Space shuttle

25 October 2007 -- The U.S. space shuttle Discovery has docked at the International Space Station, marking the next phase in a complex mission to expand the international orbiter.

Space station crew members, led by Commander Peggy Whitson, welcomed Discovery Commander Pam Melroy and her crew when they boarded the station.

Whitson and Melroy are the first women in NASA history to lead two spacecraft at the same time.

Their crews united after pressure checks ensured the hatches between the spacecraft were safe to open, just two hours after Discovery docked.    » read more »

Oct 22, 2007 -- NASA will launch an Italian-built U.S. module for the International Space Station with a space shuttle crew that includes Army Col. Douglas H. Wheelock, a mission specialist who will be making his first spaceflight. Aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery, the STS-120 mission is projected to take the Node 2 connecting module to the station Oct. 23, when it will liftoff from Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.    » read more »

Oct. 23, 2007 -- CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The space shuttle Discovery and its seven-member crew lifted off Tuesday, Oct. 23, from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 11:38 a.m. EDT to continue construction of the International Space Station.    » read more »

23 October 2007 -- The space shuttle Discovery has launched from Kennedy Space Center on a two-week mission to the International Space Station. The seven astronauts on Discovery will deliver a new module to expand the size of the international orbiter.

Light rain showers cleared just hours before the late morning launch of Discovery from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

NASA spokesman George Diller monitored the launch sequence of Discovery, which carried seven astronauts and the Harmony module toward the International Space Station.    » read more »

Oct. 17, 2007 -- CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA will start the launch countdown for space shuttle Discovery's STS-120 mission at 2 p.m. EDT Saturday, Oct. 20, at T-43 hours. The countdown includes 26 hours and 38 minutes of built-in hold time leading to a preferred launch time of approximately 11:38 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 23. The launch window extends an additional five minutes.    » read more »

Funding Will Be Used to reimburse NASA for Safety Upgrades in Aftermath of the Shuttle Columbia Tragedy

October 5, 2007 -- Washington, DC – Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton today welcomed full Senate approval of an amendment she co-sponsored to the FY08 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill which would reimburse $1 billion to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for the costs of upgrading the safety of the space shuttle fleet in the aftermath of the Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy.    » read more »

Oct. 1, 2007 -- CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - With space shuttle Discovery now at its launch pad at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the next major milestone for the upcoming STS-120 mission is a full launch dress rehearsal.

The shuttle arrived at the pad near noon EDT Sunday on top of a giant vehicle called the crawler-transporter. The crawler-transporter began carrying Discovery out of Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building at 6:47 a.m., traveling less than 1 mph during the 3.4 mile journey. Discovery was firmly on the launch pad, or hard down, at 1:15 p.m.    » read more »

Sept. 11, 2007, WASHINGTON - NASA Deputy Administrator Shana Dale will unveil the agency's 50th anniversary logo and participate in an X PRIZE Foundation announcement at WIRED Magazine's NextFest at the Los Angeles Convention Center, Sept. 13-16. The agency will showcase its current and future technologies, and NextFest attendees can meet the crew of the most recent space shuttle flight.

WIRED NextFest features the latest innovations in products and technologies in many areas where NASA plays a leading role.    » read more »

ST. LOUIS, Aug. 21, 2007 -- Space Shuttle Endeavour returned home today following a two-week mission that delivered more than 740 Boeing [NYSE: BA] flight hardware components to the International Space Station. The hardware, including the Starboard 5 (S5) truss element, will increase available power for space station systems.

"This was a very busy mission, and the Boeing Space Exploration team has worked very hard to support NASA and the United Space Alliance," said Brewster Shaw, vice president and general manager of Boeing Space Exploration.    » read more »

Landing marks 30 years of space travel for NASA’s Voyager spacecraft

21 August 2007 -- Washington – Space shuttle Endeavour landed at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida August 21, completing a 12-day, nearly 8.5-million-kilometer mission (STS-118) that leaves the International Space Station about 60 percent complete.

Endeavour returned safely to Earth despite a gouge in one of the tiles on its underside that is part of the spacecraft’s heat shield.    » read more »

Aug. 20, 2007 -- CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The space shuttle Endeavour crew, led by Commander Scott Kelly, is scheduled to complete a 13-day mission to the International Space Station with a landing at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, Aug. 21. The STS-118 mission began Aug. 8 and installed a new gyroscope, an external spare parts platform and another truss segment to the expanding station.    » read more »

20 August 2007 -- Mission controllers at the U.S. space agency NASA have cleared the space shuttle Endeavour for landing.

Officials say the decision, announced Monday, resulted from a review of imagery and data collected Sunday as the shuttle departed the International Space Station.

Endeavour's first opportunity to land at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida will be at midday Tuesday.

Officials decided to land the shuttle a day sooner than planned in order to avoid possible weather problems from hurricane Dean.    » read more »

19 August 2007 -- The U.S. space agency says the shuttle Endeavour has undocked from the International Space Station in preparation for an earlier-than-expected landing.

The shuttle is set to land on Tuesday, a day earlier than scheduled, at the U.S. spaceport in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

NASA officials say they want to land the shuttle early in case Hurricane Dean threatens the Houston control center, which directs all shuttle operations.

The powerful storm with 230-kilometer per hour winds is battering Jamaica and is forecast to move through the Gulf of Mexico later this week.    » read more »

17 August 2007 -- The U.S. space agency says the space shuttle Endeavour can safely return to Earth next week without repairs to the orbiter's damaged exterior heat shield.

After nearly a week of analysis, NASA flight managers said late Thursday they have concluded that a small gouge on the shuttle's exterior is not a threat to the spaceship or its crew, and is unlikely to cause further damage. Some of Endeavour's thermal protection system tiles were damaged during last week's liftoff.    » read more »

15 August 2007 -- Two astronauts from the crew of the space shuttle Endeavour have conducted a successful spacewalk Wednesday. NASA engineers on the ground are finishing up tests to decide whether a fourth spacewalk might have to be devoted to repairing damage to the spaceship's heat-shield tiles.

Spacewalkers Rick Mastracchio and Clayton Anderson ventured outside the International Space Station to prepare the orbital laboratory for future construction. The astronauts successfully moved two equipment carts to the starboard side of the space station's railcar-like Mobile Transporter.    » read more »