Final Construction Starts for Europe’s 2016 Methane Sniffing Mars Mission

Has life ever existed on Mars? Or anywhere beyond Earth? Answering that question is one of the most profound scientific inquiries of our time. Europe and Russia have teamed up for a bold venture named ExoMars that’s set to blast off in search of Martian life in about two and a half years. Determining if …

13 Things That Saved Apollo 13, Part 11: A Hollywood Movie

Note: To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 13 mission, for 13 days, Universe Today will feature “13 Things That Saved Apollo 13,” discussing different turning points of the mission with NASA engineer Jerry Woodfill. A Hollywood movie depicts three astronauts who survive an accident in space, but their lives hang in the balance …

13 Things That Saved Apollo 13, Part 6: Navigating By Earth’s Terminator

[/caption] Note: To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 13 mission, for 13 days, Universe Today will feature “13 Things That Saved Apollo 13,” discussing different turning points of the mission with NASA engineer Jerry Woodfill. The rupture and explosion of Apollo 13’s oxygen tank crippled the spacecraft, endangering the lives of the crew …

13 Things That Saved Apollo 13, Part 3: Charlie Duke’s Measles

[/caption] Note: To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 13 mission, for 13 days, Universe Today will feature “13 Things That Saved Apollo 13,” discussing different turning points of the mission with NASA engineer Jerry Woodfill. Just 72 hours before the scheduled launch of Apollo 13, Ken Mattingly was removed from the mission and …

New Details About Space Shuttle Successor

A Northrop Grumman/Boeing team has unveiled new details about the successor to the space shuttle: the Crew Exploration Vehicle. This new spacecraft, reminiscent of the original Apollo capsule, is expected to carry humans to the International Space Station by 2012 and return them to the Moon by 2018. Unlike Apollo, however, the CEV will carry four astronauts to the Moon and back. It will orbit the Moon autonomously, allowing all four astronauts to descend to the surface.

Interview: Dennis Wingo, Author of Moonrush

Last week, Mark Mortimer reviewed Dennis Wingo’s new book, Moonrush – Improving Life on Earth with the Moon’s Resources, about the prospects of getting our future materials from space. Well, we had a few more questions for Wingo, about property rights, related projects here on Earth, and the possibility that we could wreck our environment so badly that getting into space is totally out of reach. Read on for this bonus interview with Dennis Wingo.