For Better or Worse Sex in Space Is InevitableSaturn Surprises Spur Cassini Mission RepriseSpacecraft Woken for Asteroid EncounterVolcanoes on Mercury Solve 30 year MysteryStrange Asteroid Shapes ExplainedEarth s Cries Recorded in SpaceVoyager Space: related news

For Better or Worse, Sex in Space Is InevitableSaturn Surprises Spur Cassini Mission RepriseSpacecraft Woken for Asteroid EncounterVolcanoes on Mercury Solve 30-year MysteryStrange Asteroid Shapes ExplainedEarth's Cries Recorded in SpaceVoyager Space

Weddings in space could be right around the corner, and experts figure the inevitable cosmic consummation will be just around the next corner.

Sunlight Splits Asteroids into PairsFor Better or Worse, Sex in Space Is InevitableSaturn Surprises Spur Cassini Mission RepriseSpacecraft Woken for Asteroid EncounterVolcanoes on Mercury Solve 30-year MysteryStrange Asteroid Shapes ExplainedEarth's

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Saturn Surprises Spur Cassini Mission RepriseSpacecraft Woken for Asteroid EncounterVolcanoes on Mercury Solve 30-year MysteryStrange Asteroid Shapes ExplainedEarth's Cries Recorded in SpaceVoyager Spacecraft Reveals Solar System EdgeScientists Eager

The most detailed image ever made of Saturn and its rings was sent by the Cassini spacecraft on October 6, 2004. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Water Discovered in Moon SamplesSunlight Splits Asteroids into PairsFor Better or Worse, Sex in Space Is InevitableSaturn Surprises Spur Cassini Mission RepriseSpacecraft Woken for Asteroid EncounterVolcanoes on Mercury Solve 30-year MysteryStrange A

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Spacecraft Woken for Asteroid EncounterVolcanoes on Mercury Solve 30-year MysteryStrange Asteroid Shapes ExplainedEarth's Cries Recorded in SpaceVoyager Spacecraft Reveals Solar System EdgeScientists Eager for Hubble's FaceliftHuge Tunguska Explosion

Rosetta - the comet chaser. An artist's depiction of Rosetta's arrival at its comet destination. Credit: ESA

Infrastructure needed for future space exploration

The United States is facing a crisis in its human space program. The huge investments in the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station (ISS) programs are leveling off, but the replacement for the Space Shuttle and the new space exploration architecture plans for future visits to the Space Station and missions to the Moon and Mars (called the “Vision for Space Exploration” or VSE) are still in early development. A “gap” in the ability of the United States to provide human and cargo transportation to and from the ISS is now of grave concern as the fleet of Space Shuttles is reaching the end of its operational life. This type of unfortunate situation has happened before (1975 to 1981) between the end of Saturn-Apollo rocket operations and initial operations of the Space Shuttle.

Volcanoes on Mercury Solve 30-year MysteryStrange Asteroid Shapes ExplainedEarth's Cries Recorded in SpaceVoyager Spacecraft Reveals Solar System EdgeScientists Eager for Hubble's FaceliftHuge Tunguska Explosion Remains Mysterious 100 Years LaterOppo

This image taken by NASA's MESSENGER probe reveals a first look at uncharted terrain on the planet Mercury after a Jan. 14, 2008 flyby. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington

Cassini's Primary Mission Ends, Two-Year Extension Begins

wooferhound points out recent news that the Cassini probe has completed its original four-year mission and is beginning a two-year extended mission, which was authorized earlier this year. Cassini's first mission brought us a treasure trove of information about Saturn and its various moons. The new mission will target two of those moons in particular for further study: Titan and Enceladus. Quoting: "The spacecraft is extremely healthy and carries 12 instruments powered by three radioisotope thermoelectric generators. Data from Cassini's nominal and extended missions could lay the groundwork for possible future missions to Saturn, Titan or Enceladus. [The two moons] are primary targets in the two-year extended mission, dubbed the Cassini Equinox Mission.

Space Station Invaded by Students from Outer Space Base

HOUSTON, Aug. 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Arizona kids and teens are set to blast their local libraries into orbit after completing Outer Space Base, a library series of space science programs in Tucson. Nine- to thirteen-year-olds will participate in a live educational downlink with Expedition 17 astronaut Greg Chamitoff aboard the International Space Station on Friday, Aug. 15, from 1:10 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. CDT. The Pima County Public Library is the first public library system to host a space station downlink. The downlink also will be a first for the State of Arizona. Outer Space Base programs are the product of a partnership between the library, NASA, the Lunar and Planetary Institute, and the Mars Education Program at

Kennedy Space Center - Space Station Processing Facility, USA

The Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is one of the USA's most visible government installations, handling multiple space shuttle, military and commercial launches with payload values exceeding $1 billion per year. The KSC is located on Florida's Space Coast and is 55km (34 miles) long from north to south, and 16km (10 miles) across at its widest point. It is the United States of America's only launch complex for manned operations. KSC houses some of the most unique facilities in the world. Among these is the Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF), which accommodates shuttle payloads for the International Space Station (ISS).

NASA considers continuing shuttle use after 2010

Michael Griffin, administrator of the American space agency, NASA has ordered a study into considering the possibility of continuing the usage of the space shuttle, a space vehicle that takes astronauts to the International Space Station. The agency originally planned to retire all shuttles in 2010 after mission STS-134, but concerns over staff job losses that were created by the Space Shuttle program caused Griffin to order the study. The space crafts have been in use since 1981 and it's replacements, the Ares rockets, will not be in use until 2015 causing a 5 year gap where NASA will have no manned space flights, which is the reason the agency is considering extending usage for five more years, when the vehicles can be immediately replaced by their successors.

Retired NASA SpaceCraft Operator Witnessed Extraterrestrial in Space Shuttle Mission

Clark McClelland is a retired Spacecraft Operator with NASA who during a 34 year career was responsible for ensuring the safety of numerous NASA missions including Mercury spaceflights, Apollo missions, the International Space Station and the Space Shuttle. In a statement released on his website on July 29, 2008, McClelland revealed that he witnessed an eight to nine foot tall extraterrestrial in association with a Space Shuttle mission he was monitoring from the Kennedy Space Center. He wrote:

Review: Tourists in Space

Over the last several years, the concept of personal spaceflight (aka space tourism) has gained acceptance from the broader public, even if the development of the vehicles intended to serve this new market has lagged (see “Where’s my rocketship?” The Space Review, July 7, 2008). What was once treated with winks and giggles and guffaws is now given serious consideration not just by the space industry but the much larger travel and tourism industry as well. So much so that someone can publish a book with the title Tourists in Space: A Practical Guide and have it treated as just that: a nuts-and-bolts look at suborbital and orbital space tourism, particularly for those people considering signing up for a ride into space.

A Cold War Meeting in Space 33 Years Ago Today

On July 17, 1975, something momentous and unprecedented happened: two Cold War-rivals met in space. The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project saw spacecraft from the United States and the Soviet Union docking together in space, ushering in a new era of cooperative ventures between the two countries that once were rivals in the "space race." Preparing for the mission, the astronauts and cosmonauts had to visit each other's countries for training, and the two space agencies had to share classified information with each other in order for the rendezvous and docking to work successfully. A few years ago, Tom Stafford, one of the American astronauts said the Apollo-Soyuz mission "showed the whole world that if the Soviet Union and America could work together in space, they could work together on the Earth.

Letter: Finding space for contemporary art

We were delighted with your interview with Bridget Riley (July 5) celebrating her role in and recollections of the founding and history of Space, which supports artists by providing affordable studio space, and supports local communities with cultural programmes in east London. To bring your interview up to the present day, Space is celebrating 40 years with a selling exhibition of work by 55 current Space artists, including this year's Turner prize winner, Mark Wallinger. The interview rightly says that Space is still going strong, but we are constantly at risk as leases come up for renewal and we are exposed to the property market of east London, where former factory buildings are in high demand for loft conversions and the 2012 Olympics further affect affordability of property.

NASA Sets Launch Dates For Remaining Space Shuttle Missions

HOUSTON, July 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following a detailed, integrated assessment, NASA selected target launch dates for the remaining eight space shuttle missions on the current manifest in 2009 and 2010. The manifest includes one flight to the Hubble Space Telescope, seven assembly flights to the International Space Station, and two station contingency flights, planned to be completed before the end of fiscal year 2010. The agency previously selected Oct. 8 and Nov. 10 as launch dates for Atlantis' STS-125 mission to service Hubble and Endeavour's STS-126 / ULF-2 mission to supply the space station and service both Solar Alpha Rotary Joints on the port and starboard end of its truss backbone that supports equipment and solar arrays. The approved target dates are subject to change based on processing and other launch vehicle schedul

Aldrin Warns that NASA will fall Behind Russia and China in Space Exploration

The world knows the huge potential China and Russia have for space exploration. Russia is maintaining a strong presence in space with their sturdy Soyuz program and China has set its sights on having their very first "taikonaut" EVA at the end of this year. But where does this leave NASA? The US space agency has spearheaded the exploration of space for the last 50 years, but amongst all the talk about NASA setbacks, overspending and delays, could the glory days be coming to an abrupt end? In May, the legendary astronaut John Glenn spoke out against Shuttle decommissioning and last week, US Senator Bill Nelson called a meeting at Cape Canaveral to raise concerns about announced job cuts in 2010. Now, the most famous NASA ex-employee and second man on the Moon, Buzz Aldrin has voiced warnings that the US could lose its grip on space and beg

From Space to the Olympics

Space and the Olympics might not be synonymous in most people's minds — although this image of the Opening Ceremony fireworks makes it look like Olympic Stadium is going supernova — but there are a few connections between the two for this year's Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. Google Earth recently updated the satellite imagery it uses for the Beijing area to provide users with better maps. They also used satellite imagery to create a 3-D tour of all the facilities for the 2008 Olympics (see video below). Other space connections include several space explorers who carried the Olympic torch on its running tour around the world, and NASA space spinoff technology used in some of the clothing and equipment for Olympic use.

NASA Assigns Crew for Equipment Delivery Mission to Space Station

WASHINGTON, July 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA has assigned the crew for space shuttle mission STS-128. The flight will carry science and storage racks to the International Space Station. Marine Corps Col. Frederick W. "Rick" Sturckow will command space shuttle Atlantis on the STS-128 mission, targeted for launch July 30, 2009. Retired Air Force Col. Kevin A. Ford will serve as the pilot.

NASA Sets Briefings For Hubble Space Telescope Shuttle Mission

HOUSTON -- NASA will hold a series of news media briefings Sept. 8 - 9 to preview the space shuttle's fifth and final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. NASA Television and the agency's Web site will provide live coverage of the briefings from the Johnson Space Center and the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Questions also will be taken from other participating NASA locations.

Launch Pad Repairs to Begin; Hubble Repair Mission Should Go As Scheduled

Work will begin on Friday to repair damaged sections of Kennedy Space Center’s launch pad 39A that was damaged during the last space shuttle launch on May 31. On Thursday, (June 26) NASA managers approved a plan that would complete the repairs by the third week of August. Therefore the mission schedule shouldn’t be impacted. The next space shuttle flight, the high-profile final mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope is scheduled to launch on October 8, and if all goes well with the repairs, space shuttle Atlantis would crawl its way out to the pad on August 29. "We really like the plan," said shuttle Program Manager John Shannon. "We expect to start moving out on it right away."

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Canada to build World's First Asteroid-hunting Satellite

Just yesterday (June 30th) was the 100-year anniversary of the Tunguska event, when a small piece of ice or rock created a huge blast crater near the Podkammenaya Tungus river in Siberia, flattening trees and scaring the heck out of people in the surrounding area. Thankfully, the blast didn't happen in a populated area and nobody was killed, but there are many more pieces of debris floating around out there in space. If we want to do something about an asteroid headed our way, or keep astronauts safe from space debris, knowing is half the battle. Thanks to a new microsatellite being built by the Canadian Space Agency, we will soon have a better map of the objects surrounding the Earth's orbit.

NASA Chooses LIFEPAK(R) 1000 Defibrillator for Use on International Space Station

Physio-Control of Redmond, WA, just announced that its LIFEPAK 1000 defibrillator has been deployed on the International Space Station (ISS) as the first automated external defibrillator (AED) in space. The International Space Station is a state-of-the-art, orbiting laboratory complex that travels 240 miles above the Earth. Crew members currently have interior living and working space for conducting ongoing medical and space research.

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