Space and astronomy news
A new giveaway opportunity! This time it is the Blu-ray edition of The Universe: Our Solar System. The Blu-ray edition of the History Channel’s The Universe consists of 10 episodes from the first season, and uses cutting-edge computer-generated imagery to bring distant planets and faraway stars up close. We’ve long been fascinated with the sky …
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Twenty-one teams are hard at work trying to win the Google Lunar X PRIZE, a $30 million international competition to safely land a robot on the surface of the Moon. The GLXP folks released a video this week as an update on how the teams are progressing. The challenge is not only to land a …
[/caption] Talking with the astronauts living in the NEEMO habitat – NASA’s Extreme Environment Mission Operations – is a bit like talking with Darth Vader; there’s a regular hiss of air intake and outflow in the background. But the ever-present pastel blue hue in the webcam feed lets you know these astronauts aren’t in space. …
Continue reading “Finding NEEMO Helps NASA Prepare for the Future”
Bad weather postponed a scheduled multi-mission launch of an H-IIA rocket from Japan early Tuesday, which includes the first Japanese probe to Venus and an experimental solar sail. The next launch attempt for the “Akatsuki” Venus Climate Orbiter and the solar sail called IKAROS will be Thursday, May 20, at 21:58 UTC (May 20 at …
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[/caption] Note: To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 13 mission, for 13 days, Universe Today will feature “13 Things That Saved Apollo 13,” discussing different turning points of the mission with NASA engineer Jerry Woodfill. Going to the Moon was big. It was a giant stride in doing what had once been thought …
Continue reading “13 Things That Saved Apollo 13, Part 12: Lunar Orbit Rendezvous”
The Space Shuttle, which has been used since 1982, is ready to be replaced. The fleet of Space Shuttles has completed over 130 missions and made numerous discoveries; however, the shuttles are nearing the end of their lifespan. They are scheduled to be decommissioned in 2010 or soon after. There are a number of replacements …
[/caption] (Editor’s Note: Ken Kremer is in Florida for Universe Today covering the upcoming Endeavour launch attempt.) A Russian cargo robot carrying 2 ½ tons of food, fuel and essential supplies carried out an automated docking at the International Space Station (ISS) late Thursday at 11:26 PM EST following a 2 day orbital chase. The …
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Here are some Apollo 11 pictures; of the crew, the spaceships and the Moon landing. Here’s a picture of the Apollo 11 crewmembers. On the left is Commander Neil Armstrong, the first person to walk on the Moon. In the middle is Command Module Pilot Michael Collins, and then Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin on …
Researchers hoping to conduct scientific experiments on commercial suborbital spacecraft completed the first-ever round of training last week at the National Aerospace Training and Research (NASTAR) Center in Pennsylvania. The researchers hope to take advantage of the prospect of quick, low-cost and frequent access to the microgravity environment of suborbital space. They successfully went through …
Continue reading “Scientists Get Ready for Suborbital Flights”
Ain’t no doubt about it… Space is cool! And this year Russian space exploration is not only cool – but ice cold. This year’s International Festival of Snow, Ice and Light sculptures “Vyugovey” will take place in Moscow from December 25 to February 28 in the Memorial Museum of Space Exploration {ark on Prospekt Mira, …