It is a period of extraordinary discovery for space exploration. For the first time in human history, a man-made vehicle has traveled beyond the solar system into interstellar space. Thirty-six years into its mission, Voyager 1 continues to send signals and reveal crucial information regarding the nature of the universe. The Curiosity and Opportunity rovers on…
Arizona State Universityās Psyche Mission, a journey to a metal asteroid, has been selected for flight, marking the first time the school will lead a deep-space NASA mission and the first time scientists will be able to see what is believed to be a planetary core. The missionās spacecraft is expected to launch in 2023, arriving at the asteroid in 2030, where…
The United States was not built by those who waited and rested and wished to look behind them. This country was conquered by those who moved forward, and so will space. ā President John F. Kennedy, 1962 In spite of the opinions of certain narrow-minded people, who would shut up the human race upon this globe, as within some magic circle which it must…
In 1947, on getting Independence from the British, the young nation decided to follow the democratic and secular path giving high importance to Science and Scientific Thinking. It was to the credit of the nation s early leaders that they encouraged eminent scientists and technologists to pursue the path of scientific discovery. This has now led the nation to…
In several thousand years of its recorded history, the human civilization made a remarkable journey from the darkness of ignorance to the light of knowledge. No tyranny, dogma or natural obstacle ever succeeded in pacifying human thirst for knowledge and exploration. However one destination still remained farther and more mysterious than any other - the world…
The US manned space program went splat over 30 years ago when Apollo 17 came home and nobody ever went back to the lunar nursery again. The new space policy of the Bush administration, aimed at taking the humankind back to the Moon and on to Mars, came under fire before even being released. In their bid at the Democratic nomination for the White House, several…
The era of private spaceflight is breaking new ground with the first test launch of the new Falcon 9 rocket by the company Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), which hopes to use the booster to fly its Dragon spaceship on space station trips. And with NASA s space shuttles retiring this year, SpaceX is not alone in the bid to launch cargo and astronauts into…
Space exploration is not cheap, and developing first-of-a-kind spacecraft is too expensive for most nations to even consider. During the Apollo program, some questioned whether money spent on sending people to the moon would be better spent on education, fighting poverty and developing new medication. The space shuttle program had a total cost of $209 billion…
If you google it, you won t find anything that says what we ve learned, how it helps us, or how we are paying for space exploration! Either get it on google or never use it again! It s like no one cares enough to tell us what we ve learned.. Or we haven t learned anything at all! Incentivize the Private Sector Gov t run research is not usually successful. Prime…
For Immediate Release Fact Sheet: A Renewed Spirit of Discovery Renewed Spirit of Discovery Today s Presidential Action Today, President Bush announced a new vision for the Nation s space exploration program. The President committed the United States to a long-term human and robotic program to explore the solar system, starting with a return to the Moon that…
Space Shuttle Disaster Classroom Activity Activity Summary Students research the progression of U.S. manned space exploration and learn the causes of the Challenger and Columbia shuttle accidents. Learning Objectives Students will be able to: describe how the U.S. space program missions have changed over time. explain what allowed the Challenger and Columbia…
Design Space Explorer II (DSE) is a simple and easy-to-use design optimization utility that leverages a new exploration engine. DSE II is included with the QuartusĀ® II software v14.1 and later. DSE II explores and reports the results of your optimization focus for a design. You can target design performance, area utilization, or power dissipation improvements…
Is a Habitat on an isolated Mars-like site on the Mauna Loa side of the saddle area on the Big Island of Hawaii at approximately 8200 feet above sea level. HI-SEAS is unique, in addition to its setting in a distinctive analog environment, as: we select the crew to meet our research needs (in serendipitous analogs, such as Antarctic stations, crew selection criteria…
Making History SpaceX has gained worldwide attention for a series of historic milestones. It is the only private company ever to return a spacecraft from low-Earth orbit, which it first accomplished in December 2010. The company made history again in May 2012 when its Dragon spacecraft attached to the International Space Station, exchanged cargo payloads, and…
Editorās note: This post is a Care2 favorite, back by popular demand. It was originally posted on January 11, 2013. Enjoy! In a time when economic austerity is en vogue, we find ourselves debating what is worth spending money on and what isnāt. Programs have to justify their existence and those programs that are seen as ancillary or superfluous get the ax. Unfortunately…
Topics: Space Policy In the hours after Curiosity launched last month, there were more than a few people questioning the worth of spending two and a half billion dollars to launch a spacecraft to Mars. This is absolutely a fair question to ask. It s important to place the question in context, because most people in the general public think NASA gets a much larger…
VANGUARD-A HISTORY 1 BACKGROUND OF SPACE EXPLORATION PEOPLE the world over speak of the Space Age as beginning with the launching of the Russian Sputnik on 4 October 1957. Yet Americans might well set the date hack at least to July 1955 when the White House, through President Eisenhower s press secretary, announced that the United States planned to launch a…
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. designs, manufactures, and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft. The company s products include Falcon 9, a two-stage rocket; and Dragon, a free-flying spacecraft. Space Exploration Technologies Corp. was founded in 2002 and is based in Hawthorne, California with an additional office in Redmond. 1 Rocket Road Hawthorne…
Space exploration satellites are not really satellites at all; they are properly known as space probes. A satellite is defined as something that s orbiting something else, but space probes instead travel deep into the solar system. However, they are similar to orbiting satellites in design and function. On their journeys, space probes send back detailed pictures…
BEIJING ā If the U.S.-Soviet space rivalry helped define the second half of the 20th century, China s drive to become a space superpower looks set to mark the first half of the 21st. In a mission dubbed Shenzhou-11, China launched two astronauts into orbit Monday from an isolated military launching pad in Inner Mongolia. Scientists from around the world traveled…
The United States government is in huge debt and is adding to that every year with the deficit, which has prompted many to push for a more balanced budget. This raises the question: should revenue be increased or spending reduced? It seems that the answer is a little bit of both. Surely, this has its advantages and drawbacks, and it is very important to consider…
The space elevator is an advanced space transportation system that someday could replace chemical rockets as humanity s primary means of reaching Earth s orbit. However, before this can occur, a number of enabling technologies will need to be developed, and a variety of economic and policy questions must be addressed. The goal of this paper is to examine the…
Do we have a budding āTim Peakeā in the makingā¦? Year 5 took their
NASA may be closing in on one of the greatest scientific discoveries of all time ā that we are not alone in the universe. Thatās because the recent discovery of active water streams on Mars by NASAās Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter combined with the Mars Curiosity roverās findings about the planetās water-rich history ā a more life friendly environment ā means scientists…
