Shuttle launch reset for Sunday / Station survives debris scare

     NEWSALERT: Thursday, March 12, 2009 @ 2231 GMT
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         The latest news from Spaceflight Now


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NEW HIGH DEFINITION VIDEO!
Preps for space shuttle Discovery's mission
http://www.spaceflightnowplus.com/hd/sts119/
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EXPEDITED REPAIR TO ALLOW SUNDAY LAUNCH OF DISCOVERY
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NASA managers today reviewed plans to fix a leaking hydrogen vent line and
decided to implement an expedited repair procedure that, if all goes well,
will permit a launch attempt at 7:43 p.m. EDT Sunday to kick off a delayed
space station assembly mission.

 http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts119/090312update/index2.html

SEE OUR MISSION STATUS CENTER:
 http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts119/status.html

FREE VIDEO: MILES O'BRIEN REPORTS FROM KSC
 http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts119/090312specialreport.html


THREAT OF DEBRIS COLLISION PASSES THE SPACE STATION
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After boarding their Soyuz capsule as part of precautionary procedures for
a possible space debris collision, the three crew members living on the
international space station have been given an all-clear. The piece of
debris was expected to pass close by the station at 12:39 p.m. EDT. NASA
says news of the close approach came too late to move the station. A few
minutes after the predicted time for the encounter, ground controllers
said the crew could enter back into the station again.

 http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts119/090312soyuz/index3.html


DISCOVERY LAUNCH SCRUBBED BY HYDROGEN LEAK
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Already running a month behind schedule because of subtle hydrogen valve
problems, launch of the shuttle Discovery was called off during fueling
Wednesday when an unrelated hydrogen vent line sprang a potentially
dangerous leak. NASA will not be able to make another attempt to launch
Discovery until Sunday at the earliest, giving the astronauts just three
days or so to get off the ground before the end of the March launch
window.

 http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts119/090311scrub/


MARTIAN MOON DEIMOS IN HIGH RESOLUTION FROM ORBITER
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The HiRISE camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has taken these
color-enhanced views of Deimos, the smaller of the two moons orbiting
around the Red Planet.

 http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0903/10deimos/


NASA'S MARS ROVER SPIRIT FACES CIRCUITOUS ROUTE
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Loose soil piled against the northern edge of a low plateau called "Home
Plate" has blocked NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit from taking the
shortest route toward its southward destinations for the upcoming Martian
summer and following winter.

 http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0903/10spirit/