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[Best Syndication News] The early morning hours offered up a beautiful and spectacular launch for the the Space Shuttle Endeavor. They rescheduled the launch for this Monday morning when the shuttle blasted off at 3:14 a.m. CST, in the morning from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

According to Mike Leinbach, the shuttle launch director, “This was one of the smoothest countdowns ever. The team was very, very energized going into the count."

This will be the last night time launch of the space shuttle Endeavor which has been launched 130 times. Docking of the Space Shuttle to the International Space Station will begin on flight day number three. The astronauts will be installing the Tranquility node and the cupola with three scheduled spacewalks planned.

[Best Syndication News] Cloudy skies caused the countdown to launch the NASA space shuttle Endeavor to be halted today. They are going to reschedule the launch for Monday, weather permitting of course. The time for the launch on Monday has been set for Feb. 8 at 4:14 a.m. EST. The mission management team will make the final decision this Sunday evening if they will begin fueling the shuttle at 6:45 p.m.

The mission is to deliver some more parts for the Space Station. They will be delivering a third connection module, an Italian made Tranquility node, and a seven window cupola that will be used for a control room for robotics. They also will be having three scheduled spacewalks on this mission.

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[Best Syndication News] The giant squid have returned to the Southern California shores, with many of the squid being caught by fishermen weighing in at 20-30 pounds. The giant squid can reach up to 7feet long and weigh up to 100 pounds.

The giant squid species is called Humboldt, Jumbo Squid, Jumbo Flying Squid, or Diablo Rojo (which means Red Devil). They tend to live in warmer waters, however since El Niño weather patterns have come to be, there has been some migration patterns seen with this species. Typically they like to live in deep ocean water but they have been making their way inland more. Once in the Fall of 2004, there was between 1,000 to 1,500 squid washed up on the Long Beach Peninsula in southwest Washington. They have been seen as far as north as Alaska.

BSN Stock Photo

[Best Syndication News] Scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research have an idea to help cool off city temperatures, paint building roofs white. The research model suggests that painting roofs white in urban areas worldwide could be a one way to counteract rising temperatures.

The effects of asphalt road, tar roofs and outer heat generators can raise city temperatures on average 2 – 5 degrees Fahrenheit. This phenomenon is called a city heat island effect. If the roofs where painted white it could reflect some of the heat back into space instead of being stored up in the buildings.

In the study they used a computer model that would simulated the amount of solar radiation that is typically absorbed or reflected on urban landscapes. The computer gave them an estimate that if every roof in the world was painted white the cities temperatures would reduce by 33 percent. On a global basis it would reduce the temperature by .7 degrees Fahrenheit. The best cooling would be seen of course in the heat of the summer days.

Artist's conception of the Orion Spacecraft

(Best Syndication News) The Obama Administration has decided to scrap plans to send another manned flight to the moon and work on rocket technology instead. The U.S. government has already spent $9.1 billion of the $100 billion proposed for the mission. Now it will cost another 2.5 billion to shut the program down.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has selected some commercial firms to begin development of new crew transportation systems. The moon mission was to use rockets based on Space Shuttle booster. Many in the administration and NASA considered this “old technology”.