Archive of all previous site news items:
February 2004:
24th February- Thirty THOUSAND hits! Once again- thanks everyone, it's YOU that made this happen!
19th February- ESA have very kindly provided me with xyz and ssc data for the upcoming Rosetta mission to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. xyz is the predicted trajectory from launch until orbit insertion around 67P. ssc for 67P at time of encounter in mid-2014, and 46P/Wirtanen has also been provided. (46P's orbit is included only for historic reasons, as it was Rosetta's original target, when the launch was scheuled for 2003.) See bottom of the Solar/Planetary Spacecraft page.
19th February- SIRTF spacecraft renamed to "Spitzer Space Telescope" - it's name was changed ages ago, I just didn't get around to doing the same!
18th February- Well, shoulder's back to normal... Been incredibly busy with school though, so that's what's been keeping me from updating the site recently.
January 2004:
11th January-
Dislocated my shoulder while skiing in Italy, so using a keyboard with my left hand only has become rather challenging...
Skiing is really brilliant though- if you ever get a chance, GO!
Hits have gone WAY up sine Jan. 2nd - Probably because of public awareness of Stardust & Spirit (MER-A) missions!
Passed the 20,000 hits mark sometime on Jan 2nd or 3rd - Thanks everyone!
Some fantastic pictures coming back of Gusev crater, from Spirit - great to see after the disappointment of losing Beagle 2.
3rd January- I'm off on Holidays for a week, and I won't be updating the site while I'm away... If you're wondering why i'm not on the forum or replying to my emails - that's why!
2nd January- A (slightly) new look for 2004! The Spacecraft page was getting completely out of hand, so i've split it up into three different sections. I've updated the sidebar to reflect this change, renamed the Minor Moons, asteroids and comets page to "Small Body Models", and changed the pictures and style of the download links below on this page.
December 2003:
13th December- FINALLY! The site has at last been upgraded to 50MB size, and so I've uploaded the Huge Galileo xyz trajectory. Get it at #19 on the spacecraft page!
12th December- I've added a Space News page, with content supplied by Universe Today. It's updated every morning!
12th December- Added some screenshots of the trajectories to the Venera Screenshots page. The sun exploded in one of them, but hey, what can you do...!
7th December- I've changed around the method of contacting me a bit. To stop my email address being harvested by spammers, you now have to type it in manually from a fuzzy image. Click HERE to have a look!
November 2003:
28th November- For one of Frank Gregorio's upcoming eductional activities, i've made a model of Explorer 1, America's first satellite. The ssc file is by Grant Hutchinson. See the end of the Spacecraft page for details.
26th November- As a spinoff of the big Galileo xyz, i've also made a new xyz trajectory for the Galileo Atmospheric probe. The updated version actually enters Jupiter's atmosphere! It's #5 on the Spacecraft page.
26th November- 15,000 hits! How cool is that? Also, I hope to have the 50MB problem solved in a few days. If it still isn't, I have something else up my sleeve to keep you all busy while you're waiting for Galileo...
22nd November- Got in contact with Eircom on Wednesday 19th to upgrade the site to 50MB- but no change as yet... I can't fit much else on before I get the extra space.
18th November- To free up some space for the upcoming Galileo super xyz, I've had to change around a good few file locations. If you get any broken links etc, just E-mail me (link at bottom of [home] page) & I'll try & fix the problem ASAP.
October 2003:
27th October- Asteroid 2003 SQ222 added to the Other xyz's and ssc's page. Closest observed pass by an asteroid by the Earth. (Just over 84,400 km on 27th September.)
13th October- Update to the Galileo ssc Patch. You will need this update to view the Galileo + IUS + HGA closed model.
13th October- Galileo + IUS + HGA closed model added to the spacecraft page (#19) Shows more accurately how the craft looked between deployment & 11th April 1991.
September 2003:
19th September- Broke the TEN THOUSAND hits barrier today!!
3rd September- 9000 hits!
August 2003:
29th August- Back to school today, so I probably won't be able to do as much stuff as I want for a while... Stay tuned for updates though, I do have a few things up my sleeve yet!
29th August- Zond 3 model & xyz added to the Spacecraft page.
27th August- Pioneer 6 & 7 xyz's and Pioneer 6-9 model added to the spacecraft page. Listing Number 40 on the spacecraft page!!
26th August- Mariner 2 xyz and model added to the spacecraft page.
26th August- Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) xyz added to the spacecraft page. (Number 22)
25th August- Flags of the USSR and the People's Repubic of China added to the Spacecraft page.
25th August- 8000 hits!
25th August- Helios 1 & 2 (Solar Probes) trajectories updated. (#30 on spacecraft page) I've discovered the originals were actually offset about 30 degrees from where they should be. New trajectories are also much more radially accurate than previously.
21st August- Oops... Forgot to update the ssc, when I updated the MER xyz's... This is now fixed though.
19th August- Full MER-B (Opportunity) trajectory added to the spacecraft page (Number 16)
19th August- Newly discovered moon of Asteroid (379) Huenna added to the Binary asteroids zip, on the other xyz's and ssc's page.
19th August- New NASA logo model added to TERRIER's HELIOS experimental UAV model. Download from the Spacecraft page.
18th August- Asteroid (283) Emma, and S/2003 (283) 1 added to the binary asteroids ssc file, on the "Other xyz's & ssc's" page
17th August- New NASA logo model available for download (.3ds and .an8 formats) For use by modellers of US spacecraft. See the spacecraft page.
10th August- I recieved an updated Mariner 9 model from TERRIER, so i've changed it on the here too. (Better HGA and some other small improvements).
7th August- Big changes to the site layout... Smaller text (as you can see) and various other small improvements.
3rd August- 4 Venera models (For Veneras 2, 3-8, 9-14, and 15 & 16) added to the Spacecraft page. (Number 35)
3rd August- 13 Venera trajectories (For Veneras 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14 & 16) added to the Spacecraft page. (Number 35)
1st August- 2 new Cassini models added to the Spacecraft page (end of page) One with Huygens attached, and the other after the probe deployment.
1st August- Better Huygens Probe model added to the spacecraft page. (Number 9) New screenshots also.
July 2003:
29th July- It's been a long time coming... Luna 13 model has been added to the Spacecraft page! You should also probably get the lunarlandingsites.ssc update.
28th July- Sample-return Luna models added to the Spacecraft page (17b). To see them you'll also need to get the lunarlandingsites.ssc update (17a on the same page).
27th July- Shenzhou V (Chinese manned spacecraft) model & fictional orbit added to the Spacecraft page.
25th July- Update to the tiny & new moons file- now includes new IAU names for moons discovered in 2000 & 2001.
24th July- Lunokhod 2 model added to the Spacecraft page, and an update to the lunar landing sites ssc.
24th July- Lunokhod 17 & 21 lander bus models added to the Spacecraft page (17b), and an update to the lunar landing sites ssc.
23rd July- Lunokhod 1 model added to the Spacecraft page, and an update to the lunar landing sites ssc.
23rd July- Slight update to the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project docking module (Thanks bh!)
8th July- MER-B (Opportunity) Initial trajectory added to the Spacecraft page. Also an ssc update.
1st July- Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (Docked) model & ssc added to the spacecraft page.
June 2003:
29th June- Vega 1 (Venus/Halley) xyz & models added to the Spacecraft page.
27th June- Helios 1 & 2 Solar probes xyz's & model added to the Spacecraft page.
26th June- Salyut 7 (Mir's predecessor) ssc & model added to Spacecraft page.
25th June- Sakigake xyz & model added to the Spacecraft page. (Encountered comet 1P/Halley in 1986)
24th June- 1P/Halley & 21P/Giacobini-Zinner xyz's added to the Other xyz's & ssc's page. (21P encountered by ICE, 1P encountered by various spacecraft)
24th June- International Cometary Explorer (ICE) xyz & model added to the spacecraft page.
22nd June- Broke the 3000 hits barrier today... Thanks everybody!!
22nd June- Update to the binary Asteroids ssc file. 1997 CQ29 renamed to it's new designation 58534, and TNO 1999 RZ253 added also. See the Other xyz's & ssc's page.
22nd June- News archive page added, and a few spelling corrections...
20th June- "Helios" experimental unmanned aircraft model & ssc added to the Spacecraft page. Modelled by TERRIER
20th June- Mars express xyz trajectory added to the Spacecraft page.
19th June- Nozomi (Planet-B) made it's Earth swingby today, and is now on a trajectory towards Mars. If everything goes well, it should go into orbit around the Red Planet on Jan 1st 2004.
18th June- Deep Impact mission preliminary xyz, impactor spacecraft model added to the Spacecraft page (No. 24) Also Tempel 1 xyz & ssc added to the Other ssc's & xyz's page.
16th June- Some new problems added to the Help page.
16th June- Update to the binary asteroids ssc file. LOADS MORE BINARIES! See Other ssc's & xyz's page.
16th June- New site layout! See for yourself...! :-)
16th June- Update to the tiny moons ssc file; S/2003 J21 added, and moons overlapping with minormoons.ssc removed. Jupiter has 61 now! See Other ssc's & xyz's page.