The Week in Space

Switchboard in Space  The STS-29 crew thundered to orbit aboard the space shuttle Discovery twenty years ago this week and, just six hours after launch, they deployed the fourth Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS-4).  Today, TDRS-4 is part of a constellation of nine TDRS communications satellites that provides nearly continuous tracking and high-bandwidth communications with scores of Earth orbiting spacecraft, launch vehicles, long duration balloons, and a research station in Antarctica.  Discovery’s crew of five also conducted a number of student-designed experiments during their five days in orbit. One experiment tested whether the environmental effects of space flight inhibit bone healing in rats; another experiment determined the effects of space flight on fertilized chicken embryos.

Image credit: NASA

Weekly Calendar

March 9-15, 2009

Holidays - Sky Events - Space History

Monday 9

Tuesday 10

Full Moon 10:38 pm
Saturn 6° north of Moon

1977: Rings discovered around Uranus
2006: Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter arrives at Mars

Wednesday 11

Thursday 12

Uranus in conjunction with Sun

1835: Simon Newcomb born
1981: Victor Savinykh becomes 100th person to travel in space, Soyuz T-4 mission

Friday 13

Saturday 14

1835: Giovanni Schiaparelli born
1879: Albert Einstein born
1934: Gene Cernan born
1986: Giotto flies by Halley’s Comet
1995: Soyuz TM-21 launched,  first Russian mission with American on board

Sunday 15

1713: Nicolas de Lacaille born
1932: Alan Bean born
1973: First glide test of modified HL-10 lifting body
1975: Helios 1 launched
2009: STS-119 Discovery launched
 

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