Space: Final Frontier

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April 2009
- NASA to Reveal Module's Name on Colbert Tomorrow
  
  InformationWeek | Apr 13, 09 2:28 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The name of the new life-support node for the International Space Station will be announced tomorrow night on The Colbert Report by a NASA astronaut, InformationWeek reports. At the host’s urging, Colbert fans stuffed online ballot boxes to name the unit, though NASA doesn’t have to comply. “I certainly hope NASA does the right thing,” he said. “Just kidding, I hope they name it after me.” More »
- NASA, Pols Cringe at Space Station Costs
  
  Wall Street Journal | Apr 11, 09 3:56 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - After years of wrangling, the US and other operators of the International Space Station have resolved to keep the facility operating through 2020, but the 5-year extension deal is creating new challenges, the Wall Street Journal reports. Washington will need to fork out at least $10 billion, which could cut into NASA’s $18 billion budget for moon exploration projects. More »
March 2009
- Mock Mars Mission Blasts Off
  
  BBC | Mar 31, 09 12:26 PM CDT
  
  (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 similar maintenance tasks and experience the same isolation and claustrophobia as real astronauts. “It is really like a real space flight without the weightlessness and the danger to our lives,” said Sergei Ryazansky, one of the would-be astronauts. More »
- Mystery East Coast Fireball Was a Russian Rocket
  
  Space.com | Mar 31, 09 2:47 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The fireball that lit up parts of the East Coast Sunday night was almost certainly the exploding remains of a Russian rocket, a US Naval Observatory official tells Space.com. The second stage of the Soyuz rocket was slated to enter the atmosphere at the time and place the fireball was reported by residents along the Atlantic coast, according to an observatory computer program that tracks space junk. More »
- First Repeat Space Tourist Arrives at ISS
  
  CBC (Canada) | Mar 28, 09 12:43 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A Russian spacecraft carrying a cosmonaut, an astronaut, and the first two-time space tourist has docked with the International Space Station, the CBC reports. The Soyuz capsule will soon offload the two crew members and US billionaire Charles Simonyi. Simonyi will return to Earth in the same capsule on April 7 with two crew members leaving the station. The visit will cost the software executive $35 million. More »
- Firm Vows to Grow Flower on the Moon
  
  New Scientist | Mar 27, 09 6:44 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A company that builds biospheres to sustain life in outer space is planning to grow a mustard plant on the moon, New Scientist reports. Paragon Space Development will piggyback its greenhouse on a lunar lander competing in a $30 million contest to go to the moon. "We want there to be a great inspirational picture" to rouse excitement for spaceflight, says Paragon's CEO. More »
- India Struggles to Create Astronaut 'Space Curry'
  
  Times (UK) | Mar 26, 09 5:31 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - One of the biggest challenges of India’s burgeoning space program is culinary, the London Times reports. Researchers at the country’s defense science lab are struggling to adapt the complex, spicy national cuisine into something that will work in space. “Curry tends to be spicy, high in fat content and uses many ingredients,” the lab’s director said. “We cannot afford the stomach of an astronaut to be strained.” More »
- Discovery Heads for Home
  
  Space.com | Mar 25, 09 6:02 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The space shuttle Discovery and its seven-astronaut crew undocked from the International Space Station today after an eight-day mission, Space.com reports. Before heading toward earth, the shuttle flew around the station to get the first photos of its handiwork—the installation of a final set of solar panels that brought the station to full power. Discovery is due home Saturday. More »
- Scientists Track Meteor to Earth for First Time
  
  Wired | Mar 25, 09 5:56 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Scientists have accomplished a first by tracking an asteroid from space into Earth's atmosphere and down to a Sudanese desert, Wired reports. A team of searchers found about 280 small chunks of the meteor, all of a type never before collected. "This is like the first step toward a Rosetta Stone for classifying asteroids," says the co-author of a study in Nature . More »
- 'Colbert' Wins Space Station Name Contest
  
  Associated Press | Mar 24, 09 9:25 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The Colbert Nation did it: NASA’s contest to name a new room at the International Space Station is over, and the winner is “Colbert,” the AP reports. But don’t get too excited yet, Nation: The agency makes the final decision, and only promises to give top vote-getters “the most consideration.” Colbert’s write-in won with 230,539 of the total 1.2 million votes, beating top NASA choice “Serenity” by more than 40,000. More »
- 2 Teachers Make Mission's Final Walk
  
  Associated Press | Mar 23, 09 4:58 PM CDT
  
  (AP) - Two astronauts who were teaching math and science to middle school students just 5 years ago went on a spacewalk together today, their path cleared of dangerous orbiting junk that had threatened the space station and shuttle. It's the first time two former schoolteachers have been on a spacewalk together, and is the third and final spacewalk for shuttle Discovery's mission. More »
- Astros Fire Up Thrusters to Dodge Trash
  
  Space.com | Mar 23, 09 2:10 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Discovery's astronauts fired thrusters yesterday to maneuver the million-pound International Space Station out of the path of approaching space junk, the third such threat to the orbiting lab in two weeks, reports Space.com. The four-inch chunk of debris—from a Chinese rocket that broke apart in 2000—was heading uncomfortably close to the $100 billion station just as the docked crew was planning to venture on a space walk later today. More »
- Brit Dog Walker Reported Close Encounter of the Alien Kind
  
  Daily Telegraph (UK) | Mar 22, 09 7:00 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Another tale from the UK's recently released military files on UFOs comes from a dog-walker, who reports encountering an extraterrestrial who spoke in a Scandinavian accent. It was classified as a "genuine call" by a Royal Air Force phone operator, reports the Telegraph . The alien, appearing in human form in 1989, reportedly told the woman his people were responsible for the strange crop circles in the English countryside. The dog walker fled as she spotted a glowing orange sphere rise vertically into the sky, she told the operator. More »
- Astronauts Take 2nd Spacewalk
  
  Associated Press | Mar 21, 09 4:02 PM CDT
  
  (AP) - Astronauts took another spacewalk at the international space station today, this time to lighten the workload for future crews. As soon as they floated outside, Steven Swanson and Joseph Acaba made their way all the way to the end of the space station's power-grid framework. They loosened bolts holding down batteries that will be replaced on the next shuttle visit in June, and deployed an equipment storage platform, the AP reports. More »
- Space Station Panels Unfurled, Despite Threat of 'Stiction'
  
  ABC News | Mar 20, 09 2:45 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Astronauts on the International Space Station successfully unfurled the last of the craft’s solar panels today, despite the chronic problem of “stiction,” ABC reports. Stiction is, predictably, the engineering term for things sticking together. When panels have had trouble opening in the past, spacemen have resorted to everything from rattling the delicate devices to exercising inside the station to shake them loose. More »
- Astronauts Install Last Pair of Solar Panels
  
  Space.com | Mar 19, 09 6:55 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The International Space Station is about to get full power for the first time. Two astronauts today installed the last pair of solar panels for the station in a six-hour spacewalk, reports Space.com. The station, which now has a total of eight solar panels, will unfurl the newly installed pair tomorrow. Astronauts Steven Swanson and Richard Arnold had some trouble with cables, but nothing major. More »
- Spanish Teens + $82 Balloon = Stunning Space Pics
  
  Daily Telegraph (UK) | Mar 19, 09 1:49 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A group of Spanish high-school students has successfully sent a balloon and camera package 20 miles above the surface of the Earth, scoring stunning pictures of space, the Telegraph reports—and on a budget of about $82. “We were overwhelmed at our results, especially the photographs,” the team’s 18-year-old leader said. “To send our handmade craft to the edge of space is incredible.” More »
- Bat Hitched Short Ride on Shuttle
  
  Space.com | Mar 18, 09 3:56 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A small bat clung to the space shuttle Discovery's fuel tank throughout its launch Sunday, Space.com reports. Observation teams had hoped it would fly away before liftoff, but images reveal it stayed with the shuttle as it blasted off from Kennedy Space Center. NASA officials, who judged the bat was no threat to the shuttle's heat tiling, believe the stowaway must have perished shortly after blastoff. More »
- Shuttle Docks at Space Station
  
  Associated Press | Mar 17, 09 4:41 PM CDT
  
  (AP) - Space shuttle Discovery has arrived at the International Space Station. The shuttle docked with the orbiting outpost late this afternoon, carrying the station's final set of solar wings. Before arriving, Discovery did a 360-degree backflip so station astronauts could photograph its belly. NASA will examine the photos as a precaution to check for damage during launch. Discovery will remain at the space station eight days. More »
- NASA: Debris Will Miss Space Station
  
  Associated Press | Mar 16, 09 8:25 PM CDT
  
  (AP) - NASA gave the all-clear to the international space station tonight, telling its astronauts they would not need to steer away from an orbiting piece of satellite junk. Experts had been keeping close tabs on the debris all day, at one point believing it might pass within a half-mile of the space station tomorrow, just ahead of the shuttle Discovery's arrival. More »