Weekly Space Hangout – Oct. 10, 2014: Major Telescopes and Moon Water
Host: Fraser Cain (@fcain) Guests: Morgan Rehnberg (cosmicchatter.org / @cosmic_chatter) Ramin Skibba (@raminskibba) Brian Koberlein (@briankoberlein)
NASA Orders Restart to Commercial Space Taxi Work
Declaring that the future survival of the International Space Station (ISS) was “jeopardized,” NASA issued a statement late Thursday, Oct. 9, ordering Boeing and SpaceX to restart work to develop commercial crew vehicles under the Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) contracts awarded to each firm on Sept. 16. NASA took this action despite a protest …
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Touchdown! Virgin Spacecraft Prototype Soars Over Mojave, Testing Re-Entry System
Virgin Galactic has finished yet another stepping-stone to its first commercial spaceflight. The New Mexico-based company sent SpaceShipTwo aloft on a test of the re-entry system Oct. 7, making a safe landing at the Mojave Air and Space Port. The company is among a handful of firms competing to bring well-heeled tourists into suborbital space. …
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Here’s What It Looks Like To Build The Lynx Spacecraft
EDIT Oct. 8, 12:14 p.m. EDT: This article has been amended at XCOR’s request to remove a reference to a specific deal. Ready, set … launch? That’s what XCOR is hoping to accomplish as the company continues building its Lynx spacecraft prototype. The company announced this week that it has mated the cockpit to the …
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Watch the Space Station Zip Across the Sun: Incredible New Views from Thierry Legault
Take a look at the incredible detail in the latest work from astrophotographer extraordinaire Thierry Legault. He captured images of the International Space Station transiting in front of the Sun in September 2014, and visible in the images are several of the visiting docked spacecraft (at one point in September there were 5 ships parked …
How Private Space Companies Make Money Exploring The Final Frontier
TORONTO, CANADA – There’s a big difference in thinking between governments and the private companies that participate in space. While entities such as NASA can work on understanding basic human health or exploring the universe for the sake of a greater understanding, companies have a limitation: they need to eventually make a profit. This was …
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Amazing Timelapse: Watch the Milky Way Spin Above the Space Station
Have you ever sat outside on a starry night and just watched the stars move slowly above you? Here’s a video that shows what it is like to sit back on a spaceship and gaze at the ever-changing sky above. This timelapse was compiled from recent images taken from the International Space Station. Hugh Carrick-Allan, …
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Boeing and SpaceX Win NASA’s ‘Space Taxi’ Contracts for Space Station Flights
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL – NASA Administrator Charles Bolden announced that Boeing and SpaceX have won the high stakes and history making NASA competition to build the first ever private ‘space taxis’ to launch American astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) and restore America’s capability to launch our crews from American soil for the …
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Could You Win A Trip To Space? New Group Aims To Use Contest Fees To Support Space Groups, Too
A new organization aims to send people to space on private spacecraft while supporting worthy causes on Earth at the same time. Spaceship Earth Grants has launched a contest with a 1-in-50,000 chance for the ultimate ride — a trip into space — and other prizes as well. For example, parabolic flight opportunities will be …
Boeing Completes All CST-100 Commercial Crew CCiCAP Milestones on Time and on Budget for NASA – Ahead of Competitors
In the ‘new race to space’ to restore our capability to launch Americans to orbit from American soil with an American-built commercial ‘space taxi’ as rapidly and efficiently as possible, Boeing has moved to the front of the pack with their CST-100 spaceship by completing all their assigned NASA milestones on time and on budget …