U.S. military's mini space shuttle marks one year in orbit

   NEWSALERT: Monday, March 6, 2011 @ 1637 GMT
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       The latest news from Spaceflight Now


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U.S. AIR FORCE SPACEPLANE MARKS ONE YEAR IN ORBIT
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The U.S. Air Force's second X-37B spaceplane marked one year in orbit
Monday, continuing its clandestine mission more than 200 miles above
Earth. The robotic spacecraft's purpose is secret, but Air Force officials
acknowledge the vehicle is performing well one year after it blasted off
on an Atlas 5 rocket.

http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n1203/05x37b/

LAUNCH COVERAGE:
http://spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av026/


ESA: BEPICOLOMBO WILL STAY ON BUDGET DESPITE DELAY
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Technical difficulties with BepiColombo, a joint project between Europe
and Japan, will push back its launch to Mercury by 13 months until August
2015, but officials do not expect the postponement to trigger another
increase in the mission's budget.

http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n1203/05bepicolombo/


CASSINI DETECTS OXYGEN AROUND SECOND SATURN MOON
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Researchers analyzing data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft announced Friday
the discovery of a tenuous atmosphere around Saturn's moon Dione, a small,
colorless world of ice and rock near the giant planet's famous rings.

http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n1203/04dione/


ORION SPACECRAFT PARACHUTES TESTED OVER ARIZONA DESERT
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NASA continued testing the Orion capsule's recovery chutes last week in a
high-altitude drop from a U.S. Air Force cargo plane ahead of the craft's
first orbital test flight in early 2014.

http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n1203/04orionchutes/


SPACE STATION RESUPPLY MISSION DELAYED TWO WEEKS
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Technicians must re-enter a European Automated Transfer Vehicle to tighten
retention straps on cargo bags, a move that will delay the craft's launch
on a logistics mission to the International Space Station by two weeks to
around March 23, officials said Friday.

http://spaceflightnow.com/ariane/va205/120302delay/


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FINAL SHUTTLE MISSION PATCHES
Commemorate the end of the shuttle program with
official crew patches from the final flights
http://spaceflightnowstore.com/
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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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