"With its three hydrogen-fueled main engines roaring at full throttle, Discovery's twin solid-fuel boosters ignited with a rush of fire and thunder at 11:38:19 a.m., instantly pushing the huge spacecraft away from pad 39A. 

Seconds later, Discovery's flight computers sent commands to the booster steering system, rolling the spacecraft about its vertical axis to put the crew in a heads down orientation as the spaceplane arced out over the Atlantic Ocean on a northeasterly trajectory paralleling the East Coast of the United States." 

"Discovery took off at roughly the moment Earth's rotation carried the launch pad into the plane of the space station's orbit. If all goes well, Melroy will manually guide the shuttle to a linkup with the station around 8:35 a.m. Thursday." 

"The day after docking, the astronauts will use the station's robot arm to pull the 31,500-pound Harmony module from Discovery's cargo bay as part of the first of the mission's five spacewalks. 

Harmony will be temporarily mounted on the left side of the station's central Unity module. After the shuttle departs, Whitson, flight engineer Yuri Malenchenko and Tani will detach the station's main shuttle docking port, known as pressurized mating adapter No. 2, mount it on Harmony and then use the station's robot arm to move both components on the front end of the Destiny laboratory module." 

Source: Spaceflight Now/CBS News, "Shuttle Discovery launches to space with Harmony" 

EVERETT, Wash., On July 08, 2007, Boeing officially debuted the technologically advanced and environmentally progressive 787 Dreamliner in a celebration attended by employees, airline customers, supplier partners and government and community officials.

The 787 Dreamliner Premiere was broadcast live in nine different languages via satellite to more than 45 countries and webcast on the Boeing Corporate Website.  It’s airframe is made almost entirely of a plastic composite material.

CHINA, Aircraft maker Airbus will start construction of its final assembly line for its A320 aircraft in Tianjin City later this year.  This will be the companies first aircraft produced in China.

The basic construction of the assembly line, the nation's first project to develop large commercial aircraft, is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

FLORIDA, July 10, 2007 the rollout of Space Shuttle Endeavour to Launch Pad 39A began at 8:10 p.m. Tuesday evening. Originally planned for early Tuesday morning, the move was canceled by NASA managers because unfavorable weather was predicted to arrive in the launch area before the vehicle would be secured at the pad.

The crawler-transporter will carry the space shuttle assembly on the 3.4-mile journey to the launch pad, a trip that typically takes six to seven hours. NASA TV will provide highlights of the rollout.

During the STS-118 mission, Endeavour will carry into orbit the S5 truss, SPACEHAB module and external stowage platform 3. The payload was delivered Sunday to the launch pad's payload changeout room.

NASA is quickly gearing up for the shuttle's next visit to the International Space Station, targeted for an Aug. 7 launch. The mission will mark the first flight of Mission Specialist Barbara Morgan, the teacher-turned-astronaut whose association with NASA began more than 20 years ago.
 

NASA – MARS, It may be game over for these solar-powered robotic explorers as a record-breaking dust storm has reduced direct sunlight to Mars' surface by nearly 99 percent. Without power, NASA’s John Callas explained, "It's like leaving your laptop out in an Antarctic winter."

Like Sun Belt retirees who complain about cold weather, NASA's Mars rovers are becoming less tolerant of temperature changes with age.

Cessna Aircraft signed an agreement Wednesday with German engine maker Thielert Aircraft Engines GmbH "to collaborate on future programs centered on the Thielert diesel engine."

"We think the Thielert engine may provide a very worthwhile power option for many of our customers since it runs on jet fuel and diesel," said John Doman, Cessna's vice president of worldwide propeller aircraft sales. "We have had discussions with Frank Thielert and his group for some time, and we think the time is right to move forward.  These new engines will be tested out and later installed in Cessna 172 and 182 aircraft, the mainstay of the Civil Air Patrol Fleet.