SpaceShipTwo, British billionaire Richard Branson’s spaceship and part of his commercial space venture Virgin Galactic, is now one step closer to fulfilling the dream of private manned mission to space after a successful test conducted earlier this week. First Feather ...
Ulysses’ Farewell
The European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA have shut down Ulysses, one of the longest serving solar orbiters in history. Ulysses was the pioneer spacecraft to chart the space area above and below the poles of the Sun. Clocking in ...
NASA Outsources ISS Resupply
The National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA) announced plans to outsource upcoming resupply missions to the International Space Station (ISS). SpaceX vehicles will make twelve trips to the space station and Orbital Sciences Corporation vehicles will make eight between 2010 ...
Fast Plasma Rocket Test
Ad Astra Rocket Company of Webster, Texas is nearly ready to test its Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR) in space. A scale model of the plasma rocket will be put through its paces at the International Space Station (ISS) ...
ESA’s Gravity Mission ‘GOCE’
In September 2008 the European Space Agency plans to launch a satellite called the Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer. The spacecraft will allow scientists to learn more about Earth’s gravity field, expanding our knowledge in several fields of ...
One Ticket to Space, Please
A small California-based private aerospace company, called “XCOR Aerospace”, has announced the development of what could be the first “consumer-oriented” suborbital spaceship. According to the company, the aircraft, which was named “LYNX”, is scheduled to be launched in just two ...
Armadillo Aerospace Lunar Vehicle
Texas-based Armadillo Aerospace Company has developed a lunar spacecraft, which was demonstrated at the Wirefly X Prize Cup, held this year in Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico. The Wirefly Cup is the result of a partnership between the ...
Dawn Asteroid Odyssey Begins
NASA’s Dawn Spacecraft was successfully launched today from Cape Canaveral in Florida. The spacecraft set out on a decade long mission that will take it deep inside the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The information gathered by Dawn will ...
Saturn’s Moon Captured on Video
Based on 14 frames captured when the unmanned Cassini spacecraft encountered Hyperion in early 2006, this first ever video shows the small, Saturn moon (280 km /174 mi. across) over a 12 hr period on flyby about 1 million km ...