst The afterglow from a cosmic explosion that occurred 11 billion years ago could give scientists a new way to measure the age of heavenly objects. Astronauts make second spacewalk See also: Putting in the Dock and Shuttle astronauts go out on 3rd spacewalk Astronauts have completed a second successful spacewalk outside the space shuttle Discovery as work continues to install a new component to the International Space Station (ISS). Oldest lunar calendar identified What could be the oldest lunar calendar ever created has been identified on the walls of the famous, prehistoric caves at Lascaux in France. XMM-Newton mozaics the Coma cluster of galaxies Galaxies in the Universe are often to be found in clusters. Our own Milky Way is a member of a small cluster of galaxies, the Local Group. But clusters also exist that contain thousands of galaxies. XMM-Newton has obtained a remarkably vivid mozaic of one of the most famous of these, the Coma cluster. China to use robots in space exploration Before China sends astronauts to the moon, Chinese robots will explore the lunar surface, mapping out landing sites and places for human exploration. Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera Image Gallery The Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) Image Gallery is now online. This site contains 57,500 pictures of Mars acquired by NASA's Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) orbiter through February 2000. The Geophysical Detection Of Subsurface Water On Mars The search for subsurface water has become a primary focus of Mars exploration. Its abundance and distribution (both as ground ice and groundwater) have important implications for understanding the geologic, hydrologic, and climatic evolution of the planet, the potential origin and continued survival of life, and the accessibility of a critical in situ resource for sustaining future human explorers. Backyard Gamma-ray Bursts With the successful launch of NASA's HETE-2 satellite, amateur astronomers will soon be able to spot the most powerful explosions in the Universe from the comfort of their own back yards. Professionals are also looking forward to the new data, which they hope will unravel the mysteries of gamma-ray bursts.Listen to this story. Space station gets new segment See also: Shuttle astronauts set for 2nd spacewalk Two astronauts from the space shuttle Discovery have completed a six-hour-plus spacewalk to attach a new component to the International Space Station (ISS). Arecibo diary: SETI’s long road "So, do you really, really think there are aliens out there?" It was a question Seth Shostak heard often, but he tried to smile. "Yes, I do" he replied, adjusting myself in the torturous accommodation known as a coach seat. "I wouldn’t be on this plane otherwise." Space Enthusiasts Campaign to Restore Mission to Pluto Thousands of letters and a Web petition are protesting the decision to delay the trip. Supporters are looking for help from NASA and Congress. Senators OK boost in budget for NASA The Senate voted Thursday to give NASA its biggest budget boost in years, $14.3 billion for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1. Can you say ‘Beam me up, Scottie’? You’re under attack in an alien world. You’re outgunned, outmanned. It’s time for a quick getaway - it’s time to teleport. Of course, in the fictional 'Star Trek' universe, all you’d have to do is request an 'immediate beam-out.' In the real world, as scientists currently understand it, your time would be better spent dictating your last will and testament. Let's go! ESA's Future Science missions get full approval At its 92nd meeting, on 11-12 October 2000, ESA's Science Programme Committee took the final step to consolidate the future of the science programme by unanimously endorsing the recommendations of the Space Science Advisory Committee of 15 September, which proposed a package to be implemented in the years 2008-2013. Mir’s backers report a rise in station’s fortunes The private company leasing the Mir space station for commercial use has received informal assurances from the Russian government that the craft will not be taken out of orbit as long as money keeps coming in, a board member and key investor told MSNBC.com Friday. The formal announcement, however, isn’t expected until January, when a multimillionaire 'citizen explorer' is scheduled to take a trip to the space station, said MirCorp board member Chirinjeev Kathuria. Combating Space Depression See also: Mir Study Finds Cosmonauts Happier Than Astronauts A new study finds it can be sad and lonely in space - especially if you’re a third wheel. Fireball ignites scientific curiosity See also: Carbon-rich meteorite may give new clues to origin of life and Life's Origin In New Meteorite? Scientists have revealed new data about a meteorite that could be one of the most primitive Solar System objects yet studied. Sun Sample Return Mission Nears Launch The science payload for NASA's Genesis spacecraft, which will collect samples of the solar wind and return them to Earth, is now complete. Genesis is primed for liftoff in February 2001. Samples will parachute back to Earth two years later. Listen to this story. Mars' First Colonists: Roaches? Turning Mars into a habitable planet is a difficult but doable problem with today's technology, said scientists at the Physics and Biology of Making Mars Habitable conference. Mars Canals May Not Mean Water NASA scientists are beginning to suspect that the widely reported water channels on Mars were actually caused by jets of carbon dioxide. Travel guide site follows Gallileo, Cassini to Jupiter For the first time ever, two interplanetary spacecraft are studying the same outer planet at the same time. A new Internet site will keep people on our own planet up to date about the adventure. Plan to float Mir MirCorp says it hopes to raise $117m in an initial public offering to finance the future of the Russian space station. Shuttle Takes Off See also: 100th shuttle flight heads for station , Discovery's launch awes spectators, makes history and Shuttle begins anniversary mission The fourth time is a charm as the space shuttle Discovery lifted off, for an international space station construction mission, and the 100th overall. New Version of SETI@Home Available Version 3.0 adds science improvements to the operational improvements of version 2.x. New channels in the search for E.T. Project Phoenix’s researchers returned this week to the world’s largest radio ear, listening for word from alien civilizations. But the biggest changes in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, or SETI, have more to do with how researchers get out the word here on Earth. After a 40-year quest, SETI is sexy. Could probe crack cosmic mystery? When astronomers found two years ago that the universe seems to be expanding faster and faster, it prompted two questions: What is driving the runaway expansion? And when, if ever, will it end? Now, some of the same scientists say they can help answer those questions - if the government agrees to fund the most powerful space camera ever devised. Hubble images show delicate wisps of starstuff See also: A Tantalising Veil The European Space Agency debuted new Hubble Space Telescope images Tuesday showing incredibly fine wisps of gas threading through space -- remnants of a massive stellar explosion. ...and here it is in colour The Cassini spacecraft has sent back another stunning picture of Jupiter as it nears the giant planet - but this is the first colour image returned to Earth. The Moonlit Leonids 2000 Our planet is heading for a minefield of cosmic dust streams laid down by periodic comet Tempel-Tuttle. The result could be a series of three Leonid meteor outbursts on Nov. 17 and 18, 2000. The bright quarter Moon, which will lie in the constellation Leo, could overpower faint meteors. Backyard stargazers assist NASA Some amateur stargazers dream of working with one of NASA’s Great Telescopes. Others do it. Amateur astronomers worldwide teamed up last month with NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Observatory and the now-defunct Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer to observe SS Cygni, a double star in the constellation Cygnus that brightens seven times each year during explosive outbursts. Space Bugs Reports from Mir suggest the Russian space station has gotten very skanky. For long-term stays in space, scientists say such conditions pose many more problems than just discomfort. Unpeeling The Mantle of Io Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis studying chemical data from the Hubble Space Telescope have determined the eruption conditions of Jupiter's volcanically active satellite, Io, and concluded that the moon has a differentiated mantle similar to that of Earth. Differentiation is the process where various rock types are produced from a common magma. Spacewatch Telescope Detects Its First Asteroids University of Arizona Spacewatch Project founders just realized a 20-year dream. Spacewatch astronomers led by Tom Gehrels and Robert McMillan have used a 36-inch (0.9-meter) UA telescope on Kitt Peak to electronically scan the skies for asteroids throughout the solar system since 1984. Before Spacewatch, astronomers used photographic plates to hunt asteroids. Cassini Sends Color Image Of Jupiter NASA's Cassini spacecraft is beginning to return color images of Jupiter as it nears the giant planet for a gravitational assist toward its ultimate destination, Saturn. Spaceships could take on sci-fi look Here is the blunt truth. The days of only round-cornered spacecraft punching through Earth’s atmosphere may be numbered. New thermal protection materials could lead to radically different types of future vehicles. The needle-nose spaceships of vintage science-fiction films may yet turn into reality. ‘Runglish’ spoken at space station The crew bound for the International Space Station later this month said Monday they will communicate in 'Runglish,' a mixture of Russian and English, and share a Russian-American cuisine. Delayed Again See also: Discovery is delayed by bad weather Powerful winds forced NASA to call off Monday’s planned launch of space shuttle Discovery on a space station construction mission. Gamma-ray hunter launched A satellite designed to detect mysterious bursts of gamma rays from the far reaches of the Universe was launched into orbit on Monday. Rogue Planets See also: Mystery of free-floating 'planets' and Astronomers Discover New Class of Celestial Objects Scientists are rethinking some basic theories about planets after astronomers found 18 planet-sized gas balls drifting free in a star field some 1,200 light years from Earth. A new twist in dark matter debate The mysterious 'dark matter' pervading the universe may be even darker than currently thought, and the latest efforts to detect it directly may be useless, a group of scientists says. Lost in Space Before the Race A Northern California amateur team that expected to take a shot Saturday at becoming the first citizen rocketeers to put a payload into space has run into obstacles that have scuttled the launch. China Plays Catch-Up in Space Race Zhang Fanglei craned her neck back to take it all in: the towering gray-and-white cylindrical spacecraft, the gleaming solar panels attached like wings to its sides, the red calligraphy painted on the ship's front that declares simply, "Magical Vessel." New space observatory dedicated in California A new observatory that will enable US scientists to observe the details of stars with unprecedented clarity was dedicated Wednesday on Mount Wilson, outside of here, the US National Science Foundation (NSF) announced. Cassini approaches Jupiter See also: Cassini snaps first image of Jupiter The Cassini spacecraft is fast approaching Jupiter where it will use the giant planet's gravity to swing on to its ultimate destination, Saturn. Launch Date Changed See also: Discovery now set for Monday launch and High winds threaten space shuttle launch Space shuttle Discovery’s flight to the international space station has been postponed until next week because of a sluggish valve and suspect bolts. Getting to grips with The Blob The Hubble Space Telescope has peered deep into a neighbouring galaxy to reveal details of the formation of new stars. Space Cowboys Far from the high-tech, big-budget world of NASA, in a sprawling old shed near the airport, 51-year-old rocket scientist John Wickman is furthering the space age. Huygens communications package under investigation During an extensive in-flight end-to-end telecommunications test conducted in early February 2000, characteristics of ESA's Huygens-Cassini communications link were observed which had not been previously measured. The test was a more extensive calibration at system level than the one which had previously been undertaken. The outcome of the link characteristics would be that not all the data generated during the descent and landing would be decoded by the Huygens receivers on-board Cassini. Tiny force nudges space rocks our way The reason why so many space rocks rain down on Earth is due the uneven heating they experience from the Sun when they are still millions of kilometres away from our planet. Vision for the Future One is called the California Extremely Large Telescope, another, the Overwhelmingly Large telescope and a third, the Very Large Telescope. Their names may not be original, but they promise great vision for the future. Hitching a Ride on a Magnetic Bubble NASA-funded scientists are experimenting with miniature magnetospheres as an innovative means of space transportation. If the group succeeds, next-generation spacecraft may come equipped with fuel-efficient magnetic bubbles that speed their occupants from planet to planet and ward off the worst solar flares.Listen to this story! Director James Cameron gets weightless for Mars Director James Cameron declared himself king of the world when he won Oscars for "Titanic" and now he wants to be king of Mars, going so far as to experience weightlessness to prepare for two Red Planet movie adventures he is co-writing and producing. China plans lunar landing, Mars expedition China's budding space program plans to explore the moon for commercially useful resources and hopes one day to take part in an international expedition to Mars. Pluto Mission Faces 20 Year Wait JPL has been directed by NASA to reconfigure a planned mission to Pluto, which will result in a deferment of the launch. Ulysses 10th anniversary meeting gets off to maximum start If the Voyager spacecraft are ever to cross the heliosphere’s boundary, they will probably do so within the next year or two before the effects of this year’s solar maximum cause the heliosphere to expand. Ed Stone from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California, told an international gathering of solar scientists yesterday afternoon, that the two spacecraft are now probably closer to the boundary, which estimates put at 80-115 Astronomical Units (AU) from the Sun, than the 16 AU distance between them. Discovery ready for historic flight Nasa's clocks have begun the countdown for the 100th flight by the US space shuttle program. Group seeks to save Mars lander The mothballed Mars Surveyor 2001 lander has found itself a torchbearer in Harrison Quigley. Along with a small group of friends, the Connecticut aerospace engineer has launched "Save the Mars Lander," a grass-roots attempt to get NASA to salvage the earthbound Martian probe. See also: Russian official says aging Mir should be de-orbited and MirCorp comments on the future of Mir Financiers confident of Mir futureRussian space scientists have denied reports that the Mir orbital station could be steered into a fiery grave over the Pacific Ocean as early as next February. Irish giant could get new partner Birr Castle in the Irish midlands may once again become a world leader in astronomy, if plans for a new telescope meet with approval. Space travel: Part of a future that's arriving now? Perhaps it was inevitable that the growing commercial accessibility of space would meet and marry with the reality TV adventure-participation craze. What might the Sun do one day? A programme to monitor large numbers of stars resembling the Sun could give a new perspective on solar effects on the Earth's climate, according to Eugene Parker of the University of Chicago. He was summing up the conference on "The Solar Cycle and Terrestrial Climate" held last week on the Spanish island of Tenerife (25-29 September). Two hundred solar and climate scientists from many countries part in the meeting, which was sponsored by the European Union and the European Space Agency. Astronauts vs. fungus The history books will never record it, but life in outer space was discovered about 12 years ago by a Russian cosmonaut as he was gazing out a window of the space station Mir. Cosmic Collision Reveals "Missing Link" Gas Cloud in Distant Galaxy Astronomers using the National Science Foundation's Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) of radio telescopes have discovered a cloud of gas apparently being struck by a jet of ultrafast particles powered by the energy of a supermassive black hole at the core of a galaxy 450 million light-years away. 'Greenhouse effect' worries Hawking Stephen Hawking says he fears the human race will not survive another millennium. Rocketeers smash UK record UK rocketeers have smashed the British and European amateur altitude records. 'Titanic' director Cameron plans flight to Mir James Cameron, director of the Academy Award-winning movie 'Titanic,' is planning a space journey up to the Russian space station Mir. Antarctic study paves way for search for Martians Experiments in Mars-like areas in Antarctica could provide clues about how best to search for signs of life on the inhospitable red planet. New Mars orbiter honors '2001' Acronym-happy NASA broke the mold when naming its next Mars spacecraft: it went the way of science fiction. In honor of the classic book and film, "2001: A Space Odyssey," the Mars Surveyor 2001 Orbiter has been named, "2001 Mars Odyssey." NASA pulls plug on Ultraviolet Explorer NASA will terminate its Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer spacecraft at the end of this year. Crew of 100th shuttle mission set for space station balancing act Discovery is poised to lift off October 5 for the 100th space shuttle flight, a mission to build more of the International Space Station. Its crew is scheduled to log the longest spacewalk time ever while preparing the station for its first residents. Solar scientists converge as solar activity peaks As the Ulysses spacecraft hurtles through space towards the Sun’s south pole, more than 100 scientists from 16 countries will be speeding their way through airspace next week towards ESTEC, ESA’s technical centre near Amsterdam. They will converge to discuss the very latest results from the intrepid spacecraft. On-off flashes excite astronomers Astronomers have obtained one of the most detailed views ever seen of the central regions of a so-called active galaxy that is ejecting energetic jets of material into space.

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