| Hubble's 20th, nine days of Earth Day, and Robonaut in space on This Week @ NASA (2011-06-15) lus, STS-130's safe ending, young rocketeers and Apollo 13 remembered.
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| Juno Mission Launches to Jupiter (2011-12-01) NASA's Juno spacecraft is on its way to Jupiter after being launched aboard an Atlas V rocket from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida on August 5 at 11:25 a.m. Eastern. The solar-powered spacecraft will arrive at Jupiter in July 2016 and orbit its poles 33 times to find out more about the gas giant's interior, atmosphere and aurora. Scientists believe Jupiter holds the key to better understanding the origins of our solar system.
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| NASA Ships "Fish" for Rockets (2011-06-22) In this episode of NASA "Behind the Scenes," go on board the two ships -- Liberty Star and Freedom Star -- which retrieve the shuttle's solid rocket boosters after every launch. Astronaut Mike Massimino introduces you to the crew and takes you onboard the vessels to see what it takes to pull a 150-foot rocket out of the ocean.
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| New Views of Discovery's Launch from Shuttle's Solid Rocket Boosters (2011-06-15) Video taken by six cameras mounted on Discovery's recovered solid rocket boosters offer unique views of the shuttle's Feb. 24 launch on STS-133.
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| New Views of Endeavour's Launch from Booster Cameras (2011-05-29) A camera mounted on each of space shuttle Endeavour's solid rocket boosters capture the launch of the orbiter on STS-134 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center on May 16, and documents the SRBs' separation and subsequent landing in the Atlantic Ocean.
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| Shuttle Endeavour Attached to Boosters, Tank for Final Mission (2011-06-18) Space shuttle Endeavour was bolted to its external tank and twin solid rocket boosters on March 1. This "mating" took place in the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida following the orbiter's move from its processing hangar. Endeavour is slated to rollout to Launch Pad 39A next week for STS-134, its final flight. During the 14-day mission, Endeavour's six astronauts will deliver to the International Space Station the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, a particle physics detector designed to search for various types of unusual matter by measuring cosmic rays. The crew also will deliver the Express Logistics Carrier 3, a platform that carries spare parts that will sustain station operations once the shuttles are retired later this year. Endeavour's launch is targeted for April 19.
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| Shuttle's Boosters Recovered in HD (2011-06-23) NASA has released the first ever up-close, high-definition video of Kennedy Space Center's solid rocket booster (SRB) recovery ships retrieving SRB segments from the Atlantic Ocean following a space shuttle launch. The unprecedented video is from the launch of the most recent shuttle mission, STS-133, Discovery's final flight, on Feb. 24. Following each space shuttle launch, crew members of Liberty Star and Freedom Star pull the spent boosters out of the ocean and return them to Hangar AF at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Once they are processed, the boosters are transported to Utah, where they are refurbished and stored, if needed.
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| Shuttle's Twin Boosters Supply Stunning Views (2011-06-03) Video recorded by cameras mounted atop each of the twin solid rocket boosters that helped propel space shuttle Atlantis into Earth orbit on May 14 provide two new and unique views of the launch. The reusable SRBs were recovered shortly after launch May 14th from the Atlantic Ocean approximately 140 miles downrange from NASA's Kennedy Space Center where theSTS-132 mission to the International Space Station began. Commander Ken Ham, Pilot Tony Antonelli and Mission Specialists Garrett Reisman, Steve Bowen, Mike Good and Piers Sellers are scheduled to leave the orbiting complex on Sunday when Atlantis undocks and begins its flight home.
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| SPACEX/NASA DISCUSS LAUNCH ABORT OF FALCON 9 ROCKET (2012-06-10) During a press briefing at The Kennedy Space Center on May 19, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell and NASA Commercial Crew and Cargo Program Manager Alan Lindenmoyer discussed the launch abort of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule on a demonstration flight to the International Space Station. Early data shows that high chamber pressure in Engine #5 caused a cutoff of all nine engines at T- 0.5 seconds. SpaceX will continue to look at the data and inspect the engine before setting a new launch date. The next possible opportunity is May 22 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
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| STS-127 Launch HD (2011-07-13) NASA'S SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR LAUNCHES TO COMPLETE JAPANESE MODULE CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Space shuttle Endeavour and its seven-member crew launched at 6:03 pm EDT Wednesday from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission will deliver the final segment to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory and a new crew member to the International Space Station. Endeavour's 16-day mission includes five spacewalks and the installation of two platforms outside the Japanese module. One platform is permanent and will allow experiments to be directly exposed to space. The other is an experiment storage pallet that will be detached and returned with the shuttle. During the mission, Kibo's robotic arm will transfer three experiments from the pallet to the exposed platform. Future experiments also can be moved to the platform from the inside of the station using the laboratory's airlock. Shortly before liftoff, Commander Mark Polansky thanked the teams that helped make the launch possible. "Endeavour has patiently waited for this," said Polansky. "We're ready to go, and we're going to take all of you with us on a great mission."
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| Wheels Installed on Next Mars Rover (2011-06-03) The wheels and suspension system have been installed on NASA's next Mars rover, Curiosity, a key step in assembly and testing of the flight system for the Mars Science Laboratory mission slated to launch next year. The centerpiece of MSL, Curiosity has six wheels and a rocker-bogie suspension system like its smaller predecessors: Spirit, Opportunity and Sojourner. Each wheel has its own drive motor and the corner wheels also have independent steering motors. Unlike earlier Mars rovers, Curiosity will also use its mobility system as landing gear when the mission's rocket-powered descent stage lowers the rover directly onto the Martian surface on a tether in August 2012.
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