Latest Countdown Stories

Launch of NASA's Kepler telescope is targeted for no earlier than Friday, March 6, from Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. There are two launch windows, from 10:49 - 10:52 p.m. and 11:13 - 11:16 p.m. EST.Kepler is a spaceborne telescope designed to search the nearby region of our galaxy for Earth-size planets orbiting in the habitable zone of stars like our sun. The habitable zone is the region around a star where temperatures permit water to be liquid on a planet's...

The launch of NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory, or OCO, aboard a Taurus XL rocket is scheduled for Feb. 24. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 576-E at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., is set for 1:51:30 a.m. PST during a 4-and-a-half-minute launch window. The spacecraft's final polar orbit will be 438 miles.OCO is NASA's first spacecraft dedicated to studying atmospheric carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is the leading human-produced greenhouse gas driving changes in Earth's climate. OCO...

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Feb. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Aerojet, a GenCorp (NYSE: GY) company, recognizes the U.S. Air Force, NASA, United Launch Alliance, Boeing and industry partners on the 20th anniversary of the Delta II rocket's inaugural launch. Aerojet, under contract to the United Launch Alliance, provides the Delta II rocket's second stage liquid engine. The recent NOAA-N Prime satellite launch on Feb. 6 marks the latest Delta II success. Other notable Delta II missions include critical NASA...

The Delta II carrying NOAA-N Prime lifted off Feb. 6, 2009 at 2:22 a.m. Pacific time, 5:22 a.m. Eastern time from Space Launch Complex-2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.The countdown proceeded smoothly throughout the night and early morning. Neither the spacecraft nor the United Launch Alliance Delta II launch vehicle experienced any technical issues, and the weather conditions remained favorable.The countdown and launch are managed by the NASA Launch Services Program office at...

Twenty student teams selected by NASA from colleges and universities around the country are spending the winter building sophisticated rockets they will launch high over Alabama during NASA's 2008-2009 University Student Launch Initiative in April.The annual rocketry challenge will be held April 18 at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. Student teams will bring their rockets to the NASA center, where professional engineers will conduct formal design reviews of the vehicles...

More than 200 Woolworths stores across Britain closed Saturday, with the chain's remaining 600 British stores likely to be shuttered by Jan. 5, analysts said. Woolworths branches in Liverpool, Prestwick, Llandudno, Gateshead's Metrocentre and Penzance were among the first to be closed, and barring any last-minute rescues, all 27,000 permanent and temporary British staffers will lose their jobs by next month, the BBC reported. Staggered by a $563 million debt load, Woolworths' administrators...

Engineers are getting ready to pack NASA's Kepler spacecraft into a container and ship it off to its launch site at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.The mission, scheduled to launch on March 5, will seek to answer an age-old question -- are there other Earths in space?"Kepler is ready to begin its journey to its launch site, and ultimately to space, where it will answer a question that has been pondered by humankind at least as long ago as the ancient Greeks," said James...

NASA's launch and mission officials and workers preparing space shuttle Endeavour are moving methodically toward a liftoff on schedule Friday at 7:55 p.m. EST. There are no technical issues of concern, but the weather needs to cooperate.The astronauts who will fly the mission are due to arrive at NASA's Kennedy Space Center this afternoon, and the countdown will begin at 10 p.m. tonight.Shuttle Weather Officer Kathy Winters gave the shuttle a 60 percent chance of meeting launch weather...

AN 11-year-old boy yesterday became the youngest Countdown "octochamp" in 20 years. The show victory was the eighth in a row for Kai Laddiman, from Broad Oak, East Sussex. Only Allan Saldanha, who became an octochamp in 1988 at the age of 10, was younger in the show's 26-year history. (c) 2008 Daily Record; Glasgow (UK). Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.

By jon wise THE Tenth Pride of Britain awards showed, in a celebrity- obsessed world, that it's the country's unsung heroes who really count. And presenter Carol Vorderman proved why she's worth more than Countdown could ever offer with her performance at the Daily Mirror event. As always, it was another touching and emotional evening. (c) 2008 People, The; London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.