July 14th, 2015
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The New Horizons spacecraft has made a historic flyby of Pluto, with the probe making its closest pass at 7:49 a.m. ET on July 14. The piano-sized robotic spacecraft zoomed by distant Pluto at a distance of 7,750 miles away, zipping by at nearly 31,000 miles per hour. The flyby for […]
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The UK Space Agency has released its National Strategy for Space Environments and Human Spaceflight. This strategy covers a range of scientific and technical disciplines, giving a picture for activities which use the space environment – from fundamental physics and novel materials to healthcare technologies and space science – and sets out the UK’s vision […]
For a steady flow of details from the upcoming historic Pluto flyby, SpaceNews newspaper has created a special site – and the viewing is good! My story centers on Ralph, the New Horizons camera that will bring Pluto into ultra-sharp focus. […]
Thanks to all those that attended the Mission to Mars book tour yesterday, July 11, at Rushmore Mall in Rapid City, South Dakota. It was a terrific turnout with quite the discussion on the future of America’s space program, past lunar exploration activities, the settlement of Mars, the role of international cooperation, and a variety […]
The Mission to Mars book tour slips into South Dakota! Join us at the Mount Rushmore Mall in Rapid City on Saturday, July 11th starting at 11:00 a.m. for a Q & A discussion with Apollo 11’s Buzz Aldrin. I’ll be joining Buzz to discuss Mars exploration and the future of America’s space program, later […]
Europe’s Philae lander has relayed science data to the Rosetta orbiter circling Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Measurements taken by the Philae’s COmet Nucleus Sounding Experiment by Radiowave Transmission (CONSERT) instrument were at first shaky, but then remained solid for some 12 minutes. “This sign of life from Philae proves to us that at least one the lander’s […]
Thanks to the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory a new video has been rolled out. This compilation of images is based on hazard-avoidance cameras on NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity taken between January 2004 and April 2015. The video shows the rover’s-eye-view of the Martian marathon covering 26.2 miles (42.2 kilometers) from its landing location. A map […]
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover faces on-going wheel wear and tear as it continues its trek across the sandy and rock strewn Red Planet. The car-sized Mars machinery has been on duty since landing on the planet in August 2012. Curiosity has six aluminum wheels, each with its own individual motor. The rover has a […]
A team of engineers has been at work for the past three years to develop a space cleanup satellite. The intent is to eliminate threatening, human-made orbital debris. The worry is not new – there’s lots of clutter to pick and choose from, be it broken down satellites to tossed away rocket stages. A new […]
Update: New Horizons Plans July 7 Return to Normal Science Operations… NASA’s New Horizons mission is returning to normal science operations after a July 4 anomaly and remains on track for its July 14 flyby of Pluto. The investigation into the anomaly that caused New Horizons to enter “safe mode” on July 4 has concluded […]
