Space Programs
NASA, Soviet and Russian space programs and the International Space Station
Paradigms Lost
There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things. – Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince.In his famous book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Thomas Kuhn described two t...
October 23, 2009 |
By Paul D. Spudis
Amelia's Astronaut Connection
The grandson of Amelia Earhart's photographer will carry her scarf higher than she ever did—into orbit.
October 23, 2009 |
By Jill Michaels
Club Zvezda
When did cosmonauts get so hip?The current Russian residents of the International Space Station, Maksim Surayev and Roman Romanenko, are two of the loosest, laughing-est spacemen we've seen in a long time. Maybe it's because they just spent ten days in orbit with a clown.Whatever the reason, Suraye...
October 22, 2009 |
By Tony Reichhardt
Video: Space Station Flyover
On the day of the LCROSS lunar impact, a NASA ground camera normally used to track space shuttle launches caught this video of the International Space Station passing over the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.Here's how to see the station for yourself, from your own backyard. (Video: NASA)
October 21, 2009 |
By Tony Reichhardt
Ares I-X, One Week and Counting
NASA has a new rocket on the launch pad for the first time in almost 30 years.The Ares I-X, the first test of the new Ares rocket design, is scheduled for October 27 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This first flight is meant to demonstrate control and staging of the Ares 1 crew launcher, ...
October 20, 2009 |
By Tony Reichhardt
They're Relieved on Nibiru, Too
If you know children who are sick with worry about the supposed end of the world in 2012, here's the antidote: a six-page brief by NASA Ames Research Center astrobiologist David Morrison explaining why the whole Mayan calendar scare is a load of nonsense.The doomsday scenario, in case you hadn't he...
October 15, 2009 |
By Tony Reichhardt
Space Exploration Sets Sail on Lunar Water
Water is an extremely useful substance in space. The recent finding of water on the Moon has generated considerable comment in the space community; a quick search on Google using the phrase “lunar water” returns over 7.66 million hits. Lunar water’s significance lies not in its role as a medium f...
October 04, 2009 |
By Paul D. Spudis
Gas stations in space
The debate over what kind of rocket to use for NASA's exploration program has become so clouded by politics and salesmanship that it's hard for outsiders to tell any more which approach would be best, or even if it's still possible to send people beyond Earth orbit. The Augustine commission says it...
September 29, 2009 |
By Tony Reichhardt
Son of Israeli Astronaut Dies
An F-16 crash has claimed the life of Lieutenant Assaf Ramon, the son of Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon, who died when the space shuttle Columbia broke apart in 2003. One year after losing his father, Assad revealed his own astronaut aspirations. "I want to share my father's experiences, and to under...
September 14, 2009 |
By Pat Trenner
Devils’ Advocates
Some people go to Las Vegas to gamble, others to learn about Mars.
September 2009 |
By Tony Reichhardt
Japan's new space truck
There's been a lot of fretting in space policy circles about the launch "gap" after the U.S. space shuttle retires, and how NASA will manage to ferry astronauts to the space station when it has no space vehicle of its own. Equally important is how cargo will be delivered. Now that six people are l...
September 11, 2009 |
By Tony Reichhardt
Last Breath
As NASA prepares to shut down a historic wind tunnel in Virginia, some hope for a stay of execution.
September 10, 2009 |
By Michael Klesius
I Aim at the Stars…but sometimes I only make viewgraphs
Over the long holiday weekend, Turner Classic Movies regaled us with a really obscure one – the 1960 biopic, I Aim at the Stars, starring Curd Jürgens. This movie is a biography of Wernher von Braun, the German rocket scientist who built the V-2 for Hitler and the Saturn V for America. Although n...
September 09, 2009 |
By Paul D. Spudis
Back to Surveyor Crater
Over the next year or so, NASA's LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) will be systematically photographing the Apollo landing sites from orbit. Here's the most recent view, showing the Apollo 12 landing site where Pete Conrad and Alan Bean came down in Nobember 1969, near the same spot where the...
September 04, 2009 |
By Tony Reichhardt
Mars, and Step on It
When it’s not the journey but the destination that counts.
September 2009 |
By Michael Klesius
Light fuse. Step away.
...But not necessarily in that order, when you're dealing with the world's largest solid rocket motor. In fact, engineers who tried last Thursday to light the ATK five-segment motor planned for NASA's Ares I rocket, were in an underground bunker half a mile away when ignition was to occur at a quar...
August 31, 2009 |
By Mike Klesius
Scientists vs. The Icy Commander
In 1961, Alan B. Shepard’s successful 15-minute sub-orbital hop gave President Kennedy the high cover needed to announce a reach for the Moon, “by the end of this decade.” America’s spirit was lifted and Alan Shepard became a national hero, getting ticker tape parades and White House receptions. T...
August 21, 2009 |
By Paul D. Spudis
Two Views of The Vision
Last week, the Augustine Commission held another public meeting in Washington DC and Dr. John Marburger testified. For those just joining our story in progress, Marburger was President Bush’s Science Advisor and the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the White House between...
August 11, 2009 |
By Paul D. Spudis
Magnificent Isolation
Rather, the end of it. The crew of Apollo 11 didn't realize how magnificent it was until they were thrust into a frenzied world after 19 days of quiet quarantine. From the moment they splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on July 24, 1969, they'd been penned up like three men in an episode of The Twil...
August 11, 2009 |
By Mike Klesius
