All Articles Tagged As: space travel

Vanguard I Celebrates 50 Years In Space (3/19/2008)

The Vanguard I satellite celebrates its 50th birthday this year. Its launch on March 17, 1958 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, culminated the efforts of America's first official space satellite program begun in September 1955. The first solar-powered satellite, Vanguard I has the distinction of being the oldest artificial satellite orbiting the earth. Its predecessors, Sputniks I and II and Explorer I, have since fallen out of orbit. ...> Full Article

New facility aims to improve NASA moon rocket engine (3/14/2008)

Engineers are conducting experiments using a new hydrogen facility to help NASA create designs to improve the cooling efficiency and performance of the J-2X rocket engine, critical for future missions to Mars and the moon. ...> Full Article

Space Tourism To Rocket In This Century, Researchers Predict (2/28/2008)

Seeking an out-of-this-world travel destination? Outer space will rocket into reality as "the" getaway of this century, according to researchers at the University of Delaware and the University of Rome La Sapienza. In fact, the "final frontier" could begin showing up in travel guides by 2010, they predict. ...> Full Article

NASA set for Shuttle fuel tank repair (12/29/2007)

NASA has outlined a plan to repair a faulty electrical connector on Space Shuttle Atlantis' external fuel tank. The repair could take several days or even weeks. The launch date for ESA's Columbus laboratory of 10 January 2008 is no longer feasible. ...> Full Article

International group plans strategy for Mars sample return mission (12/24/2007)

ESA, NASA and an international team are developing plans and seeking recommendations to launch the first Mars mission to bring soil samples back to Earth. The ability to study soil from Mars here on Earth will contribute significantly to answering questions about the possibility of life on the Red Planet. ...> Full Article

Scientists find Brain stem cells sensitive to space radiation (12/14/2007)

Measures to protect astronauts from health risks caused by space radiation will be important during extended missions to the moon or Mars, say researchers in a paper currently online in Experimental Neurology. ...> Full Article

Space station experiment to test bacteria hitchhiking to the Red Planet (12/10/2007)

If a trip to Mars seems like it would be a tough journey, imagine what it would be like on the outside of the spaceship. ...> Full Article

YES2 team claims a space tether world record (11/10/2007)

On 25 September, students around the world watched with bated breath as their creation, the second Young Engineers Satellite (YES2) experiment, reached its dramatic conclusion. ...> Full Article

From Sputnik to Sat Nav (10/4/2007)

The launch of the world's first satellite 50 years ago today (THURS OCT 4) kick started a technological revolution which is benefiting life on Earth today, a leading Durham University expert has said. ...> Full Article

Google Sponsors Lunar X PRIZE To Create A Space Race For A New Generation (9/19/2007)

The X PRIZE Foundation and Google Inc. announced on September 13 the Google Lunar X PRIZE, a robotic race to the Moon to win a $30 million prize purse. ...> Full Article

Russian rocket carries experiment to analyze healthy space travel (9/17/2007)

An experiment that's aimed at healthy space travel and involves Montana State University scientists and students is now orbiting the earth on a Russian space capsule. ...> Full Article

NASA Study will Help Stop Stowaways to Mars (8/30/2007)

NASA clean rooms, where scientists and engineers assemble spacecraft, have joined hot springs, ice caves, and deep mines as unlikely places where scientists have discovered ultra-hardy organisms collectively known as 'extremophiles'. Some species of bacteria uncovered in a recent NASA study have never been detected anywhere else. ...> Full Article

Team Designs Sleek, Skintight Spacesuit (7/18/2007)

In the 40 years that humans have been traveling into space, the suits they wear have changed very little. The bulky, gas-pressurized outfits give astronauts a bubble of protection, but their significant mass and the pressure itself severely limit mobility. ...> Full Article