The rebirth of Hubble / NASA's newest observatory opens its eyes

    NEWSALERT: Thursday, December 31, 2009 @ 1927 GMT
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        The latest news from Spaceflight Now


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NEW! International Space Station's Expedition 22 crew patch!
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THE REBIRTH OF HUBBLE
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The Hubble Space Telescope received its final servicing in May that will
see it operate well into the next decade. Five teams of astronauts have
visited Hubble, and who better to tell the story of Hubble's journey than
two Hubble spacewalkers, Kathy Thornton and Jeff Hoffman, both part of the
team for correcting Hubble's blurry vision in the very first 'make or
break' servicing mission.

http://astronomynow.com/mag/0912/HubbleInterviews.html


WISE OBSERVATORY SHEDS LENS CAP AND TAKES IN STARLIGHT
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NASA's new cosmic mapper successfully jettisoned a protective lens cover
Tuesday, opening its infrared eyes to Universe for an unprecedented survey
in 2010.

http://spaceflightnow.com/delta/d347/091229cover.html


NASA CONSIDERS MISSIONS TO VENUS, MOON AND ASTEROID
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The next medium-class New Frontiers mission to explore the solar system
will land on Venus or return samples from the moon or an asteroid, NASA
announced Tuesday.

http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0912/29newfrontiers/


CHINA ACCELERATES SPACE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
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China in 2010 will be engaged in the most ambitious and diverse manned and
unmanned space system research and development surge since the U.S. and
Soviet Union squared off in the 1960s space race.

http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0912/28china/


PROTON ROCKET LAUNCHES WITH NEW SATELLITE FOR DIRECTV
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A new high-definition television broadcasting satellite was deployed by a
Proton rocket early Tuesday, bolstering DirecTV's programming lineup for
customers in the United States.

http://spaceflightnow.com/proton/dtv12/launch/

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Good Clear Skies
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Astrocomet
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Colin James Watling
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Real 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/