Space

NASA's embattled Constellation moon program, thought by many to be on life support in the face of ongoing budget cuts, is technically feasible, "soundly" managed, and capable of putting American astronauts back on the moon as planned in the 2020s, the chairman of a manned space review said Tuesday.

But if the Obama administration and Congress fail to restore some $3 billion in lost funding, he said, NASA will be unable to return to the moon or venture beyond the confines of low-Earth orbit.

Norman Augustine, former CEO of Lockheed Martin and chairman of Review of U.… Read more

Detoured by bad weather in Florida, the shuttle Discovery dropped out of orbit and swooped to a flawless California landing Friday to close out a successful space station resupply mission.

Shuttle commander Frederick "C.J." Sturckow and pilot Kevin Ford fired the shuttle's twin braking rockets at 4:47 p.m. PDT to drop the ship out of orbit for an hour-long descent to Edwards Air Force Base.

After a steep plunge across the Los Angeles basin, Sturckow took over manual control at an altitude of about 50,000 feet above the Mojave Desert landing site and … Read more

With the future of NASA's embattled moon program in doubt, Alliant Techsystems test-fired a huge five-segment solid-fuel booster in Utah Thursday, a ground-shaking demonstration designed to collect performance data for a new rocket intended to replace the space shuttle.

Generating 22 million horsepower, the lengthened 154-foot-long shuttle booster ignited with a torrent of flame at 3 p.m. EDT, sending a towering column of dirty brown exhaust into the Utah sky as hundreds of spectators looked on. Two minutes later, after consuming 1.4 million pounds of solid propellant, the rocket burned out.

"After witnessing what we just … Read more

The Japanese space agency launched a powerful new rocket Thursday carrying an unmanned space station cargo ship on a complex maiden voyage to deliver some 7,400 pounds of equipment and supplies to the orbital outpost.

With four strap-on boosters gushing white-hot exhaust and a pair of hydrogen-fueled main engines roaring at full throttle, the H-2B rocket thundered away from launch pad 2 at the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan at 1:01:46 p.m. EDT.

"The launch was beautiful," Stephen Clark, a U.S. journalist representing Spaceflight Now, said in an instant message from Tanegashima. &… Read more

NASA scientists showed off spectacular new pictures from the Hubble Space Telescope Wednesday, a stunning gallery of remote galaxies, a stellar nursery, an enormous globular cluster packed with countless pinpoint stars, and a dying sun blowing off its outer atmosphere in butterfly-like wings of debris.

The pictures clearly show the fabled telescope is back in action, ready to resume its role as one of the most productive observatories on or off the planet, thanks to a dramatic five-spacewalk shuttle repair mission last May.

"Every field of astrophysics, whether it's our local neighborhood of planets, nearby stars and their … Read more

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla.--With pilot Kevin Ford at the controls, the shuttle Discovery undocked from the International Space Station on Tuesday after delivering a fresh crew member and more than 18,500 pounds of needed equipment, supplies, and fresh water.

"Houston and station, from Discovery, physical separation," an astronaut radioed at 3:26 p.m. EDT as powerful springs in the station's docking mechanism gently pushed the shuttle away as the two spacecraft sailed 220 miles above central Asia in orbital darkness.

Undocking came eight days, 19 hours and 32 minutes after commander Frederick "C.… Read more

A presidential panel assessing U.S. manned space flight presented five options to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Tuesday, ranging from NASA's current plan to build outposts on the moon to a "flexible path" approach to explore a variety of targets in the inner solar system.

But in its executive summary, the panel warned that without significant new funding and a long-term commitment to exploration, none of the options is viable.

"The Committee has found two executable options that comply with the FY 2010 budget," the panel wrote. "However, neither … Read more

JOHNSON SPACE CENTER, Houston--Sailing into the home stretch of a busy space station resupply mission, the shuttle Discovery astronauts worked Sunday to wrap up equipment and supply transfers before taking a half day off to relax and enjoy the view.

Overnight, engineers successfully tested a new motor-driven bolt in the berthing mechanism holding the shuttle-delivered Leonardo cargo module in place on the Earth-facing port of the lab's Harmony module.

The bolt, one of 16 in the complex interface, jammed during earlier tests and flight engineers Timothy Kopra and Robert Thirsk carried out a lengthy replacement procedure Saturday.

"The … Read more

Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté, training for a flight to the International Space Station next month, said Wednesday he plans to orchestrate a five-continent extravaganza as part of his "poetic social mission" to raise awareness of water as a critical cultural and environmental issue.

"As soon as I arrive on board of the International Space Station, I will actively prepare my segment of a planetary artistic event that will happen on October 9, two days before I land back on Earth," Laliberté said during a Webcast from Moscow.

"On October 9, for … Read more