Three generations of astronaut met Thursday when Buzz Aldrin was introduced to China’s first astronaut, Yang Liwei in the offices of U.S. Senator Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), the only serving member of Congress to have ever flown in space.
Later during the visit, Nelson returned to the topic of U.S.-Chinese cooperation.
May 21st, 2004
China’s First Astronaut Meets Buzz Aldrin
May 19th, 2004
Harnessing the Power of Poop
On a two-year trip to Mars, according to one estimate, a crew of six humans will generate more than six tons of solid organic waste–much of it feces. So what do you do with all that? Right now, astronaut waste gets shipped back to Earth. But for long-term exploration, you’d want to recycle it, because it holds resources that astronauts will need. It will provide pure drinking water. It will provide fertilizer. And, with the help of a recently discovered microbe, it will also provide electricity.
May 18th, 2004
Researchers Take Fruitful Look at Space Radiation Hazards to Brain
In addition to packing their space suits for a long trip through space, future astronauts may want to toss in some strawberries to take along for the ride. Fruits and vegetables, researchers said Monday, could help protect spacefaring humans from suffering severe neurological damage from radiation once they leave the protection of the Earth
May 17th, 2004
NASA Researchers Say Space Radiation a Top Concern for Future Manned Missions
Before any astronauts can begin fulfilling NASA
May 6th, 2004
At Endurance Crater, Opportunity Rover Treads Carefully
NASA’s Mars rover Opportunity will have to watch its step around its Endurance Crater destination to avoid a potentially mission-ending fall, while its twin Spirit continues its approach to the Columbia Hills. Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission scientists are particularly wary about sending Opportunity into Endurance crater, which bears tempting rock outcrops for study but could be catastrophic if the rover slips. With a depth of more than 66 feet (20 meters), Endurance is 10 times deeper than Opportunity’s previous Eagle crater home.
May 6th, 2004
Mars Rovers in Autumn: A Life-and-Death Drama on the Red Planet
NASA gave the go-ahead for both Mars Exploration Rovers — Spirit and Opportunity — to keep on rolling. Each robot has been handed up to five months of overtime assignments after completing their individual three-month prime mission. “Even though the extended mission is approved to September, and the rovers could last even longer, they also might stop in their tracks next week or next month,” said Firouz Naderi, Manager of Mars Exploration at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, where the rovers were built and are controlled.
May 4th, 2004
NASA Releases New View of Mars ‘Endurance Crater’
NASA released Monday a sweeping 180-degree view of a broad crater punched in the surface of Mars that was photographed by the space agency’s Opportunity rover as it perched on the rim of the 430-foot-wide depression. “I don’t think it’s disappointed anybody,” mission manager Matt Wallace said of the first peek into Endurance crater. Members of the $830 million mission immediately began making plans to circumnavigate the 1,350-foot perimeter of the crater and, if feasible, send the rover rolling down into it.
April 27th, 2004
Mars Science Laboratory: New Rover, New Science Equipment
NASA is not wasting time in moving forward on its next rover that will strut its stuff across the far-flung sands of the red planet. The space agency released mid-month an “Announcement of Opportunity” that calls for science gear and related ideas that could wind up onboard the Mars Science Laboratory — or MSL, for short. The overall MSL science objective is to explore and quantitatively assess a local region on the Mars surface as a potential habitat for life, past or present.