Astronauts Complete Series of Three Spacewalks

On Sunday, March 1, Expedition 42 Flight Engineer Terry Virts and Commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore ventured outside the International Space Station for their third spacewalk in eight days. Virts and Wilmore completed installing 400 feet of cable and several antennas associated with the Common Communications for Visiting Vehicles system known as C2V2. Boeing’s Crew Transportation System (CST)-100 and the SpaceX Crew Dragon will use the system in the coming years to rendezvous with the orbital laboratory and deliver crews to the space station.

Virts (@AstroTerry) tweeted this photograph and wrote, “Out on the P3 truss. #AstroButch handing me his cable to install on the new antenna. #spacewalk”

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Fighting in Eastern Ukraine Displaces Donetsk’s Soccer Team by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

The sleek stadium, built six years ago and host to some of Europe’s biggest soccer matches, is silent. It sits in the middle of the city of Donetsk, a war zone controlled by pro-Russian separatists battling Ukrainian troops.

Published: March 1, 2015 at 07:06PM

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Astronaut Salutes Nimoy From Orbit

International Space Station astronaut Terry Virts (@AstroTerry) tweeted this image of a Vulcan hand salute from orbit as a tribute to actor Leonard Nimoy, who died on Friday, Feb. 27, 2015. Nimoy played science officer Mr. Spock in the Star Trek series that served as an inspiration to generations of scientists, engineers and sci-fi fans around the world.

Cape Cod and Boston, Massachusetts, Nimoy’s home town, are visible through the station window. via NASA http://ift.tt/1Anq0nv

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Russia and Ukraine Calm Feud Over Natural Gas Payments by ANDREW E. KRAMER

By ANDREW E. KRAMER

A payment dispute that had been casting a shadow over European energy markets appeared to be winding down on Friday, as both countries agreed to European-brokered negotiations.

Published: February 27, 2015 at 07:00PM

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Feb. 26, 1966 Launch of Apollo-Saturn 201

Apollo-Saturn 201 (AS-201), the first Saturn IB launch vehicle developed by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), lifts off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 11:12 a.m. on Feb. 26, 1966. The AS-201 mission was an unmanned suborbital flight to test the Saturn 1B launch vehicle and the Apollo Command and Service Modules. This was the first flight of the S-IB and S-IVB stages, including the first flight test of the liquid-hydrogen/liquid oxygen-propelled J-2 engine in the S-IVB stage. During the thirty-seven minute flight, the vehicle reached an altitude of 303 miles and traveled 5,264 miles downrange.

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Chicago in Winter

From the International Space Station (ISS), European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti took this photograph of Chicago and posted it to social media on Feb. 19, 2015. She wrote, “How do you like #Chicago dressed for winter?”

Crewmembers on the space station photograph the Earth from their unique point of view located 200 miles above the surface as part of the Crew Earth Observations program. Photographs record how the planet is changing over time, from human-caused changes like urban growth and reservoir construction, to natural dynamic events such as hurricanes, floods and volcanic eruptions. Astronauts have used hand-held cameras to photograph the Earth for more than 40 years, beginning with the Mercury missions in the early 1960s. The ISS maintains an altitude between 220 – 286 miles (354 – 460 km) above the Earth, and an orbital inclination of 51.6˚, providing an excellent stage for observing most populated areas of the world.

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Voters Wary of Promises in Britain’s Unpredictable Election by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Posters are being printed and slogans are being polished as Britain’s politicians battle it out in the most unpredictable national election in decades. One top election analyst has dubbed it “the lottery election.”

Published: February 24, 2015 at 09:17PM

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