NASA
August 3rd, 2005
The Future of NASA’s Human Spaceflight: Shuttle-Derived Technology Takes the Lead
NASA has decided that its next launch vehicle for getting humans into space will be based on the space shuttle system, including its main engines, solid rocket boosters and external tank. There will be one big difference, though, instead of riding along the side of the new rocket, astronauts in the future will be riding on top on top of their next launcher — above any debris that might fall off. Speaking to reporters via telephone July 29, NASA Administrator Mike Griffin said the agency’s plans are the result of an intensive Exploration Systems Architecture Study he ordered in late April to plot NASA’s return to the moon by 2020. That study will be publicly unveiled in “a few weeks,” Griffin said.
July 26th, 2005
NASA Returns to Shuttle Flight as Discovery Reaches Orbit
The space shuttle Discovery roared into space Tuesday, piercing a Florida morning sky today and launching seven astronauts on NASA
July 6th, 2005
Mars More Active and Complex than Expected
On the whole, Mars can seem rather boring. It is covered with basalt, the most basic type of rock, and generally appears to lack geologic diversity. It does not shake or rumble much. And then there’s that red dust everywhere.
But a closer look reveals pockets of rocks that rival the complexity of our own planet.
The finding means Mars is more active beneath the surface than scientists realized.
July 4th, 2005
NASA’s Moon Plans Shift into High Gear
NASA is set to begin rolling out the results of a landmark space exploration architecture study that calls for building an Apollo-like astronaut capsule and conducting up to six lunar sorties per year using rocket hardware derived from the space shuttle.
Sixty days in the making, the Exploration Systems Architecture Study will go a long way toward defining the approach and the hardware NASA will use to return astronauts to the Moon by 2020, and eventually go on to Mars.
June 1st, 2005
First Shooting Star Seen from Mars
NASA’s Spirit rover photographed a streak of light that was likely part of a martian meteor shower, scientists announced today. The picture is the first of a shooting star above Mars. Further, the flash has been traced back to its parent comet. And now astronomers figure they should be able to forecast martian meteor showers.
June 1st, 2005
Funding for Moon, Mars Projects Promised
NASA’s new administrator and Texas Republican Rep. Tom DeLay said Tuesday the space agency will have the necessary funding to implement President Bush’s vision to send astronauts back to the moon and to Mars. “We have the money to do good things,” said Michael Griffin, who has visited at least seven of NASA’s centers since he was appointed in April. During a two-day visit at the home of human spaceflight, he spoke with astronauts, flight directors and other top administrators.
June 1st, 2005
Mars Polar Lander: Clues From the Crash Site
In a game of high-altitude hide and seek, Mars orbiting spacecraft are scouting for telltale signs of a botched lander mission from more than five years ago. Finding the whereabouts of the probe, NASA
May 24th, 2005
Spirit Rover Traces Mars’ Explosive Past, Opportunity Slowly Digs Out
Explosions and falling rock once peppered the Martian hills that NASA