Space Shuttle Endeavour has launched successfully on a mission to the International Space Station. Endeavour carries the Japanese Experiment Module and the Canadian built SPDM which is something of a ‘Swiss Army Knife’ manipulator for handling modules and parts on the outside of the station.

Also in orbit just now is the European Space Agency’s Jules Verne ATV which launched from Kourou in French Guiana on the 9th. The ATV launch and deployment went well but the number two Propulsion Drive Electronics unit detected a difference in pressure between the fuel and oxidiser on one of the four main propulsion units. Flight controllers are evaluating the fault but remain confident that ISS rendezvous can easily be completed on the other three units.

The ATV is due at the station on the 29th, approximately 3 days after Endeavour leaves (depending on final duration of STS-123). Final docking of the ATV should occur on the 3rd of April.

National Savings and Investments have cut their guarantee rate (the amount of interest paid above the Bank of England baserate) from 0.55% down to 0.30%. The lower rate will be in effect from the 6th of April.

I can’t quite work out the logic in this as the Treasury is pretty much strapped for cash and yet cutting the Direct ISA rate will undoubtedly lead to savers withdrawing their ISAs for higher yield investments.

According to Bloomberg, Northern Rock is to pull out of the UK subprime mortgage market.

The recently nationalised bank has been reducing it’s mortgage offerings over recent weeks.

This will no doubt come as something of a shock to the UK government who have been adamant thus far that there is no subprime crisis in the UK and that it’s all an American problem

You will be able to watch the Launch of the Jules Verne Automated Transfer Vehicle online tonight from a number of sources.

First, there’s the ESA site. [Windows Media or RealPlayer - French or English commentary] I’ve no idea what the quality of their stream is like yet as the transmission only goes live an hour before launch.

Then there’s Ariane Space who also provide their own stream.

Finally, NASA TV should be carrying the stream although they haven’t updated their schedules to reflect the 24hr delay. You should be able to find my preferred high-quality Yahoo! / Akamai relay here.

I also found this Progress docking approach video via the ESA ATV blog which is nothing short of stunning. It’s speeded-up so you get to see the ISS rotate in your first-person field of view as the Progress resupply vehicle maneuvers around it.

The Jules Verne ATV is scheduled to launch atop it’s Ariane 5 launch vehicle at 04:03 ZULU Sunday (05:03 CET)

Update:  ESA have a really good quality stream via Akamai so I recommend using that one.

Photo Credit: ESA / D.Ducros

Sniff Petrol as an abnormally factual and rather amusing article about Car magazine’s website relaunch.

Car went for a trendy new ‘Web 2.0′ look (is it Wordpress?) and had a ‘most seached’ keyword cloud box, rather like delusionofgrandeur’s tag cloud on the right.

The inevitable onslaught of ‘alternative’ searches from users ensued. You can see the screenshots over at Sniff.

The launch of the new European Space Agency Automated Transfer Vehicle Jules Verne has been scheduled for the 9th of March.

Originally the crewless ISS resupply ship was due to launch on the 8th but a technical concern with regard to grounding straps on the Ariane vehicle release system caused a 24 hour delay.

When Jules Verne launches from Guiana Space Centre in Kourou atop an Ariane 5 ES booster, it will carry 9 tons of cargo to the International Space Station. Once at the station it will also be able to use it’s motors to boost the station’s orbit. At the completion of it’s mission, the ATV will be packed with station refuse, deorbited and allowed to burn up in the atmosphere.

Liftoff is scheduled for 03:59 ZULU / 04:59 CET

If I find a good live internet stream, I will post an update.

Photo: ESA