July 14th, 2019
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Two new Gallup polls focus on the U.S. space program. Five decades after Apollo 11’s Moon landing, support for the space program is high. A second poll notes that, for the first time, a majority in U.S. backs a human mission to Mars. 50 years after Moon landing, record-high 64% say space costs are justifiable. […]
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Tuesday, July 9, 2019 – Eugene F. Kranz Former Apollo Flight Director, Speaker and Author: Testimony before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Subcommittee on Aviation and Space: NASA Exploration Plans: Where We’ve Been and Where We’re Going The Kranz Dictum (speech to the control team after the Apollo I fire on January […]
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now performing Sol 2464 tasks. Curiosity has continued work on and around “a gorgeous outcrop” that was started on Sol 2461, reports Michelle Minitti, a planetary geologist at Framework in Silver Spring, Maryland. “The layers of the outcrop – with their different colors, textures and thicknesses – tell us […]
After months of work with the office of U.S. Senator Gary Peters (D. Mich.), the One Small Step to Protect Human Heritage in Space Act has cleared the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee. As Senator Peters said: “This bipartisan legislation will help preserve our human heritage in space for generations to come.” Cosponsor Senator Ted […]
Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft successfully performed a 2nd touchdown on the surface of asteroid Ryugu. The touchdown occurred at 10:06 JST on July 11. Images were taken by the spacecraft’s CAM-H – a small monitor camera — before and after the touchdown.
In testimony before the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, NASA’s Office of Inspector General (IG) has issued the report: Examining NASA’s Plans for the International Space Station and Future Activities in Low Earth Orbit. Cascading effect “As NASA turns its attention to returning humans […]
Earth’s Moon looms. Multiple nations as well as for-profit private concerns have our celestial partner in their cross-hairs. The drum beat of back to the Moon with humans “this time to stay,” is fueled by harvesting available lunar resources. At the top of that need-to-have resource roster is diving into the floors of permanently shadowed […]
The secretive mission of the U.S. Air Force X-37B mini-space plane has winged past 670 days of flight – just 48 days shy from setting a long duration record for the program. This Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV-5) was rocketed into Earth orbit on September 7, 2017 atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 booster from Launch […]
“To go, or not to go, that is the question,” explain Japan’s Hayabusa2 officials. The spacecraft is ready to attempt a second touchdown on asteroid Ryugu. “Although the first touchdown was successful, going for a second touchdown is ‘the question’ because touchdown is a high-risk operation. This is especially true in the case of Ryugu, […]
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is readying the launch of its Chandrayaan-2 Moon orbiter, lander and rover, scheduled to be launched between July 9 and 16 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. Note: Liftoff is now scheduled for July 14, 2019 at 21:21 UTC – July 15, 2019 at 02:51 IST […]
