Space: Final Frontier

Stories

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June 2008
- Google's Brin Books Flight to Space Station
  
  New York Times | Jun 11, 08 9:03 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - 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
  
  Space.com | Jun 10, 08 9:07 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - 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
  
  San Francisco Chronicle | Jun 10, 08 3:37 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - 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
  
  Reuters | Jun 9, 08 3:25 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - 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
  
  Space.com | Jun 9, 08 3:33 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - 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
  
  Reuters | Jun 6, 08 7:34 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - 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
  
  LiveScience | Jun 5, 08 4:10 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - 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
  
  BBC | Jun 5, 08 3:47 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - 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
  
  Houston Chronicle | Jun 3, 08 5:04 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - 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
  
  New York Times | Jun 3, 08 8:19 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - 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
  
  Houston Chronicle | Jun 3, 08 5:39 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - 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
  
  Space.com | Jun 2, 08 5:10 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - 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
  
  Space.com | Jun 2, 08 3:33 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - 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
  
  Space.com | Jun 1, 08 5:07 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - 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'
  
  Space.com | May 31, 08 7:53 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - 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
  
  Associated Press | May 31, 08 4:31 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - 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
  
  Associated Press | May 31, 08 11:40 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - 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 »
- NASA Deploys Mars Probe's Robotic Arm
  
  Associated Press | May 29, 08 1:00 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - NASA’s Phoenix Mars lander extended its robotic arm for the first time late last night, the AP reports, a day late because of a temporary radio blackout. The arm, which will unfurl over a 2-day period, will eventually be used to take samples of ice below the surface in Mars’ arctic regions to search for evidence of life. More »
- Houston, We Have a (Potty) Problem
  
  New York Times | May 27, 08 7:36 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The three-member crew aboard the International Space Station has a delicate problem—the toilet's on the fritz. The station's liquid-waste collector—a tricky system involving fans and the lack of gravity—is kaput, the New York Times reports. (The solid-waste collector still works.) Astronauts are working on a backup system and may get plumbing help when Discovery (with a crew of seven and its own toilet) launches Saturday. More »
- Martian Arctic Says Cheese
  
  CNN | May 26, 08 1:39 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The Mars Phoenix Lander is sending NASA the first photos of the red planet's northern polar region, CNN reports. On its 3-month mission, the lander will “taste and sniff the northern polar site’s soil and ice,” the agency said. The photos show brown polygons checkering the landscape as far as the eye can see. More »