NASA is currently evaluating a human mission to an asteroid. Experts at several NASA centers are sketching out a prospective piloted stopover at an asteroid — a trek that could return samples from a targeted space rock as well as honing astronaut proficiency and test needed equipment for other space destinations. Read more
When the 124th space shuttle external tank shipped from NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, La., this week, it marked another milestone in the facility’s history – beginning with the nation’s first trip to the moon and continuing as NASA further explores the moon, Mars and other destinations in our solar system. Read more
It was vintage Stephen Hawking. The world’s most famous astrophysicist, receiving the Royal Society’s Copley Medal, Britain’s highest scientific award, used the opportunity to warn that “the long-term survival of the human race is at risk so long as it is confined to a single planet”. So we must go, as Buzz Light-Year would put [...]
From New Scientist comes this review of human spaceflight during 2006. Read the article.
From the United States Air Force site on training for space flights. The training astronauts receive at the Johnson Space Center is intense and extensive. Astronauts train in multi-million dollar mock-ups and can train for up to two years for a single mission. Read more
From The Space Review: This present generation is one which as grown up watching science fiction films. Among the great films one must include Stanley’ Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey and George Lucas’ Star Wars. Both films amply displayed why these films were science fiction. Depicted were impossibly large space stations, mind-boggling Moon bases, and [...]
Three aerospace companies opened a program office Tuesday to compete for work on NASA’s Ares I crew rocket. ATK Launch Systems, Lockheed Martin Inc. and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne have formed Team Ares and said they will bid to develop the upper stage of the Ares I rocket. The office is headed by former space [...]
House Science Committee Chairman Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) on Friday sent the following letter to the Honorable Rob Portman, Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). In his letter, Boehlert urged additional science funding, specifically highlighting the importance of fully funding the President’s American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI). Read more
A LITTLE Barrow in Furness firm from the Northeast of England has won a £1.8m contract from the NASA space agency to help it design a manned spacecraft to conquer Mars. It is the latest space success for Structured Software Systems Ltd (3SL), which is located in humble offices above Barrow’s indoor market. Read more
Details have emerged of Orion crew exploration vehicle design reconciliation decisions between NASA and prime contractor Lockheed Martin. The number of parachutes, retro-rocket location, heatshield structure and use of crushable zones have all been agreed between the US space agency and Lockheed, three months after the contractor was selected to develop the vehicle. Read more