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Best Facebook self-portrait ever--from space

If you've ever been on MySpace or Facebook, you'll recognize a phenomenon many refer to as "MySpace pics," or those portraits people take of themselves, usually in a mirror. As with any pictures, getting the right angle is key to making a flattering shot.

But the above photo that U.S. astronaut Garrett Reisman took this week during Shuttle Atlantis' final scheduled mission may be one of the greatest MySpace pics of all time.

He took it of himself from the base of the ISS' robotic arm while working with fellow crew member Piers Sellers to … Read more

Shuttle Atlantis, space station visible this week

Look! Up in the sky! It's not a bird. It's not a plane. It's the Space Shuttle Atlantis and the International Space Station.

From now until Sunday, as the two spacecraft circle the Earth every 90 minutes, they should be visible to sky gazers across the globe. And that's especially true given that the shuttle is docked with the space station during its current mission.

"With the Shuttle attached, the [Space] Station appears even brighter than usual in the morning and evening sky," NASA said in a release Tuesday. "The station may be … Read more

Russian module joins space station via 'hole in one'

JOHNSON SPACE CENTER, Houston--Using robotic precision in place of brute force, astronaut Garrett Reisman attached a nine-ton Russian module loaded with U.S. supplies and equipment to the International Space Station early Tuesday after an orbital "hole in one."

Appropriately, robot arm operator Reisman waited until orbital sunrise to dock the "Rassvet"--Dawn--compartment to the Earth-facing port of the Russian Zarya module as the shuttle Atlantis and the space station sailed 220 miles above Argentina.

"Capture," astronaut Piers Sellers called at 7:20 a.m. CDT. "Contact. And Houston, ISS robo. It looked … Read more

Shuttle Atlantis glides to smooth space station docking

JOHNSON SPACE CENTER, Houston--The shuttle Atlantis, carrying a Russian docking module and critical spare parts, glided to a smooth docking with the International Space Station on Sunday, capping a two-day orbital chase that began with blastoff Friday.

Piloting the shuttle from the aft flight deck, commander Kenneth Ham deftly guided the 120-ton spacecraft to a picture-perfect docking with the lab's forward port at 9:28 a.m. CDT as the 1-million-pound shuttle-station complex sailed 220 miles above the South Pacific Ocean.

"Houston and station, capture confirmed," pilot Dominic Antonelli radioed as the shuttle's payload bay docking … Read more

Shuttle Atlantis streaks into orbit on final planned flight

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla.--The shuttle Atlantis blasted off on its 32nd and final planned mission Friday, closing out 25 years of service with a 12-day flight to deliver a Russian docking module and critical spare parts to the International Space Station.

With its three hydrogen-fueled main engines roaring at full thrust, the shuttle's twin solid-fuel boosters ignited on time at 2:20 p.m. EDT, instantly pushing the fully fueled 4.5-million-pound spacecraft away from pad 39A.

Accelerating through 100 mph--straight up--in just eight seconds, Atlantis wheeled about its long axis and lined up on a trajectory paralleling … Read more

Friday Poll: Thoughts on shuttle Atlantis retiring?

Space shuttle Atlantis is set to launch at 11:20 a.m. PDT Friday on its final scheduled mission: a 12-day rendezvous during which the craft and its six astronauts will deploy new parts for the International Space Station, including the awesomely named Integrated Cargo Carrier-Vertical Light Deployable.

Like all current-generation space shuttles, Atlantis--which had its first flight on October 3, 1985--is notable for its impressive track record, as well as several important missions to the ISS and flying many of the secret Department of Defense missions that conspiracy theorists love to hate.

But this looks to be it. After … Read more

Shuttle Atlantis set for launch on its final mission

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla.--The shuttle Atlantis is poised for launch Friday on its 32nd and final planned mission, a three-spacewalk flight to the International Space Station to install a new Russian module, a backup Ku-band dish antenna, and six massive batteries to replace aging power packs in one of the station's solar arrays.

The shuttle's six-man, all-veteran crew also will deliver needed supplies and equipment as NASA stages its final three shuttle missions to complete the assembly of the lab complex by late this year or early next.

"Twelve days, three EVAs, tons of robotics, we'… Read more

Inside NASA's world-class supercomputer center

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--If you're a materials scientist at NASA's Glenn Research Center, or an engineer at the Johnson or Marshall Space Centers studying Space Shuttle flow-control valves, or any one of countless others in the agency needing a supercomputer, there's really just one place to go.

That place is the advanced supercomputing facility at the Ames Research Center here, the home of Pleiades, NASA's flagship computer, a monster of a machine that, with a current rating of 973 teraflops--or 973 trillion floating point operations per second--is today ranked the sixth-most powerful supercomputer on Earth.

The … Read more

Space shuttle glides into Florida

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla.--The shuttle Discovery, delayed a day by cloudy Florida weather, glided to a pinpoint landing here on Tuesday morning to close out an extended space station assembly mission.

"We're glad the International Space Station is stocked up again," Commander Alan Poindexter told mission control after the 9:08 a.m. EDT landing.

The 131st shuttle mission covered 238 complete orbits and 6.2 million miles since blastoff on April 5 for a mission duration of 15 days.

Already running a day late because of low clouds here Monday, the astronauts were aiming for … Read more