SpaceX announced that it has laid off some employees at a Texas facility in connection with a restructuring plan.
The new space race: Boeing and Indian space agency are discussing a possible manned mission.
An extraordinary photo opportunity: Use the Soyuz to photograph ISS next month when the shuttle and the Japanese and European cargo ships are all docked to ISS.
A warning to users of climbing and caving gear: Counterfeit Petzl equipment from China has been found on the market, and is dangerously defective.
Even as Congress argues over NASA’s budget, Constellation marches on! The first completed Orion capsule was shipped from the factory yesterday to undergo tests.
Fifteen ancient mysteries that aren’t so mysterious.
More details on Liberty, the Ares/Ariane hybrid rocket proposed by ATK and Alliant to provide crew/cargo capabilities to ISS. Key quote:
[Liberty] would be able to lift 44,500 lb. of payload to the International Space Station, enough for any of the commercial crew capsules under development as potential space shuttle replacements.
Oy. A metal tool came apart last night and its scattered pieces fell on the shuttle Discovery. Fortunately, careful inspection of the orbiter has found no damage.
Which exoplanet should we go to first?
The competition to build rockets continues to heat up: A U.S. and European partnership is proposing its own new cargo rocket for NASA, using the Ares I first stage and the Ariane 5 second stage. Key quote:
Dubbed Liberty, the launcher looks similar to the Ares I rocket that was being developed for NASA’s Project Constellation, which was cancelled by the Obama Administration. For its first stage it employs the same advanced, five-segment version of the shuttle’s solid rocket booster. But in a move that significantly lowers development costs, the second stage of the rocket is based on the flight-proven core stage of Europe’s Ariane 5 rocket.
An evening pause: Some more cool engineering: how to move a boat eight stories from one canal to another. More here.
The new colonial movement heats up: Ahmadinejad said today that by March 2012 Iran plans to launch a host of home-built satellites on its own home-built rocket.
One of the competitor’s for the Google Lunar X prize has signed a contract with SpaceX to use the Falcon 9 to get its spacecraft to the Moon. Key quote:
The Falcon 9 upper stage will sling Astrobotic on a four-day cruise to the Moon. Astrobotic will then orbit the moon to align for landing. The spacecraft will land softly, precisely and safely using technologies pioneered by Carnegie Mellon University for guiding autonomous cars. The rover will explore for three months, operate continuously during the lunar days, and hibernate through the lunar nights. The lander will sustain payload operations with generous power and communications.
Robots in action! The robot arm Dextre did its first work on ISS this week, unloading two payloads from the Japanese unmanned freighter that docked with the station last week.
While NASA retreats to building a capsule, two private companies push commercial spaceplane concepts.
This nicely illustrates the contrasting levels of innovation between NASA and the private sector.
A Roman super-highway, built 1,900 years ago, has been uncovered in England.
Secrets of the Soviet N1 Moon rocket.
If you’re interested, seats are available for a tourist trip around the moon in a Soyuz capsule. And the Russians say the Soyuz is ready to go!
The military space war between China and the U.S.
Reality meets feel-good politics: A study has found that there is no consumer interest in buying the one million electric cars Obama wants on the road by 2015.
A natural gas leak prompted the evacuation of several buildings at Kennedy Space Center today, including the Vehicle Assembly Building and the Orbiter Processing Facility.
On Monday Stardust did a final mid-course correction in anticipation of its February 14 fly-by of of Comet Tempel 1.
An Israeli team has entered the Google Lunar X Prize competition, hoping to land a nanosat on the moon for only $8 million.
Russia regains contact with missing military satellite, finds that it was placed in the wrong orbit.
