NEWSALERT: Friday, January 26, 2001 @ 0257 GMT
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The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now
Sponsored by European AstroFest 2001
http://www.astronomynow.com/astrofest
WORLD'S LARGEST HUMAN GATHERING SEEN FROM SPACE
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Space Imaging's Ikonos satellite has taken a detailed color photograph of the largest human gathering in the history of the world, the Maha Kumbh Mela, a spiritual event held every 144 years in Northern India.
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/26ikonos/
NASA SETTLES ON NEW SPACE SHUTTLE LAUNCH SCHEDULE
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As expected, NASA managers Thursday agreed on a revised near-term shuttle launch schedule, delaying the next flight one day to February 7 and the flight after that from March 1 to March 8. Other downstream flights face delays of several weeks and two space station crew rotation missions are under review.
http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/010125sked/
See our updated master timeline of Atlantis' flight:
http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/fdf/98plan.html
OLD CARGO SHIP LEAVES MIR TO MAKE WAY FOR NEW ONE
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The Progress M43 cargo ship departed the Mir space station Thursday. The craft, which joined Mir last October, left from the Kvant-1 module to free up the docking port for arrival of Mir's deorbiting tug launched Wednesday.
http://spaceflightnow.com/mir/010125progm43/
NASA CRAFT REVEALS EARTH'S INVISIBLE MAGNETIC TAIL
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The first large-scale pictures of the hidden machinations of the Earth's magnetic force-field are now available, including confirmation of a suspected but previously invisible "tail" of electrified gas.
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/26image/
EUROPE'S SATELLITES TRACK CLIMATE CHANGES
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In July an Ariane 5 launcher will send into orbit Europe's big new environmental satellite, Envisat. Scientists will expect fresh insights into how the world is changing from the 8-tonne spacecraft.
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/26esaearth/
SCIENTISTS RUSH TO PROPOSE PLUTO MISSION
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On December 20, NASA announced that it would be soliciting proposals for a mission to the Pluto-Charon system and the Kuiper Belt beyond to arrive at Pluto by 2015. The formal announcement of opportunity was released January 19. Proposals are due on March 21.
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/26plutorush/