Loren Grush
at 12:47 PM Feb 20 2015

The International Space Station is getting a makeover starting this week. On Friday, astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Terry Virts will conduct the first of a series of spacewalks to reconfigure the outside of the station to create two new docking ports, Discovery News reports. The new ports will provide parking spots for spacecraft that will be visiting in the near future—namely, the commercial space taxis being developed by SpaceX and Boeing.

logru712
at 20:18 PM Nov 24 2014
Space // 

At the crack of dawn on Friday, the Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft was transported via specialized train car to its launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Russian rocket is scheduled for liftoff this afternoon and will be carrying an eclectic mix of astronauts to the International Space Station. The team includes three crew members from across the globe: commander Anton Shkaplerov of the Russian Federal Space Agency, flight engineer Terry Virts of NASA, and Italian flight engineer Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency.

Leroy Chiao
at 09:25 AM Nov 12 2014

NASA has been launching astronauts into low Earth orbit for over fifty years, so the technology is mature and we clearly know how to do it. Letting private companies do the job is the next logical step. The question is, can the risks be adequately controlled? And can private human spaceflight be jumpstarted and maintained at a profit? I think that the answer to both of these questions is “yes” -- using tested hardware and an honest communication of risk.

Loren Grush
at 10:05 AM Nov 11 2014

Well, it looks like the crash of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo on October 31 may change all that -- meaning government regulations for private spaceflight may be on their way. For now, the FAA is waiting on the results of the accident investigation before it makes any official regulatory changes. But the agency hinted at modifications to come in a recent statement to Bloomberg News:

Loren Grush
at 09:36 AM Nov 5 2014

A few years ago, I caught a glimpse of one of the biggest obstacles to space exploration. In a movie theater line, I overheard two people discussing the concept of building a human base on our Moon. Since I find that endeavor fascinating, I secretly tuned into their conversation — only to be hit in my space-loving gut with their outlook. They weren’t talking about the real possibilities of such a mission. Instead, they openly mocked the idea, saying such a thing was never going to happen, and that more important matters than space travel warranted our attention.

Rafi Letzter
at 10:18 AM Oct 29 2014

Christopher Nolan's Interstellar imagines a human journey to planets beyond our star. But that kind of trip would seem impossible in today's terms. Fortunately, a DARPA-funded task force is already working to make it happen in the next century.

Rafi Letzter
at 10:11 AM Sep 5 2014

In a press release, Mars One says it began the campaign "Ticket to Rise" to help fund an earthbound simulation of life on Mars planned for 2015, as well as their projected 2018 launches, in which the nonprofit plans to send an unmanned lander to Mars. Mars One also has a much more ambitious goal of sending humans to the red planet in 2023, but space enthusiasts uninterested in Mars One's offer to live and die on Mars will have the opportunity to win a less permanent ride to near-Earth space through the program. If everything comes together, the grand prize winner will receive a ticket on the Lynx Mark II, XCOR Aerospace's entry into the growing commercial spaceflight market.

 
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