News From Space!

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter probe returned its first test images Friday, since entering orbit around the Red Planet earlier this month.

Today marks the fifth anniversary (23 March 2001) of the deorbiting of Russia’s Mir space station, after 15 years in service. We covered it live way back then. The operation began the day before, with school-bus-size chunks streaking through the atmosphere over the Pacific ocean.

Ten years ago today (22 March 1996), Shuttle Atlantis lifted off on mission STS-76 to Russia’s Mir space station. This would be the third docking with the orbital outpost; the crew included Shannon Lucid, who would stay aboard Mir for 188 days, setting a record for a US astronaut.

Five years ago today, Shuttle Discovery landed at Kennedy Space Center, bringing home the first International Space Station crew.

Here on Earth’s northern hemisphere, Spring officially begins today at 1:26PM EST.

Looks like the next Shuttle flight has been postponed from May to July. NASA reports:

NASA Announces New Window for Next Shuttle Mission
On March 14, NASA announced July 1 to 19, 2006, is the new launch planning window for Space Shuttle Discovery’s mission (STS-121). The window gives the agency time to do additional engineering work and analysis to ensure a safe flight for Discovery and its crew.

Space Shuttle Program Manager Wayne Hale made the announcement during a news conference from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. The decision to target July followed a two-day meeting on the external fuel tank’s engine cutoff (ECO) sensors. The sensors indicate whether the tank still has fuel during liftoff. During testing, one of the four ECO sensors had a slightly different reading than is expected. Shuttle officials have decided they will remove and replace all four liquid hydrogen sensors.

+ Read More
+ View Briefing Transcript (87 Kb PDF)
+ STS-121 Mission | + STS-121 Crew

Stay Tuned…

Today also marks 80 years since the first launch of a liquid-fueled rocket. Robert Goddard tested the small rocket, which reached a height of… 41 feet. Goddard is considered “the father of American rocketry“.

Today marks 40 years since the launch of Gemini 8. Astronauts Neil Armstrong and David Scott flew their 2-man spacecraft to dock with an Agena target vehicle, but a stuck thruster caused their ship to spin out of control. Coolness under pressure got the crew out of this jam, but they had to cut the flight short, splashing down only 10 hours later, on 17 March 1966.