NASA clears Ares 1-X rocket for test flight on Tuesday

    NEWSALERT: Saturday, October 24, 2009 @ 1936 GMT
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        The latest news from Spaceflight Now

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ARES 1-X TEST FLIGHT CLEARED FOR LAUNCH TUESDAY MORNING
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Senior NASA officials convened at the Kennedy Space Center on Friday and
formally approved plans to launch a $445 million test flight of the
next-generation Ares 1 rocket next week. Watch live views of the pad in
our status center.

http://spaceflightnow.com/ares1x/status.html

VIDEO ARCHIVE:
http://www.spaceflightnowplus.com/index.php?k=ares%201-x&s=date

HIGH DEFINITION VIDEO:
http://spaceflightnowplus.com/hd/ares1x/


AUGUSTINE PANEL REPORTS ON SPACE PROGRAM'S FUTURE
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Amid work to ready NASA's Ares 1-X rocket for a long-awaited test flight
next week, a presidential panel charged with reviewing the nation's manned
space program submitted its completed report Thursday, concluding NASA's
planned shuttle replacement will cost too much and take too long to build
to be a viable option.

http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0910/22augustine/


VEGA ROCKET TESTED AS ESA MAPS OUT OPERATIONS
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Europe's small satellite launcher is on the home stretch of its protracted
development, as engineers methodically check to ensure each of the Vega
rocket's parts are qualified for flight.

http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0910/23vega/


ASTRONAUTS LOADING TRASH INSIDE JAPANESE FREIGHTER
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Space station astronauts have finished unloading cargo from the Japanese
H-2 Transfer Vehicle and are now packing trash inside the ship's
pressurized compartment. The spacecraft is scheduled to depart the complex
next Friday.

http://spaceflightnow.com/h2b/htv1/status.html


SCIENTISTS FIND ORGANIC MOLECULES AROUND PLANET
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Peering far beyond our solar system, NASA researchers have detected the
basic chemistry for life in a second hot gas planet, advancing astronomers
toward the goal of being able to characterize planets where life could
exist. The planet is not habitable but it has the same chemistry that, if
found around a rocky planet in the future, could indicate the presence of
life.

http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0910/21planet/

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Good Clear Skies
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Astrocomet
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Colin James Watling
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Astronomer and head of the Comet section for LYRA (Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth Regional Astronomers) also head of K.A.G (Kessingland Astronomy Group) and Navigator (Astrogator) of the Stars (Fieldwork)
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Web: http://lyra.freewebsites.com/