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Space: Final Frontier

Started by Imperator; Last updated May 4, 08 11:00 AM CDT by SeacoastNH | View history

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Space: Final Frontier

"The Earth is the cradle of humanity, but mankind cannot stay in the cradle forever." -Konstantin Tsiolkovsky

Nearly four decades after Neil Armstrong took his giant leap for mankind, the race is on—again. And this time, the course has expanded, with government scientists reaching outward towards Mars, and private entrepreneurs, from Amazon's Jeff Bezos to Virgin's Richard Branson, jumping in to open up the wonders of the universe to anyone who's got the cash. Branson's Virgin Galactic aims to launch in 2009 with $200K orbits, but the wealthy and willing can already pony up $25 mil for a journey to the Russian space station. Too bad PanAm didn't hang around for the second act—they once had a waiting list of 93,000 for travel to the moon.

Stories

Stories 21 - 40 of 276

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June 2008
- Astronomers Throw Pluto a Bone
  
  newser | BBC | Jun 12, 08 11:46 AM CDT
  
  Pluto-fans depressed over the former planet's demotion may be cheered by a new decision that small, nearly spherical objects orbiting beyond Neptune will be called "plutoids." The new name has been sanctioned by the International Astronomical Union, the same organization that stripped Pluto of its planetary status 2 years ago, reports the BBC. More »
- Shake 'N Bake: Unclogged Phoenix Ovens Ready
  
  newser | Los Angeles Times | Jun 12, 08 7:26 AM CDT
  
  Scientists were cheering yesterday after a tricky operation succeeded in shaking Martian dirt into the Phoenix lander's oven, the Los Angeles Times . The spacecraft will now spend the next few weeks heating up soil samples and analyzing gases. Scientists hope the tests and photos being sent back today will help them understand why the planet's strange, clumpy soil is so different from what they expected. More »
- New Telescope Joins Alien Hunt
  
  newser | Space.com | Jun 11, 08 2:47 PM CDT
  
  If ET is within a hop, skip, and a solar system, a shiny new European telescope might just turn him up, Space.com reports. Made up of up to 25,000 antennae scattered throughout Europe, the LOFAR, or Low Frequency Array, will be able to scan light signals overlooked by higher-frequency telescopes of yore. If aliens are like us, they’ll use those frequencies for radio and TV signals. More »
- Google's Brin Books Flight to Space Station
  
  newser | New York Times | Jun 11, 08 9:03 AM CDT
  
  Google co-founder Sergey Brin is turning space tourist, plunking down a $5 million deposit with Space Adventures for passage to the International Space Station aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket in 2011, reports the New York Times . Space Adventures is planning to buy two of the three seats aboard the mission, whose sole agenda would be tourism. More »
- Shuttle Prepares to Head Home
  
  newser | Space.com | Jun 10, 08 9:07 PM CDT
  
  Shuttle astronauts bid farewell to the crew of the International Space Station today and closed the hatch between their spacecrafts, Space.com reports. Discovery plans to undock from the station tomorrow morning after a busy weeklong mission and begin a 4-day trip home. The shuttle crew delivered and installed a huge new space lab for the station. More »
- Clumpy Soil on Mars Tests Scientists' Skill
  
  newser | San Francisco Chronicle | Jun 10, 08 3:37 PM CDT
  
  The soil on Mars turns out to be too clumpy to be analyzed by the Phoenix lander, but scientists are confident they've found away around the problem by "dribbling" it small amounts on sifters. They won't know for sure whether the new technique works for a day or two, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. More »
- Astronaut Waves Robot Arm
  
  newser | Reuters | Jun 9, 08 3:25 PM CDT
  
  A Japanese astronaut on board the International Space Station successfully unfolded a massive robotic arm from the newly installed Kibo laboratory today, Reuters reports. The arm moved slightly on Saturday, but today’s extension of the 33-foot device was the first full test, Space.com reports. The Japanese-built robot had nothing to grab; the equipment the arm will tend to arrives next year. More »
- 'Incredible' Final Walk for Shuttle Astronauts
  
  newser | Space.com | Jun 9, 08 3:33 AM CDT
  
  Two shuttle astronauts completed their third and final spacewalk yesterday outside the International Space Station, racking up more than 20 hours floating in space. The pair completed maintenance on the station's cooling system and Japanese lab, taking time out to admire spectacular views, reports Space.com. More »
- Mars Through a Microscope
  
  newser | Reuters | Jun 6, 08 7:34 AM CDT
  
  The Phoenix Mars Lander has taken the first high-resolution images of another planet's dirt and sand in its continued quest for signs of life in the planet's polar region. The microscopic particles were kicked up when the lander touched down and collected on a slide, Reuters reports. Scientists note that a whitish material in one image probably is not ice but some kind of mineral. More »
- Stowaway Molecules Could Taint Mars Results
  
  newser | LiveScience | Jun 5, 08 4:10 PM CDT
  
  Missions searching for signs of life on Mars could be fooled by organic molecules that hitched a ride from Earth, a new study suggests. University of Florida researchers using simulated Martian conditions found that ATP, an energy-storing molecule fundamental to terrestrial life, could survive the trip and hang around for months or years on NASA equipment, LiveScience reports. More »
- Now They Can Boldly Go
  
  newser | BBC | Jun 5, 08 3:47 AM CDT
  
  A Russian astronaut worked like a space janitor for two hours to finally fix a toilet aboard the International Space Station yesterday, the BBC reports. The space shuttle Discovery delivered a new pump for the broken toilet, which has dominated NASA press conferences. "It's something perhaps everyday people can relate to," said one NASA official. More »
- Astronauts Installing New Lab
  
  newser | Houston Chronicle | Jun 3, 08 5:04 PM CDT
  
  Two spacewalking astronauts are preparing the enormous Japanese-made Kibo lab for eventual installation on the International Space Station, the Houston Chronicle reports. After getting a late start this morning because of a communications malfunction, Mike Fossum and Ron Garan sped through their checklists and got back ahead of schedule. The expedition is expected to take almost 7 hours. More »
- NASA Was Muzzled on Climate Change
  
  newser | New York Times | Jun 3, 08 8:19 AM CDT
  
  Political appointees at NASA withheld scientific results on global warming, NASA's inspector general has determined after an internal probe. Investigators found that the public affairs office, run by Bush appointees, suffered from political spinning that was "inconsistent" with the agency's responsibility to pass full information on to the public, the New York Times reports. More »
- Shuttle Blastoff Smashed Launch Pad
  
  newser | Houston Chronicle | Jun 3, 08 5:39 AM CDT
  
  The Discovery shuttle caused severe damage to the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center when it blasted off Saturday, the Houston Chronicle reports. The force of the blast shattered a large section of one the trenches designed to direct shuttle exhaust away from the pad, scattering tons of concrete debris as far as 1,500 feet away. More »
- Shuttle Anchors at Space Station
  
  newser | Space.com | Jun 2, 08 5:10 PM CDT
  
  NASA's Discovery shuttle hooked up to the international space station today after a 2-day voyage, Space.com reports. Commander Mark Kelly docked at about 2 pm EDT and told the station crew, "We're really looking forward to seeing you guys." "You have no idea how much we're looking forward to seeing you, too," said US astronaut Garrett Reisman. More »
- Discovery's New Fuel Tank Passes With Flying Colors
  
  newser | Space.com | Jun 2, 08 3:33 AM CDT
  
  The Discovery shuttle launch Saturday marked the first use of a new fuel tank designed after flaws led to the 2003 Columbia disaster, Space.com reports, and tests yesterday showed the new design to be successful. The external tank, designed to minimize the release of falling debris during launch, shed a few pieces of foam, but "performed in a magnificent fashion," said a NASA mission manager. More »
- Lawmaker Sees Off Spaceman Hubby
  
  newser | Space.com | Jun 1, 08 5:07 PM CDT
  
  Arizona lawmaker Gabrielle Giffords waved goodbye as her husband went to work yesterday, in command of the Discovery shuttle. Giffords, who married astronaut Mark Kelly 6 months ago, admits she's nervous about the trip. "You don't really relax" until the shuttle comes home, she told Space.com. "At that point, you can sort of exhale and relax and know that your loved one's safe." More »
May 2008
- On Mars, 'Something That Looks Like Ice'
  
  newser | Space.com | May 31, 08 7:53 PM CDT
  
  The Phoenix probe sent home photos today of what looks like ice just under Mars' rocky surface, Space.com reports. "The thrusters have excavated two to six inches and, sure enough, we see something that looks like ice,” one mission scientist said. NASA picked the landing spot, in the planet's northern arctic, because it likely hid ice under a thin layer of soil. More »
- Discovery Launches, With Kibo Aboard
  
  newser | Associated Press | May 31, 08 4:31 PM CDT
  
  The space shuttle Discovery blasted into a clear blue sky today, carrying Kibo, a huge Japanese laboratory for the International Space Station. The $1 billion lab will be the station’s biggest room. “This is a real milestone,” said one NASA administrator. The Discovery is also bringing a replacement for the station’s broken toilet, rush-ordered from Moscow. More »
- An Other-Worldly Brew on Tap
  
  newser | Associated Press | May 31, 08 11:40 AM CDT
  
  Want to try a heavenly lager? Come November, you might get a chance. Japan's Sapporo Breweries is harvesting barley this weekend from seeds that spent 5 months aboard the International Space Station, the AP reports. It then plans to brew 100 bottles of space beer, though it hasn't figured out yet who will actually get to drink it. More »

Stories 21 - 40 of 276

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Images (31)
Videos (7)

A film still from %u201CVoyage to the Moon,%u201D aka %u201CA Trip to the Moon%u201D (Le Voyage dans la lune; 1902). 35mm film, black and white, silent, 13 minutes (approx.). Directed by George Melies (Scene360.com)

Cover of Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon (Scribner, Armstrong & Company, 1874)

Cover of Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon (Scribner, Armstrong & Company, 1874)

This handout image obtained 19 February (Getty Images)

This photo released by NASA shows a sunburst view of the Space Shuttle's robot arm over a cloudy Earth taken June 1,1996, during the flight of Space Shuttle Endeavour. (AP Photo/Courtesy of Earth Sciences... (Associated Press)

Space Shuttle Atlantis streaks into the sky on mission STS-106 after a perfect on-time launch from Kennedy Space Center in this file photo from Sept. 8, 2000. NASA will try to launch Atlantis on the... (Associated Press)

In this Dec. 19, 2006 file photo, a view of the international space station is seen from the space shuttle Discovery. Astronaut Suni Williams, who is registered for the Boston Marathon, will run the equivalent... (Associated Press)

solar_system3 ((c) Royalty-free image collection)

%u20AC%u2122s first generation of newborn stars condensed and ignited in the middle of a huge cloud of cold molecular hydrogen.The immense nebula is an estimated 7,500 light-years away in the southern... (Associated Press)

This photo from the Advanced Camera for Surveys on the Hubble Space Telescope shows a pillar of gas and dust called the Cone Nebula which resides in a turbulent star-forming region. (KRT Photos)

Hubble Captures Image Of Merging Galaxies (Getty Images)

Scientists Capture Deep Space Image Of Early Universe (Getty Images)

Hubble Captures Images of Hoag's Object (Getty Images)

Gamma-Ray Burst From Chandra X-Ray Observatory (Getty Images)

CAPE CANAVERAL, FL -- The 2001 Mars Odyssey is launched on a Delta II rocket at Cape Canaveral, Florida, Saturday, April 7, 2001. (KRT Photos)

-July 22 NASA's rover Sojourner is photographed next to the boulder dubbed "Barnacle Bill" on the planet Mars on July 22. The rover used its spectrometer to study the rock's chemical makeup. (KRT Photos)

Martian Landscape (Archive Photos)

Mercury Astronaut Gordon Cooper Dies at 77 (Getty Images)

Mercury 6 Booster Rocket (Archive Photos)

(FILES) Mercury program astronauts pose (Getty Images)

John Glenn (Archive Photos)

Alan Shepard (Archive Photos)

Virgil 'Gus' Grissom (Archive Photos)

Scott Carpenter (Archive Photos)

Astronaut Deke Slayton (NASA)

First Man In Space (Archive Photos)

Space Tourist Returns To Earth (Getty Images)

The Great Canary Telescope is a seen on a mountaintop of the Santa Cruz de Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, Friday, July 13, 2007. The Great Canary Telescope is among the world's largest telescopes. The... (Associated Press)

The Martian moon Phobos is seen in an image released by NASA Wednesday April 9, 2008. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took the image... (AP Photo)

The International Space Station with the Space Shuttle Discovery docked to it, is seen from the ground in Tyler, Texas, Thursday Oct. 25, 2007. The ISS & Discovery are on orbit, approximately 200 miles... (AP Photo)

The launch of the Space Shuttle Atlantis, STS-115 is shown in this Sept. 9, 2006 photo. An experiment on that flight involving salmonella, best known as a culprit of food poisoning is reported in Tuesday's... (AP Photo)

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