Space and astronomy news
Space shuttle Endeavour will undock from the ISS on late Friday (7:54 p.m. EST) or early Saturday (00:54 GMT) depending where you live, providing an opportunity to see the two spaceships flying in tandem. This is an incredible sight, and as the shuttle program comes to a close, one that will happen only about four …
Virgin Galactic will unveil SpaceShipTwo (SS2), Monday night, but they did sneak out a few photos prior to the event. SS2 will be the world’s first commercial manned spaceship, with room for several passengers to move (and fly!) around during suborbital flights. “This is truly a momentous day. The team has created not only a …
[/caption] If you catch this post on Monday night, you might have a chance to see the International Space Station and Discovery while the space shuttle is still docked to the ISS. Flying as one, the station/shuttle complex is very bright and very easy to spot. But Tuesday evening you’ll be able to see double. …
[/caption] A great opportunity tonight (July 28) to see three spaceships cross the sky at once! Endeavour just undocked from the ISS today, so they will be close to each other, plus there’s another spaceship lurking nearby: a Progress re-supply ship ready to dock with the ISS. How can you find out when and where …
[/caption] Atlantis has begun her journey back home to the Kennedy Space Center, hitching a ride on the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, a modified Boeing 747. The flight took off at about 11:05 EDT on Monday morning from Edwards Air Force Base, and the duo will fly to Biggs Army Air Field in El Paso, Texas …
[/caption] As I write this, astronauts from space shuttle Discovery are on the first spacewalk of the STS-119 mission, installing the fourth and final set of solar array wings to the International Space Station. Once the array is deployed, the station will surpass Venus as the brightest object in the night sky, second only to …
[/caption]British scientists invent “mini-magnetosphere” to protect astronauts during solar storms. Space travel during a solar storm just became a little less risky. UK scientists working at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory near Oxford and the universities of York and Strathclyde have tested a “mini-magnetosphere” enveloping a model spacecraft in the lab. It turns out that their prototype …
Continue reading “Ion Shield for Interplanetary Spaceships Now a Reality”
Looking for the International Space Station flying overhead is one of my favorite space-related pastimes. But for a couple of evenings (or early mornings, depending where you are) starting on Wednesday, June 11 you can see two spacecraft for the price of one. Space shuttle Discovery is scheduled to undock from the International Space Station …
This could be the ultimate galactic GPS system: using pulsars as an interstellar navigation tool. Rapidly spinning neutron stars emit focused beams of X-rays into space and many, with accuracy as good as an atomic clock, have been mapped by astronomers. Now these pulsars may have a very important practical use. These interstellar beacons may …
Continue reading “Navigation for Spaceships Using X-ray Pulsars: Introducing XNAV”
The next few evenings will provide excellent opportunities for observing the International Space Station in the night skies above both Europe and North America. Beginning this evening, May 21 through May 23 the ISS will pass over from two to four times per night, depending on your location. Because of the station’s current orientation and …