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Man Facing 15 Year Jail Term for Ripping Off NASA, Endangering Shuttle Crew

[/caption]Oh dear. This is a tough lesson in “don’t sell NASA defective goods!” It would appear that even NASA suffers from common infliction of shoddy contractors. Have you ever hired a plumber to find the leaking got worse? Have you hired a landscaping company who accidentally ripped up your prize hydrangeas? Have you purchased a …

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Floating Battle Droids On Board ISS

[/caption] Three free-flying spheres are currently zooming around inside the International Space Station. Is the crew of Expedition 18 using them to hone their light-saber battle skills a la Luke Skywalker or sharpen their ability to detect UFOs? No, these bowling-ball sized spherical satellites are part of an experiment devised by students at the Massachusetts …

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How to Prepare for Your Own Personal Spaceflight or Zero-G Experience

Is a personal spaceflight or zero-g experience on your Bucket List? If so, how do you prepare for this once-in-a-lifetime event? How can you get the most out of your flight and create a lasting memory? With several commercial spaceflight companies preparing to launch suborbital tourist flights within the next several years, leaders from the …

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US Air Force Increases Investment in Satellite Protection Technology

[/caption]What does the US, Russia and China have in common? Yes, they’ve all sent a man into space and successfully carried out spacewalks using home-made spaceships, but they have another space-based attribute in common. They are all capable of shooting down satellites in Earth orbit. What’s more, all have proven it. So, we know for …

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Aldrin: Mars Pioneers Should Not Return to Earth

[/caption]Commenting on the strategy for the exploration of Mars, Buzz Aldrin, second man on the Moon and tireless space exploration advocate, has said that he believes the first explorers of the Red Planet should stay there. Following similar lines of the first European pioneers who settled in America, a small group of interplanetary explorers should …

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Space Tourist Garriott Docks with Station (Videos)

[/caption]The Soyuz TMA-13 carrying Expedition 18 to the International Space Station (ISS) has successfully docked, delivering astronaut Mike Fincke, cosmonaut Yuri Lonchakov and space tourist Richard Garriott. The Soyuz spaceship docked with the Zarya module ahead of schedule over breathtaking views of southern Asia. Richard Garriott, a 47 year-old computer games entrepreneur and son of …

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NASA Will Not Use Russian Progress Vehicle Despite Waiver

[/caption]This may come as a surprise, but then again, it might not. Despite the recently signed US Congressional waiver of the Iran-North Korea-Syria Nonproliferation Act, allowing NASA to use the Russian Progress vehicle to send US supplies to the International Space Station (ISS) after Shuttle decommissioning in 2010, NASA has said that they will seek …

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Virgin Galactic Wants to Do Science, Too

[/caption] The company that aims to be the first “spaceline,” by taking paying passenger to space on a regular basis is also looking at contributing to science, too. Virgin Galactic is looking at the possibility of carrying scientific instruments on board the aircraft that brings its spaceship skyward. Richard Branson is teaming up with the …

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Solar System’s Protective Shield is Weakening; Solar Wind Velocity at Record Low

[/caption] Solar wind output is at its lowest since accurate records began 50 years ago. This finding comes from the seasoned ESA/NASA solar probe Ulysses, which completed nearly three polar orbits of the Sun from 1993 to 2008 (it is still functioning today, but at a reduced capacity). Although a weakening of the solar wind …

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