Kennedy Space Center

1986 The space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center, killing all seven of its crew members.

1986 The space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center, killing all seven of its crew members.

Who's up for a puzzle? The pieces arrive through text messages, flash drives and conniving rivals, played out in vehicles speeding across the country past highway diners, motels and the Kennedy Space Center. Weird conglomeration, isn't it? But Drive arrives on Fox tonight as that kind of Rube Goldberg contraption - parts taken from all over the place, strangely configured together, asked to function in a productive way. On TV Drive premieres at 8 tonight on WBFF (Channel 45).

Who's up for a puzzle? The pieces arrive through text messages, flash drives and conniving rivals, played out in vehicles speeding across the country past highway diners, motels and the Kennedy Space Center. Weird conglomeration, isn't it? But Drive arrives on Fox tonight as that kind of Rube Goldberg contraption - parts taken from all over the place, strangely configured together, asked to function in a productive way. On TV Drive premieres at 8 tonight on WBFF (Channel 45).

The Naval Academy Satellite Earth Station is transmitting live television from space and from the Kennedy Space Center during the currentmission of the space shuttle Discovery.The coverage is on the academy's closed circuit television system, but Annapolitans who live within a few miles of the academy may be able to pick up the broadcastwith an outside antenna. Tune in below channel 14 on the UHF band, or use the antenna with cable channel 58.The Naval Academy Radio Club is transmitting the signal using a low-power amateur TV transmitter and the call sign W3ADO.

ORLANDO, Fla. - NASA began its countdown yesterday for shuttle Discovery's planned launch this week, marching toward its first manned flight in 2 1/2 years. Liftoff is targeted for 3:51 p.m. Wednesday from Kennedy Space Center, with forecasters predicting a 70 percent chance of good weather. A shuttle manager pronounced Discovery in excellent shape yesterday, saying Kennedy Space Center workers finally can "see the light at the end of the tunnel." Discovery's mission to the International Space Station is the first shuttle voyage since seven astronauts were killed on Feb. 1, 2003, when Columbia broke apart on its return to Earth.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The space shuttle Columbia was poised yesterday to begin the longest flight of the shuttle program, a two-week mission dedicated to medical experiments involving seven astronauts and 48 rats.Officials at the Kennedy Space Center said no technical problems stood in the way of today's launch of Columbia, at 10:53 a.m., on its 15th mission into space.The main concern was the weather. While predicting a 90 percent chance of good weather at launching time, Air Force forecasters said conditions at three overseas emergency landing sites raised the possibility of a delay.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Space shuttle Discovery could return home today to an unusual sort of white Christmas that NASA managers want to avoid. Only once in 114 previous landings has the shuttle touched down at the White Sands Missile Range in southern New Mexico, a blanched desert of gypsum sand so desolate that the first atomic bomb was detonated there. White Sands' Northrup Strip traditionally has been viewed by NASA as a shuttle runway of last resort, available in case circumstances prevented a return to primary landing sites at the Kennedy Space Center or Southern California's Edwards Air Force Base.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A rain cloud chased the shuttle Discovery to a surprise pre-dawn landing in the California desert yesterday, scrapping what would have been the first night touchdown at the Kennedy Space Center.Shuttles travel through space at six times the speed of sound, accelerating and decelerating sharply and sometimes performing feats of celestial acrobatics. But even a small rain cloud daunts the spacecraft, NASA spokesman Mitch Varnes said.The shuttle is covered with thousands of individually fitted thermal tiles that absorb heat and keep the craft from burning up during its fiery re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA is expected to decide by next week which, if any, shuttle-repair techniques astronauts will test during Discovery's planned return to flight in May. Program managers are evaluating five potential repairs for the thermal protection system that shields the spaceship during its fiery plunge through Earth's atmosphere. Three of the repairs are for the heat tiles that primarily cover the shuttle's belly. Two are for the reinforced carbon-carbon, or RCC, material that protects the leading edges of the wings and other surfaces from temperatures up to 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Space shuttle Discovery could return home today to an unusual sort of white Christmas that NASA managers want to avoid. Only once in 114 previous landings has the shuttle touched down at the White Sands Missile Range in southern New Mexico, a blanched desert of gypsum sand so desolate that the first atomic bomb was detonated there. White Sands' Northrup Strip traditionally has been viewed by NASA as a shuttle runway of last resort, available in case circumstances prevented a return to primary landing sites at the Kennedy Space Center or Southern California's Edwards Air Force Base.

CAPE CANAVERAL,Fla. -- Weather permitting, Discovery will end its 13 days in orbit this morning with the first shuttle landing at the Kennedy Space Center since 2002. Discovery's six astronauts are scheduled to touch down at 9:14 a.m. to complete a supply flight to the International Space Station that included a critical repair to the outpost and delivery of a crew member. Weather is expected to be acceptable, with the biggest concern a chance of showers near Cape Canaveral. "My experience is that at the Kennedy Space Center, it [weather]

AN ANXIOUS AMERICA watched and eventually found comfort in Discovery's thunderous liftoff from Kennedy Space Center yesterday. The shuttle's powerful thrusters traced a familiar arc across the Florida sky, and seven passengers were launched safely into Earth's orbit riding an old war horse of NASA's fleet. There was a time when such a moment would have seemed routine. But that changed forever with the explosion of Challenger in 1986. We were reminded, too, of the day two years and five months ago, when Columbia disintegrated across Texas, damaged by something as mundane as a piece of insulation that struck the shuttle's left wing during its initial ascent, an unnoticed wound that led to the shuttle's destruction on re-entry.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. - With the thunderous roar of 7.5 million pounds of thrust, equivalent to the power of a small nuclear device, America re-launched its era of space flight yesterday, sending seven astronauts into orbit aboard the space shuttle Discovery. The exuberance surrounding the launch was tempered, however, when NASA engineers discovered three events that occurred during the 8.5-minute ride into space that raised concerns about the shuttle's heat shields, the critical system that was at fault in the Columbia accident 30 months ago. NASA officials said they would begin a detailed analysis of launch photography and a thorough in-orbit inspection of the craft using its robotic arm. NASA cameras and radar found that a 1.5-inch section of heat-resistant tile sheared off from the nose landing-gear door, damage they could not fully assess without more detailed inspection, said John Shannon, flight operations and integration manager.

ORLANDO, Fla. - NASA began its countdown yesterday for shuttle Discovery's planned launch this week, marching toward its first manned flight in 2 1/2 years. Liftoff is targeted for 3:51 p.m. Wednesday from Kennedy Space Center, with forecasters predicting a 70 percent chance of good weather. A shuttle manager pronounced Discovery in excellent shape yesterday, saying Kennedy Space Center workers finally can "see the light at the end of the tunnel." Discovery's mission to the International Space Station is the first shuttle voyage since seven astronauts were killed on Feb. 1, 2003, when Columbia broke apart on its return to Earth.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA is expected to decide by next week which, if any, shuttle-repair techniques astronauts will test during Discovery's planned return to flight in May. Program managers are evaluating five potential repairs for the thermal protection system that shields the spaceship during its fiery plunge through Earth's atmosphere. Three of the repairs are for the heat tiles that primarily cover the shuttle's belly. Two are for the reinforced carbon-carbon, or RCC, material that protects the leading edges of the wings and other surfaces from temperatures up to 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

The Columbia astronauts lived for almost a minute after their final communication with Mission Control, well after signs that the craft was in serious trouble, investigators at NASA and the Columbia Accident Investigation Board said yesterday. Investigators are scrutinizing data from a sensor recording system that continued to function far into the breakup of Columbia for clues about how to improve the survivability of space vehicles, possibly even the three remaining shuttles. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is planning to disclose more information soon about the fate of the crew, drawing from analysis of debris in the hangar at the Kennedy Space Center, information on where the debris was found and data from an on-board data recorder, said people involved in the investigation.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- Inside the hangar where NASA has collected wreckage from the space shuttle Columbia, engineers and scientists have put up a banner signed by dozens of school children, who wrote in large block letters, "We honor the crew of the Columbia." Just behind that banner is a special room, where the National Aeronautics and Space Administration allows no visitors. It's where investigators keep the wreckage of the crew compartment and the astronauts' personal items.

The Columbia astronauts lived for almost a minute after their final communication with Mission Control, well after signs that the craft was in serious trouble, investigators at NASA and the Columbia Accident Investigation Board said yesterday. Investigators are scrutinizing data from a sensor recording system that continued to function far into the breakup of Columbia for clues about how to improve the survivability of space vehicles, possibly even the three remaining shuttles. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is planning to disclose more information soon about the fate of the crew, drawing from analysis of debris in the hangar at the Kennedy Space Center, information on where the debris was found and data from an on-board data recorder, said people involved in the investigation.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- Inside the hangar where NASA has collected wreckage from the space shuttle Columbia, engineers and scientists have put up a banner signed by dozens of school children, who wrote in large block letters, "We honor the crew of the Columbia." Just behind that banner is a special room, where the National Aeronautics and Space Administration allows no visitors. It's where investigators keep the wreckage of the crew compartment and the astronauts' personal items.