space travel

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Scientists Hatch Round-Trip Mission to Mars

Unmanned spacecraft would bring back rocks and possibly microscopic life

(Newser) - Before scientists can put a man on Mars, they first need to figure out how to get a mission back to Earth, reports the Guardian. An international team is doing just that—developing an $8 billion mission to travel to Mars and return with rock samples and possibly microscopic life....

Astronaut Waves Robot Arm
 Astronaut Waves Robot Arm 

 

Astronaut Waves Robot Arm

Japanese-built device will service equipment from Kibo laboratory

(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...

Arthur C. Clarke Is Dead at 90
 Arthur C. Clarke Is Dead at 90 

Arthur C. Clarke Is Dead at 90

'2001' author shaped space-age thought

(Newser) - Arthur C. Clarke, the sci-fi author who helped shape 20th-century scientific imagination, is dead at 90, the New York Times reports. The co-creator of 2001: A Space Odyssey faced post-polio syndrome in recent decades and died at his home in Sri Lanka due to breathing trouble. “No one can...

Astronauts Will Have to Hitch Rides With the Russians

NASA will soon have no way to get to ISS

(Newser) - When NASA retires its fleet of space shuttles in 2010, the agency will have no way of sending men into space until 2015, at the earliest, the Washington Post reports. To carry astronauts and cargo to the International Space Station, largely funded by American taxpayers, the US will have to...

Astronauts Often a Bit Woozy
Astronauts Often a Bit Woozy

Astronauts Often a Bit Woozy

Spacesickness a common malady for unearthly missions

(Newser) - We all know about carsickness and seasickness—but spacesickness? NASA is cagey about its vomiting astronauts, but about half of the 500 who’ve been to the final frontier suffer from “space adaptation syndrome,” reports Ned Potter for ABC News. So it comes as no surprise to Potter...

Space Supersizes Salmonella
Space Supersizes Salmonella

Space Supersizes Salmonella

Baffled scientists point to 'fluid shear'

(Newser) - Salmonella germs that went into space on a 2006 mission returned three times more deadly, reports the AP. Space travel altered 167 genes in the germ, which is the leading cause of food poisoning, and it killed mice at much higher rates than identical samples left on Earth. The Earth-bound...

Russia Tests &#39;Real World: Mars&#39;
Russia Tests 'Real World: Mars'

Russia Tests 'Real World: Mars'

6 cosmonauts will spend 520 days in isolation on simulated journey

(Newser) - In a sort of extraterrestrial edition of MTV's "Real World," Russia will lock six would-be cosmonauts in a "spaceship" for 520 days in a simulated voyage to Mars. As Russian scientists test the effects of extended isolation, participants will spend 2 years growing their own vegetables,...

Endeavour Returns Home
Endeavour Returns Home

Endeavour Returns Home

Shuttle touches down a day early to beat Hurricane Dean

(Newser) - Endeavour landed safely in Florida this afternoon, a day earlier than planned. Damage sustained during launch didn't affect the space shuttle's return from its 13-day mission, and neither did Hurricane Dean, CNN reports. "Welcome back. You give new meaning to the term 'higher education,' " Mission Control told...

NASA Eyes Endeavor Damage
NASA Eyes Endeavor Damage

NASA Eyes Endeavor Damage

Engineers say ice chunk hit shuttle's underbelly, could endanger re-entry

(Newser) - Endeavour's astronauts finished their first spacewalk today by installing a 2-ton beam on the back of the international space station, the AP reports. Meanwhile NASA engineers inspected troubling images of a gash in shuttle Endeavour’s heat shield caused, they believe, by an ice chunk that flew off the fuel...

Shuttle to Dock With Station
Shuttle to Dock With Station

Shuttle to Dock With Station

First, the station's camera will inspect Endeavour for damage

(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...

Mojave Spaceport Blast Kills 2
Mojave Spaceport
Blast Kills 2

Mojave Spaceport Blast Kills 2

Four others hurt at company behind first manned rocket

(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...

Citizens Book Tickets to Moon
Citizens Book Tickets to Moon

Citizens Book Tickets to Moon

Would-be astronauts fund growth industry

(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...

Stories 81 - 92 | << Prev