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Archive

Archived posts are listed in reverse chronological order.


  • Aug. 4, 2007 | 02:26 PDT | 09:26 UTC
    There she goes!
    3--2--1--main engine start LIFTOFF! A shining flare...straight up... Six solids are burning strongly... Past Mach 1...supersonic! Solids tapering off... First stage "performance looking good" Six solid motors jettisoned! Three more... More»
  • Aug. 4, 2007 | 02:23 PDT | 09:23 UTC
    T minus 4 and counting!
    The official launch count has resumed...four minutes to go! Oxygen is still venting in a long stream from the center of the rocket... T minus 3... Third stage is being armed... I just heard "Go Phoenix!" over the NASA commentary...not a cheer,... More»
  • Aug. 4, 2007 | 02:14 PDT | 09:14 UTC
    Phoenix: Launch minus 12 minutes and weather is "go"
    I'm up now, I'm plugged in to all my various media, and it looks like I didn't get up for nothing; Phoenix is ready to go, and the biggest potential problem for launch -- weather -- appears to be clear. It sure looks like Phoenix will go off... More»
  • Aug. 3, 2007 | 21:20 PDT | Aug. 4 04:20 UTC
    Getting ready for Phoenix launch: Step 1: Sleep
    So I'm done with Anahita's first birthday festivities and have just spent a few minutes tuning in to various information sources on Phoenix' launch. Things are looking good so far for the launch to proceed as scheduled for 5:26 a.m. Eastern time,... More»
  • Aug. 3, 2007 | 15:54 PDT | 22:54 UTC
    Hubble views of Mars' dust storm
    Image processing magician Ted Stryk just sent me a couple of recent views of Mars from the Hubble Space Telescope. The data for these images was taken on July 23 and 27, while the rovers were suffering under the darkest skies they'd seen throughout... More»
  • Aug. 3, 2007 | 07:55 PDT | 14:55 UTC
    Go, go Phoenix! 18 hours until launch...
    Well, here we go; the once-every-two-year event of a spacecraft deprarture from Earth toward Mars is less than a day away, weather permitting. The original launch date (today) would have given my daughter the biggest candle ever to light her first... More»
  • Aug. 2, 2007 | 10:36 PDT | 17:36 UTC
    Carnival of Space #14, and a rover update
    Take a moment to see what's going on in the space "blogosphere" (I hate that word) at the fourteenth Carnival of Space, which is being hosted this week at Universe Today. And then take a few more moments to read A. J. S. Rayl's fact-filled monthly... More»
  • Aug. 1, 2007 | 10:00 PDT | 17:00 UTC
    Phoenix' second stage has been fueled
    According to freelance launch photographer Ben Cooper, the second stage of the Delta II rocket that will carry Phoenix into space has been fueled. This was the operation that should have taken place yesterday but could not be done due to foul... More»
  • Aug. 1, 2007 | 06:46 PDT | 13:46 UTC
    "Concern Increasing" for Opportunity
    Yesterday evening the Mars Exploration Rover mission posted an update that states "increasing concern" for the continued health of Opportunity. Although the skies are not quite as dark as they have been, dust is now beginning to settle on the solar... More»
  • Jul. 31, 2007 | 08:22 PDT | 15:22 UTC
    Phoenix launch postponed one day
    According to spaceflightnow.com, the launch of Phoenix has been postponed by one day, to August 4, 2007, because bad weather anticipated for today will prevent fueling of the rocket's second stage. That's too bad. Here's the launch window schedule... More»