GUSTAV A LITTLE WEAKER...A TROPICAL STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR HAITI FROM THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC-HAITI BORDER WESTWARD TO LE MOLE ST NICHOLAS. A TROPICAL STORM WARNING MEANS THAT TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED WITHIN THE WARNING AREA WITHIN THE NEXT 24 HOURS. A HURRICANE WATCH AND A TROPICAL STORM WARNING ARE IN EFFECT FOR JAMAICA. A HURRICANE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR CUBA FOR THE PROVINCES OF GUANTANAMO...SANTIAGO DE CUBA...AND GRANMA. A HURRICANE WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE CUBAN PROVINCES OF LAS TUNAS AND HOLGUIN AND ALL OF THE CAYMAN ISLANDS. INTERESTS IN CENTRAL AND WESTERN CUBA SHOULD CLOSELY MONITOR THE PROGRESS OF GUSTAV. - NOAA

CERN has announced the success of the second and final test of the Large Hadron Collider's (LHC) beam synchronization systems, which will allow the LHC operations team to inject the first beam into the LHC. This paves the way for the first attempt to circulate a beam around the machine on the 10th September 2008 and from there to the commissioning of the world's biggest physics experiment. The LHC will answer some of the biggest mysteries of the Universe, by searching for evidence for dark matter, extra dimensions, supersymmetry and the mechanism that gives mass to some particles but not others. - Science and Technology Facilities Council

ESA's orbiting X-ray observatory XMM-Newton has discovered the most massive cluster of galaxies seen in the distant Universe until now. The galaxy cluster is so big that there can only be a handful of them at that distance, making this a rare catch indeed. The discovery confirms the existence of dark energy. - European Space Agency

The European Space Agency is about to launch the most sophisticated mission ever to investigate the Earth's gravitational field and to map the reference shape of our planet - the geoid - with unprecedented resolution and accuracy. The Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) will be placed onto a low altitude near sun-synchronous orbit by a Russian Rockot vehicle launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Northern Russia, some 800 km north of Moscow. Lift-off is scheduled to take place at 16:21 CEST (14:21 UTC) on Wednesday 10 September. - European Space Agency

The Hubble Space Telescope has found the answer to a long-standing puzzle by resolving giant but delicate filaments shaped by a strong magnetic field around the active galaxy NGC 1275. It is the most striking example of the influence of these immense tentacles of extragalactic magnetic fields, say researchers.

NASA's Kennedy Space Center will remain closed at least through noon EDT Wednesday, because of the potential threat to workers from Tropical Storm Fay. Kennedy managers will reevaluate the situation on Wednesday morning, and update employees at 6 a.m. EDT. So far, there are no reports of any injuries or damage associated with Fay at the Center. - NASA

NASA issued a Request for Information, or RFI, on Monday to gauge interest and solicit ideas from private companies in providing communications and navigation services that would support the development of exploration, scientific and commercial capabilities on the Moon over the next 25 years. NASA plans to establish science stations on the lunar surface beginning as early as 2013, followed by the return of humans to the Moon and establishment of the first lunar outpost in 2020. - NASA

NASA's Kennedy Space Center will be closed on Tuesday, August 19, because of the potential threat from Tropical Storm Fay. Current plans call for the center to be closed for 24 hours, starting with workers' first-shift on Tuesday morning. The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex also is closed on Tuesday. All three space shuttles have been secured in their Orbiter Processing Facilities. The shuttles have been powered down in their hangars and their payload bay doors have been closed to protect them from possible damage. Critical Hubble Space Telescope and International Space Station flight hardware has been protectively covered. - NASA

On 14 August, Rosetta conducted a successful trajectory correction manoeuvre using data obtained from the Agency's first-ever optical tracking of an asteroid target, (2867) Steins. Images from the spacecraft's cameras were used to calculate the asteroid's location and optimise its trajectory for fly-by next month. - European Space Agency

Engineers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, have completed a series of tests on a key component of the J-2X engine. The J-2X powers the upper stage of the Ares I rocket, which will launch human explorers to the International Space Station and to the Moon. The test on August 15 was the last of 20 in this series, concluding the second of four planned sets of tests on the J-2X's workhorse gas generator, the driver for the turbopumps which start the engine. - NASA

Yesterday evening, an Ariane 5 ECA launcher lifted off from Europe's Spaceport at Kourou, in French Guiana, on its mission to place two telecommunications satellites into geostationary transfer orbits. Lift-off of flight V185 took place at 22:44 CEST/Paris on 14 August (20:44 UTC/GMT; 17:44 UTC-3/Kourou).The satellites were accurately injected into the correct transfer orbits about 30 minutes later. - European Space Agency

Technicians at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida are putting Space Shuttle Atlantis through a series of standard tests to make sure the orbiter is ready to move to the Vehicle Assembly Building next week. They also are analyzing an insulation blanket on one of the Orbital Maneuvering System pods. - NASA

In a news conference on Monday, NASA managers discussed how the agency will be adjusting the budget, schedule and technical performance milestones for its Constellation Program to ensure the first crewed flight of the Ares I rocket and Orion crew capsule in March 2015. The Constellation Program is developing the spacecraft and systems, including the Ares I and Ares V rockets, the Orion crew exploration vehicle, and the Altair lunar lander, that will take astronauts to the International Space Station after the retirement of the space shuttle, and eventually return humans to the Moon. - JSC/NASA

In the COL (Columbus Orbital Laboratory, Gregory unlocked the FSL FCE (Fluid Science Laboratory/Facility Core Element) which he had secured on 8/8 with four locking bolts against the acceleration forces caused by this morning's ISS reboost. - NASA Office of Space Operations

In preparation for tomorrow morning's ISS reboost with the ATV (Automated Transfer Vehicle) 'Jules Verne', the FE-2 supported SAMS (Space Acceleration Measurement System) ground commanding by activating its ICU (Interim Control Unit) in Rack LAP2/Drawer 1. [The reboost is scheduled tomorrow at 3:58am EDT, for 16min 35 sec. SAMS acquires acceleration data relevant to characterization of the dynamic vibratory environment on the ISS.] - NASA Office of Space Operations

The 2008 Perseid meteor shower peaks on August 12th, and it should be a good show. The source of the shower is Comet Swift-Tuttle. Although the comet is far away, currently located beyond the orbit of Uranus, a trail of debris from the comet stretches all the way back to Earth. Crossing the trail in August, Earth will be pelted by specks of comet dust hitting the atmosphere at 132,000 mph. At that speed, even a flimsy speck of dust makes a vivid streak of light when it disintegrates - a meteor. Swift-Tuttle's meteors streak out of the constellation Perseus, therefore they are called 'Perseids'. - Dr. Tony Phillips, Science@NASA; image credit: Joe Westerberg

The booster stage for NASA's LCROSS probe will deliberately crash into a permanently-shadowed lunar crater at 9,000 km/hr, producing an explosion equivalent to about 2,000 pounds of TNT (6.5 billion joules). The blast will jettison material out of the crater into broad daylight, where astronomers can search the debris for signs of lunar water. Amateur astronomers may be able to observe the impact through backyard telescopes. The LCROSS robotic satellite will observe the impact, and then also crash into the Moon, 4 minutes later. - Dr. Tony Phillips, Science@NASA

University of Nebraska-Lincoln particle physicists Ken Bloom and Aaron Dominguez have teamed up with computer scientist David Swanson to build a computing center for the benefit of scientists at their university and across the country. The center's goal is to manage the flood of information that will pour from the world's next-generation particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), an underground ring 27 kilometers around and located at the European Centre for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva, Switzerland. - US National Science Foundation

On 8/8, when the CBEF internal solenoid valves supplying CO2 (carbon dioxide) to the incubator were opened & closed, an anomalous pressure drop was observed which may indicate a potential CO2 leak of the CGSE (Common Gas Support Equipment). Investigation is underway on the ground. In case of an actual leak, the volume of gas in the bottles is very small and would not bring the atmosphere to the toxic limit; also, with the cabin ventilation running, any hazard from this leak is controlled. There is no impact on payload operations until end of Inc-17 since no experiment requiring CO2 is planned in this Increment. [CBEF is a CO2 gas incubator with controlled temperature and humidity, to be used for various life science experiments such as cultivating cells, plants, and so on in the JPM. It consists of an incubator and control equipment for CBEF control & communication.] - NASA

Oleg Kononenko conducted another session of the Russian GFI-8 'Uragan' (hurricane) Earth-imaging program. Kononenko also completed the routine daily servicing of the SOZh system (Environment Control & Life Support System, ECLSS) in the Service Module (SM). Chamitoff had three hours reserved for the regular weekly station cleaning in the USOS (US Segment). - NASA

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has continued studies of its landing site by widening a trench, making overnight measurements of conductivity in the Martian soil, and depositing a sample of surface soil into a gap between partially opened doors to an analytical oven on the lander. Phoenix's robotic arm delivered soil Thursday from a trench informally named 'Rosy Red' through a narrow opening to a screen above the No. 5 oven on the lander's Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer (TEGA). A few particles of the sample passed through the screen on Thursday, but not enough to fill the oven and allow analysis of the sample to begin. The Phoenix team sent commands for TEGA to vibrate the screen again on Friday, and more material reached the oven, though still not enough to proceed with analysis. - NASA

Volkov conducted another session for Russia's Environmental Safety Agency (EKON), making observations and taking KPT-3 aerial photography with the NIKON D2X camera of environmental conditions near Tskhinvala and the Baikonur launch site. Oleg Kononenko conducted another session of the Russian GFI-8 'Uragan' (hurricane) Earth-imaging program. Greg Chamitoff's activities included supporting ground-commanded commissioning preparations in the JAXA Kibo JPM (JEM Pressurized Module). - NASA

Technicians at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida continue processing space shuttle Atlantis for its upcoming move from the Orbiter Processing Facility to the Vehicle Assembly Building. The shuttle is targeted to be joined to its external fuel tank and a pair of solid rocket boosters in the week of August 17. Launch is targeted for October 8. - NASA

In support of upcoming JAXA payload operations in the Kibo JPM (JEM Pressurized Module), Gregory prepared the MEU (Measurement Experiment Unit) for activation & checkout, inserting its cultivation chamber Bs and installing the MEU Bs in the CBEF (Cell Biology Experiment Facility) incubator. Later, after CBEF control start by ground commanding, Greg performed a visual inspection of the CBEF 1G door lock. - NASA

Horrific and inhumane methods of bile extraction have been developed by the bear farming industry. With your support, WSPA aims to stop the farming of bears for bile extraction and body parts across Asia. - World Society for the Protection of Animals

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