More details about SpaceShipTwo’s test flight, this time from one of the pilots.
The first powered test flight of SpaceShipTwo could come before year’s end.
The possibilities for China’s Chang’e 2 lunar probe include travel far beyond the Moon.
The state of NASA’s commercial crew program. Key quote:
The Obama administration requested $3.3 billion for commercial crew services over the next three years, but a so-called compromise bill forged in the Senate slashed the proposal in half. After months of heated contention, the House of Representatives finally agreed to the Senate authorization bill in late September, calling for $1.6 billion for the commercial program.
The various partners running the ISS are considering using it as a platform to launch an orbital manned mission to the Moon.
Spaceweather.com noted yesterday that the amateur astronomers have reported the X-37B space plane missing. It did not show up when expected, based on its known orbit. Key quote:
It’s possible that the X-37B has landed. More likely, the space plane has maneuvered into a new orbit and will be recovered again in the nights ahead.
The December Soyuz flight to ISS will be delayed due to the damage the capsule received during its transport by rail to Baikonur.
Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo made its first solo flight and landing today.
A Soyuz rocket launched a new crew of three astronauts to ISS today. Fun quote:
The six [astronauts on ISS] on Nov. 1 will celebrate the 10th anniversary of continuous human presence on the station.
Government space faces budget realities: The European Space Agency is struggling to find the funds to both extend ISS as well as upgrade their cargo carrier so that it can also return cargo from ISS.
Private space moves forward, without NASA: Clark Lindsey at www.rlvnews.com notes that Robert Bigelow — the man behind the first private space station’s — seems poised to announce the first six nations who’ve agreed to rent space on his stations.
The container used to ship a Soyuz capsule to Baikonur was damaged in transport. No word yet on the condition of the capsule, which was scheduled for a December launch to ISS.
The space tourism company Xcor today signed a deal to fly suborbital flights as soon as 2014 from the island of Curaçao in the Netherlands Antilles.
NASA’s technology chief said today that despite the specific demands Congress included in its authorization bill, NASA will make its own decision on the kind of heavy-lift rocket it wants to build.
The second Chinese probe to the Moon did more than take off on Friday. It also rained pieces of metal down on a Chinese villages in Suichuan County, Jiangxi, China.
Remembering Willie Ley. He never flew in space, and died just weeks before the Apollo 11 landing. Yet he probably did as much if not more to make it happen than any other man.
Virgin Galactic, the company that is building a suborbital rocket to put tourists in space, appears to be delaying the development of its orbital launching system.
Meanwhile, the company resumed capture carry flights of WhiteKnightTwo, with SpaceShipTwo attached, with a five hour test flight on Thursday.
How dare you succeed! The EPA has fined SpaceX $45,600 for hazardous waste violations.
With the end of the shuttle program looming, about 1100 shuttle workers will be laid off in Florida today.
This weekend, Saudia Arabia celebrates the 25th anniversary of the shuttle flight of their first astronaut, Prince Sultan bin Salman.
Here’s a further update on SpaceX’s plans for the second test launch of its Falcon 9 rocket, now set for November 8.
A Russian company says it plans to launch its own commercial space station by 2016.
Richard Branson of Virgin Galactic said today that his company is on schedule to begin flying the first tourist flights in eighteen months.
After a 24 hour delay due to an undocking problem, the Soyuz capsule with its three astronauts landed safely last night without a hitch.
The scheduled return of three astronauts on a Soyuz spacecraft has been delayed tonight because of a malfunction in the docking port.
Update: The return to Earth has definitely been canceled for tonight. The problem was caused when latches on the Soyuz, designed to secure it safely to ISS, refused to release on command. As of 12:43 am the plan was to recycle and try to land on Friday evening.
Who says space exploration is dead? Sometime in November researchers will conduct the first zero gravity tests of the world’s first beer to be certified for drinking in space. The tests will take place during suborbital flights of what is commonly known as the Vomit Comet. Key quote:
Sampling the beer during weightless parabolas, the flight researcher will record both qualitative data on beverage taste and drinkability and biometric data on body temperature, heart rate, and blood alcohol content.
Check out the first do-it-yourself satellite. It is 60 cubic inches in size and cost only $500 to build.
