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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The space shuttle and space station hooked up Friday after a round-the-world chase, making for the biggest crowd ever gathered together in orbit — 13 Earthlings.

NASA is not too worried about debris that appeared to fall from the space shuttle Endeavour's external fuel tank during its liftoff Wednesday, but is perplexed about why the bits of foam insulation fell from an unexpected spot.

Is the U.S. flag planted on the moon 40 years ago still standing? That's just one of many questions researchers hope will be answered this year by new pictures of old Apollo landing sites.

MUMBAI (AFP) - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in India Friday hoping to deepen strategic ties with an emerging player on the world stage in security, trade, arms control and climate change.

WASHINGTON - New NASA photos of the moon show the leftovers from man's exploration 40 years ago. For the first time, photos from space pinpoint equipment left behind from Apollo landings, and even the well-worn tracks made by astronauts on the moon surface. The images are from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which was launched last month and now circles the moon in search of future landing sites.

For stubborn folks who still believe the Apollo astronauts never landed on the moon, NASA has new images - definitive proof - that clearly show the Apollo 11 lander that carried the first astronauts to the lunar surface 40 years ago.

After a three-year search for a set of data tapes that promised to offer an improved view of the first moonwalk by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin 40 years ago this month, NASA revealed on Thursday that the tapes were more than likely erased years ago and reused. But the agency then unveiled the next best thing: restored footage based on their best broadcast quality tapes.

LOS ANGELES - A piece of rocket hardware failed to separate during the launch of a NASA climate satellite earlier this year, causing it crash back to Earth, according to an accident summary released Friday.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - The Tennessee Valley Authority on Thursday significantly raised the hazard potential for several of its coal ash sites in a self-assessment to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, suggesting people living near four sites could die if an ash pond ruptured.

The space shuttle Endeavour and its seven-astronaut crew plan to arrive at the International Space Station Friday for a long-awaited visit more than a month overdue.

Wind and solar power get a lot of attention when the future of energy comes up for discussion. But are there any plans to generate more power by building new nuclear plants?

When boys are placed in juvenile delinquency centers, they are more likely to be incarcerated as adults compared to similarly troubled kids who avoid a brush with the system early in life, a new study suggests.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States released more than a thousand intelligence images of Arctic ice to help scientists study the impact of climate change, within hours of a recommendation by the National Academy of Sciences.

PARIS (AFP) - The head of the UN's panel of climate-change experts said on Friday he was encouraged by climate pledges at last week's G8 summit but warned commitments still fell short of what was required by science.

In the future, more and more of us will learn from social robots, especially kids learning pre-school skills and students of all ages studying a new language.

WINDHOEK (AFP) - Two European journalists were fined on Friday by a court in Namibia for filming the annual seal hunt along the coast of the southern African nation, their lawyer said.

WASHINGTON - NASA could put a man on the moon but didn't have the sense to keep the original video of the live TV transmission.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Better late than never. NASA celebrated the tardy launch of the space shuttle Endeavour late Wednesday and is looking into several bits of debris spotted during the spacecraft's liftoff.

ATLANTA - About three out of five Americans believe there will be widespread swine flu cases this fall or winter, but most are not worried it will strike them or their family, according to a survey released Thursday.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The space shuttle Endeavour finally beat the weather late Wednesday as it blasted off on an ambitious, if belated, construction mission to the International Space Station after five frustrating delays.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US bids to deepen a strategic partnership with India -- viewed as a global player on trade, arms control and climate change -- when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visits Friday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The original recordings of the first humans landing on the moon 40 years ago were erased and re-used, but newly restored copies of the original broadcast look even better, NASA officials said on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US space shuttle Endeavour successfully docked at the International Space Station on Friday amid questions about the integrity of the shuttle's heat shield.

Forty years after the first manned moon landing on July 20, 1969, SPACE.com asked Apollo astronauts and leaders of the space community to ponder the past, present and future. The Apollo 11 mission launched toward the moon 40 years ago today, and noted Apollo author and historian Andrew Chaikin - co-author of the new book "Voices from the Moon" - wonders how Americans might view the historic flight if it was happening right now:

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Astronauts aboard the space shuttle Endeavour will scan their orbiter's heat shield on Thursday to search for any damage from debris that fell from the spacecraft's external tank during its launch into orbit.

LONDON (AFP) - The government gave the green light Thursday to four so-called "eco towns," claiming it is playing a leading role globally in promoting carbon neutral communities.

Editor's Note: Forty years ago this month, humans landed on the moon for the first time. We asked Benjamin Radford why, four decades later, humans have not become any smarter.

Neanderthals are of course extinct. But there never were very many of them, new research concludes.

CHICAGO (AFP) - The nightmare global warming scenario which provided the plot for a Hollywood blockbuster -- the Atlantic Ocean current that keeps Europe warm shuts down and triggers rapid climate change -- has long worried scientists.

The repeated launch delays for the space shuttle Endeavour were not just frustrating, but expensive.