Jul 8, 2011 | Blog, Education Station, Exploration, International Space Station, Space Shuttle, NASA, Kids Space
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Florida – Record-breaking crowds have gathered here this morning for the hoped for flight of space plane Atlantis – the last shuttle out of town. It may be group optimism, but this morning the sky seems more agreeable than first predicted. As for...
Jul 7, 2011 | Ask the Expert, Asteroid Exploration, Blog, Education Station, Exploration, International Cooperation, Kids Space, Mars, NASA, Space Race, Space Shuttle
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Florida – The Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) is being pursued as the way to explore beyond low Earth orbit – back to the Moon, out to asteroids, and eventually to Mars. Regarding the decision to press ahead with Orion, Lori Garver, NASA...
Jul 6, 2011 | Ask the Expert, Blog, Canadian Space Agency, Education Station, Exploration, International Space Station, Space Shuttle, NASA, Kids Space, Space Research
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Florida – Thousands upon thousands of people are expected to arrive here to witness the final NASA space shuttle mission – the flight of Atlantis. So far, the only bit of negative news is the increasing prospect of foul weather delaying the...
Jul 3, 2011 | Blog, Education Station, Exploration, Kids Space, Mars, NASA, Our Solar System, Space and Science, The Moon
Now in prep status, a trio of NASA interplanetary missions that will be dispatched from Florida – headed for Jupiter, Earth’s Moon and Mars. First departure in early August is the Juno spacecraft that is targeted for giant Jupiter. Following a five-year cruise to...
Jun 30, 2011 | Blog, China, Education Station, Exploration, Kids Space, Space Race
The next step in China’s space program is launch of that country’s first space station module. The Tiangong-1module has been transported to the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Gansu Province. Now on site, the hardware is slated to undergo final tests before its...
Jun 30, 2011 | Ask the Expert, Blog, Education Station, Exploration, Kids Space, NASA, Space and Science, The Moon
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) continues to crank out scads of data and imagery of Earth’s Moon. The Moon-circling spacecraft was launched on June 18, 2009. It has been busy providing new scientific information about our celestial neighbor in gravitational...
Jun 29, 2011 | Blog, Education Station, Exploration, Kids Space, Mars, NASA, Our Solar System, Space and Science, This Week in Space
This day…50 years ago! The Earth-orbiting Transit IV-A became the first flight test of a nuclear power source developed for use in spacecraft. Transit IV-A was powered both by solar cells and a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) using Plutonium 238 for fuel....
Jun 29, 2011 | Ask the Expert, Blog, Comets, Education Station, Exploration, International Cooperation, NASA, Our Solar System, Space and Science, The Moon
Scientists are puzzled. Our Moon is dotted with swirls, considered among the most puzzling features on the surface of the Moon. These bright, looping patterns are unlike anything seen in the solar system. While the origin of the lunar swirls has been discussed for...
Jun 27, 2011 | Blog, Commercial Space, Education Station, Exploration, Space Tourism, Spaceports
SpaceShipTwo – the private spaceliner for space tourists – flew today on its 15th drop test over the Mojave Air and Space Port in California. The unique and futuristic suborbital vehicle is being readied to haul pay-per-view passengers to and from the edge of space....
Jun 27, 2011 | Blog, Commercial Space, Education Station, Exploration, International Cooperation, International Space Station, Planet Earth, Space and Science
A Canadian firm has announced it intends to offer the world’s first ever, live HD video feed of Earth from space. UrtheCast (pronounced “EarthCast”) is working in an exclusive relationship with Russia’s RSC Energia to build, launch, install, and operate two cameras on...