I'm gonna put SSI back on the site since i figured out that SSI isn't messing up the site.

February 24, 2000:New Newspic

I've changed my pic for the news

February 24, 2000: Space news! (a bit late because of tech. problems)

Shuttle To Try Landing This Evening


SPACE CENTER, Houston (Feb. 22) - Stiff wind prevented space shuttle
Endeavour from ending its Earth-mapping mission on time today, but NASA was
hopeful the weather in Florida would improve for another try around sunset.

NASA said it would try for a landing Edwards Air Force Base in California if
the wind didn't ease up at the Kennedy Space Center.

If bad weather keeps Endeavour and its crew of six in orbit until Wednesday,
NASA will consider landing the shuttle at White Sands, N.M. But that is only
if conditions remain poor at the two main touchdown sites.

Only Columbia has landed at White Sands, in 1982 after the third shuttle
flight. The last Edwards landing was in 1996.

The astronauts completed their radar mapping Monday, surveying three-quarters
of Earth's terrain over nine days and six hours.

They are bringing back more than 300 digital tapes that will be used to paint
the finest portrait of the Earth's face ever made. A scientist working at
Mission Control, Michael Kobrick, likens the mission to Hubble Space
Telescope missions, saying key information will be revealed later.

''The Hubble flights were pretty exciting, but the real payoff was in the
succeeding years as data started to come out. They really had an amazing
succession of exciting discoveries,'' Kobrick said. ''And I think that's what
you're going to see in the next two years as we start to process this 12
terabytes of radar data.''

That's enough information to fill 20,600 compact discs and keep teams of
scientists busy for one to two years. NASA's partner, the Defense
Department's National Imagery and Mapping Agency, gets first crack at the
information, which it plans to use to aim missiles, guide aircraft and deploy
troops with unprecedented precision.

The scientific community won't get to see all the data, since some of it will
remain classified for national security reasons. But the 3-D maps created
from the shuttle data will still be far superior to any in existence today.

All told, the radar aboard Endeavour mapped 43.5 million square miles of
terrain at least twice. Multiple imaging is needed to create 3-D maps of
peaks and valleys.

Aside from two equipment problems, the mapping went flawlessly.

A thruster at the end of a 197-foot mast malfunctioned early in the flight
and forced flight controllers to tweak the fuel outlay so mapping could
continue. Then, when the mast was reeled back in Monday, the astronauts had
trouble latching it down inside a canister.

The thruster trouble caused Endeavour to fall a bit short of its bid to map
80 percent of the Earth's land masses.

The shuttle skipped the polar regions while flying a course that went as far
north as Hudson Bay and as far south as Cape Horn.

February 23, 2000: Still working on site's look

I'm still trying to decide on what the site should look like--hope you like the firey banner--i think it's here to stay

February 20, 2000: Site has a new look!

As you can see, this site has a new look