Space Exploration | Universe Today

(Editor's Note: Ken Kremer is in Florida for Universe Today covering the upcoming Endeavour launch attempt.)

A Russian cargo robot carrying 2 ½ tons of food, fuel and essential supplies carried out an automated docking at the International Space Station (ISS) late Thursday at 11:26 PM EST following a 2 day orbital chase. The unmanned Progress 36 resupply vessel arrived at the aft port of the Zvezda service module under the watchful eyes of Cosmonuats Oleg Kotov and Maxim Suraev who were ready to swiftly intervene and perform a manual docking if necessary. Astronaut Soichi Noguchi tweeted this live account; “Progress just docked to ISS! We felt the impact!!!” Read more…

Filed under: NASA, Space Exploration, Space Shuttle, Space Station | 7 Comments »

The “Crown Jewel” of NASA’s solar science research fleet, the Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, was transported from the Astrotech payload processing facility outside KSC to the Vertical Integration Facility (VIF) at Launch Complex 41 in the overnight hours of Jan 26. It’s standard operating procedure to transport such highly valuable payloads after midnight, when the least amount of traffic is on the road in order to minimize any possibility for an accident. The $848 million spacecraft was moved at about 10 MPH on a specially designed flat bed truck for a trip lasting roughly four hours. Read more…

Filed under: Astronomy, Missions, Solar Astronomy, Space Exploration | 1 Comment »

Ain't no doubt about it… Space is cool! And this year Russian space exploration is not only cool – but ice cold. This year’s International Festival of Snow, Ice and Light sculptures “Vyugovey” will take place in Moscow from December 25 to February 28 in the Memorial Museum of Space Exploration {ark on Prospekt Mira, and is devoted to the 50th anniversary of Russian space exploration. Read more…

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On January 20th, former astronaut Buzz Aldrin – who was the second man to walk on the Moon and has been a longtime advocate of space exploration – will turn 80 years old. Wouldn't you like to send him some birthday wishes? Well, you can! The Planetary Society is collecting birthday wishes to be put on a "ginormous card" honoring his 80th trip around the Sun. Originally, the card was to be presented at a ceremony where Stephen Hawking would also receive the Planetary Society's Cosmos Award, but Hawking has been advised by his doctors to refrain from flying to California for the event.

The birthday card, which already has birthday wishes from people around the world, will still be presented to Aldrin, so be sure to go wish him a happy birthday using this link.

Source: The Planetary Society blog

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The new joint Mars exploration program of NASA and ESA is quickly pushing forward to implement an agreed upon framework to construct an ambitious new generation of red planet orbiters and landers starting with the 2016 and 2018 launch windows.

The European-led ExoMars Trace Gas Mission Orbiter (TGM) has been selected as the first spacecraft of the joint initiative and is set to launch in January 2016 aboard a NASA supplied Atlas 5 rocket for a 9 month cruise to Mars. The purpose is to study trace gases in the martian atmosphere, in particular the sources and concentration of methane which has significant biological implications. Variable amounts of methane have been detected by a martian orbiter and ground based telescopes on earth. The orbiter will likely be accompanied by a small static lander provided by ESA and dubbed the Entry, Descent and Landing Demonstrator Module (EDM). Read more…

Filed under: Astrobiology, Astronomy, Mars, Missions, NASA, Solar System, Space Exploration, Space Flight, Technology, esa | 8 Comments »

Growing up on Star Trek, I was always told that space was the final frontier. What they never told me was that space is about as friendly to the human body as being microwaved alive in a frozen tundra–in essence, shelter is a necessity.

Like any Earthen home or building, an off world shelter on the Moon or Mars will need energy to keep its residents comfortable (not to mention alive), and power outages of any sort will not be tolerated–unless a person desires to be radiated and frozen (which is probably not a great way to "kick the bucket").

While some may look towards solar power to help keep the lights on and the heat flowing, it may be wiser instead to look at an upcoming "fission battery" from Hyperion Power Generation to power future colonies on the Moon, Mars, and perhaps an plasma rocket powered starship as well. Read more…

Filed under: Space Exploration | 12 Comments »

The U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Space & Aeronautics held a hearing yesterday on the issue of how to ensure the future safety of human flight into space for both commercial and governmental agencies. The hearing was attended by a number of witnesses that represented NASA, one from the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, the CEO of a risk-analysis firm, and a former astronaut. The subcommittee was chaired by Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

This hearing comes on the tails of the Augustine Commission final report, which examined the future of spaceflight in the U.S. and laid out a "flexible path" plan that includes utilizing private, commercial firms for human transport into Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and the International Space Station. Read more…

Filed under: Missions, NASA, Space Exploration, Space Flight | Comments Off

Future lunar astronauts may want to brush up on their spelunking skills: the first lava tube has been discovered on the moon.

In a recent paper published in Geophysical Research Letters, Junichi Haruyama and colleagues report that they have discovered a mysterious hole in the lunar surface in high resolution images from the Kaguya spacecraft. The hole is 65 meters in diameter and is located in the volcanic Marius Hills region on the near side of the moon, right in the middle of a long sinuous rille. Sinuous rilles are thought to be formed by flowing lava, either on the surface or in enclosed lava tubes.
Read more…

Filed under: Moon, Space Exploration | 12 Comments »

The Dawn spacecraft – which is on a course to study the asteroid Vesta and dwarf planet Ceres – has taken up permanent residence in the asteroid belt as of November 13th. Dawn is officially the first human-made object to become a part of the asteroid belt, which is sandwiched between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Read more…

Filed under: Missions, Space Exploration | 2 Comments »

JPL has a fun article on their website detailing what future robotic exploration might entail: an armada of robots could one day fly above the mountain tops of Saturn's moon Titan, cross its vast dunes and sail in its liquid lakes. This is the vision of Wolfgang Fink, from the California Institute of Technology. He says we are on the brink of a great paradigm shift in planetary exploration, and the next round of robotic explorers will be nothing like what we see today.
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I very much enjoyed chatting with Buzz Aldrin a couple of weeks ago, for some stories leading up to the 40th anniversary of the July 20, 1969 Apollo 11 landing on the moon. I found him honest, personable and generous with his time.

But when his publicist offered to send a copy of his new book, "Magnificent Desolation," I didn't set my expectations too high. I didn't know what to make of an autobiography by a retired Air Force pilot and astronaut. Doesn't that history put the "Rocket Hero" pretty squarely in the category of techie or a jock — a non-writer type?

Well, color me impressed. The book arrived late last week, and I turned the last page this morning — looking for more to read!

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Filed under: Book Reviews, Missions, Moon, NASA, Space Exploration | 1 Comment »

Illustration credit: Robert McCall

Peter Smith feels pretty certain we'll be finding life on Mars within the next decade. 

Smith, the University of Arizona professor who led NASA's Phoenix Mars Mission, made his predictions to a spellbound audience during a lecture at the University of Delaware earlier this month, and he discussed his ideas by phone on Thursday. He carries a "sense of optimism" about finding life on Mars, he said, because of the tantalizing clues Phoenix sent to Earth.

"Finding life on Mars would be one of the great discoveries of all time," he said. "We're not that far away. The next mission could be the one."

Read more…

Filed under: Mars, Space Exploration | 17 Comments »

The Senate Budget Committee has given the green light to fund NASA's shuttle program past the end of 2010, when the program is set to retire.

But NASA isn't asking for an extension.

Florida Sen. Bill Nelson requested the $2.5 billion provision, which was included in the broader five-year spending plan that passed committee Monday afternoon. His office argues that launching nine missions in 18 months puts too much pressure on the agency, and could compromise safety.

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Filed under: Astronomy, NASA, Space Exploration, Space Flight, Space Shuttle | 9 Comments »

How ironic. Not content with searching for life on Mars, the Russian space agency and the US-based Planetary Society will soon be sending terrestrial life to the Martian moon Phobos. The mini-interplanetary travellers will consist of bacteria, spores, seeds, crustaceans, insects and fungi. Why? To see how biological life, in various forms, deals with space travel spanning three years.

So if you thought that a human (or monkey) would be the first of Earth's ambassadors to land on Mars or one of its moons, you'd be very mistaken…
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Filed under: Earth Observation, Extreme Life, Mars, Space Exploration | 50 Comments »

A new type of lunar robots is being designed which could help prepare locations on the Moon for human outposts and landing pads. With supervised autonomy, small robots the size of riding mowers and weighing 300 kg or less could prepare a site in about 6 months, says a new study by Astrobotic Technology Inc. in cooperation with Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute.

Anyone else having visions of Wall-E on the Moon?
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Filed under: Moon, Space Exploration | 41 Comments »