Space Shuttle Endeavour might have had some problems the last time it was up in space, but it's up and ready again as it prepares for its return to the final frontier (er, that's outer space for you non-Trekkies). More details on the Shuttle's launch after the "read more" link below.

NASA's space shuttle Atlantis has reportedly undocked from the International Space Station, and should be touching down on terra firma by this Wednesday.

Going along on the shuttle's trip home is astronaut Daniel Tani, who had been on the ISS since last October. Details regarding this matter are in the full article.

  

"Houston, we have a problem." A problem indeed. Not a life-threatening problem, but rather a hitch that someone may never live down.

A sign meant to cheer on the NASA space shuttle Endeavour was put up on the fence surrounding the space craft, and would have done its job properly if it weren't for the missing "U". WKMG-TV reported that someone notified Kennedy Space Center of the boo-boo, and people scrambled to fix the quite embarrassing oversight.

While the correct American English spelling of Endeavour is indeed "Endeavor", the NASA shuttle was named after the historic ship HM Bark Endeavour, which was commanded by the 18th Century explorer James Cook. Endeavour was also named in honor of Apollo 15's Command Module of the same name.

So remember, people, not to always rely on Microsoft Word's spell check.

 

We first reported about Richard Garriott and Stephen Hawking's "vomit comet" trip during the earlier parts of April. We also reported about what happened during this trip, but now, we have some photos to share with you, be sure to click on the thumbnails to have a better view of the pics.

Garriott joined Hawking, his entourage of assistants, and 25 other passengers on the converted Boeing 727 as it ascended 25,000 feet from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This was Garriott's fourth trip to the edge of space but he clearly can't hide his excitement in his blog post (which you can check out in our read link below). As for Prof. Hawking, this trip is indeed another feather in his cap.

"Ladies And Gentlemen, We Are Floating In Space" from the band Spiritualized should have been the perfect theme song for one of the world's leading theoretical physicists Stephen Hawking and Tabula Rasa's Richard Garriott as the two and a handful of others soared through a zero-gravity flight last Thursday.

The momentous event for Hawking (he's been in his wheel chair for four decades now because of ALS) took place inside the cabin of a modified 727 over the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Canaveral. The flight took a total of eight parabolas - the same flight technique astronauts experienced during weightless space environment preparations.

Speaking of which, Richard Garriott mentioned that they only planned for six parabolas but Hawking was grinning widely and seen as really having a great time. Garriott, who is the son of former NASA astronaut Owen Garriott, added, "six parabolas really was the intended cutoff point. But he was having so much fun, we went for two more, and then we thought we'd better quit while we're ahead."

Aside from the obvious reason that Hawking wanted to get out of his wheel chair, he explained that he joined the flight because he believes that the future of man lies outside of this endangered world. He commented,

I believe that life on Earth is at an ever-increasing risk of being wiped out by a disaster such as sudden global warming, nuclear war, a genetically-engineered virus or other dangers, I think the human race has no future if it doesn't go into space. I therefore want to encourage public interest in space.

Hawking was accompanied by several people during the flight including four physicians, two nurses, two coaches, and two dozen other friends. The famed physicist announced plans for another zero-gravity flight from NASA's Kennedy Space Center to celebrate his 65th birthday in January.

In a recent official press release, NASA has announced that they will be offering their assistance to Santa Claus as he makes his annual global delivery today. In the announcement, they have noted that some of NASA's resources such as the Debris Imaging Radar System will be... ah, heck.

Here's the full announcement. It's best when you get to read the whole thing for yourself, and if you don't believe us, then feel free to NASA's official site.

RELEASE: 74-06

NASA's KSC Providing Assistance to Santa on Christmas Eve

The Debris Imaging Radar System, used during the night launch of NASA's space shuttle mission STS-116, is a new system at Kennedy Space Center in Florida that will now be made available to Santa Claus on Christmas Eve.

Based on its success in identifying even the smallest amount of debris coming off the orbiter or the external tank, NASA has strong confidence the system will provide assistance in observing Santa's sleigh. Since the elves have the packages piled high, NASA can determine with great accuracy if any gifts planned for delivery fall off the sleigh. The radar system is capable of high-definition radar imagery, so the approximate shape, size and weight of the packages can be determined.

This could greatly help Santa recover the packages so that no child is disappointed by not receiving the presents the jolly fellow promised while he made the rounds in shopping malls before Christmas. The radar has an auto-track mode so that it can be left unattended on Christmas Eve and still perform its intended function. The system will be automatically activated once NASA's air traffic control radar located on north KSC has made radar contact with Santa's sleigh.

Also of assistance to Santa this year is the new Differential Global Positioning Satellite System ground station at the Shuttle Landing Facility. These new GPS antennas located near the control tower can help if there is an emergency. Since the sleigh is now GPS equipped, it can guide Santa to a landing within 10 feet of the runway's centerline, regardless of which end of the runway he needs to use.

Though Shuttle Landing Facility personnel will be on holiday leave, officials at the NASA Tower have agreed to provide the customary support by turning the landing lights on before they depart for Christmas, as well as turning on the TACAN radio homing beacon and the visual alternating green and white lighted rotating beacon.

NASA will use the orbiter Discovery to mimic Santa's sleigh during the STS-116 landing currently planned for Friday, in order to test the ability to operate these two new systems in auto-track mode. If the orbiter is waved off to land on the West Coast, the Shuttle Training Aircraft will be used to simulate Santa's sleigh.

If Santa needs help, one of the primary radio frequencies normally used for communication in restricted airspace will still be monitored by the Air Force Eastern Range and also NASA security.

For more information about KSC's assistance to Santa, contact the KSC News Center at 321-867-2468.

In the meantime, you can track Santa's progress right here.

You will be very pleased to hear that Space Shuttle Atlantis and her crew have landed safely today at Kennedy Space Center at 6:21 a.m. EDT. The very latest NASA mission to the International Space Station lasted a total of 11 days 19 hours 6 minutes and 35 seconds (thats the precision of NASA for you!) and despite numerous delays before launch and delays to the landing date, the crew touched down without encountering major problems.

The huge part of Space Shuttle Atlantis' mission was the delivery and construction of a new Solar Panel upgrade for the station which it completed successfully on September 17th. It then took the crew a further 4 days before they could land instead of 3 due to an unidentified object outside the Space Shuttle. Despite the various precautions and delays that the Atlantis mission endured, NASA and the world have deemed the mission a huge success, with no Shuttle-based problems whilst in space and another construction mission completed. Hopefully this will pave the way for many more successful shuttle missions in the future until they are replaced by the in-development Orion Moonship.

After Space Shuttle Atlantis lifted off on September 9, its crew of six will finally be Earth-bound at 6:21 a.m. EDT. STS-115 is the first Space Shuttle assembly mission to the International Space Station (ISS) after the Columbia disaster. The crew members delivered the second left-side truss segment (ITS P3/P4), a pair of solar arrays (2A and 4A), and batteries. They conducted three spacewalks to connect truss segments, remove restraints on solar arrays, and prepare the station for the next assembly mission by STS-116.

After more than 1 week of orbiting (122 nautical miles) in space, Atlantis will be carrying the crew members back home at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The crew consists of  Heidemarie M. Stefanyshyn-Piper, Christopher J. Ferguson, Joseph R. Tanner, Daniel C. Burbank, Brent W. Jett, Jr. and Steven MacLean.

The clock has started ticking for NASA's planned launch of the space shuttle Atlantis on Sunday. Atlantis and its six-astronaut crew are gearing up to launch toward the International Space Station (ISS) at 4:30 p.m. EDT (2030 GMT) on NASA’s first major construction flight since 2002.

The astronauts who will be crewing the Atlantis arrived at NASA's Kennedy Space Center yesterday, and with weather forecasts predicting a 70 percent chance of clear conditions on launch day, they had plenty of reasons to be happy.

“I hope you can tell by the smiles on our faces that we’re very, very happy to be here in Florida to start the launch countdown,” shuttle commander Brent Jett told reporters at the Shuttle Landing Facility after the crew flew over the airstrip in formation twice in their T-38 NASA jets. “There’s been a lot of talk in the press lately about NASA being back, and I think we would all certainly agree with that talk. But we have a saying in Texas, ‘It’s time to walk the walk.’”

Jett, along with Atlantis pilot Chris Ferguson and mission specialists Joseph Tanner, Daniel Burbank, Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper and Steven MacLean, of the Canadian Space Agency, will ride Atlantis to the ISS. Their 11-day mission features three spacewalks to deliver and install two massive trusses and a pair of solar arrays to the orbital outpost.

NASA and Florida's Kennedy space center are all set to begin the countdown for Shuttle Atlantis' mission to the International Space Center at 6pm EDT on Thursday 24th August. The flight will mark the resumption of ISS construction, started in 1998 but halted in 2003 after the loss of space shuttle Columbia and the death of its crew, and will take place on August 27th, lasting 11 days.

The mission is the 116th space shuttle flight, the 27th flight for Atlantis and the 19th U.S. flight to the International Space Station and will land at Kennedy Space Center at around 12:02 pm EDT Sept. 7. The mission involves, amongst other things, the delivery and installation of a 17.5-ton integrated truss segment on the station. The crew who have trained for a record 4 and a half years consists of:

• U.S. Navy Capt. Brent Jett, commander
• U.S. Navy Capt. Chris Ferguson, pilot
• Mission specialist Joe Tanner
• U.S. Coast Guard Cmdr. Dan Burbank
• U.S. Navy Cmdr. Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper
• Mission specialist Steve MacLean of the Canadian Space Agency

We at QJ.net wish the Atlantis crew and NASA space control good luck in the latest shuttle mission to take to space. Keep your web browser pointed in this direction for all the updates on the Atlantis mission.