Feb 15, 2011 | Commercial Space, Constellation Program, Education, Exploration, International Space Station, Space Shuttle, NASA, Mars, Our Solar System, Planet Earth, Space and Science, The Moon
President Obama’s proposed budget for 2012 locks NASA spending at $18.72 billion, or 2010 levels for the next five years, while at the same time initiating a delayed transition away from the previous administration’s Constellation program with plans...
Feb 14, 2011 | Blog, Comets, Education Station, Exploration, NASA, Our Solar System, Space and Science
NASA’s Stardust-New Exploration of Tempel 1 (Stardust-NExT) is on target. Mission controllers report that they are pleased with final optical navigation solutions that show the predicted delivery of the spacecraft for a comet rendezvous is within a “green zone.” The...
Feb 13, 2011 | Commercial Space, Constellation Program, Exploration, International Space Station, Space Shuttle, NASA, Mars, Planet Earth, Space and Science, The Moon
NASA’s budget outlook — along with that of most federal agencies — is in new flux. And the search for clarity and consequences is not for the impatient. On Monday, President Obama will unveil the administration’s proposed budget for 2012,...
Feb 11, 2011 | Blog, Comets, Education Station, Exploration, Kids Space, NASA, Our Solar System, Space and Science
If you want to express a little love for comets, check out the offer tied to the upcoming February 14 flyby of NASA’s Stardust spacecraft of comet Tempel 1. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory has set up a little celestial love campaign. Participants can spread the love...
Feb 10, 2011 | Commercial Space, Constellation Program, European Space Agency, Exploration, Hubble Space Telescope, International Space Station, Space Shuttle, NASA, Legislative Activity, Space and Science, Space Research
NASA Inspector General Paul Martin underscored the urgency of addressing the uncertainty over the agency’s human spaceflight program in testimony presented Thursday to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science. The Appropriations...
Feb 10, 2011 | Exploration, International Space Station, Space Shuttle, NASA, Planet Earth, Space and Science, Space Research
NASA is facing a “$379 million budget cut” under the 2011 federal spending reductions proposed on Wednesday by the House Appropriations Committee. However, Congress and the Obama Administration never passed a budget for the current federal fiscal year...
Feb 9, 2011 | Blog, Education Station, Exploration, NASA, Our Solar System, Space and Science
The first image of comet Tempel 1 taken by NASA’s Stardust spacecraft is a composite made from observations on Jan. 18 and 19, 2011. The panel on the right highlights the location of comet Tempel 1 in the frame. On Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14 in U.S. time...
Feb 8, 2011 | International Cooperation, Planet Earth, Space and Science
The recently released National Security Space Policy outlines a strategy for greater U. S. global leadership in the uses of near-Earth space, a realm increasingly essential to America’s well being while at the same time growing increasingly congested, contested...
Feb 3, 2011 | Exploration, NASA, Our Solar System, Space and Science, Space Research, The Sun
NASA’s Kepler space telescope has made major new strides in the search for extrasolar planets, producing its first candidates for Earth-sized worlds and the first worlds orbiting within what’s considered the habitable zones of stars, astronomers...
Feb 2, 2011 | Ask the Expert, Book Reviews, Education Station, European Space Agency, Exploration, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Kids Space, Mars, NASA, Our Solar System, Planet Earth, Space and Science, The Moon, The Sun, Why Space
The 50 Most Extreme Places In Our Solar System by David Baker and Todd Ratcliff; The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press; Cambridge, Massachusetts; $27.95 (Hardcover); 2010. Readers of all backgrounds will love this book. The volume is beautifully produced,...