What’s happening on the space station?

(CNN) High above us, beyond the skies, is the International Space Station, which weighs nearly 1 million pounds and has a wingspan the length of a football field. It has nine rooms, two bathrooms, two kitchens and two mini-gyms, and it is the largest spacecraft orbiting the Earth. NASA announced this week that an instrument called ISS-RapidScat will be launched to the station in 2014 to improve weather forecasts, by doing things like monitoring hurricanes. Continue reading

NASA’s Project Gemini : Status Report #2 – 1960s Educational Film – Video




NASA's Project Gemini : Status Report #2 – 1960s Educational Film NASA status report that details the purposes behind the Gemini Program, including early unmanned flights required to test various systems and sub-systems before a manned space flight is attempted. The Gemini I Gemini II launches are shown. This film supplied courtesy the Department of Defence NASAimages.org By: s88TV1 Continue reading

NASA's Deep-Space Station Idea Lacks White House Approval

Despite speculation to the contrary, NASA’s ambitious plans for a manned space station beyond the moon have not yet been cleared by the White House, a senior administration official told SPACE.com. Over the past year or so, NASA has been drawing up plans for a manned outpost beyond the moon’s far side, at a gravitationally stable location known as the Earth-moon Lagrange point 2 (EM-L2). The station would establish a human presence in deep space, serve as a staging ground for lunar operations and help build momentum for exploring more far-flung destinations, such as asteroids and Mars Continue reading

BIS proposes an early space station

The idea for a manned space station left pulp science fiction for scientific authenticity when Harry Ross, on Nov. 13, 1948, described such a facility in a paper to the British Interplanetary Society. According to historical documents provided by Mark Stewart, BIS honorary archival librarian/editor, the “station was based on a concept” that Herman Potocnik described in his 1928 book “The Problem of Space Travel: The Rocket Motor.” Potocnik was an Austrian Imperial Army officer who became an engineer Continue reading

China's Fourth Manned Mission Brings Own Space Station Closer

China’s progress toward its own space station took a giant leap forward Friday when its Shenzhou 9 spacecraft returned to Earth with three astronauts safely aboard, Reuters reports. China’s fourth manned space mission proved an important milestone–it was the longest and most demanding yet, and included the country’s first female astronaut, 33-year-old Liu Yang. During their 13 days in orbit, Yang and two other astronauts also completed the country’s transfer of astronauts between orbiting spacecraft, an important step toward its goal of manning its own space station by 2020. Continue reading

China Successfully Docks Manned Space Capsule at Orbiting Module

Chinese astronauts docked two spaceships in orbit for the first time Monday (June 18), marking a vital milestone in the country's quest to build a manned space station in Earth orbit. Continue reading

China 'one step closer' to constructing space station

A trio of Chinese astronauts, including the country’s first woman in space, successfully docked with an orbiting test module. Chinese astronauts docked two spaceships in orbit for the first time Monday (June 18), marking a vital milestone in the country’s quest to build a manned space station in Earth orbit. The three-person crew of theShenzhou 9 spacecraft, which includes the China’s first female astronaut, arrived at the country’s Tiangong 1(“Heavenly Palace”) test module in orbit and joined the two craft to complete the successful docking. Continue reading

China Planning Manned Mission To Its Space Station

China has a problem. They have such a fairly long history of blatantly stealing technology from other companies, that they were not invited to participate in the International Space Station program. So, to stick their tongues out at everyone, they decide to take the Soviet approach and make their own. Continue reading

Report: China Plans Manned Space Launch This Month

China will launch three astronauts this month to dock with an orbiting experimental module, and the crew might include its first female space traveler, a government news agency said Saturday. A rocket carrying the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft was moved to a launch pad in China’s desert northwest on Saturday for the mid-June flight, the Xinhua News Agency said, citing an space program spokesman. The three-member crew will dock with and live in the Tiangong 1 orbital module launched last year, Xinhua said. Continue reading