Russian Spaceship ‘Gagarin’ Arrives at Space Station
Russian spaceship “Gagarin” arrives at ISS.
Tag: spaceflight
Astronauts take cover as debris drifts toward International Space Station
Astronauts in ISS take cover as Chinese space junk flies past.
NASA human space-flight programme lost in transition
From the British science journal Nature: NASA human space-flight programme lost in transition.
Russia Speeds Up Moon, Mars Plans as U.S. May Cut Spending
Russia is accelerating its space program.
“It is the first time that the government has allocated decent financing to us,” Anatoly Perminov, head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, said in a phone interview on April 2. The agency’s $3.5 billion budget for 2011 has almost tripled since 2007, reaching the highest since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. “We can now advance on all themes a bit,” Perminov said.
Unlike 50 years ago, when beating the U.S. into space marked a geopolitical victory in the Cold War, Russia is focusing on the commercial, technological and scientific aspects of space travel. President Dmitry Medvedev has named aerospace one of five industries the government plans to nurture to help diversify the economy of the world’s largest energy supplier away from resource extraction.
For Some Entrepreneurs, Moon Is Money
Software engineers to the Moon!
Crazy? Absolutely! Impossible? Probably not! There are a growing number of people who believe that with federal funding for our space program getting scarce, the future lies in private-public partnerships. Entrepreneur Elon Musk’s third job (after leading electric car company Tesla and acting as the Chairman of solar installer SolarCity) is heading up SpaceX, which was the first private company to successfully launch, orbit and recover a rocketship. Virgin’s Richard Branson has a similar private space venture.
Astronauts head to ISS on spaceship Gagarin
Three astronauts were launched to ISS today in a Soyuz capsule the Russians have named Gagarin, in honor of the fiftieth anniversary of his flight on April 12.
Russia’s western spaceport to be ready for first launch by 2015
Russia’s launch capability continues to expand: Not only will they be able to launch rockets from French Guiana this year, it looks like Russia’s western spaceport will be ready for its first launch by 2015.
NASA Endeavour Shuttle Launch Delayed
The Daily Beast reports today that the last flight of the shuttle Endeavour has been delayed due to a schedule conflict with a Russian Progress freighter.
Note that this has not yet been confirmed by NASA.
Update from spaceref: NASA has rescheduled Endeavour’s launch for April 29.
ATK pushes to build private Ares I
ATK is pushing hard for NASA commercial subsidizes to build a private version of Ares I.
Winners of 18th Annual Great Moonbuggy Race
The winners of the 18th annual Great Moonbuggy Race.
China’s second lunar orbiter, Chang’e 2: still in operation after 180 days
China’s second lunar orbiter, Chang’e 2: still in operation after 180 days.
Unfortunately, little of its scientific results have been released.
Soyuz launch site in French Guiana finally ready
After seven years of work, the Soyuz launch site in French Guiana is finally ready for its first launch.