Another starship Enterprise just undertook a bold new mission: This time it's Virgin Galactic's premier space vehicle, which has flown its first manned glide flight. It's another successful step on the road to tourists in space.READ»
Jennifer Siegal
Jennifer Siegal first grabbed our attention in 2006, as a prefab pioneer with an abundance of percolating ideas. Fast-forward, and the 44-year-old's eco-friendly visions are coming to fruition. Her first completed ...READ»
Two Russian companies have announced plans for a commercial space station to launch in 2015 -- and they already have competition from an American company.READ»
The Science and Technology Chairman written has just written $1.2 billion for commercial rockets for astronauts into a new version of NASA's next funding bill. A new giant Shuttle-derived rocket is also ordered, to be ready within six years.READ»
China recently revealed its plans for Lunar (and Venusian) exploration. Last week Europe announced its moon lander. Are these two spacefarers leaving a stuttering NASA in their wake?READ»
If and when humans decide to colonize the moon, researchers at the University of Arizona Controlled Environment Agriculture Center (CEAC) will be ready with their lunar hydroponic garden.READ»
As SpaceX completes safety tests on its potential human space capsule, and a European outfit preps its innovative rocket for a test launch, it's obvious that some of the most exciting space news at the moment is coming from folks other than NASA.READ»
Just two scheduled Space Shuttle flights remain before the
most complex machine ever made is grounded, and support companies are now
restructuring their staffing levels. Good thing, then, that Orion is on track.
The United Space ...READ»
There's a lot of space debris up there--and we're not talking moon dust: Smashed rocket fragments, dropped tools, flakes of paint even all orbit the planet at dangerous supersonic speeds. There's so much of this detritus, in fact, the ...READ»
In another indication of the increasing importance of the new commercial space industry's importance, NASA's just selected Orbital Sciences to launch its first satellite dedicated to studying atmospheric carbon dioxide. The OCO-2 ...READ»
If, like me, you're a fan of all things space-related, then this year's grounding of the Space Shuttle fleet is a tricky thing--sensible, and yet a poignant tragedy. Now the biggest voice yet has joined the pro-Shuttle debate: John ...READ»
SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket launch on Friday did something much bigger than popping a dummy payload into space: it lit a fuse beneath the next era of space exploration, with commercial efforts alongside government ones. The ...READ»
Falcon 9 is SpaceX's flagship rocket, and a great leap forward for President Obama's plans to diversify the space
industry (video of launch below). The vehicle will help ferry cargo up to the International Space
Station in the ...READ»
President Obama's plans for a more diverse and commercial company-inclusive space industry are primed to take a leap forward tomorrow, as SpaceX readies its Falcon 9 rocket for launch from Cape Canaveral. It's all subject to the ...READ»
NASA's moonshot program is in tatters, and the shuttle's due to fly for the last time soon ... but it doesn't mean there's no exciting space news. For example: Did you know NASA could send an android to the moon inside just three ...READ»
Brian Merchant of Treehugger is reporting on location about the efforts to contain the Gulf oil spill (seen here in a photo taken this morning by astronaut Soichi Noguchi from the International Space Station). The latest idea to ...READ»
Just how grueling will a trip to Mars be? To find out, six people are going to spend 18 months in a steel capsule somewhere in Russia, with no way in or out and a 20-minute delay in all communications with the outside world. The first ...READ»
Another bit of the canceled Constellation project just actually rocketed into the skies: A testbed Orion space capsule has followed the Ares I-X atop a fiery plume off the launchpad. But unlike Ares, Orion may actually reach space. ...READ»
The fuss about NASA's future and the end of the Space Shuttle overshadowed one fact: NASA's not the biggest space agency in the U.S. The military is test-launching its own tiny space plane today, in fact, and it's damn creepy.The ...READ»
The President has finally revealed details of his plans for NASA, as part of a desperate PR trick to recover from criticism after he canceled the Constellation moonshot rockets. Mars is the new goal, a disappointing 25 years ...READ»
Not everyone's pleased with NASA's future, as defined by the Obama-led new fiscal plans for the space agency...and three particularly significant chaps would just assume tell him to shove it up Uranus. They're names are Armstrong, ...READ»
Find hope in this, NASA, science and Mars fans: President Obama's new stance on NASA's funding will likely pump no less than $6 billion into the agency to create a new heavy rocket sooner than we'd hoped. Mars is its ...READ»
Here's a tantalizing but hugely exciting rumor for human spaceflight geeks: NASA and the government are rumored to be talking quietly about extending the Shuttle's technology into the future.The news has popped up on Spaceref.com as a ...READ»
