NASA's third scheduled launch attempt for space shuttle Endeavour was canceled on both Saturday and Sunday, due to poor weather conditions. Flight officials were concerned because of thunderstorms that impacted the area around the Kennedy Space Center.
Eleven lightning strikes were monitored within a half-mile on Friday evening, which caused the Saturday delay. The weather never eased up throughout Saturday and Sunday, so the planned Sunday launch also had to be scrubbed.
The U.S. space agency tried to launch the shuttle again yesterday, but that launch was also canceled due to storms.
Shuttle Endeavour will head to the International Space Station for a 16-day mission with five scheduled spacewalks for the seven-man crew.
A new website supported by the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum shows praise to the famed Apollo 11 mission that grabbed the attention of the entire world. The official web site, which is available at WeChooseTheMoon.org, offers an interactive Web site to help recreate the famed mission.
Site directors offers animated recreations of the four-day mission, with a focus on Apollo 11 orbiting the moon. The site helps commemorate the 40th anniversary, and is certainly something the DailyTech staff recommends visiting at least once.
Government contractor Northrop Grumman has been given a $30 million contract by the U.S. Air Force to help develop a new global space surveillance ground radar system. The Department of Defense continues the U.S. government's efforts to monitor resident space objects, such as space junk, and the new S-Band Space Fence is an important step in the mission, Northrop Grumman said in a statement.
It's unknown where the first Space Fence will be constructed, but the Australian outback is a possible location.
"The new Space Fence system will provide better accuracy and faster detection while allowing us to increase the number of satellites and other space objects that can be detected and tracked, thus avoiding collision and damage to other satellites."
