Go For Launch - STS114 Heading Uphill!

Tue Jul 12 18:29:53 EDT 2005

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                           The Starry Messenger
                         http://StarryMessenger.Net
                    The StarrySkies Network Newsletter
                           http://StarrySkies.Com
                           http://StarrySkies.Net
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As of Tuesday afternoon - it's a go for space shuttle Discovery to launch 
tomorrow, Wednesday 3:51pm EDT. There is some weather in the area and some 
storms expected early afternoon, however it is hoped that the storms will 
pass far enough west to not pose a problem for the shuttle to launch. NASA 
TV will be airing full coverage starting 5:30 am. Elsewhere in the Solar 
System, Saturn's moons are still offering surprises to the Cassini 
orbiter. And it was a smashing hit for NASA's Deep Impact mission and 
scientists are beginning the long task of analyzing the data returned by 
the orbiter.

The StarrySkies Network would like to extend best wishes for a safe trip 
to the crew of Sts 114.

Also in this issue:
     * Icy scars of Tethys
     * Moon not quite round
     * Plasma experiment shows how astrophysical jets form
     * Satellites measure and monitor sea level changes
     * NASA solicits interest in use of Shuttle Landing Facility
     * ISS Astronauts May Have Trouble With Space Loo
     * Shuttle return to flight: 'Safe haven' carries its own risks
     * NASA's Deep Impact Tells a Tale of the Comet
     * Discovery astronauts' new mission: space mechanics
     * Part 1: NASA finally ready to put shuttle back in flight
     * Kalpana Chawla's photo to accompany NASA's Discovery Shuttle
     * Millions See NASA Hit A Comet In Space
     * ISS Astronauts May Have Trouble With Space Loo
     * Forecasters see 70 percent chance of favorable weather conditions
     * Refined cosmic clock determines age of Milky Way
     * It's official: Discovery launch set for July 13
     * Had the Moon Mission Turned Tragic, President Nixon Was Prepared
     * Russian Space Agency to show new spacecraft model
     * Deep Impact Kicks Off Fourth of July With Deep Space Fireworks
     * Scientists find mineral comes from ancient supernova
     * Human factors in commercial suborbital flight: What does acceleration do to the human body?
     * It may be a lake, but not as we know it
     * NASA Swift Satellite Offers a Different View of the Great Comet Collision
     * Hibernating Spacecraft Awakens for Comet Impact Mission
     * TV Review: 'Seconds from Disaster: Columbia's Last Flight'
     * Physics' sharpest mind since Einstein
     * Lights out
     * Cosmic Crash Won't Destroy Comet or Earth
     * Langley helping send shuttle back to space
     * 'Climate of fear' returns to NASA, watchdog says
     * How to Watch July 4 Comet Impact
     * Comet targeted by Deep Impact has an outburst
     * NASA, Xerox to demonstrate 'virtual crew assistant'
     * Whirling atoms dance into physics textbooks
     * Spots on Janus
     * Shuttle safe despite missing 3 recommendations

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| Icy scars of Tethys                                                |
|   http://starryskies.net:80/article.pl?sid=05/07/11/207218         |
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Saturn's icy moon [0]Tethys displays a very old impact basin here, just
southeast of its giant canyon system, Ithaca Chasma. The large crater has
been degraded, or softened, by time and a more recent impact has formed a
smaller crater near its southern edge.

Discuss this story at:
     http://starryskies.net:80/comments.pl?sid=05/07/11/207218

Links:
     0. http://www.spaceflightnow.com/cassini/050705tethys.html

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| Moon not quite round                                               |
|   http://starryskies.net:80/article.pl?sid=05/07/11/207240         |
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Saturn's moon Mimas, whose low density suggests that it is primarily
composed of ice, has a [0]flattened or oblate shape reminiscent of
Saturn's. The moon's equatorial dimension is nearly 10 percent larger
than the polar one due to the satellite's rapid rotation. Mimas is 397
kilometers (247 miles) across.

Discuss this story at:
     http://starryskies.net:80/comments.pl?sid=05/07/11/207240

Links:
     0. http://www.spaceflightnow.com/cassini/050706mimas.html

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| Plasma experiment shows how astrophysical jets form                |
|   http://starryskies.net:80/article.pl?sid=05/07/11/208203         |
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Applied physicists at the California Institute of Technology have devised
a plasma experiment that shows how huge long, thin jets of material shoot
out from [0]exotic astrophysical objects such as young stars, black
holes, and galactic nuclei.

Discuss this story at:
     http://starryskies.net:80/comments.pl?sid=05/07/11/208203

Links:
     0. http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0507/06jets/

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| Satellites measure and monitor sea level changes                   |
|   http://starryskies.net:80/article.pl?sid=05/07/11/208222         |
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For the first time, NASA has the tools and expertise to understand the
rate at which sea level is changing, some of the mechanisms that drive
those changes and the effects that sea level change may have worldwide.

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| NASA solicits interest in use of Shuttle Landing Facility          |
|   http://starryskies.net:80/article.pl?sid=05/07/11/208241         |
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NASA today issued a formal request for expressions of interest by
non-NASA organizations, including commercial space companies, for [0]use
of the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC),
Fla.

Discuss this story at:
     http://starryskies.net:80/comments.pl?sid=05/07/11/208241

Links:
     0. http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0507/08slf/

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| ISS Astronauts May Have Trouble With Space Loo                     |
|   http://starryskies.net:80/article.pl?sid=05/07/11/209201         |
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The International Space Station has enough food and water to host nine
people, but there could be some [0]trouble with the toilet, Itar Tass
reported Monday citing the Russian Space Flights Control Centre.

Discuss this story at:
     http://starryskies.net:80/comments.pl?sid=05/07/11/209201

Links:
     0. http://www.mosnews.com/news/2005/07/11/spaceloo.shtml

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Shuttle return to flight: 'Safe haven' carries its own risks       |
|   http://starryskies.net:80/article.pl?sid=05/07/11/209219         |
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If Discovery suffers a problem after launch - currently scheduled for 13
July - its crew may take refuge aboard the International Space Station
while another shuttle prepares for a dramatic rescue mission. [0]But this
solution carries risks of its own.

Discuss this story at:
     http://starryskies.net:80/comments.pl?sid=05/07/11/209219

Links:
     0. http://www.newscientistspace.com/article/dn7653-shuttle-return-to-flight-safe-haven-carries-its-own-risks.html

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| NASA's Deep Impact Tells a Tale of the Comet                       |
|   http://starryskies.net:80/article.pl?sid=05/07/11/209243         |
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Data from Deep Impact's instruments indicate an [0]immense cloud of fine
powdery material was released when the probe slammed into the nucleus of
comet Tempel 1 at 6.3 miles per second.

Discuss this story at:
     http://starryskies.net:80/comments.pl?sid=05/07/11/209243

Links:
     0. http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2005/jul/HQ_05_177_Deep_Impact_Update.html

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Discovery astronauts' new mission: space mechanics                 |
|   http://starryskies.net:80/article.pl?sid=05/07/11/2010201        |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

Two astronauts will exit the Discovery shuttle a few days after it lifts
off into space Wednesday, take out some tools and become [0]space
mechanics to test repair techniques aimed at avoiding a repeat of the
Columbia tragedy.

Discuss this story at:
     http://starryskies.net:80/comments.pl?sid=05/07/11/2010201

Links:
     0. http://www.spacedaily.com/2005/050711072422.yesqapui.html

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| Part 1: NASA finally ready to put shuttle back in flight           |
|   http://starryskies.net:80/article.pl?sid=05/07/11/2010222        |
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NASA hopes to [0]resume shuttle flights Wednesday, weather permitting,
with a three-spacewalk mission to repair the international space
station's stabilization system, to deliver critical supplies and
equipment and to prove the design defects that led to the Columbia
disaster have been corrected.

Discuss this story at:
     http://starryskies.net:80/comments.pl?sid=05/07/11/2010222

Links:
     0. http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts114/050711preview/

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| Kalpana Chawla's photo to accompany NASA's Discovery Shuttle       |
|   http://starryskies.net:80/article.pl?sid=05/07/11/2010241        |
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Countdown began today for the launch of Discovery, the first shuttle to
be launched since the Columbia crash two years ago, which will carry a
[0]photograph of India-born astrologer Kalpana Chawla, and mementos from
her colleagues who perished in the tragedy.

Editor's note: "astrologer"????? KC was many things, but astrologer was
not one of them.

Discuss this story at:
     http://starryskies.net:80/comments.pl?sid=05/07/11/2010241

Links:
     0. http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200507111920.htm

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| Millions See NASA Hit A Comet In Space                             |
|   http://starryskies.net:80/article.pl?sid=05/07/11/2011201        |
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NASA's Deep Impact mission last week wasn't just a leap forward for space
science, it was also a huge success for the use of the Web as a channel
for delivering dynamic content. The space agency's Deep Impact Web sites
attracted about [0]three times more traffic than sites for last year's
Mars Spirit Rover landing.

Discuss this story at:
     http://starryskies.net:80/comments.pl?sid=05/07/11/2011201

Links:
     0. http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=165701019

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| ISS Astronauts May Have Trouble With Space Loo                     |
|   http://starryskies.net:80/article.pl?sid=05/07/11/2011223        |
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The International Space Station has enough food and water to host nine
people, but there could be some trouble with the loo, the Russian Space
Flights Control Centre says. [0]Full story

Discuss this story at:
     http://starryskies.net:80/comments.pl?sid=05/07/11/2011223

Links:
     0. http://mosnews.com/news/2005/07/11/spaceloo.shtml

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| Forecasters see 70 percent chance of favorable weather conditions  |
|   http://starryskies.net:80/article.pl?sid=05/07/11/2011246        |
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Discovery and seven astronauts remain scheduled to blast off from Kennedy
Space Center during a five-minute window that will open at [0]3:51 p.m.
Wednesday. The weather forecast is surprisingly good, and excitement is
rising in advance of NASA's first shuttle launch in almost two-and-a-half
years.

Discuss this story at:
     http://starryskies.net:80/comments.pl?sid=05/07/11/2011246

Links:
     0. http://www.flatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050711/NEWS02/507110320/1007

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| Refined cosmic clock determines age of Milky Way                   |
|   http://starryskies.net:80/article.pl?sid=05/07/05/2010243        |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

The University of Chicago's Nicolas Dauphas has developed a new way to
calculate the [0]age of the Milky Way that is free of the unvalidated
assumptions that have plagued previous methods.

Discuss this story at:
     http://starryskies.net:80/comments.pl?sid=05/07/05/2010243

Links:
     0. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0506/29milkyway/

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| It's official: Discovery launch set for July 13                    |
|   http://starryskies.net:80/article.pl?sid=05/07/05/2011203        |
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NASA managers wrapped up a two-day flight readiness review Thursday and
formally cleared the shuttle Discovery for blastoff July 13 on the first
post-Columbia shuttle mission. If all goes well, the countdown will begin
at 6 p.m. July 10 for a [0]launch attempt at 3:50:47 p.m. on July 13,
weather permitting.

Discuss this story at:
     http://starryskies.net:80/comments.pl?sid=05/07/05/2011203

Links:
     0. http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts114/050701frr/

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| Had the Moon Mission Turned Tragic, President Nixon Was Prepared   |
|   http://starryskies.net:80/article.pl?sid=05/07/05/2011229        |
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"To: H.R. Haldeman," reads the memo dated July 18, 1969. "From: Bill
Safire." The subject: [0]"IN EVENT OF MOON DISASTER."

Discuss this story at:
     http://starryskies.net:80/comments.pl?sid=05/07/05/2011229

Links:
     0. http://www.newhousenews.com/archive/Rios070505.html

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| Russian Space Agency to show new spacecraft model                  |
|   http://starryskies.net:80/article.pl?sid=05/07/05/2011247        |
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A full-scale model of the [0]Kliper, Russia's new generation spacecraft,
will be exhibited at the 2005-MAKS International Aviation and Space Salon
in the Moscow region, a source in the Russian Space Agency (Roskosmos)
said Tuesday.

Discuss this story at:
     http://starryskies.net:80/comments.pl?sid=05/07/05/2011247

Links:
     0. http://en.rian.ru/russia/20050705/40848713.html

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Deep Impact Kicks Off Fourth of July With Deep Space Fireworks     |
|   http://starryskies.net:80/article.pl?sid=05/07/05/2012206        |
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After 172 days and 431 million kilometers (268 million miles) of deep
space stalking, Deep Impact successfully reached out and touched comet
Tempel 1. The [0]collision between the coffee table-sized impactor and
city-sized comet occurred at 1:52 a.m. EDT.

Discuss this story at:
     http://starryskies.net:80/comments.pl?sid=05/07/05/2012206

Links:
     0. http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2005-109

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| Scientists find mineral comes from ancient supernova               |
|   http://starryskies.net:80/article.pl?sid=05/07/05/2012224        |
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NASA and University of Arizona researchers have discovered pristine
mineral grains that formed in an [0]ancient supernova explosion.

Discuss this story at:
     http://starryskies.net:80/comments.pl?sid=05/07/05/2012224

Links:
     0. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0507/01mineral/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Human factors in commercial suborbital flight: What does accelerati|
|   http://starryskies.net:80/article.pl?sid=05/07/05/2012242        |
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The [0]effects of acceleration on the human body, particularly the
cardiovascular system, are serious enough that prospective space tourists
need centrifuge experience and other tests before flying.

Discuss this story at:
     http://starryskies.net:80/comments.pl?sid=05/07/05/2012242

Links:
     0. http://www.thespacereview.com/article/402/1

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| It may be a lake, but not as we know it                            |
|   http://starryskies.net:80/article.pl?sid=05/07/05/2012258        |
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What could be the [0]first lake found beyond the Earth has been
discovered on one of Saturn's moons, Titan.

Discuss this story at:
     http://starryskies.net:80/comments.pl?sid=05/07/05/2012258

Links:
     0. http://www.smh.com.au/news/science/it-may-be-a-lake-but-not-as-we-know-it/2005/07/05/1120329448339.html?oneclick=true

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| NASA Swift Satellite Offers a Different View of the Great Comet Col|
|   http://starryskies.net:80/article.pl?sid=05/07/05/2013216        |
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Scientists using the [0]"Swift satellite witnessed a tale of fire and ice
today, as NASA's Deep Impact probe slammed into the frozen comet Tempel
1. The collision briefly lit the dim comet's surface and exposed, for the
first time, a section of ancient and virgin material from the comet's
interior.

Discuss this story at:
     http://starryskies.net:80/comments.pl?sid=05/07/05/2013216

Links:
     0. http://www.science.psu.edu/alert/Swift-Deep-Impact.htm

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| Hibernating Spacecraft Awakens for Comet Impact Mission            |
|   http://starryskies.net:80/article.pl?sid=05/06/28/2142221        |
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The Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite (SWAS) has been asleep on
orbit for the past 11 months. SWAS operators placed it into hibernation
after a highly successful 5.5-year mission highlighted by the discovery
of a swarm of comets evaporating around an aging red giant star. Now,
they have awakened SWAS again for the first-ever opportunity to study a
[0]comet on a collision course with a U.S. space probe.

Discuss this story at:
     http://starryskies.net:80/comments.pl?sid=05/06/28/2142221

Links:
     0. http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/press/pr0522.html

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| TV Review: 'Seconds from Disaster: Columbia's Last Flight'         |
|   http://starryskies.net:80/article.pl?sid=05/06/28/2142243        |
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The National Geographic Channel will pick apart the steps and missteps
that led up to the NASA's Columbia tragedy, which killed seven astronauts
and destroyed one orbiter, [0]tonight during a one-hour program
highlighting the disaster.

Discuss this story at:
     http://starryskies.net:80/comments.pl?sid=05/06/28/2142243

Links:
     0. http://space.com/entertainment/050628_columbia_disaster.html

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| Physics' sharpest mind since Einstein                              |
|   http://starryskies.net:80/article.pl?sid=05/06/28/2143203        |
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In a Life magazine poll of the 50 most influential Americans of the Baby
Boomer generation, [0]Witten was placed at No. 6, between Oprah Winfrey
and Bill Gates. But Witten is floundering around in the right place. The
Institute for Advanced Study -- where Einstein himself was a faculty
member from 1933 until his death in 1955 -- is a place where serious
thinkers come to think, and Witten is among the most serious of them all.

Discuss this story at:
     http://starryskies.net:80/comments.pl?sid=05/06/28/2143203

Links:
     0. http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/science/06/27/witten.physics/index.html

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| Lights out                                                         |
|   http://starryskies.net:80/article.pl?sid=05/06/28/2143224        |
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Harvard-Smithsonian telescope -- its view of the stars clouded by the
glare of suburban development -- to be [0]dismantled by the end of the
summer.

Discuss this story at:
     http://starryskies.net:80/comments.pl?sid=05/06/28/2143224

Links:
     0. http://www.boston.com/news/globe/health_science/articles/2005/06/28/lights_out/

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| Cosmic Crash Won't Destroy Comet or Earth                          |
|   http://starryskies.net:80/article.pl?sid=05/06/28/2143242        |
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Late Sunday and early Monday, skywatchers might be treated to celestial
fireworks [0]unlike anything witnessed before.

Discuss this story at:
     http://starryskies.net:80/comments.pl?sid=05/06/28/2143242

Links:
     0. http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/050628_deepimpact_effect.html

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| Langley helping send shuttle back to space                         |
|   http://starryskies.net:80/article.pl?sid=05/06/28/2143259        |
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Langley's Scott Berry will also be at Johnson Space Center in Houston,
tracking temperature changes in the shuttle, which could signal a problem
with its thermodynamic tiles. Langley's Thomas Horvath will be at Kennedy
Space Center in Florida to watch the launch and then will join Berry at
Johnson to [0]monitor the rest of Discovery's flight and descent.

Discuss this story at:
     http://starryskies.net:80/comments.pl?sid=05/06/28/2143259

Links:
     0. http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=88424&ran=47953

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| 'Climate of fear' returns to NASA, watchdog says                   |
|   http://starryskies.net:80/article.pl?sid=05/06/28/2144219        |
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A purge of 50 to 100 senior managers at NASA is creating a [0]"climate of
fear" among employees, mirroring agency culture prior to the Space
Shuttle Columbia explosion in 2003, says an agency watchdog.

Discuss this story at:
     http://starryskies.net:80/comments.pl?sid=05/06/28/2144219

Links:
     0. http://washingtontimes.com/national/20050627-095406-7383r.htm

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| How to Watch July 4 Comet Impact                                   |
|   http://starryskies.net:80/article.pl?sid=05/06/28/2144237        |
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For skywatchers here on Earth, it should also produce a large cloud of
ejected material that should cause the comet to significantly brighten
enough to become [0]visible with binoculars and perhaps even with the
unaided eye.

Discuss this story at:
     http://starryskies.net:80/comments.pl?sid=05/06/28/2144237

Links:
     0. http://www.space.com/spacewatch/050603_deep_impact.html

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Comet targeted by Deep Impact has an outburst                      |
|   http://starryskies.net:80/article.pl?sid=05/06/28/2144255        |
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In a dress rehearsal for the rendezvous between NASA's Deep Impact
spacecraft and comet 9P/Tempel 1, the Hubble Space Telescope captured
dramatic images of a [0]new jet of dust streaming from the icy comet.

Discuss this story at:
     http://starryskies.net:80/comments.pl?sid=05/06/28/2144255

Links:
     0. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0506/27deepimpact/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| NASA, Xerox to demonstrate 'virtual crew assistant'                |
|   http://starryskies.net:80/article.pl?sid=05/06/28/2145226        |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

[0]Intelligent conversation with robots - long the bread and butter of
science fiction authors - soon may take another step closer to reality
for astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS).

Discuss this story at:
     http://starryskies.net:80/comments.pl?sid=05/06/28/2145226

Links:
     0. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0506/25crewassist/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Whirling atoms dance into physics textbooks                        |
|   http://starryskies.net:80/article.pl?sid=05/06/28/2145244        |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

NASA-funded researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Cambridge, Mass., have [0]created a new form of superfluid matter. This
research may lead to improved superconducting materials, useful for
energy-efficient electricity transport and better medical diagnostic
tools.

Discuss this story at:
     http://starryskies.net:80/comments.pl?sid=05/06/28/2145244

Links:
     0. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0506/24atoms/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Spots on Janus                                                     |
|   http://starryskies.net:80/article.pl?sid=05/06/28/2146203        |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

This close-up look at Saturn's moon [0]Janus reveals spots on the moon's
surface which may be dark material exposed by impacts.

Discuss this story at:
     http://starryskies.net:80/comments.pl?sid=05/06/28/2146203

Links:
     0. http://spaceflightnow.com/cassini/050627janus.html

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Shuttle safe despite missing 3 recommendations                     |
|   http://starryskies.net:80/article.pl?sid=05/06/28/2146223        |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

In fact, the chairman of the Return to Flight Task Group, who piloted the
shuttle Discovery on the first post-Challenger mission in 1988, said he
would be [0]willing to ride Discovery again next month when NASA hopes to
resume shuttle flights after a two-and-a-half-year hiatus.

Discuss this story at:
     http://starryskies.net:80/comments.pl?sid=05/06/28/2146223

Links:
     0. http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts114/050627rtftg/

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