Space and astronomy news
Another busy episode of the Weekly Space Hangout, with more than a dozen space stories covered by a collection of space journalists. This week’s panel included Alan Boyle, Dr. Nicole Gugliucci, Amy Shira Teitel, David Dickinson, Dr. Matthew Francis, and Jason Major. Hosted by Fraser Cain. We discussed: The most powerful gamma ray burst… ever …
Attitude and altitude are important factors for flying a spaceship. But How do you control the International Space Station, a ship the size of a US football field (or five hockey rinks — a better reference for Canadians!)? And where does this happen? Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield answers these questions from inside the ISS. And …
Continue reading “How to Steer the Space Station: Chris Hadfield Explains”
When the spaceship Enterprise — Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo, not the Star Trek spacecraft — fired its rocket engines for the first time in flight last week, it set off a new frenzy of talk about tourists flying in space. More than 500 people have made their $200,000 reservations; the price is actually going up to …
Continue reading “Virgin Galactic: We Don’t Anticipate Motion Sickness”
1st fully integrated Antares rocket – decaled with huge American flag – stands firmly erect at seaside Launch Pad 0-A at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on 6 April 2013 following night time rollout. Maiden Antares test launch is scheduled for 17 April 2013. Later operational flights are critical to resupply the ISS. Credit: Ken Kremer …
Rumors have been leaking out for over a week, but now according to Alan Boyle at NBC News’ Cosmic Log, a senior Obama administration official has confirmed that $100 million is being sought for NASA’s budget request for the coming fiscal year for work to allow a robotic spaceship to capture a small asteroid and …
Continue reading “Official Confirms NASA Plan to Capture an Asteroid”
The picture perfect docking of the SpaceX Dragon capsule to the International Space Station (ISS) on March 3 and the triumphant ocean splashdown last week on March 26 nearly weren’t to be – and it all goes back to a microscopic manufacturing mistake in the oxidizer tank check valves that no one noticed long before …
Continue reading “How the Air Force and SpaceX Saved Dragon from Doom”
ISS Commander Chris Hadfield plans surprise Easter egg hunt for station crew today – Easter Sunday, March 31, 2013. Credit: NASA/Chris Hadfield Updated with more astounding ‘Easter from Space’ photos by Chris Hadfield ! Dont miss the scrumptious ‘Easter Finale’ – below Thank you Chris ![/caption] Hush, hush ! Don’t’ tell his crew, but Canadian …
Continue reading “Happy Easter Sunday from the ISS ! Crew Hunts Easter Eggs & Goodies”
While a quest for green beer in space would be difficult, we’re happy to report there are other ways you can celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day while looking at the night sky. Just check out the nebulae and aurorae in these pictures! A word of caution, these pictures are taken by cameras that expose light for …
Space is a dangerous and sometimes fatal business, but happily there were moments where a situation happened and the astronauts were able to recover. An example: today (March 16) in 1966, Neil Armstrong and Dave Scott were just starting the Gemini 8 mission. They latched on to an Agena target in the hopes of doing …
Continue reading “Survival: Terrifying Moments in Space Flight”
We’ve yet to see an authentic and convincing UFO video, and this one takes the cake. It is completely fake. Not one thing in it is real. Seriously. If you haven’t yet seen or heard about the “UFO Over Santa Clarita” video (above), it appears to be footage taken from a handheld camera, shakily taking …