Oct 10, 2010 | Blog, Education Station, NASA
Community college students in a pilot program will take the first steps toward potential technology careers as they develop robotic explorers at NASA field centers. Ninety students from community colleges in 23 states have been selected to travel to NASA’s...
Oct 9, 2010 | Blog, Education Station, Exploration, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Our Solar System, Space and Science
There’s heightened excitement by officials at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Analysis of the tiny contents within the Hayabusa sample capsule that returned to Earth from asteroid Itokawa may indeed be minute particles of the visited space rock....
Oct 9, 2010 | Benefits of Space Exploration, Blog, Commercial Space, Education Station, Exploration, Kids Space, NASA, Space Race, Space Tourism, Spaceports
Space industrialization and settlement of the high frontier will be the theme of a threshold conference to be held at month’s end. Space Manufacturing 14: Critical Technologies for Space Settlement conference will bring together futurists, space scientists and...
Oct 9, 2010 | Blog, China, Education Station, Exploration, Space Race, The Moon
China’s second lunar orbiter – Chang’E-2 – after a second braking action — the probe has settled into a new orbit around the Moon and has delivered its first data to Earth. There are seven scientific instruments, such as a stereo camera, laser altimeter, gamma...
Oct 8, 2010 | Blog, Education Station, Exploration, International Cooperation, NASA, Our Solar System, Space and Science, Space Research
Titan is Saturn’s largest moon, enshrouded by a smog-like haze. Work by a University of Arizona (UA) research team has simulated that haze, finding amino acids and nucleotide bases – the most important ingredients of life on Earth. “Our team is the first to be able to...
Oct 8, 2010 | Blog, Book Reviews, Commercial Space, Education Station, Exploration, Space Race, Space Tourism, Spaceports
The Wright Stuff – The Century of Effort Behind Your Ticket to Space By Derek Webber; Apogee Books; Burlington, Ontario Canada; $25.95 (soft cover); October 2010. Here’s an invaluable guide to the emergence of public space tourism. What the reader will find in...
Oct 6, 2010 | Blog, China, Education Station, Exploration, Space Race, The Moon
Launched on October 1, China’s Chang’e-2 spacecraft braked itself into an orbit around the Moon on October 6, Beijing local time. Firing its onboard engine for 30 minutes, the probe entered a 100 kilometer by 8,000 kilometer orbit. The craft takes some 12 hours to...
Oct 5, 2010 | Blog, China, Education Station, Exploration, Mars, NASA, Space and Science
BOULDER, Colorado – An innovative NASA Mars Orbiter is moving into the development stage. The mission is NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN for short. It will probe the past climate of Mars, including its potential for harboring life over...
Oct 4, 2010 | Blog, Education Station, Exploration, Space Race, The Moon
China’s Chang’e-2 is Moon-bound and on course to enter lunar orbit after five days of flight. Launched on October 1, Chang’e-2 is to start orbiting the Moon early this week. The Chinese spacecraft is to enter lunar orbit, initially about 100 kilometers above the...
Oct 1, 2010 | Blog, Commercial Space, Education Station, Exploration, Kids Space, Space Race, Space Tourism, Spaceports
The first drop test of – SpaceShipTwo – the suborbital spaceliner being built for Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic — appears to be near at hand. SpaceShipTwo is undergoing testing by Scaled Composites at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California. Taking...