Posted: Sat, Oct 13, 2001, 11:06 AM ET (1506 GMT)
NASA's Galileo spacecraft is scheduled to fire its thrusters Saturday to fine-tune its trajectory in preparation for a flyby of the volcanic Jovian moon Io next week. Galileo will fly 181 km above Io's surface on October 16, the closest flyby to date of the moon. It will be the second of three consecutive close flybys, after one in August and before a final one in January... NASA may deal with the large cost overrun on the International Space Station by extending the assembly of the facility beyond the scheduled 2006 completion date, a NASA official said at a Florida conference this week. William Dowdell, head of mission managers at KSC, was quoted in a Florida Today article as saying that cuts in the project have eliminated only about $2 billion of the program's $4.8 billion overrun. Stretching out the assembly of the station could cut annual expenditures, but increase the overall cost of the program... NASA administrator Dan Goldin said Friday that the next shuttle mission will carry into orbit two American flags, one that was flying over the Pentagon on September 11 and another that was recovered from the ruins of the World Trade Center. Those flags will fly in addition to 10,000 small flags that the agency announced it would fly on STS-108 next month and later distribute to the families of those killed in the terrorist attacks. NASA officials said other items may be flown on Endeavour to recognize police, fire, and emergency services involved in the rescue efforts, as well as those killed on a fourth hijacked airliner that crashed in rural Pennsylvania.

Related Links:

•  Galileo status report from NASA/JPL
•  Florida Today article about ISS
•  SPACE.com article about flags on shuttle flight