Space and astronomy news
NASA unveiled a new design of spacesuits for the Constellation program today. Astronauts will be donning the new suits on the first flights of the Orion spaceship, scheduled for 2015, on trips to the International Space Station, with additional EVA suits ready for the first missions to the moon, scheduled for 2020. The spacesuits feature …
Here’s a futuristic-looking concept for a manned vehicle of the not-so-distant future. Buoyed by the success of the Jules Verne Automated Transfer Vehicle, the European space company EADS Astrium unveiled their plans to evolve the ATV – currently a cargo carrier for the International Space Station – to a manned vehicle. There’s just one little …
Its official, last month’s Soyuz emergency landing was due to a technical fault just before re-entry. A Russian space agency official has made an announcement indicating that one of the spaceship’s modules failed to separate, putting the crew into a “ballistic re-entry”. After the event, a Russian agency source said the lives of the crew …
Continue reading “Soyuz Hard Landing: Equipment Module Failed to Separate – Official”
When space probes Galileo, Rosetta, NEAR and Cassini carried out Earth flyby manoeuvre, scientists measured a bizarre and unpredictable jumps in orbital acceleration. To this day, the phenomenon remains unexplained, but there are many ideas as to how this flyby anomaly may be caused. As previously reported on the Universe Today, some of the scientific …
Continue reading “Could Dark Matter be the Root Cause of Flyby Anomalies?”
This is something I can stomach when considering the launch of an unmanned robotic mission into space. It seems obvious that there should be a “flight termination” switch, especially when considering the damage a malfunctioning rocket could do to populated areas. If mission controllers see the rocket veer off course, they can make a quick …
Continue reading “Shuttle Launch Controllers Prepared to Press “Self Destruct” Button”
Could you handle six months in space with a tiny handful of crew? Keep in mind you’d be doing everything with them, eating, sleeping, chatting, working, waiting, more sleeping, the occasional emergency, more chatting… If you look around your office now, could you really see yourself spending 24/7 with any of those guys for 24 …
Continue reading “Will Mars Astronauts be put in Suspended Animation for the Journey?”
Have you ever dreamt of travelling to the Moon? Unfortunately, for the time being, this will be a privilege only for an elite few astronauts and robotic explorers. But NASA has just released news that you will have the opportunity to send your name to the Moon on board their next big Moon mission, the …
For the first time since docking with the International Space Station (ISS) on April 3rd, the Automated Transfer Vehicle (A T V) “Jules Verne” has been awoken and instructed to carry out an impressive task: push the ISS to a higher orbit. The robotic supply vessel, currently attached to the station’s Zvezda module carried out …
Continue reading “ATV Jules Verne Boosts Space Station to Higher Orbit (Video)”
The Solar System: Solar System Guide The Sun Mercury Venus Earth The Moon Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) Mars Phobos and Deimos The Asteroid Belt Ceres Vesta Jupiter Jupiter’s Moons Galilean Moons Saturn Saturn’s Moons Uranus Uranus’ Moons Neptune Neptune’s Moons Dwarf Planets The Kuiper Belt The Oort Cloud Comets, Asteroids, and KBOs Outer Space: Stars Magnetars …
He’s married a couple on board a Virgin America jet, he’s also officiated the marriage of Google’s co-founder Larry Page on his private island in the Caribbean, now Richard Branson wants to marry couples as they reach the apex of their Virgin Galactic flights into space. The British billionaire already has two wedding-related bookings, one …
Continue reading “Branson to be the First to Marry Couples in Space”