The White House has threatened to veto a spending bill that would deny NASA the funding it is counting on to get started on a new space exploration agenda next year. The veto threat was issued after the House Appropriations Committee voted Thursday to cut President George W. Bush
July 16th, 2004
Spirit Rover Hits Rock Paydirt on Mars
While NASA’s Mars rover Opportunity toils away inside a crater, its robotic twin Spirit has rolled over its first rock outcrop on the other side of the planet. NASA scientists were elated at Spirit’s rocky find, which came as the rover rolled backwards along the foot of a region called the West Spur at the Columbia Hills. “This is what we came to the Columbia Hills for,” said an excited Matt Golombek, a rover science team member, during a press briefing today at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). “We’ve been seeking it, and we’ve finally found it.”
July 14th, 2004
Inflatable Space Outposts: Cash Down on High Hopes
For this desert gambling town it could become an odds-on favorite: Inflatable space modules. With company facilities spread out across some 50 acres here in North Las Vegas, Bigelow Aerospace is bankrolling big-time the private development of large space habitats. Extensive work is underway in designing and building partial and full-scale inflatable modules, fabricated to serve a range of users, from bio-tech firms and educational institutions to other groups wanting to churn out made-in-microgravity products.
July 7th, 2004
Red Planet Wayfinder: A GPS System for Mars
Future explorers of Mars will always need a way to know where they are, regardless of whether they’re rover automatons or flesh and blood humans.
To do that, NASA researchers and scientists alike have been studying the requirements for a potential global positioning satellite (GPS) system around Mars that could also function as a communications network. Their vision is a small flotilla of Mars spacecraft conducting their own science while watching over future robotic or human expeditions, then relaying data back to Earth.
June 29th, 2004
Space Elevator: Momentum Building
Leading experts are meeting this week to take a longing look at the idea of a space elevator. The idea is a stretch, no doubt, with plenty of work to do before travelers have push-button, top floor access to space. For one, what
June 28th, 2004
Mars Mystery Solved!
Of the many intriguing observations taken by the Mars rovers, one of the most interesting was not of the surrounding geology. Rather, it was an image of the martian atmosphere. Caught in action was something streaking through the sky.
June 26th, 2004
Spirit’s ‘Pot of Gold’ Perplexes Researchers
NASA’s Spirit rover has found a Martian rock unlike anything researchers have seen before — on Mars or Earth — but they hope it may finally hint at a watery past of the Gusev crater landing site. Mission engineers are also pushing the rover Opportunity to its robotic limits inside a crater on the other side of the planet.
June 21st, 2004
SpaceShipOne Makes History: First Manned Private Spaceflight
The first non-governmental rocket ship flew to the edge of space today and was piloted to a safe landing on a desert airport runway here.
Civilian test pilot, now turned astronaut Mike Melvill brought SpaceShipOne down to the Mojave Airport tarmac after flying to 100 kilometers (62 miles) in altitude, leaving the Earth
June 16th, 2004
Kerry Criticizes Bush for Space Vision
U.S. Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry says he supports a reinvigorated space exploration agenda for NASA but finds fault with the vision U.S. President George W. Bush laid out for the space agency in January.
Kerry criticized the Bush space vision as big on goals but short on resources. Kerry also offered a preview of how NASA
June 13th, 2004
Spirit Mars Rover Reaches Hills, Opportunity Goes Deep
The Spirit and Opportunity rovers have each entered a new stage of exploration on Mars. For Spirit, the robot has pulled up at the base of the Columbia Hills, following a record-setting trek across the landscape of Gusev Crater. Meanwhile, on the other side of the planet at Meridiani Planum, the Opportunity rover is studying science-rich targets within the sloping walls of the large impact crater dubbed Endurance.