Commander George Zamka will lead the STS-130 mission to the International Space Station aboard space shuttle Endeavour. Terry Virts will serve as the pilot. Mission Specialists are Nicholas Patrick, Robert Behnken, Stephen Robinson and Kathryn Hire. Virts will be making his first trip to space.

Shuttle Endeavour and its crew will deliver to the space station a third connecting module, the Italian-built Tranquility node and the seven-windowed cupola, which will be used as a control room for robotics. The mission will feature three spacewalks.

More info here.

On Friday, 2010 January 15, an annular eclipse of the Sun was visible from within a 300-km-wide track that traverses half of Earth!

I'm sure most of you know this but for any newbies to astronomy - NEVER LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN! (especially when using a telescope)

Why? Have you ever played with a magnifying glass in the sun?Well if you have, you'll know you can burn objects. By looking directly at the sun, you risk burning your retina (a handy part of the eye you don't want to burn)

If you'd like to look at the sun, check out NASA's SOHO site which contains some of the most awesome shots of the sun - in real time!

The space shuttle Atlantis has blasted off on a mission to carry spare parts to the International Space Station. 

Following an Ares I-X Flight Test Readiness Review at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida this weekend, NASA announced that Oct. 27 would be the launch date for the new rocket's flight test.

Every day at NASA, scientists study changes on our home planet. To showcase some of that research, NASA is releasing six short videos in commemoration of Earth Science Week 2009

NASA's LCROSS Mission intends to strike the moon with a rocket which has enough vicious force to dislodge more than 350 metric tons of soil from the lunar surface. The mission is part of an ongoing search for water on the lunar surface.

Catch the even on NASA TV tonight 10:30 AEDT (Fri. Oct. 9, 2009, 4:31:19 a.m. PDT)

A newly discovered extra-solar planet is the closest physical match to Earth yet.

Artists Impression

Space shuttle Discovery and its crew of seven astronauts ended a 14-day journey of more than 9 million kilometers with a 8:53 p.m. EDT landing Friday at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

The space shuttle Discovery blazed into the midnight sky last night carrying seven astronauts bound for the International Space Station. It sets in motion a 13-day space station resupply mission after two launch delays earlier this week. 

Optiow reminded me that today is is the 400th anniversary of the first astronomical telescope!

Discovery and Crew Set for Aug. 25 Launch