Dec 6, 2010 | Blog, Education Station, European Space Agency, Exploration, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Kids Space, Our Solar System, Space and Science
Japan is initiating a hoped for start of a new era in Venusian exploration with the orbit insertion around the veiled planet on December 7 of its AKATSUKI spacecraft. However, the exact whereabouts of the orbiter is not known due to loss of contact with the craft by...
Dec 5, 2010 | Blog, Education Station, Exploration, International Cooperation, Kids Space, Mars, NASA, Space and Science, Space Research
What every good Mars explorer needs – an exercise plan for the red planet. At the Haughton-Mars Project on Devon Island, High Arctic, researchers there will be using a Made-in-USA handheld exerciser – a unique patented device that has resistance in two directions and...
Nov 28, 2010 | Ask the Expert, Blog, Book Reviews, Education Station, Exploration, Hubble Space Telescope, Kids Space, Space and Science
How Old is the Universe? by David Weintraub; Princeton University Press; Princeton, New Jersey; $29.95; January 2011. This is a very engaging and readable book that will help you wrap your mind around an agreed to astronomical actuality: The universe is 13.7 billion...
Nov 23, 2010 | Blog, Commercial Space, Education Station, Kids Space, Mars, NASA, Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle, Our Solar System, The Moon
Industry space planners are scoping out next steps beyond low Earth orbit – but with a trajectory twist: Exploring the Moon’s hidden farside from the L2 Lagrange Point. Stationed in that L2 slot a piloted spacecraft would be synchronized with the Moon in its orbit...
Nov 21, 2010 | Blog, Commercial Space, Constellation Program, Education Station, Exploration, International Space Station, Kids Space, Mars, NASA, Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle, The Moon
A NASA, university and industry team is studying mid-decade human exploration beyond low Earth orbit. Detailed by the team are options for long-duration “Gateway” habitats. An interim look at such a prospect is being briefed at high-levels within NASA, a plan that...
Nov 20, 2010 | Capitol Hill News, Commercial Space, Education Station, International Cooperation, Kids Space, Space Research
If you’re trying to avoid future collisions of satellites, something akin to a space traffic control system is likely in the offing. This year alone, dozens of spacecraft have been purposely jockeyed around to lessen the chance of running into trouble. Today it’s...
Nov 20, 2010 | Blog, Book Reviews, Education Station, Hubble Space Telescope, International Cooperation, International Space Station, Kids Space, Mars, NASA, Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle
Trailblazing Mars – NASA’s Next Giant Leap by Pat Duggins; University Press of Florida; Gainesville, Florida; $24.95 (hard cover); 2010. The distant reddish hue of Mars in the night sky is a magnet for exploration. Eye-catching glimpses of the red planet were first...
Nov 19, 2010 | Blog, Education Station, Exploration, Kids Space, NASA, Space and Science
Tiny, hold in your hand satellites, are dubbed CubeSats. They hitch rides on boosters carrying larger satellites. CubeSats can conduct all types of experiments, from Earth remote sensing to monitoring the space environment. According to Stanford news writer, Louis...
Nov 13, 2010 | Blog, Commercial Space, Education Station, Exploration, Kids Space, Space Race, Space Tourism, Spaceports
The privatization of commercial space travel has taken a step forward. On November 9, The Spaceship Company (TSC) broke ground on a new assembly, integration and test hangar at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California. A subsidiary of Northrop Grumman Corporation,...
Nov 10, 2010 | Ask the Expert, Blog, Education Station, Events, Exploration, Kids Space, Planet Earth
Two American aerospace heroes are to meet at week’s end at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. The first human to step onto the Moon, Neil Armstrong, will present the Neil Armstrong Medal of Excellence to Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, captain of the US...