Russians complete spacewalk
Except for the failure to install a video camers, two Russian astronauts successfully completed a six hour spacewalk on ISS today, doing a variety of construction tasks on the station’s exterior.
Tag: spaceflight
Video from Chang’e 2
Videos from the Chinese lunar probe, Chang’e 2.
Breaking the Ice in Antarctica
The first tests in Antarctica of a drill designed to drill cores on Mars.
The coming train wreck for Commercial Human Spaceflight
This post by retired NASA engineer Wayne Hale explains why it probably is a good idea if Congress cuts the subsidies for new commercial space: The coming train wreck for commercial human spaceflight. This is the key quote, where Hale describes the regulations NASA is requiring these new companies to meet:
The document runs a mind-numbing 260 pages of densely spaced requirements. Most disappointing, on pages 7 to 11 is a table of 74 additional requirements documents which must be followed, in whole or in part. Taken all together, there are thousands of requirement statements referenced in this document. And for every one NASA will require a potential commercial space flight provider to document, prove, and verify with massive amounts of paperwork and/or electronic forms.
Third crack found on Discovery’s external tank shell
A third crack has been found on Discovery’s external tank shell.
The comet is carbonated
The comet is carbonated!
Is the Mars rover Spirit dead?
Is Spirit, the Mars rover, finally dead?
The private race to build space stations
The cold war is back! Companies in the U.S. and Russia are in a race to build the first private space stations.
China releases Chang’e 2 images of its proposed lunar landing sites
Take a look at these spectacular images China released from its Chang’e 2 lunar probe that they say show potential landing sites for later Chinese probes.
More cracks found on Discovery’s external tank
Bad news for that November 30 shuttle launch date: Two cracks have been found on the aluminum body of Discovery’s external tank.
The state of the Iranian space program
The up and down state of the Iranian space program.
Mystery missile an optical illusion?
At least one expert claims that the mystery missile launch off the California coast on was merely an optical illusion. Key quote:
John Pike of the security analyst group globalsecurity.org said the video shot by a news helicopter owned by KCBS is an optical illusion. Pike said the video is of an airplane heading toward the camera and the contrail is illuminated by the setting sun. He said the object can’t be a rocket because it appeared to alter its course.
Mystery rocket launch off of California coast
Mystery rocket launch yesterday off of the California coast.
Crack in fuel tank foam
In addition to the hydrogen leak on Discovery, NASA is now dealing with a crack in the foam insulation on the shuttle’s external tank.
SpaceX Falcon 9 launch delayed until December 7
The second test launch of the Falcon 9, with the first flight of the Dragon capsule, has been postponed again. It is now set for December 7.
Discovery’s launch is postponed until no sooner than November 30
Discovery’s launch is now officially postponed until no sooner than November 30.
The first images of Deep Impact’s flyby of Comet Hartley 2
Here are the first images of Deep Impact’s flyby of Comet Hartley 2. The first is a montage, the sequence in time going clockwise. The second is a close-up of the second image.
The feature that I find most intriguing is the narrow smooth waist of the comet’s dogbone shape. The whole thing looks almost like a piece of taffy that’s being pulled apart.
Burt Rutan retiring
It isn’t the first time he’s said it, but Burt Rutan, designer of SpaceShipOne, says he is retiring from Scaled Composites.
Discovery launch scrubbed due to hydrogen leak
Discovery’s launch is scrubbed again, this time due to another hydrogen leak. Next possible launch date is Monday, which means it is possible the launch will be delayed until early December.
More info on Deep Impact flyby of Comet Hartley 2
First close-up photos of Comet Hartley 2 reveal a space peanut.