Orbiting Telescope Will Retire

World's first commercial supply ship has 'new car' smell

(AP) - Space station astronauts floated into the Dragon today, a day after its heralded arrival as the world's first commercial supply ship. NASA astronaut Donald Pettit, the first one inside the docked capsule, said the Dragon looks like it carries about as much cargo as his pickup truck back home in Houston. It has the smell of a brand new car, he added. "I spent quite a bit of time poking around in here this morning, just looking at the engineering and the layout, and I'm very pleased," Pettit said from the brilliant white compartment. More»

Dragon capsule successfully captured by space station astronauts

(AP) - The privately bankrolled Dragon capsule made a historic arrival at the International Space Station today, triumphantly captured by astronauts wielding a giant robot arm. SpaceX is the first private company to accomplish such a feat: a commercial cargo delivery into the cosmos. "This really is, I think, going to be recognized as a significantly historical step forward in space travel," said Elon Musk, the billionaire maestro of SpaceX. More»

He gives rare interview ... to Australian accountants

(NEWSER) - Fans of the space program are in for a treat: The normally reticent Neil Armstrong sat down for an hourlong interview about that moon landing of his with, of all outlets, the Certified Practicing Accountants of Australia. Some highlights:

• 50-50: "I thought we had a 90% chance of getting back safely to Earth on that flight but only a 50-50 chance of making a landing on that first attempt. There were so many unknowns ..."
• Close call: When Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin descended to the moon's surface in the Eagle, the on-board computer was guiding them toward a rocky, steep area. "Not a good place to land at all," says Armstrong. "I took over manually and flew it like a helicopter out to the west direction, got into a smoother area without so many rocks and found a level area and was able to get it down there safely before we ran out of fuel." There was "something like 20 seconds of fuel left."

NASA wants to put humans in orbit around Mars by 2033

(NEWSER) - NASA wants to put humans into Mars' orbit by 2033, with the goal of having astronauts return to Earth with a canister of Mars rocks that would have been collected earlier and put into orbit. The goal was unveiled this week by an internal NASA study group working on the agency's Mars program with the goal of finding ways for NASA's human and robotic sides to integrate their work. More»

Dragon capsule comes within 1.5 miles in anticipation of docking

(NEWSER) - So far, so good for SpaceX : Its Dragon capsule came within 1.5 miles of the International Space Station today, in preparation for docking with it tomorrow. The fly-by, performed as the capsule orbited Earth at around 17,000mph, was confirmed by NASA, the Los Angeles Times reports. Now, tests will be done to determine if the Dragon is ready to dock. If it is, the Dragon will be pulled in tomorrow morning; if that is successful, SpaceX will become the first private firm to dock a craft at the ISS. More»