Worldwide Nuclear Forces

Status of Nuclear Powers and Their Nuclear Capabilities
data as of 01 January 2005

world/summary.htm

Extra Day for Discovery

Mission managers announced Saturday that Discovery's scheduled stay at the Station has been extended one day. The additional day, which will be added after the day of the third spacewalk, gives the crews more transfer time.
NASA - Return to Flight
http://www.nasa.gov/returntoflight/main/index.html

Chandra Discovery Solves Solar Paradox

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory survey of nearby sun-like stars suggests there is nearly three times more neon in the sun and local universe than previously believed. If true, this would solve a critical problem with understanding how the sun works.
Neon Abundance in Nearby Stars :: 27 Jul 05
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2005/neon/

Flight Day 1 & 2 (STS-114 events)

Tuesday, July 26 (Flight Day 1):
/////////////////////////////////////
12:00 a.m.
Begin tanking and launch coverage at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) (Launch minus 10 hours and 30 minutes)
10:39 a.m.
Launch
11:45 a.m.
Post-Launch News Conference
12:06 p.m.
Payload bay door opening
1:44 p.m.
Remote manipulator system (RMS) checkout
2 p.m.
Ascent flight control team video replay
2:34 p.m.
RMS imagery of Ku-band antenna/ orbiter boom sensor system (OBSS) post-insertion clearance
4 p.m.
Launch engineering replays
4:39 p.m.
Crew sleep begins
5 p.m.
Mission status briefing
6 p.m.
Flight day highlights
7 p.m.
Video file
////////////////////////////////////
Wednesday, July 27 (Flight Day 2):
////////////////////////////////////
12:39 a.m.
Crew wakeup
3 a.m.
WB-57 Launch Video Replay
3:09 a.m.
RMS checkout / centerline camera installation
3:30 a.m.
Flight director update
3:54 a.m.
RMS grapple of OBSS and unberth
4:09 a.m.
Ku-band antenna deploy
4:39 a.m.
Orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pod photography
5:24 a.m.
RMS / OBSS wing leading edge and nose cap survey begins
7:29 a.m.
Airlock preparations
8:39 a.m.
Extravehicular mobility unit (EMU) checkout
8:54 a.m.
Docking ring extension
11 a.m.
Mission status briefing (flight control team video replay follows)
11:34 a.m.
RMS survey of orbiter upper surfaces
3 p.m.
Video File
3:39 p.m.
Crew sleep begins
4 p.m.
Flight day highlights
6 p.m.
Post-mission management team (MMT) briefing
10 p.m.
Post-mission management team (MMT) briefing replay
11:39 p.m.
Crew wakeup

NASA - Timeline of Significant Mission Events

Discovery is slated to dock with the ISS at 7:18 a.m. EDT Thursday

Discovery is slated to dock with the ISS at 7:18 a.m. EDT Thursday.
NASA - Return to Flight

Discovery in Orbit

The Shuttle Discovery and its seven crewmembers are now in orbit after cruising through key flight milestones.
NASA - Return to Flight

If all goes well, liftoff at 10:39 a.m. EDT on July 26

NASA officials have announced plans to the begin the countdown to a July 26 launch of Space Shuttle Discovery. The countdown will start Saturday and, if all goes well, will continue to liftoff at 10:39 a.m. EDT on Tuesday.
http://www.nasa.gov/returntoflight/

World 'ignores' Niger food crisis

The United Nations top aid official has accused the international community of neglecting the food crisis in Niger.
Some 150,000 children will die soon without aid, out of 2.5m who need food, said Jan Egeland.
BBC NEWS

10,000 protest against U.S. Army exercises in Okinawa

10,000 people staged a protest Tuesday against U.S. Army exercises using live ammunition in the town of Kin, Okinawa Prefecture.
Marching up to the front gate of Camp Hansen, the demonstrators called on the U.S. Army to stop the exercises and remove the facility, claiming that people living in the vicinity risk the danger of being hit by stray bullets.
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/050719/kyodo/

July 26 as the earliest possible date to launch

July 26 as the earliest possible date to launch the Space Shuttle Discovery on the Return to Flight mission (STS-114).
NASA - Return to Flight

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter(MRO) Launch is scheduled for August 10

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter(MRO)is scheduled for August 10　7:54 a.m
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter: Home
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/

Statement From Commander Collins

"While the launch delay is disappointing, we have strong confidence that the mission will launch safely and successfully."
07.16.05 - Statement From Commander Collins
http://www.nasa.gov/

Igei residents have been staging daily protests at Camp Hansen’s main gate since May 2004

CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — The U.S. Army began live-fire training Tuesday at a newly built urban-warfare complex on Camp Hansen, drawing strong protests from local officials and residents.
Igei residents have been staging daily protests at Camp Hansen’s main gate since May 2004, when construction of the Army-funded facility Range 4 started. At that same time, Kin residents erected an impromptu observation tower atop a water tank in a protest against the urban- combat training complex. The observation tower overlooks the training area on the far side of the Okinawa expressway.

http://www.stripesonline.com/

NASA Reschedules Shuttle Return to Flight

NASA will attempt to launch the Space Shuttle Return to Flight mission (STS-114) no earlier than 2:40 p.m. EDT, Saturday, July 16. Discovery’s liftoff today from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Fla. was postponed at 1:30 p.m. EDT.
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2005/jul

World With Triple Sunsets

A NASA-funded astronomer has discovered a world where the sun sets over the horizon, followed by a second sun and then a third. The new planet, called HD 188753 Ab, is the first known to reside in a classic triple-star system.
JPL.NASA.GOV: News Releases
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2005-115

G8 condemns 'barbaric' London attacks

It's particularly barbaric that this has happened on a day when people are meeting to try to help the problems of poverty in Africa and the long-term problems of climate change in the environment.
It is designed and aimed to coincide with the opening of the G-8.
(Tony Blair)

LIVE 8 in Japan failed to generate much interest in Asia's only G-8 nation

The first concert kicked off in Japan, where Bjork and Good Charlotte joined local bands for a show that failed to generate much interest in Asia's only G-8 nation. Despite Bjork making her first live performance in two years, the crowd of 10,000 people was only half of what the hall in the Tokyo suburb of Makuhari could hold.
Still, ''we believe passionately in what this is about,'' Bjork said. ''Just the acknowledgment of the problem is an important step.''

AOL News - LIVE 8 Rocks, Rolls Its Way Around Globe
http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/special2/article.adp?id=20050630111009990005

Discovery Launch Set for July 13

NASA has cleared the Space Shuttle to Return to Flight. After a two-day Flight Readiness Review meeting at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, senior managers approved a July 13 launch date for Discovery.
http://www.nasa.gov/missions/highlights/index.html