spaceflight

11 Stories

First Saudi Woman Is Headed to Space in Very Pricey Trip

Along with a record-holding NASA astronaut on a very expensive private SpaceX flight

(Newser) - Saudi Arabia’s first astronauts in decades rocketed toward the International Space Station on a chartered multimillion-dollar flight Sunday. SpaceX launched the ticket-holding crew, led by a retired NASA astronaut now working for the company that arranged the trip. Also on board, per the AP : a US businessman who now...

And They're Off: SpaceX Launch Makes History

Inspiration4 mission sends 4 space tourists into orbit

(Newser) - SpaceX’s first private flight blasted off Wednesday night with two contest winners, a health care worker, and their rich sponsor, the most ambitious leap yet in space tourism. It was the first time a rocket streaked toward orbit with an all-amateur crew—no professional astronauts. The Dragon capsule’s...

Richard Branson's 3am Visitor Before Space Flight: Elon Musk

Tesla founder stopped by Branson's kitchen

(Newser) - Richard Branson got a visit from another billionaire in the wee hours of Sunday, just before his historic trip to space: Elon Musk. The Virgin Group founder tweeted a photo of himself with the (barefoot) Tesla founder two hours before the flight launched, Business Insider reports. Branson later explained at...

NASA Wants You for a 'Unique Adventure'

You can get paid to live for 8 months in social isolation as study for future moon, Mars missions

(Newser) - When astronauts venture to the International Space Station, they may be socially isolated from everyone else on Earth for months on end, but they're able to spread out and take part in activities that can keep them occupied during downtime. But, as BGR.com notes, with a manned mission...

Waiting for Astronauts Back on Earth: Fame, Accolades ... Herpes?
Astronauts'
Newest Health
Concern: Herpes
NEW STUDY
Mar 19, 2019 2:03 AM CDT

Astronauts' Newest Health Concern: Herpes

Study finds dormant viruses can reactivate in individuals who've endured stresses of space travel

(Newser) - Astronauts who "boldly go where no man has gone before," as William Shatner's Captain Kirk once put it , likely anticipate their body will undergo certain changes while in space. But how many have guessed they might see a herpes flare-up? New research from NASA shows that the...

Apollo 12 Astronaut Who Flew to Moon Dies
Apollo 12
Astronaut
Who Flew
to Moon Dies 
OBITUARY
Nov 8, 2017 7:01 AM CST

Apollo 12 Astronaut Who Flew to Moon Dies

Richard Gordon was 'the kind of guy you want when you go to the moon'

(Newser) - Apollo 12 astronaut Richard "Dick" F. Gordon Jr., one of a dozen men who flew around the moon but didn't land there, has died, NASA said. He was 88. Gordon was a test pilot when he was chosen for NASA's third group of astronauts in 1963. He...

Soyuz Lands Safely in Kazakhstan

'Bulls-eye' landing for trio that oversaw first private spaceflight

(Newser) - A Soyuz space capsule carrying a three-man multinational crew touched down safely today on the southern steppes of Kazakhstan, bringing an end to their 193-day mission to the International Space Station. Around a dozen recovery helicopters zeroed into the vast uncultivated land mass, where NASA astronaut Donald Pettit, Russia's...

Private Spaceship to Attempt to Reach Orbit, Return

NASA's future could hinge on Elon Musk's SpaceX launch

(Newser) - Elon Musk’s SpaceX firm is ready to boldly go where no non-governmental entity has gone before. Tomorrow, the company will launch what, if all goes well, will be the first private spacecraft to reach orbit, and then return to earth. The spacecraft, dubbed the "Dragon," won’t...

Mock Mars Mission Blasts Off
 Mock Mars Mission Blasts Off 
Mar 31, 2009 12:26 PM CDT

Mock Mars Mission Blasts Off

Experimenters will spend 105 days locked in fake spaceship

(Newser) - Europe launched its first shot at a manned mission to the Red Planet today—by locking six scientists in a tiny capsule in Moscow for 105 days to simulate the voyage, the BBC reports. The volunteers, who can leave the experiment but score $20000 if they make it, will perform...

Iran Aims to Put a Man in Space
 Iran Aims to Put a Man in Space 
Aug 21, 2008 5:30 PM CDT

Iran Aims to Put a Man in Space

State also hopes to aid other Muslim countries via satellite program

(Newser) - Iran plans to send a manned mission into orbit within the next 10 years, the CBC reports. The news comes on the heels of a recent, and disputed, rocket launch the Iranians claim put a satellite, its first, into space. The country says its space presence would monitor weather and...

Islamic Rituals Face a Celestial Test

Scholars send astronaut aloft with guide to following Koran in orbit

(Newser) - He wasn’t the first Muslim in space, but Malaysia's Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor will be the first to follow customized guidelines for religious observance in orbit, the Guardian reports. Praying toward Mecca and fasting between sunrise and sunset seemed impossible until scholars spent a year bringing the challenges down to...

11 Stories