The shuttle Atlantis thundered off the launching pad into a stunningly clear evening sky on Friday on a mission to continue building the International Space Station.

Shuttle Atlantis Appears to Have Flawless Liftoff - New York Times

No up-close-and-personal tours will take place at Kennedy Space Center's launch pad 39A next week after NASA finishes pressurizing helium and nitrogen tanks aboard the 22-year-old spaceship, which is scheduled to launch at 7:38 p.m. Friday.

The precaution is being taken to reduce the risk created by aging pressure vessels in the orbiter that could burst, triggering a rocket fuel fire or explosion that might injure or kill workers and seriously damage the launch pad.

It never ends...

SPACE.com -- Orbiters Feel Pains of Aging

As events unfold, it appears that the Vision for Space Exploration (VSE), the President's plan to return humans to the Moon and then onto Mars, is on the classic pride-before-the-fall trajectory. In the spirit of collegial exchanges, I offer the following observations and thoughts for our recovery. To my fellow rocket scientists and space enthusiasts, the time has come let go of last century's space dreams and start working toward a more contemporary future.

Plan B for Outer Space

Coverage of the coverage of Yuri's Night.

The Blogosphere Reacts to Yuri's Night at NASA Ames Research Center | SpaceRef - Your Space Reference

I had a somewhat profound experience several days ago in California - at NASA Ames Research Center to be exact. The true impact of this event is still growing on me. You see, I saw things I never thought I would see on a NASA base - things that give me hope that what NASA does can be truly relevant to people outside NASA's traditional constituency. Moreover, I saw indications that NASA can adapt to rapidly changing trends. The experience? Yuri's Night.

This was really cool!

A Tale of Two Possible NASA Futures: Yuri's Night and The National Space Symposium | SpaceRef - Your Space Reference

The flotsam created by China’s anti-satellite test last month is on the radar screens of space debris analysts, as well as space policy experts.

The intentional destruction on Jan. 11 of China’s Fengyun-1C weather satellite via an anti-satellite (ASAT) device launched by the Chinese has created a mess of fragments fluttering through space.

The satellite’s destruction is now being viewed as the most prolific and severe fragmentation in the course of five decades of space operations.

SPACE.com -- China's Anti-Satellite Test: Worrisome Debris Cloud Circles Earth

NASA is studying a variant of its planned Ares 5 heavy-lift rocket that would enable an Apollo 8-like trip around the Moon in the 2015 time frame, a top U.S. space agency official told reporters Jan. 25.

SPACE.com -- NASA Studies Early Moon Shot for New Space Capsule

The Hubble Space Telescope has a new, resonant date with destiny. NASA has set Sept. 11, 2008, as the target date for launching a mission intended to revitalize the telescope and keep it spaceworthy into the next decade, according to a planning document made public by nasawatch.com, an independent Web site.

NASA Schedules Flight to Update Space Telescope - New York Times

NASA officials hoped an opening in the cloud cover would allow space shuttle Discovery to lift off Thursday for the first night launch in four years, starting a complex mission to rewire the international space station.

Clouds Likely to Delay Shuttle Launch - New York Times

Some of the people working on the design of NASA's new Ares I launch vehicle want to delete the requirement to recover and reuse the rocket's first stage. The reason: the weight of hardware required to make recovery possible - and practical.

NASA To Evaluate Non-recoverable First Stage for Ares I Launch Vehicle | SpaceRef - Your Space Reference