Browsing: NASA

Many children dream of becoming astronauts, but for most, the dream just gets lost somewhere along the way; but that no longer has to be the case, especially considering the exciting times we are living in. NASA may have retired its space orbiters, but there are still many manned missions planned for the International Space […]

The privately built SpaceX shuttle is only a few weeks away from its first space flight towards the International Space Station, but NASA already has big dreams for the Dragon; in a presentation held last week, SpaceX and space agency officials discussed sending Dragon to Mars in a revolutionary mission astronomers have called the ‘Red […]

After the International Space Station was completed, scientists noticed that exposure to weightlessness may have some deleterious effects on human health. The human body is too adjusted to the gravitational conditions on Earth, so extended periods of weightlessness can cause various physiological systems to change and atrophy. Astronauts on-board the International Space Station battle nausea […]

According to NASA, a large asteroid called 2005 YU55 is expected to pass at some 201,700 miles of Earth on Tuesday – closer than the Moon, and definitely closer than the Elenin comet. Now, before people start going all 2012 armageddon on me, let it be said that asteroids often pass at this distance from […]

Almost one year and a half ago six volunteers embarked on a fictive mission to Mars, designed to simulate the harsh conditions of interplanetary travel and isolation from the rest of the world. Today, November 4th, the team composed of volunteers from Europe, Russia and China is set to end their mission, hypothetically land back […]

Part of an ambitious NASA survey over the Antarctic, which intends on 3D mapping the continent’s glaciers in detail, one of the project’s planes has sighted a huge, emerging crack on the icy surface. The crack is a 8-mile-long break in an ice shelf, the first sign hinting to the formation of an iceberg that will […]

There is still a good chance we might find life on Mars, but if we really want to do this, we’re going to have to dig a little deeper – literally. A new study conducted by NASA claims that if there ever was any life on the red planet, then it probably thrived below the […]

Trekkies might rejoice at the news that NASA has recently decided to fund a research group employed to study how tractor beam technology might become applicable in space exploration missions. The agency has awarded a $100,000 initial grant to a team of reserachers who will study  three experimental techniques involving capturing small-particle samples with lasers. […]

In just a few hours, at 5 p.m. EDT, China will make another giant leap forward in its ever ambitious space program after it will launch the Shenzhou 8 spacecraft in a premiere mission for the nation, which will involve an unmanned docking with the Tiangong-1 spacecraft in Earth’s orbit. Besides the PR-driven first docking, the […]

In a landmark decision that will mark the future of commercial space flight, Boeing announced an agreement with Space Florida on Monday to lease the hangar that housed the space shuttles to bring similar spacecrafts and take people into outer space. In an area that has lost numerous specialized jobs, this move will create 140 […]