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...
Jul 1, 2011 | Asteroid Exploration, Commercial Space, Exploration, Hubble Space Telescope, International Space Station, Space Shuttle, NASA, Roscosmos, Space and Science, The Moon, The Sun
NASA’s final shuttle flight represents a milestone that has many who work at the space agency committed to its success, though already nostalgic about the retiring orbiters and hopeful the passage will lead the nation to embark on bold new ventures. Poised at...
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...
Jun 26, 2011 | Blog, Book Reviews, Commercial Space, Education Station, Exploration, International Cooperation, International Space Station, NASA, Planet Earth, Space Tourism
My Dream of Stars – From Daughter of Iran to Space Pioneer by Anousheh Ansari with Homer Hickam; Palgrave Macmillan; New York, New York: $16.00 (softcover); $25.00 (hardcover); 2010. This is a love story…anchored here on Earth with her soulmate, Hamid – as well...
Jun 25, 2011 | Blog, Education Station, Exploration, NASA, Space and Science, The Moon, The Sun
It has been a long and loopy flight for two spacecraft. Now, after one and a half years and making more than 90 orbit maneuvers, along with numerous gravitational boosts, NASA’s ARTEMIS spacecraft have been repurposed – leaving orbit around Earth to arrive at their...