In the 1970s, Mariner 10 photographed less than half of Mercury’s surface. MESSENGER’s mission is to enter orbit around the planet, complete the detailed mapping of Mercury and return data about magnetic fields and particles in the planet’s vicinity. Continue reading
The X-37B is an unmanned space test vehicle for the United States Air Force, based on NASA’s original X-37 design. It is a lot smaller than the Space Shuttle and is launched via an Atlas V booster. The first test flight was in April 2010, followed by a second test flight in March 2011. Here are the basic facts of the X-37B robotic space plane: Continue reading
Space waste, space junk, orbital debris…whatever you call this orbiting mass of objects, they are a big issue. Space waste doesn’t just make earth’s orbital corridors look untidy, it poses a very real threat to the future of space exploration … Continue reading
“Hoping to beat the Americans to the moon before 1970, Soviet rocket engineer Sergey Korolyov worked in secret to plan the mighty N-1, an equal to the American Saturn V booster. In 1966 however, the sudden death of Korolyov threw … Continue reading
“Begun in 1998 with the launch of the first component from Russia, the construction of the International Space Station (ISS) is the most complex space project ever undertaken. At $100 billion it is in fact the single most expensive object … Continue reading
On October 14th, over seven million people would watch live as Felix Baumgartner tumbled out of a capsule tied to a balloon hovering 128,100 feet in the air. Another fifty million would watch his descent on YouTube in the next 24 hours. During his fantastic freefall, Felix would become the first person to break the sound barrier unaided and survive, reaching an estimated speed of Mach 1.24. Continue reading
Yesterday, August 25, we lost a true hero. Neil Armstrong died at the age of 82 due to complications from blocked coronary arteries. He was an inspiration to many and has taught us to dream big about the future of humanity in space. He will be forever remembered. RIP. Continue reading
Early this morning at 5:32 UTC, NASA’s Curiosity rover has successfully landed on Mars, only one minute later than scheduled. The spectacular landing went without a hitch. “The Seven Minutes of Terror has turned into the Seven Minutes of Triumph,” said NASA Associate Administrator for Science John Grunsfeld. Continue reading
This month will be very eventful when it comes to astronomy and space exploration. First off on August 6 the Curiosity Rover, also known as Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), is scheduled to land on the red planet at 5:31 AM UTC. Continue reading
Active Region 1515 has now spit out 12 M-class flares since July 3. Early in the morning of July 5, 2012 there was an M6.1 flare. It peaked at 7:44 AM EDT. This caused a moderate — classified as R2 on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s space weather scale — radio blackout that has since subsided. Continue reading