Oct 26, 2010 | Ask the Expert, Blog, Education Station, Exploration, International Cooperation, NASA, Our Solar System, Planet Earth, Space and Science
If a medium-sized asteroid smacked into deep ocean waters here on Earth, what are the consequences? Elisabetta Pierazzo, a senior scientist at the Planetary Science Institute (PSI) in Tucson, has some bad news. An asteroid crashing into the deep ocean could have...
Oct 24, 2010 | Ask the Expert, Blog, Book Reviews, Commercial Space, Education Station, Exploration, Kids Space, Space Race, Space Research, Space Tourism
Space Commerce – The Inside Story By The People Who Are Making It Happen by Langdon Morris and Kenneth J. Cox, Editors, An Aerospace Technology Working Group Book; $27.95; 2010. Here’s a very readable and informative look at giving space the business! That is, how...
Oct 16, 2010 | Ask the Expert, Blog, China, Education Station, Exploration, NASA, Space Race, The Moon
Following a trio of braking maneuvers, China’s Chang’E-2 orbiter is circling the Moon in a 100 kilometer by 100 kilometer orbit. The Moon probe has been transmitting science data to two ground stations back here on Earth, in Beijing and Yunnan Province. In the last...
Oct 15, 2010 | Ask the Expert, Blog, Education Station, Exploration, International Cooperation, NASA, Our Solar System, Planet Earth, Space and Science
How best to deal with an incoming Near Earth Object – or NEO for short — is getting increased attention in Washington, D.C. It’s called planetary defense, an ability to fend off an asteroid on a trajectory that will strike Earth. That vision has moved from...
Oct 13, 2010 | Ask the Expert, Blog, China, Education Station, Exploration, International Cooperation, International Space Station, NASA, Space and Science, Space Race
NASA’s leader, Charles Bolden, is ready to visit China at the invite of the Director of the China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSEO). Bolden will travel to that country October 16-21. During his visit, NASA’s Bolden is expected to conduct site sojourns to Chinese...
Oct 10, 2010 | Ask the Expert, Benefits of Space Exploration, Blog, Education Station, Exploration, NASA, Planet Earth
Trapped underground since early August, thirty-three miners in Chile will be using a modified NASA-designed rescue capsule – able to bring each miner topside from over 2,000 feet below ground. News reports have spotlighted the efforts of NASA engineer Clinton Cragg,...
Sep 29, 2010 | Ask the Expert, Benefits of Space Exploration, Blog, Commercial Space, European Space Agency, Exploration, International Cooperation, NASA, Space Research
PRAGUE, Czech Republic – Political, institutional or industrial uncertainties are a real handicap for space agencies as well as for industry. That’s a take home message from a plenary meeting dedicated to the impact of governments’ space policy changes on industry –...
Sep 28, 2010 | Ask the Expert, Blog, Capitol Hill News, Commercial Space, Education Station, European Space Agency, International Cooperation, International Space Station, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Mars, NASA, Planet Earth, Space and Science
PRAGUE, Czech Republic – Here at the 61st International Astronautical Congress, some 3,000 experts from around the world are discussing every facet of 21st century space activity. The theme of the gathering taking place September 27 – October 1 is “Space for human...
Sep 13, 2010 | Ask the Expert, Blog, Education Station, Exploration, International Cooperation, Kids Space, Mars, NASA, Space and Science, Space Research, The Moon
How does your garden grow…if you’re on the Moon or Mars? Answering that question is on the scientific menu of researchers at the University of Arizona (UA) Controlled Environment Agriculture Center (CEAC). They are demonstrating that plants from Earth could be grown...
Sep 6, 2010 | Ask the Expert, Blog, Book Reviews, Constellation Program, Education Station, Exploration, NASA, Space Race, Space Shuttle, Space Tourism, Spaceports, The Moon
The Spaceflight Vault – A History of NASA’s Manned Missions by Mark Mayfield; Whitman Publishing, LLC; Atlanta, Georgia; $49.95 (hard cover/box); 2010. Here’s a book that keeps on giving and giving. This volume is designed as a scrapbook, but also provides a...