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NKorea's latest missile tests failed: report (AFP) – 40 minutes ago SEOUL — North Korea's short-range missile tests earlier this month were a failure with none of the five projectiles reaching its target, a report said Thursday. The North test-fired five KN-02 missiles with a range of 120 kilometres (75 miles) from mobile launchers off its east coast on October 12. Radio Free Asia, quoting an intelligence source, said four of the five missed the mark and one did not even launch properly. "Two fell into the sea right after launch, another two missed the targets and the last one...

Photographer Ben Cooper took this photo of a Delta 4-Heavy rocket launching at Cape Canaveral using a sound-activated camera. And when your camera is that close to a launch, your lens probably won't survive. The particular setup for this was sound activated. The lens was destroyed (worth it of course) but the camera survived this one despite being severed from its ratchet straps and thrown to the ground, and the sound device used for this one disconnected from the camera and thrown about 200 feet backwards into the pad perimeter fence (still worked!). All settings are preset manually. No...

Best of luck to Japan:

This is the live thread of the Space Shuttle Discovery Launch... I figure I do it now..

The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) was created in 1961 to oversee the development and operation of the United States’ intelligence satellites. But it was not until September 1992 that the organization’s very existence was declassified. The press release making the announcement, however, omitted two key words: “satellites” and “launch”. It took several more years before the NRO actually admitted that it operated satellites and that they were launched into space, and it was not until 1996 that the NRO admitted that it actually owned a classified satellite launched atop a rocket. This seemed rather anticlimactic to anybody who paid attention,...

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DVR GO!!!

I hope the weather is good....

Well since I'm going to be on the road when the Shuttle launches, depending on the weather. I thought I post it now.

Shuttle Endeavour "Go" For Launch Today CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The space shuttle Endeavour is "Go" to launch today, NASA said, after ground crews found no signs of damage from a lightning strike on Friday. The crews completed all the necessary check outs of the vehicle's critical systems and cleared the shuttle for lift off this morning around 9:00 a.m. EDT (1300 GMT). Endeavour is now slated to blast off this evening at 7:13 p.m. EDT (2313 GMT) from Launch Pad 39A here at Kennedy Space Center.

The launch of US shuttle Endeavour is to be further delayed after a thunderstorm around Cape Canaveral, Nasa officials say. Blast-off has been postponed for 24 hours to allow technical teams to assess the effects of lightning strikes near the launch pad on Friday. Two previous launch attempts in June were scrapped because of a potentially hazardous leak in a hydrogen vent line. The craft is to take and install a last piece of Japan's space station lab. Lift-off had been scheduled for 1939 local time (2339 GMT). But on Friday evening, the area surrounding the launch pad was hit...

(LEAD) N. Korean missile launches aimed at improving accuracy: official SEOUL, July 5 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's latest missile launches appear to have been aimed at improving the missiles' accuracy, a South Korean official said Sunday, noting the launches may have provided some results. "Five out of seven missiles North Korea fired yesterday landed within the same area in the East Sea, about 420 kilometers from the launch site," the official said, asking not to be identified. "This means the accuracy of North Korean missiles is improving," the official added. North Korea is said to have about 1,000 ballistic missiles...

NASA scrubs space shuttle launch Leak discovered while the Endeavour was being fueled CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA officials have canceled a planned Saturday launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour due to hydrogen leak. The problem is similar to one the space agency faced in March during the launch countdown of Discovery. The leak was discovered while the space shuttle was being fueled. The astronauts had not yet suited up for the planned morning launch. Earlier, NASA zipped through the final hours of its countdown and it was on track for a Saturday morning launch to the international space station. Slideshow...

(4th LD) N. Korea gearing up to test-fire missiles on both coasts By Sam Kim SEOUL, June 2 (Yonhap) -- North Korea appears to be preparing on both coasts to test-fire some of its most sophisticated ballistic missiles, stoking regional tensions already running high after its second nuclear test last week, South Korean sources said Tuesday. North Korea, which set off an underground nuclear explosion on May 25, has apparently moved an intercontinental ballistic missile to a launch site on its west coast, a South Korean lawmaker said, quoting defense officials who briefed him hours earlier. A South Korean government...

/begin my excerpts N. Korea (Recently) Made 3~4 ICBM's. Ammunition supply to its navy and shore artilleries in West Sea(Yellow Sea) doubled.. practicing blitz amphibious landing. N. Korea had produced 3~4 ICBM-class missiles(or rockets) by the end of last year. This implies that N. Korea could have one or two more long-range missiles in addition to the rocket launched last April, and the one now moved to the new Dongchang-ri test launch site. In a related development, N. Korea is said to have recently instructed its navy in West Sea(Yellow Sea) to more than double its ammunition supply, and its...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA has chosen May 11 as the launch date for its last repair mission to the Hubble Space Telescope, not seen up close for seven years. Space shuttle Atlantis is set to blast off then on the highly awaited 11-day flight, considered one of the most challenging yet. ... Atlantis' crew will conduct five spacewalks to replace and repair science instruments at Hubble, and install new equipment that should keep the orbiting telescope running for another five to 10 years.

Calls for Greater Missile Range for S.Korea Views are gaining ground among politicians in Seoul that South Korea needs to extend the range of its ballistic missiles now that North Korea's launch of a long-range rocket has shown its own can fly thousands of miles. South Korea is by agreement limited to missiles with a range of 300 km and a maximum payload of 500 kg. Prime Minister Han Seung-soo on Monday hinted Seoul could seek a revision of the Korean-U.S. missile agreement, saying, "Now is the time to think seriously of this matter at bilateral defense ministers' talks." The...

Behind North’s jubilation was anxiety Questions arise over rocket science technological advances by Pyongyang April 08, 2009 South Korean intelligence sources said there was confusion and anxiety behind North Korea’s celebratory facade after what it claimed a successful satellite launch on Sunday. An intelligence source told the JoongAng Ilbo that Pyongyang was “in a state of confusion” following the rocket launch. Officials from the United States and South Korea have said no object entered orbit, but the source said that wasn’t the reason for disquiet in the North Korean capital. According to the source, North Korean officials were on the...

For video, click the following link and scroll down until you see a video frame and click it: http://news.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2009/04/07/2009040702404.html

Nothing follows yet...just breaking news banner.

N. Korea keeps radars off, shies away from rocket launch: officials By Sam Kim SEOUL, April 4 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has set up recording equipment but kept its radars switched off as it refrained Saturday from shooting its rocket on the first day of its official launch window, South Korean officials said. North Korea said earlier in the day through its state media that it had completed its preparations to send a satellite into orbit and would go ahead with the launch "soon." The launch, which Pyongyang professed would come between Saturday and Wednesday, did not occur, prompting neighbors...

Russia Urges Restraint Over North Korean Rocket Launch MOSCOW (AFP)--Russia urged North Korea's neighbors Thursday to hold back from military action to counter the country's plans to test a long-range missile this week, the foreign ministry said. "We are particularly concerned by the discussed intent of several countries to destroy the North Korean rocket and Pyongyang's warning that it would take retaliatory measures," ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko told journalists

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea said preparations to launch a communications satellite into space were complete Saturday morning, and liftoff was imminent. .. the North earlier advised international authorities would take place sometime between Saturday and Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. (0200 to 0700GMT). "Preparations for launching 'Kwangmyongsong-2,' an experimental communications satellite, by carrier rocket 'Unha-2' have been completed at the satellite launching ground in the east coastal area," .. "The satellite will be launched soon."

"We have made clear to the North Koreans that their missile launch is provocative, it puts enormous strains on the six-party talks and that they should stop the launch," President Obama said today. "The response so far from the North Koreans has been not just unhelpful but has resorted to the sort of language that has led to North Korea's isolation in the international community for a long time." In March, North Korea announced it would soon launch into space a missile carrying a communications satellite. But the move is being widely interpreted as a flexing of muscle -- a...

Wartime Operations Order Issued By Moon Sung Hwee, from Jagang in 2006 [2009-04-03 21:38 ] Starting the countdown to the scheduled rocket launch, the North Korean General Staff issued at 2 P.M. on April 1 an emergency order, “On Keeping a Wartime Operational Status,” to all military organizations and the People’s Army. A source from North Hamkyung Province said on Friday in an interview with Daily NK, “An urgent decree under the name of the General Staff of the People’s Army was issued through the military communications line, aimed specifically at the People’s Army, the People's Security Forces, the Worker’s...

/begin my translation President Lee: "N. Korea to Launch Rocket as Early as Apr. 4" (London Reuters = Yonhap new) (S. Korean) President Lee Myung-bak said on Apr. 3 that N. Korea is almost certain to launch its rocket, and it could come as early as Apr. 4 if weather permits. /end my translation

(LEAD) Cloudy skies, 'moderately strong' winds over N. Korean launch site: weather agency By Kim Hyun SEOUL, April 3 (Yonhap) -- Cloudy skies and moderately strong winds are expected this weekend for North Korea's northeast region, where the country may soon launch a rocket, South Korea's weather agency said Friday. Wind speed in Musudan-ri, a mountainous village along the east coast in North Hamgyong Province, where North Korea has been preparing for the launch, will be 6 to 10 meters per second, a range categorized as "moderately strong," said the Korea Meteorological Administration. The wind direction will likely blow out...

(U.S.) Conservatives Attack Obama over N.Korea American conservatives are closing ranks to attack President Barack Obama over its handling of North Korea's impending rocket launch. A video clip on the website of the conservative Heritage Foundation warns it will take just 33 minutes for a North Korean or Iranian long-range missile to reach the continental United States. The clip, titled "33 Minutes," features a statement by Heritage Foundation President Edwin Feulne attacking the Obama administration for failing to protect its people from "the enemy." Rep. Darrell Issa, a ranking member of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform,...

Iran missile experts in North Korea to help with rocket launch Missile experts from Iran are in North Korea to help Pyongyang prepare for its rocket launch, according to reports. Amid increasing global concern over the rocket launch, believed by the US and its allies to be an illegal missile launch, Japan's Sankei Shimbun newspaper claimed today a 15-strong delegation from Tehran has been in the country advising the North Koreans since the beginning of March. The Iranian experts include senior officials with Iranian rocket and satellite producer Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group, the daily said. The Iranians brought a letter...

/begin my excerpts Iranian Delegation in N. Korea to Monitor the Missile Launch 2009.3.28 20:09 While N. Korea is yet to launch its long-range missile, a group of 15 Iranians have been reportedly staying in N. Korea for 28 days since March 1st, according to authoritative source on N. Korean affairs. Following the invitation of N. Korean government, the group is participating in the launch preparation which would last 8 days until Apr. 4, and would also observe the launch. It reveals the close cooperation between N. Korea and Iran on ballistic missile development again. The visiting Iranians are high-level...

N.Korea Rocket Launch Depends on the Weather With a long-range rocket installed on a launch pad in North Korea earlier than expected, it will be technically possible to fire it up around Mar. 29 and 30. But experts predict that North Korea will launch it between Apr. 4 and 8 as it has notified international organizations. The timeline between these dates was apparently chosen to coincide with the opening of the Supreme People's Assembly slated for Apr. 9. The selection of a specific launch date will probably be determined by the weather. Prof. Kim Yong-hyun of Dongguk University on Thursday...

WASHINGTON, March 27, 2009 – The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff today expressed concern over a possible North Korean satellite launch that could violate United Nations sanctions against nuclear testing by the government in Pyongyang. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen said North Korea has threatened a launch as soon as next week, and added that U.S. ships today moved from Japanese ports toward the Korean peninsula. North Korea reportedly has placed a Taepodong 2 missile at a launch facility in preparation for a launch. Pyongyang has stated the long-range missile is equipped with a commercial satellite and poses no...

U.S. readies itself for North launch of several missiles Seoul may join Proliferation Security Initiative to put pressure on Pyongyang March 21, 2009 Two weeks before North Korea’s scheduled launch of a communications satellite, veteran U.S. military commanders said the United States is ready for multiple North Korean missiles and is capable of shooting them down. Speaking to the U.S. Senate, Admiral Timothy Keating, the top American commander in the Pacific, said there is a “high probability” that the United States could shoot down North Korean missiles. “We’ll be prepared to respond [to North Korea],” he said. “The United States...

North Korea to launch rocket April 4: Report Tokyo, March 20: North Korea will launch a rocket April 4 to deliver a communications satellite into orbit, a media report said Friday. The communist state earlier announced plans to launch a communications satellite between April 4 and 8. The US and South Korea have accused Pyongyang of using the launch as an excuse to test-fire a long-range missile. The three-stage rocket will be launched from the newly constructed Musudan-ri launch pad on the country's northeast coast, Japanese news agency Jiji Press reported. The report cited diplomats in Beijing as saying that...

(5th LD) N. Korea gives notice of satellite launch in early April By Kim Hyun SEOUL, March 12 (Yonhap) -- North Korea gave a notice that it will launch a satellite between April 4-8, an international agency said Thursday, prompting brisk talks among regional countries to prepare their coordinated measures. Pyongyang's state media said earlier in the day that it has informed the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) of the planned launch, without specifying the date. The IMO confirmed it has received a letter from Pyongyang that said the launch would be between April...

(LEAD) Clinton urges N. Korea not to launch missile, proposes missile talks By Hwang Doo-hyong WASHINGTON, March 11 (Yonhap) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Wednesday urged North Korea not to launch a ballistic missile, proposing to hold talks on North Korea's missile program as well as six-party talks on ending the North's nuclear ambitions. Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, Clinton stressed the "need to have a conversation about missiles," adding, "We would like to see it be part of the discussion with North Korea." Clinton's suggestion for missile talks came just...

N. Korea likely to fire a rocket between April 4-8 SEOUL, March 12 (Yonhap) -- North Korea told an international organization that it would launch a rocket between April 4-8, an intelligence source said Thursday. "North Korea informed the International Maritime Organization of its plan to fire the Kwangmyongson-2 between April 4-8," the source told Yonhap News Agency.

(News Focus) China in dilemma over N. Korea's missile threats By Lee Chi-dong SEOUL, Feb. 26 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's suspected missile activity is posing a dilemma for its closest ally China, as Beijing has come under growing pressure to help persuade Pyongyang against taking such a provocative step despite the questionable results of previous efforts on its neighbor, analysts here said Thursday. Hours after the North announced earlier this week that it was preparing for the launch of a rocket carrying a communications satellite, which neighbors believe is actually a long-range missile, South Korea's top diplomat flew to Beijing....

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Jane's: North Korea Could Test-Fire Missile By End Of Month LONDON (AFP)--North Korea could be ready to test fire an intermediate range ballistic missile by the end of the month, the military analyst group Jane's said Friday. Experts at Jane's Defence Weekly say that satellite images taken Wednesday indicated that Pyongyang was preparing to launch either a prototype Taepodong 2 missile or a Paektusan 2 space launch vehicle. "There has been a significant increase in launch preparation activity at the Musudan-ni Launch Facility," said Jane's analyst Joseph Bermudez. Bermudez said satellite images and other reports indicated that the activities included...

All signs point to an early launch of missile by North Pyongyang expected to say test is for space exploration February 16, 2009 North Korea has moved all materials needed to test-fire a long-range missile to a missile base in Musudan-ri, Hwadae County, North Hamgyong Province, adding to a possibility that a missile launch is imminent, a senior military official said yesterday. “We have closely observed North Korea’s Taepodong-2 missile launch process recently,” the official said. The South Korean military now believes that the missile can be assembled faster than initially expected. However, the official said the missile was not...

Washington, D.C. — From the day that Barack Obama wrested the presidential nomination from Hillary Rodham Clinton, his campaign became — according to those who were running it — "inevitable." Even before winning the election, Obama began assembling a much-vaunted "team of rivals" to guide U.S. foreign and domestic policy. Though his running mate, then-Senator Joe Biden, predicted that, "It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama" and warned that it would be "an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy," we were assured that the Obama administration would be ready...

N.Korea 'Transports Missile to Launch Site' North Korea has transported a missile to a launch site in Musudan-ri on the east coast using a special covered cargo carriage to make it difficult to track, intelligence agencies claimed Thursday. This 40m-long special cargo carriage is double the length of an ordinary carriage and said to be capable of carrying the first and second-stage rockets and components of the Taepodong-2. But South Korean and U.S. intelligence agencies cannot say how large the missile is. They assume that North Korea is now assembling the missile at the launch site in Musudan-ri, North Hamgyong...

N. Korea revamps facility, technology for missile launch: source By Sam Kim SEOUL, Feb. 5 (Yonhap) -- North Korea may need less preparation time than before to test-fire its advanced missile, as the communist state has refurbished its launch pad and improved its rocket technology over the years, an intelligence source said Thursday. The source also confirmed that the latest object spotted by U.S. and South Korean intelligence agencies is believed to be North Korea's longest-range missile, the Taepodong-2. The comment came as North Korea has scrapped all cross-border deals with the South and warned of an armed clash near...

Kepler Ready for Florida The Kepler mission launches March 5, a date to circle on your calendar. Kepler may become the first instrument to detect an Earth-size planet in the habitable zone of another star, using the transit method to examine 100,000 stars in its 3.5 year mission. The 0.95-meter diameter telescope is now at Ball Aerospace & Technologies (Boulder, CO), having passed the necessary environmental tests that demonstrate its space-worthiness. And word has just come that it has also passed the necessary ‘pre-ship review’ for transit to Florida in January. Image: An artist’s rendering of what our galaxy...

Is that laundry soap truly "environmentally friendly"? Was that mattress treated with toxic chemicals? Is that sweatsuit fashioned from organic cotton? Is that lipstick "natural"? California officials launched a sweeping green initiative on Tuesday to inform consumers exactly how hundreds of thousands of products sold in the state are manufactured and transported and how safe their ingredients are. The plan, which would require every product to reveal its "environmental footprint," envisions the most comprehensive regulations ever adopted for consumer goods. "These recommendations usher in a new era of how we look at household products -- from our children's toys to...

House Dems launch marketing plan for economic rescue planBy PATRICK O'CONNOR | 10/16/08 2:03 PM EDT As financial markets continue to tank on the brink of the election, House Democrats are orchestrating a series of hearings to make their case for passing a massive economic-rescue package. **SNIP** And Ways and Means Chairman Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) will hold a hearing the week before voters head to the polls that should give lawmakers and the public more insights into the tax component of an eventual stimulus package. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and her colleagues in the Democratic leadership announced plans on...

In another frustrating foul-up on the path towards converting Soviet-era military missiles into cash-paying satellite launchers, a military-industrial team in Moscow has announced the 'indefinite suspension' of plans to launch an earth resources survey satellite for Thailand. The reasons: at the last moment, for the second time, overflight permission has been revoked by a country downrange of the launch site. First Uzbekistan, and now Kazakhstan, denied permission for dropping the booster's spent first stage onto their territories. "We never thought we'd see a repeat of the Uzbekistan case," lamented Thongchai Charuppat, director of Thailand's "GeoInformatics and Space Technology Development Agency...

Launch going off at Kwajalein today 7pm EST. Live feed starts 1/2 hour before. The rocket has a new Spacedev satellite on it, built for the Air Force.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A NASA spokesman on Thursday said that the launch of its GLAST space telescope, which will allow scientists to look deep into the universe, has been delayed until Wednesday June 11 at the earliest. It is the third time the GLAST launch had been delayed, this time due to a battery in the system that would destroy the rocket in case it deviates from its course, said NASA spokesman George Diller. The launch window extends to August 7 and there could be further delays, Diller said. The GLAST -- the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope -- will...