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Space News Headlines from External Websites August 19, 2007: Headlines are now being listed at the Space News at The Thunder Child Blog The purpose of this database is to have a chronological record of all space news appearing on the web. All the links are to external websites, and the links may become inactive over time. Please let us know if this is the case.   Web thethunderchild.com Articles are listed chronologically from latest to earliest. Date URL Notes July 28, 2007 Saturday July 27, 2007 A Bad Buzz at NASA - July 28, 2007 Catharine Skipp and Arian Campo-Flores, Newsweek NASA vows review of alleged astronaut alcohol abuse by William Harwood STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION, Spaceflight Now - July 27, 2007 NEWSWEEK: Aug. 6, 2007 issue (released July 28, 2007) - A few astronauts may have given new meaning to the term "flying high." Last week NASA disclosed that an independent review panel had "identified some episodes of heavy use of alcohol by astronauts in the immediate preflight period," according to the panel's report. In two specific instances, astronauts "had been so intoxicated prior to flight that flight surgeons and/or fellow astronauts raised concerns to local on-scene leadership regarding flight safety," the report says. "However, the individuals were still permitted to fly." NASA, drunk astronauts. . . . July 25, 2007 Wednesday No Diamonds in Uranus' Skies Irene Klotz, Discovery News Given enough carbon, pressure and time, diamonds can form ? but apparently not everywhere, say researchers who developed new modeling methods to parry the notion that small diamonds could spontaneously form in the skies of giant gas planets like Uranus and Neptune. The discovery three years ago of a white dwarf star with a solid diamond core bolstered theories that the carbon-containing atmospheres of the large outer planets were celestial diamond factories even closer to home. diamonds, Uranus. July 25, 2007 Wednesday Tourism Threatens First Moon Steps? Dani Cooper, ABC Science Online, Discovery News The sanctity of the first moon landing site is threatened by the dawn of a new race to put tourists in space, according to one researcher. Beth O'Leary, a space heritage archaeologist from New Mexico State University, said this includes the imprints of man's first steps on the moon, which were made at Tranquillity Base almost 40 years ago, and remain on its surface. space tourism, First footprints on the moon, Tranquility Base. . . . July 20, 2007 Wednesday Mars Dust Spells Trouble for Rover Irene Klotz, Discovery News Unless a massive dust storm on Mars abates soon, the rim of a crater that scientists hoped would open a new chapter in the search for past water on Mars may instead become the final resting place of the rover Opportunity. NASA spent months driving the rover around the rim of the crater, known as Victoria, before deciding last month to risk driving down into the hole for close-up studies of its walls and surface features. Mars, rovers, dust storm. . . . July 19, 2007 Wednesday NASA to Dump Junk in Space Irene Klotz, Discovery News It's not the politically correct way to dispose of trash, but NASA says it has no better option than to dump from the International Space Station a refrigerator-sized container holding ammonia and a 200-pound camera stand. Station flight engineer Clay Anderson will do the deed during a spacewalk planned for Monday. NASA, International Space Station, space tourists. . . . July 18, 2007 Wednesday As dollar falls, price of space vacations boosted to higher orbit Associated Press, CNN When it comes to complaining about poor exchange rates for the U.S. dollar, American tourists traveling to Europe have nothing on tourists headed into space. A visit to the international space station will cost between $30 million and $40 million. The cost of flying to the international space station aboard a Russian Soyuz spaceship has increased from $25 million earlier this year to between $30 million and $40 million for trips planned in 2008 and 2009. NASA, International Space Station, space tourists. . . . July 16, 2007 New Cargo Ship Ready for Space Station Irene Klotz, Discovery News The first European cargo ship to fly to the International Space Station is en route this week to its South American launch site in preparation for an orbital debut in January. Three times larger than the Russian Progress spacecraft, the Automated Transfer Vehicle, or ATV, is designed to deliver food, water, fuel and supplies to the $100 billion outpost, which is a little more than half finished. NASA, International Space Station. . . . July 13, 2007 Friday Spanish Telescope to Search Skies Juan Manuel Pardellas, Associated Press, Discovery News Astronomy, telescopes. . . . July 12, 2007 2 top NASA officials to leave Mike Schneider, Associated Press Writer, Yahoo News Two top NASA officials, including the man in charge of developing new spacecraft for future missions to the moon and Mars, plan to leave the space agency, a spokeswoman said Thursday. Former astronaut Scott "Doc" Horowitz, who heads NASA's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate will leave by October, and associate administrator Rex Geveden will leave at the end of July. NASA, Scott Horowitz, Rex Geveden. . . . July 12, 2007 First Online Help Sought for Galaxy Census Raphael G. Satter, Associated Press Scientists want Internet users to help them sort through an unusual digital photo album: pictures of about 1 million galaxies. In a Web statement Wednesday, astronomers asked for volunteers to help classify the galaxies, identifying them as either elliptical or spiral, and noting, where possible, in which direction they rotate. It would the largest galactic census ever compiled, something scientists say would provide new insight into the structure of the universe. Astronomy, galaxies. . . . latest: July 11, 2007 Water Found Outside Solar System AFP, Discovery News Astronomers on Wednesday announced they had spotted the first planet beyond the Solar System that has water, the precious ingredient for life. SaveCancelCloseEdit FileWhen finished, clicThe watery world, though, is far beyond the reach of our puny chemically-powered rockets ? and in any case is quite uninhabitable. Astronomy, galaxies, planets. latest: July 11, 2007 First Galaxies in Universe Spotted Larry O'Hanlon, Discovery News - July 11, 2007 Astronomers Strain to Glimpse Oldest Galaxies Yet J.R. Minkel, ScientificAmerican.com - July 10, 2007 The faint, mangled light of what appear to be some of the first galaxies in the universe has been captured by astronomers using a combination of manmade and natural telescopes. The light from the galaxies is more than 13 billion years old, coming from a time when the universe was a fledgling 500 million years old. The manmade telescope was the mammoth 10-meter Keck II telescope atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii. Astronomy, galaxies. . . . latest: July 31, 2007 Air Leak Found in Space Shuttle Cabin Associated Press, Discovery News - July 31, 2007 Space shuttle moves to launch pad Mike Schneider, Associated Press Writer - Yahoo News NASA's First Educator Astronaut Aims for Space Tariq Malik, Space.com Future URLS will not have summaries. This section is for news of the space shuttle mission STS-118, Endeavor. Official NASA news at www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts118/index.html The shuttle Endeavour arrived at its launch pad early Wednesday for a flight that will finally carry teacher-turned-astronaut Barbara Morgan into space. The mission, scheduled to begin Aug. 7, will take Morgan and six crewmates to the international space station. It's been a nearly five-year wait for Endeavour, but the shuttle has nothing on Morgan: She's been waiting 22 years to reach orbit. After more than two decades of waiting, NASA's first official educator astronaut is ready to fly. Barbara Morgan, who first joined NASA's spaceflyer ranks 22 years ago during the agency's Teacher in Space program, is due to launch Aug. 7 with six STS-118 crewmates aboard the shuttle Endeavour on a construction mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Astronauts, teacher in space. latest: July 28, 2007 Exclusive: Lisa Nowak Not Drunk in Space, Lawyer Says ABC News - July 28, 2007 Love-Struck Nowak Was Willing to Share Oefelein By Gina Sunseri, ABC News. July 10, 2007 Lovestruck astronoaut thought it would all stay secret By Gina Sunseri, ABC News. July 9, 2007 Is Lisa Nowak Insane? By Gina Sunseri, ABC News. May 11, 2007 Before Alleged Assault, Ex-Astronaut Nowak Was on the Outs at NASA "Lisa Nowak 'Not a Team Player' at NASA" By Gina Sunseri, ABC News. May 1, 2007 The Evidence Against Lisa Nowak By Gina Sunseri, ABC News. April 11, 2007 Disgraced Astronaut's Romantic Rival Thought Affair Was Over Lisa Nowak Reports for Duty While Awaiting Love Triangle Trial By Gina Sunseri, ABC News. March 29, 2007 NASA Fires Astronaut Lisa Nowak Astronaut Charged With Attempted Kidnapping Fired From NASA By Gina Sunseri, ABC News. March 7, 2007 Links to the Lisa Nowak saga will be presented without summary. Astronauts, Lisa Nowak. . . . July 6, 2007 NASA Probe ready for asteroid belt Irene Klotz, Discovery News NASA is preparing to dispatch an innovative robotic probe to the asteroid belt, an area of the solar system between Mars and Jupiter riddled with bodies from the formation of the solar system. Judging from the debris, the solar system's birth was not an easy one. As the primordial disc of gas and dust collapsed under its own gravity, individual bodies began to form, with the rocky ones gathering closer to the sun and the gaseous giant planets migrating outward. Asteroid exploration. July 6, 2007 Black Hole Simulation Breaks Ground Larry O'Hanlon, Discovery News Super-massive black holes at the centers of galaxies have just been promoted from the freak show to the big top. A new supercomputer simulation recreating the evolution of the universe is including, for the first time, the effects of the matter-eating monsters found at the heart of almost every galaxy. Previous attempts to simulate how the universe evolved from an almost uniform expanse of matter and energy into our current cobweb of galactic clusters had not included the super-massive black holes. Black holes . . . July 5, 2007 Mars dust storm cripples Rover Irene Klotz, Discovery News A huge dust storm on Mars has cut power to NASA's twin roving geology stations and delayed the start of an investigation into a large impact crater that bears an unusual ring around its inner walls. The Spirit and Opportunity rovers, which have been exploring opposite sides of the planet's equatorial region for three and a half years, charge their batteries with solar panels that need direct sunlight. Mars exploration Warning! Warning! Warning! Danger! You might miss intriguing updates if you do not subscribe to The Thunder Child mailing list! Warning! Warning! Warning!

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