NASA

Read the latest NASA news today on Newser.com

Stories 721 - 740 | << Prev   Next >>

Post-Shuttle Era NASA: Now What?

Agency lacks clear vision for future of space exploration

(Newser) - Atlantis' wheels will hit Earth early Thursday, closing out NASA's epic 30-year space shuttle program for good. But when the dust clears, the space agency has no clear replacement program on the horizon to lead America's return to space, notes the LA Times . Rather, the trailblazing agency is...

'Godspeed:' Atlantis Leaves ISS a Final Time

Shuttle takes unprecedented photos of space station on last return trip

(Newser) - Atlantis left the International Space Station for the very last time today, heading home to end the 30-year run of a vessel that kept Americans flying to and from orbit longer than any other rocketship. The space shuttle slipped away after performing a partial lap around the space station. Ten...

Astronauts Take NASA's Last Spacewalk of Shuttle Era

They set up experiment for robot to refuel satellites

(Newser) - Astronauts making the last spacewalk of NASA's space shuttle era today retrieved a broken pump from the International Space Station and installed a fill-er-up experiment for a robot on the side of the space station. The two-armed robot Dextre won't actually begin the $22.6 million experiment until...

'Space Fence' to Track Cosmic Junk

Near misses underscore need for new system

(Newser) - As the space shuttle program draws to a close, engineers are focusing on a less glamorous phenomenon of the space age: cosmic junk. The US Air Force is working on a $3.5 billion "Space Fence" scanner to track the estimated 500,000 pieces of space debris bigger than...

Space Shuttle Atlantis Docks a Final Time
 Atlantis Docks a Final Time 
Jul 10, 2011 11:04 AM CDT

Atlantis Docks a Final Time

Last shuttle mission cruising along smoothly

(Newser) - Atlantis has docked with the International Space Station, yet another final milestone as NASA winds down its storied shuttle program with what the AP is perhaps excessively referring to as "a flight full of passion." "Atlantis arriving," called space station astronaut Ronald Garan Jr. as the...

Strangest Passengers in NASA History

From frogs to fish, the space shuttle has carried plenty of crazy critters

(Newser) - You can probably name the first American sent into space (Alan Shepard), but the first monkey, frog, and jellyfish made the trip with far less fanfare. Space Shuttle Atlantis took off yesterday with a few odd passengers: an iPhone and a mutant strain of salmonella. But they're not the...

Atlantis Blasts Off on Final Shuttle Flight

Flight will last 12 days

(Newser) - Atlantis blasted off this morning on the last flight of NASA's space shuttle program. The historic liftoff occurred 30 years and three months after the very first shuttle flight. Four astronauts are riding Atlantis to orbit, bound for the International Space Station. Massive crowds jammed Cape Canaveral and surrounding...

After Last Shuttle Lifts Off, Russia Owns Space

Moscow will have a monopoly on flights to ISS for years

(Newser) - After the last US space shuttle flight blasts off tomorrow, Russia will officially have a monopoly on outer space. The 40-year-old Soyuz capsule will be the only vessel capable of reaching the International Space Station, and Russia can charge dearly for rides, the Wall Street Journal reports. “We are...

NASA's Final Shuttle Crew Readies for Atlantis' Last Ridew
 Meet NASA's Last Shuttle Crew 
Jul 3, 2011 8:46 AM CDT

Meet NASA's Last Shuttle Crew

Four astronauts close out program with Atlantis' final flight

(Newser) - They are the envy of America's space program: Christopher Ferguson, Douglas Hurley, Rex Walheim, and Sandra Magnus will zip into space on Friday aboard NASA's 135th and final shuttle mission. The smallest crew since 1983 amounts to an afterthought: They were initially groomed as a rescue mission in...

NASA Sues Astronaut for Swiping Moon Camera

Moonwalker Edgar Mitchell tried to sell camera at auction

(Newser) - NASA is suing the sixth man on the moon for a camera that he says would have ended up as "government trash" or moon litter if he hadn't kept it. Government lawyers got involved after Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell attempted to sell the lunar movie camera at...

Troops' A/C Costs $20.2B— More Than NASA

Military spends $20B to cool tents in the Mideast

(Newser) - Which would you rather have: a space program or cool army tents in the Mideast? The US military spends $20.2 billion annually on air conditioning for tents in Iraq and Afghanistan—an amount that NPR notes tops NASA's entire budget, all damages BP has paid for the Gulf...

Saturn Moon May Hide Underground Ocean

Salt water ice spewing out from under the surface

(Newser) - Saturn’s moon Enceladus is spewing what appears to be chunks of ice composed of salt-water vapor out of fractures in its southern pole, leading scientists to believe there may be a massive ocean lurking beneath its surface. The plumes were first discovered by the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft some time ago,...

Black Hole Spotted Feasting on Passing Star

Gamma-ray burst leads astronomers to 'feeding frenzy'

(Newser) - The super massive black hole at the heart of a galaxy in the Draco constellation has been caught in the middle of a meal—and it's a messy eater. Scientists analyzing an unusually long-lasting burst of gamma rays from the constellation 4 billion light years away believe they are...

Probe Unlocks Mercury's Secrets

Messenger data surprising scientists

(Newser) - Mercury is anything but the boring "burnt-out cinder" scientists once believed it was, say researchers analyzing data from NASA's Messenger orbiter. The spacecraft has now spent 88 days—one Mercurian year—circling the planet, and has sent back about 20,000 new pictures that strongly suggest that ice...

3 More Astronauts Join Space Station Crew

New tenants include an American

(Newser) - It's a full house again at the International Space Station after a Russian capsule carrying three astronauts from three countries docked at the orbiting lab yesterday. The new tenants arriving for a five-month stay were American Michael Fossum, Russian Sergey Volkov, and Japan's Satoshi Furukawa. They join American...

Dramatic Solar Flare Could Mess With Things

It unleashed biggest firestorm of radiation in 5 years

(Newser) - The sun let loose a fiery explosion yesterday that could mess with GPS and communication satellites, power grids, and more, the National Weather Service warned today. “This one was rather dramatic,” an official from the NWS’ Space Weather Prediction Center tells the Telegraph . "We saw the initial...

Endeavour Returns to Earth a Final Time

After 299 days in space, space shuttle grounded for good

(Newser) - After 25 missions, 299 days in space, 4,671 orbits around the Earth, and more than 122 million miles, the space shuttle Endeavour has landed for good. It touched down at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral at 2:34am this morning after its final 16-day mission, Space.com...

Space Shuttle Endeavour Wraps Mission, Prepare to Undock
 Endeavour Wraps Final Mission 
May 29, 2011 8:56 AM CDT

Endeavour Wraps Final Mission

Mark Kelly and crew will undock tonight, return home

(Newser) - It's all over for Endeavour but the undocking: The shuttle's crew floated out the door this morning and closed the hatch behind them, having completed Endeavour's final mission. "We're looking forward to getting home," said commander Mark Kelly, "and we're going to...

Last Shuttle Spacewalkers Make History

International Space Station is completed with 1K hours spent spacewalking

(Newser) - Two astronauts made history today as the final spacewalkers of NASA's 30-year shuttle program, completing construction of the International Space Station with the smooth addition of an extension boom. It was fitting for Endeavour to be present at the end of space station construction since it was present for...

NASA to Pluck Samples From Asteroid

It will take four years for the unmanned probe to return to Earth

(Newser) - A NASA spacecraft will reach out and touch an asteroid—and send pieces back to Earth, the space agency announced yesterday. The unmanned probe won't land on the rocky body, but it will get close enough to kiss the surface and extend a robotic arm to grab up to...

Stories 721 - 740 | << Prev   Next >>