Upcoming Shuttle Flight: A Healthy Dose of Medical Investigation

Here’s a medical mix: the space shuttle, immune systems in space, and elderly and young children here on Earth. Onboard space shuttle Discovery’s STS-133 mission, there are sixteen rodent hitchhikers, riding in their own self-contained modules. The mice aboard...

Space Leaders Outline Issues, Challenges Ahead

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 β€œSpace for human...

James Webb Space Telescope Task: Spotting Exo-planet Volcanoes

One new assignment for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope: Spot erupting volcanoes on rocky worlds orbiting distant stars. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a large, infrared-optimized space telescope, scheduled for launch in 2014. JWST will find the first...