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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2009
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Space: Final Frontier

Started by Imperator; Last updated by SeacoastNH

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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 361 - 380 of 413

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  • August 2007

    • Shuttle to Dock With Station

      Associated Press  |  Aug 10, 07 8:18 AM CDT

      Shuttle to Dock With Station

      (Newser) - The crew of the Endeavour spent most of yesterday checking their vessel for damage from insulation that broke off the fuel tank during the launch; today they will dock the shuttle with the International Space Station. First, the shuttle will flip around in front of the ISS so that the station's cameras can inspect further for damage. Then Endeavour will deliver a two-ton truss to be added to the station. More »

    • First Teacher Rockets to Space

      Orlando Sentinel  |  Aug 9, 07 4:42 AM CDT

      First Teacher Rockets to Space

      (Newser) - Former schoolteacher Barbara Morgan safely reached space last night when the shuttle Endeavour rocketed through a problem-free launch. Ten minutes after its evening blastoff, the shuttle was orbiting 140 miles above the Earth in preparation for docking with the International Space Station tomorrow. Morgan is the first astronaut teacher since Christa McAuliffe, who died seconds after liftoff in 1986 when the Challenger exploded. More »

    • All Systems Go for Teacher

      Orlando Sentinel  |  Aug 8, 07 1:48 PM CDT

      All Systems Go for Teacher

      (Newser) - Countdown is continuing in Florida toward blastoff for the space shuttle Endeavour, the Orlando Sentinel reports, with an 80% chance of favorable conditions at tonight's scheduled launch time of 6:36pm Eastern. Teacher-turned-astronaut Barbara Morgan, a backup to the educator killed in the 1986 Challenger disaster, has brought national attention to the mission. More »

    • Largest Planet Ever Discovered

      Space.com  |  Aug 7, 07 1:53 PM CDT

      Largest Planet Ever Discovered

      (Newser) - Forget Jupiter. Scientists have discovered the largest planet out there—a "puffy" space mass almost twice the size of our solar system's gas giant. But the find is posing more questions than answers, Space.com reports: TrES-4’s mass is large but its density is about the same as balsa wood, which has confounded astronomers' theoretical models. More »

    • US Teacher Headed for Space

      Reuters  |  Aug 6, 07 8:02 AM CDT

      US Teacher Headed for Space

      (Newser) - NASA is sending another schoolteacher into space, 21 years after the Challenger disaster killed educator Christa McAuliffe. Barbara Morgan, a former Idaho schoolteacher and now a fully trained astronaut, will spend most of the trip transferring cargo to the International Space Station and about six hours on educational pursuits. When she returns, she'll develop a curriculum based on her experience. More »

    • Robot Geologist Heads to Mars

      Associated Press  |  Aug 4, 07 7:05 AM CDT

      Robot Geologist Heads to Mars

      (Newser) - An unmanned rocket carrying a robotic excavation machine is on its way to Mars following a successful launch from Cape Canaveral this morning. The AP reports that the Phoenix Mars Lander should arrive on Mars in May, 2008, when it will collect and analyze soil and ice in search of organic compounds on the red planet. More »

  • July 2007

    • NASA Admits Sabotage, Drunk Astronauts

      CNN  |  Jul 27, 07 3:20 PM CDT

      NASA Admits Sabotage, Drunk Astronauts

      (Newser) - NASA promised immediate action today on embarrassing reports of an intentionally damaged computer and inebriated astronauts. An administrator said an internal safety review, staff briefing on new policy, and official 12-hour pre-flight ban on alcohol would follow an independent panel’s finding of “heavy” alcohol use by astronauts before flights. More »

    • Mojave Spaceport Blast Kills 2

      Associated Press  |  Jul 26, 07 10:24 PM CDT

      Mojave Spaceport Blast Kills 2

      (Newser) - An explosion killed at least two people at a remote desert plant attempting to develop billionaire Richard Branson's space tourism program. The blast at Mojave Air and Space Port was in part of the facility where SpaceShipTwo is being built for Virgin Galactic—to be used for $200,000 trips into Space. More »

    • Astronauts Drunk on the Job: Panel

      Aviation Week  |  Jul 26, 07 5:53 PM CDT

      Astronauts Drunk on the Job: Panel

      (Newser) - NASA astronauts were permitted to fly while intoxicated on at least two occasions, an independent review has found. A aerospace trade journal published the findings on its website, revealing that astronauts engaged in "heavy use of alcohol" within the prohibited 12-hour "bottle to throttle" time before launch. More »

    • Citizens Book Tickets to Moon

      Christian Science Monitor  |  Jul 26, 07 3:03 PM CDT

      Citizens Book Tickets to Moon

      (Newser) - A citizen spaceflight company has two passengers willing to pay $100 million each for a flight around the moon. Tickets aboard Virgin’s future suborbital flights are flying out the door. The civilian aeronautics industry finds itself better funded every day, as would-be astronauts and  backers alike are rushing to get on board, the Christian Science Monitor reports. More »

    • MIT Slims Down the Space Suit

      Time  |  Jul 24, 07 1:05 PM CDT

      MIT Slims Down the Space Suit

      (Newser) - When NASA astronauts are suited up for space heroics they're more Marshmallow Man than Spider-Man, but that could change with a sleek new space suit designed by MIT aeronautics professor Dava Newman. The revolutionary BioSuit is lightweight and form-fitting, allowing physical feats not possible in the current bulky gear. More »

    • Astronaut Takes Out the Trash, Into Space

      Reuters  |  Jul 23, 07 4:46 PM CDT

      Astronaut Takes Out the Trash, Into Space

      (Newser) - A NASA astronaut hurled two large pieces of space junk—a 1,400-pound reservoir filled with ammonia and a 212-pound piece of video equipment—off the International Space Station and into the Earth's orbit today. NASA does not approve of space littering, Reuters reports, but the agency had no other option. More »

    • Martian Dust Imperils Rover Mission

      Reuters  |  Jul 22, 07 9:20 AM CDT

      Martian Dust Imperils Rover Mission

      (Newser) - The violent dust storm that has immobilized NASA's Mars rovers for three weeks shows no signs of letting up, and is now threatening the future of the mission. "This is by far the worst storm the rovers have ever seen,"  the rovers project manager told reporters.  "Now it's all about saving power." More »

    • Meet Frank, Saturn's 60th Moon

      BBC  |  Jul 20, 07 1:09 PM CDT

      Meet Frank, Saturn's 60th Moon

      (Newser) - Scientists have discovered Saturn’s 60th moon, and are hinting that more could exist. In May, cameras aboard the Cassini spacecraft captured the “extremely faint object,” which scientists have officially designated a moon and tentatively named Frank. Composed mostly of ice and rock, Frank is about a mile wide and orbits between two other Saturnian moons, Methone and Pallene. More »

    • World's largest optical telescope to see first light

      New Scientist  |  Jul 13, 07

      A huge new observatory, called the Great Canary Telescope, is set to open its eye to the sky on Friday. With a main mirror 10.4 metres across, it will effectively be the largest telescope for visible and infrared light in the world. The next largest are the twin Keck telescopes on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, US, which have main mirrors 10 metres across.New

    • Planet with Water Discovered

      Yahoo!  |  Jul 11, 07 3:57 PM CDT

      Planet with Water Discovered

      (Newser) - Astronomers located the first planet beyond our solar system that hosts water—a giant gas ball bigger than Jupiter and named HD 189733b. Its sizzling climate, which can reach upwards of 3,600 degrees, renders it uninhabitable to any extraterrestrials, but the discovery shows that water is more common in outer space than previously thought. More »

    • ET is 60

      Newsweek  |  Jul 7, 07 10:06 PM CDT

      ET is 60

      (Newser) - Sixty years ago something happened in the godforsaken town of Roswell, New Mexico.  Now the town has two competing, yet complementary, festivals celebrating either the first recovery of an alien spacecraft or the routine crash of a weather balloon.  The festivals have attracted a diverse crowd of scientists, purported alien abductees, minor celebrities, and wingnuts. More »

    • Mars Rover Crater Descent Delayed by Dust Storm

      Fox News  |  Jul 6, 07 3:16 PM CDT

      Mars Rover Crater Descent Delayed by Dust Storm

      (Newser) - Mars Opportunity Rover has been perched on the edge of Victoria Crater on Mars for nine months waiting to descend and explore the crater. Then, this week, when scientists were to send it down, a dust storm thousands of miles wide partially blocked the sunlight Opportunity needs to recharge its batteries. Until the dust abates the mission is on hold. More »

    • Atlantis Hitches Ride to Florida

      Associated Press  |  Jul 1, 07 5:36 PM CDT

      Atlantis Hitches Ride to Florida

      (Newser) - The space shuttle Atlantis set off to return to Florida from its emergency landing site in California today—strapped to a jumbo jet. The Boeing 747 carrying Atlantis departed from the Mojave Desert Air Base and will stop to refuel along its trip at undisclosed locations. It's expected to arrive at the Kennedy Space Center on Monday, said a NASA spokesman. More »

    • Is space tourism the next big thing?

      Time  |  Jul 1, 07

      Just a few years ago, the idea of bankrolling starry-eyed ventures to fly ordinary people into space was laughed off as science fiction. Now some investors are betting on space tourism as the next big thing.

Stories 361 - 380 of 413

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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
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
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
Cover of Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon   (Scribner, Armstrong & Company, 1874)
This handout image obtained 19 February
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 and Image Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center)
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 first space shuttle mission of the year in early June, almost three months later than...
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 distance on a treadmill _ 210 miles above Earth, and tethered to her track by...
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
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 constellation Carina. (AP Photo/NASA-ESA)
%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.
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
Hubble Captures Image Of Merging Galaxies   (Getty Images)
Scientists Capture Deep Space Image Of Early Universe
Scientists Capture Deep Space Image Of Early Universe   (Getty Images)
Hubble Captures Images of Hoag's Object
Hubble Captures Images of Hoag's Object   (Getty Images)
Gamma-Ray Burst From Chandra X-Ray Observatory
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.
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
-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
Martian Landscape   (Archive Photos)
Mercury Astronaut Gordon Cooper Dies at 77
Mercury Astronaut Gordon Cooper Dies at 77   (Getty Images)
Mercury 6 Booster Rocket
Mercury 6 Booster Rocket   (Archive Photos)
(FILES) Mercury program astronauts pose
(FILES) Mercury program astronauts pose   (Getty Images)
John Glenn
John Glenn   (Archive Photos)
Alan Shepard
Alan Shepard   (Archive Photos)
Virgil 'Gus' Grissom
Virgil 'Gus' Grissom   (Archive Photos)
Scott Carpenter
Scott Carpenter   (Archive Photos)
Astronaut Deke Slayton
Astronaut Deke Slayton   (NASA)
First Man In Space
First Man In Space   (Archive Photos)
Space Tourist Returns To Earth
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 telescope cost US$143 million and took seven years to construct. The Canary Island observatory said...
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 of the larger of Mars' two moons, Phobos, the larger and inner of Mars' two tiny moons, from...
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 up, and traveling at about 17,200 mph. The image shows the Solar power panels on...
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 edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests that the bacteria, come back...
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)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
STS-114 space shuttle discovery return to space launch   (anyhandleleft (YouTube))
v2 rocket launch explosions   (aussiestormer (YouTube))
Space Shuttle Challenger disaster   (ei2232 (YouTube))
First Step on the Moon 1969   (InternetTim (YouTube))
BBC Horizon lord of the rings Saturn   (hitmanllcn (YouTube))
Early U.S. rocket and space launch failures and explosion   (spacearium (YouTube))
8 june 2007 Space Shuttle Atlantis LAUNCH STS-117   (verfkwast (YouTube))

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next »

Related Threads

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Background

How Space Tourism Works
How Stuff Works

In this article, you'll learn about the spacecraft being designed as destinations for space tourists, and how you may one day have a chance to cruise through the solar system. Includes a list of potential space tourism operators.

» Read more about How Space Tourism Works at How Stuff Works

The Solar System: A 3-D Tour
National Geographic

Take a flyby tour of the sun and each planet in its orbit, observe planets and extraterrestrial weather patterns up close, and more.

» Read more about The Solar System: A 3-D Tour at National Geographic

The Space Race: A Timeline
PBS

On Christmas Eve 1968, one of the largest audiences in television history tuned in to an extraordinary sight: a live telecast of the moon's surface as seen from Apollo 8, the first manned space flight to leave Earth's gravitational pull and orbit the moon. The Apollo 8 astronauts had just four months...

» Read more about The Space Race: A Timeline at PBS


» Read more about at Encyclopedia.com

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