Secret Air Force space plane mission a 'success'

The U.S. Air Force’s secretive robotic X-37B space plane mission continues to chalk up time in Earth orbit, nearing 430 days of a spaceflight that while classified appears to be an unqualified success. The space plane now circuiting Earth is the second spacecraft of its kind built for the Air Force by Boeings Phantom Works Continue reading

Marshall director to lawmakers: Space exploration part of Alabama's past and future

MONTGOMERY, Alabama — Marshall Space Flight Center Acting Director Gene Goldman said the center that helped take people to the moon is working again to explore deeper space. “Marshall is still making history and making an impact on Alabama and our world,” Goldman said in an address to lawmakers Lawmakers today honored Marshall for its role in space exploration and for its economic impact in Alabama. Legislators presented a resolution honoring Marshall Continue reading

Legislature honors Marshall Space Flight Center

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) – The Alabama Legislature paused briefly from the frantic activities of the final days of the 2012 session to honor NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville. Marshall acting director Gene Goldman told legislators Thursday the space flight center still has an important mission even though the space shuttle program has been discontinued Continue reading

Ala. lawmakers honor Marshall Space Flight Center

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) The Alabama Legislature paused briefly from the frantic activities of the final days of the 2012 session to honor NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville Continue reading

‘Space flight faces political challenges'

Claiming that challenges to space flight are political and not technical, the former National Aeronautical Space Administration (NASA) astronaut Marsha S. Ivins pointed out here on Thursday that every year the United States spent more money on pizza than on the entire space programme. Decisions in space programmes are political. Continue reading

Minecraft – SPACE FLIGHT MISSION! – Video


02-02-2012 23:01 CLICK LIKE / FAV! GOOGLE PLUS: TWITTER: FACEBOOK: Minecraft Space Mission, Will Be A Challenge, BTW Sorry This Video Isn’t Fancy I Have Had CAMTASIA For LITERALLY 2 MINUTES D: Minecraft By The67go Ep 12 Thanks For Watching, Please Comment Rate & Subscribe © The67go Productions Ltd, February 2012 Continue reading

Solar Storms


25-01-2012 01:23 We take a look at the recent solar flare, SpaceX’s plans for reaching the space station, dolphin speech, exoplanets, getting energy from seaweed, crowd sourcing earthquake data, spacecraft updates, and as always take a peek back into history and up in the sky this week. Show Notes & Download: Continue reading

Glenn Flight Thrills World (1962) – Video


18-02-2012 16:59 Universal Newsreel Friendship 7 Mercury space flight of John Glenn; Glenn getting ready, puts on space suit, walks to launch pad, 6 am EST, 10 months after Gagarin, gets into his capsule on top Atlas missile, rocket blastoff, animation of capsule turning around, go for 7 orbits, “actual pictures of Glenn in the capsule” and animations of Glenn’s orbit around earth, destroyer Noah lifts capsule aboard, Glenn rests and then lifted aboard helicopter for flight to carrier USS Randolph (complete newsreel) Continue reading

Evolution of the Moon – NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center / SunsFlare – Video


17-03-2012 05:49 Video Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center From year to year, the moon never seems to change. Craters and other formations appear to be permanent now, but the moon didn’t always look like this. Thanks to NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, we now have a better look at some of the moon’s history. Continue reading

Voyage to Pandora: First Interstellar Space Flight – Video


25-03-2012 14:10 Pandora is the idyllic blue world featured in the movie Avatar. Its location is a real place: Alpha Centauri, the nearest star to our Sun and the most likely destination for our first journey beyond the solar system. Continue reading

J-2X Engine Ready For Second Test Series – Video


24-04-2012 16:23 Time-lapse video of the installation of J-2X engine 10001 in the A-2 test-stand at Stennis, complete with clamshell assembly and nozzle extension. With these enhancements test engineers will measure the flight-configured engine performance at flight-like conditions. Continue reading

Space: Virginia's final frontier for jobs

Hank Silverberg, wtop.com WASHINGTON – The arrival of space shuttle Discovery this month has spurred discussion about the end of the federally funded manned space program in the United States and the future of commercial space flight. Now, Virginia has released a report on how the state can capitalize on that Continue reading

Webb Telescope Flight Backplane Section Completed

April 25, 2012 The center section of the backplane structure that will fly on NASAs James Webb Space Telescope has been completed, marking an important milestone in the telescopes hardware development. The backplane will support the telescopes beryllium mirrors, instruments, thermal control systems and other hardware throughout its mission Continue reading

High moral cost paid for manned space flight

WASHINGTON As the 747 carrying the retired space shuttle Discovery circled the capital last week, my mind flashed back to the sole encounter I ever had as a reporter with the space program. An editor at the old Buffalo Courier- Express assigned me to interview a fellow named Walter Dornberger, whom he described as a German space visionary who had fled from the Iron Curtain. It was the late 1950s, and so-called refugees from Germany, like Wernher von Braun, who was guiding Americas struggling manned flight program, were in vogue Continue reading