The Official Space Exploration Thread

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Shuttle docks with space station



A camera aboard the space shuttle Discovery captures the International Space Station just before the two spacecraft docked with one another on Dec. 11, 2006. Credit: NASA TV.



STS-116 commander Mark Polanksy guides the shuttle Discovery through a 360-degree backflip in this view taken from an International Space Station camera before docking on Dec. 11, 2006. Credit: NASA TV.



The space shuttle Discovery (right) is seen docked at the International Space Station after a successful rendezvous on Dec. 11, 2006. Credit: NASA TV.

[DSJ™]

The Big meteor shower Wednesday night

The First of 3 spacewalks under way



Mission Specialist Bob Curbeam participates in the first spacewalk of the STS-116 mission. Image Credit: NASA TV.



An high resolution image taken by ISS crewmembers during Discovery's rotational pitch maneuver revealed minor scuffs and discolorations around the external tank umbilical cord door on the orbiter's port wing. Credit: NASA.

[Nathan]

Nobel acceptance caps NASA's big week

On Wednesday, NASA scientists announced they'd found compelling evidence that running water may have flowed recently on Mars. Some of the last pictures taken by the agency's Mars Global Surveyor showed changes in craters that provide the strongest evidence yet that water coursed through them recently and is perhaps doing so even now.

[DSJ™]

NASA smoothing out pesky panels



This view of the nose and part of the crew cabin of Space Shuttle Discovery was provided by an Expedition 14 crewmember during a back-flip performed by the approaching STS-116 crew to the International Space Station on Dec. 11, 2006. Credit: NASA.



A newfound 75-foot crater. Wispy dark rays and dark, annular (nearly-circular) zones surround the crater, while several chains of dark spots formed by secondary impact radiate away for hundreds of meters from the tiny crater. Credit: NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems.

Solar storm headed for Earth

SPACE.com) -- Space weather forecasters revised their predictions for storminess after a major flare erupted on the sun overnight threatening damage to communication systems and power grids while offering up the wonder of Northern Lights.

The storm is expected to generate aurora or Northern Lights, as far south as the northern United States Thursday night.

Just a reminder that this year's best Meteor Shower peaks tonight, the Geminid meteor shower, a reliable annual display, peaks tonight and into the pre-dawn. For skywatchers with dark, clear skies, this dazzling display should produce up to 120 meteors per hour.

The best time to watch is tonight or anytime between midnight and dawn Thursday.

 

[DSJ™]

The Spacewalkers rewiring orbiting lab



This labeled image of the International Space Station's central truss details the electrical and cooling system work sites for Discovery's STS-116 astronauts during their mission's second spacewalk. Credit: NASA.



STS-116 astronaut Robert Curbeam prepares to replace a faulty TV camera on the exterior of the International Space Station on Dec. 12, 2006. during the first of three planned spacewalks of the NASA mission. Credit: NASA.

[Darth_Anton]

Jeff, what Planet or Moon is that creater picture from?

[DSJ™]

That crater is a new impact on Mars, linky below.

The Mars Takes a Fresh Pounding

The How to fold a solar panel, NASA still scratching heads!

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The Astronauts head out again for wiring job



This photo highlights the P6 solar array guide wire and its grommet (circle) which is though to snag due to friction and prevent the solar wing from folding properly. Credit: NASA.



STS-116 shuttle astronaut Robert Curbeam pauses for a photo during a Dec. 14, 2006 spacewalk to help rewire the International Space Station (ISS). Credit: NASA.

In other space news:

The Crowd cheers private spaceport's first launch



An Orbital Sciences Minotaur rocket stands poised to launch the TacSat-2 satellite in the first ever orbital space shot from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia. Credit: Orbital Sciences, Corp.



The Minotaur I rocket carrying two experimental satellites into orbit lifts off Saturday, Dec. 16, 2006, in Atlantic, Va., in the first launch from the mid-Atlantic region's commercial spaceport. Credti: AP Photo/Gary C. Knapp.

FAA issues its first rules for space tourism

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Wow!     



A Large Tsunami Shock Wave on the Sun:

Tsunamis this large don't happen on Earth. One week ago, a large solar flare from an Earth-sized sunspot produced a tsunami-type shock wave that was spectacular even for the Sun. Pictured above, the tsunami wave was captured moving out from active region AR 10930 by the Optical Solar Patrol Network (OSPAN) telescope in New Mexico, USA. The resulting shock wave, known technically as a Moreton wave, compressed and heated up gasses including hydrogen in the photosphere of the Sun, causing a momentarily brighter glow. The above image was taken in a very specific red color emitted exclusively by hydrogen gas. The rampaging tsunami took out some active filaments on the Sun, although many re-established themselves later. The solar tsunami spread at nearly one million kilometers per hour, and circled the entire Sun in a matter of minutes. Credit: NSO/AURA/NSF and USAF Research Laboratory.

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STS-116 spacewalker Robert Curbeam shakes a troublesome solar array wing in an attemptto free stuck guide wires on Dec. 16, 2006. Credit: NASA.



Astronaut William Oefelein, STS-116 pilot, moves a stowage bag through the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station while Space Shuttle Discovery was docked with the station. Credit: NASA.



Astronaut Joan Higginbotham, STS-116 mission specialist and loadmaster, looks over procedures checklists in a hatch on space shuttle Discovery during flight day three activities. Credit: NASA.

Live video from NASA TV

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The Fourth spacewalk under way



This image shows the relative work area for STS-116 spacewalkers Robert Curbeam and Christer Fuglesang during the fourth, and unplanned, EVA to help furl a stubborn solar array outside the International Space Station. Credit: NASA.



Astronauts Robert Curbeam, (red stripes), STS-116 mission specialist, and Sunita Williams, Expedition 14 flight engineer, work near the International Space Station's left P6 solar array wing during the mission's third planned session of extravehicular activity (EVA) as construction resumes on the International Space Station. Credit: NASA.

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STS-116 spacewalker Christer Fuglesang is seen clad in his NASA spacesuit before a Dec. 18, 2006 excursion to fold away a stubborn solar array outside the ISS. Credit: NASA TV.



STS-116 mission specialist Robert Curbeam works with a solar array during the fourth spacewalk of the STS-116 mission. Credit: NASA TV.



As seen through windows on the aft flight deck of Space Shuttle Discovery, the payload bay is featured in this image photographed by a STS-116 crewmember flight day two activities. Credit: NASA.

NASA watching weather as shuttle landing nears

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NASA debates shuttle landing sites



A very different International Space Station is seen with one Port 6 solar array folded away (center right) and a new portside segment (far right) in view taken from the space shuttle Discovery after undocking during NASA's STS-116 mission. Credit: NASA TV.

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Discovery home for the holidays



As seen through windows on the aft flight deck of Space Shuttle Discovery, a Department of Defense pico-satellite known as Atmospheric Neutral Density Experiment (ANDE) is released from the shuttle's payload bay by STS-116 crewmembers. ANDE consists of two micro-satellites which will measure the density and composition of the low Earth orbit (LEO) atmosphere while being tracked from the ground. The data will be used to better predict the movement of objects in orbit. Credit: NASA.



The Aurora Borealis, also known as "northern lights", is featured in this photograph taken by a STS-116 crew member onboard Discovery during flight day 11 activities. Image Credit: NASA.



Discovery landed safely at 5:32 p.m. ET at Kennedy Space Center on Friday, bringing the mission to the space station to an end.

[DSJ™]

NORAD looking for Russian rocket in Wyoming

Check out the link below, they have awesome video of this breakup. 

'Space Junk' Bursts Into Flames 
NORAD: 'Meteor' really a rocket





A Russian rocket carrying a French-made spacecraft takes off December 27 at Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Cops baffled by mystery object that crashed into home



Police say they can't identify this golf ball-sized object which fell into a home in New Jersey.



The object, which the FFA says is not an aircraft part, weight almost as much as a can of soup, police say.



A metal object is held by Freehold Township Police Lt. Robert Brightman during a news conference in Freehold Township, N.J., Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2007. No one was injured when the object crashed through the roof of a Freehold Township home Tuesday and authorities have not identified the object. Credit: AP Photo/Mike Derer.