Around 400 kilometers above us, the Endeavour space shuttle has beamed a new image of its recent spacewalk mission involving the installation of the tool change out mechanisms of the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator robotic arm (a.k.a Dextre) on the International Space Station. You can view the image by clicking on the "read more" link below.

Space Shuttle Endeavour might have had some problems the last time it was up in space, but it's up and ready again as it prepares for its return to the final frontier (er, that's outer space for you non-Trekkies). More details on the Shuttle's launch after the "read more" link below.

It looks like the International Space Station recently got a new delivery of solar panels from the space shuttle Atlantis. NASA released a new Astronomy Picture of the Day featuring the new configuration of the world's foremost space outpost in development. You can take a look at the new before and after pictures in the full article.

NASA's space shuttle Atlantis has reportedly undocked from the International Space Station, and should be touching down on terra firma by this Wednesday.

Going along on the shuttle's trip home is astronaut Daniel Tani, who had been on the ISS since last October. Details regarding this matter are in the full article.

It should be remembered that meteorologists have cautioned NASA a few days ago to postpone the scheduled launch of the space shuttle Atlantis due to unfavorable weather conditions. NASA, however, still gave its thumbs up for the flight.

Unfortunately, it seems that the weathermen are correct as we've just received word that Atlantis is currently suffering damages in space. The full story after the jump!

After a long delay, space shuttle Atlantis has finally received the go signal from NASA to liftoff this coming Thursday. The mission will deliver Europe's first permanent space laboratory to the International Space Station (ISS).

However, meteorologists are now saying that Thursday is not a good day for launch due to weather disturbances. The full story after the jump!

If a creature leaves the planet, mutates into something more powerful and then comes back to Earth, can you call it an alien? Well, if they're not, they should be: in an experiment, samples of the Salmonella bacteria was brought to space and when they came back to Earth they were deadlier than ever.

The study was aimed at finding out how space travel affects germs. The experiment involved two groups of Salmonella: one on Earth and one taken on the Space Shuttle STS-115 last year.

The batch on Earth were placed under the same temperature, humidity and other conditions as the one in outer space. The only difference is that the batch in space wasn't subjected to Earth's gravity.

After the specimens from space came back to Earth, it was found that they were more potent and lethal than the ones who stayed behind. The Earth Bacteria and the Space Bacteria were both fed to mice. It was found that the ones who were fed the Space Bacteria were three times more likely to get sick or die.

Scientists believe that the Salmonella changed to become Supersalmonella because of the lack of gravity. Without it, the flow of fluids in living cells would change, and in effect the organism would have to adapt to survive. The results of the Super Salmonella experiment led to some pretty interesting conclusions and implications.

Concerns were raised about the germs and bacteria that are inside human bodies: would astronauts be safe or would they be human incubators for some sort of super alien bacteria? (No, it was found they don't have anything to worry about, at least in the short term.) The study will also help scientists understand how bacteria responds to a stressful environment. Studying this kind of behavior may help to combat diseases caused by them.

NASA has given word that the  Space Shuttle Endeavor will not be undergoing repairs for the damage it sustained during its launch. Currently, there is a three and a half by two inch wide cut on the exterior of the ship caused by a piece of foam insulation and ice that fragmented from the fuel tank.

Surprisingly, the Astronauts aboard the ship were relieved at not having to get out of the Endeavor for repairs. The man who would have been tasked with repairing the hole, Rick Mastracchio, said that "we were not looking forward to doing it only because there was a lot of risk involved."

The commander of the ship, Scott Kelly, supported the decision by NASA saying he was more worried about the potential additional damage they might have caused while repairing the ship, adding that "there will be no extra concern in my mind due to this damage."

This decision was contested by a few people in the organization including a few engineers from the  Johnson Space Center in Houston, home to Mission Control. Hopefully, their worries would prove to be unfounded and the space shuttle will get back to earth safe and sound.

If you think humans were only comfortable dumping trash on their own home turf, think again. There are currently some 9,000 pieces of space waste floating around orbit and astronaut Clayton Anderson just added his share of it.

Anderson has some pretty big contributions including a camera stand weighing 200 pounds and an ammonia tank scaling in at more than half a ton. Also in the mix was a 1,400-pound refrigerator which he hurled effortlessly in zero gravity.

Anderson jokes "give Brad Lidge and Roy Oswalt a call and tell them I just hummed a 17,500-mph fastball." Back at home, Anderson is a sports buff who loves playing hoops and officiating ballgames.

NASA says that the reason why they're throwing equipment into space is because they need to clear up some room for future space shuttle dockings at the international space station. The 2010 deadline for the halt of shuttle flights is approaching fast and NASA takes the steps necessary for maximum usage of time and resources.

Astronomers say that though there's a significant amount of gunk in orbit, none of them pose a threat to spacecraft colliding with them. They also claim that there's very little to no danger at all of these pieces falling into Earth. The pieces are small enough to easily combust through atmospheric friction.

 

Big news from the final frontier: NASA's space shuttle Atlantis has recently docked with the international space station orbiting some 200 miles away from Earth's surface. But their efforts to carry out their primary mission - to add a 35,000 pound segment to the ISS - were held back after the station's gyroscopes became overloaded.

The hour's delay had Atlantis aiding the station's orientation as the gyroscopes used to maintain the station's position had their problems resolved. But soon thereafter, James Reilly and Danny Olivas made their venture out into space to add the segment that will increase the station's power capabilities.

The six-and-a-half hour spacewalk ended in their removal of locks and restraints on the segment, giving way to attaching the segment to the station's backbone. On Wednesday, Reilly and Olivas will take another spacewalk to activate the solar arrays on the segment, providing the station with 14 kilowatts of power generation.