The NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft successfully completed one of its largest orbit correction maneuvers to date, easing into an orbit around asteroid Eros with a low point of just 31 miles. Ala. Researchers began component testing of a small-scale pulse detonation rocket engine in April. Their new calculations for the Earth's mass came from work that could establish the most precise measurement ever achieved of Isaac Newton's gravitational constant. Next Launch A Lockheed Martin Atlas 2AS is scheduled to launch a classified payload for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office on Sept. 8 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Visit the Tracking Station for a full listing of upcoming launches.
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