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Space News Headlines for June 16, 2005

Miami Herald - Boy, 4, Dies After Epcot Space Ride

A 4-year-old boy died at Walt Disney World after collapsing Monday on board a space flight simulator that has caused chest pains and nausea in older riders.

The ride, Mission: Space, is at the center of an ongoing federal lawsuit between the Pennsylvania firm that originated the design and Disney -- a suit in which public safety was among the disputes.

A planet that may be Earth-like - but too hot for life as we know it - has been discovered orbiting a nearby star.

The discovery, using data obtained from the W.M. Keck Observatory atop Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii, was announced Monday at the National Science Foundation.

NASA returned the space shuttle Discovery to the launch pad Wednesday for the first mission since the Columbia disaster, after replacing the external fuel tank with a new model designed to prevent dangerous ice buildup.

Shuttle managers are aiming for a liftoff as early as July 13.

Discovery's four-mile trek from the assembly building to the launch pad aboard the giant shuttle transporter took more than 10 hours. The morning trip was halted several times because of overheated bearings in the 40-year-old old transporter, and the speed fell below the usual mile per hour.

Visitors to the Paris Air Show are being treated to a full-scale mockup of Russia's proposed Kliper spaceliner.

The multi-use vehicle is one piece of Russia's Rosaviakosmos display at the Pairs Air Show now underway until June 19.

Rosaviakosmos is Russia's Federal Space Agency, with the Kliper design a product of that country's Energia Rocket and Space Corporation.

A computer system designed to look for life on Mars has been tested at a terrestrial location resembling the landing site of Nasa rover Opportunity.

The "intelligent" system can replace geologists' duties, say its creators.