News From Space!

February 1st is the five-year anniversary of Shuttle Columbia’s breakup over Texas. Seven astronauts lost their lives returning from a 16-day science mission, STS-107. NewsFromSpace was covering the landing as it happened.

President Bush issued a statement that day to a stunned nation.

The cause of the accident was later determined to be a breach in the leading edge of the left wing, which allowed a blast of superheated air to melt the underlying structure, ripping the orbiter apart as it was flying at Mach 18 across the American South. The hole was caused by a briefcase-sized chunk of foam insulation coming loose from the external tank and striking the wing during liftoff.

Rest easy, you seven… Rest easy, Columbia.

China and India are both planning to launch moon shots within a year in the latest sign of the two Asian powerhouses’ intensifying rivalry and growing technological prowess.

The launch of two satellites aboard Europe’s heavy-lift launcher, the Ariane 5, is scheduled for tonight between 6:03PM and 6:58PM EDT on 11 March 2007. Yesterday’s launch attempt was scrubbed due to a fault in the water system at the pad.

Note that Arianespace’s website is stating the US Eastern time as if Daylight Saving Time has not started yet. There are new rules for DST in the U.S. and Canada, so instead of GMT-5, we on the East Coast are at GMT-4.

Live video here. More info and live coverage here. Play-by-play here.

The Ariane 5 rocket launch scheduled for today has been scrubbed due to an issue with the “deluge system” which floods the platform with water for cooling and vibration control.

Launch is rescheduled for tomorrow at approximately the same time.

Great Britain’s Ministry of Defence will be launching a new milsat tomorrow. The Skynet-5 bird will lift off aboard an Ariane-5 rocket from the Arianespace site at French Guiana. An Indian TV satellite will also be along for the ride.

Watch the launch live between 5:25PM and 5:58PM (EST) on Saturday, 11 March 2007.