By Ben Evans, on March 20th, 2016
In early 1961, the Mercury Seven were ready to begin the United States’ first missions into space. However, the need to conduct a final unpiloted Mercury-Redstone mission caused America to lose the race to beat the Soviet Union into space. Photo Credit: NASA
Fifty-five years ago, next week, on 24 March 1961, the […]
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By Ben Evans, on March 19th, 2016 One of the earliest rockets to be launched from Cape Canaveral was the Army’s Redstone missile, which later evolved into the vehicle seen here delivering America’s first man into space. Photo Credit: NASA
More than five decades have now passed since one of the most unfortunate episodes in human spaceflight history. In late […]
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By Ben Evans, on March 18th, 2016
The last Soyuz TMA-M spacecraft roars to orbit on 18/19 March 2016. Photo Credit: Roscosmos
Piercing the pre-dawn skies of Baikonur Cosmodrome, on the desolate steppe of Kazakhstan, a veteran Soyuz-FG booster roared into space tonight, carrying a new crew for the International Space Station (ISS). Aboard Soyuz TMA-20M—the final member of this […]
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By Ben Evans, on March 17th, 2016
The highly reliable Soyuz-FG has been used to launch every piloted Soyuz mission to the International Space Station (ISS) since October 2002. Photo Credit: NASA
For the second time in less than a year, a NASA astronaut will soon set a new record for the longest cumulative time spent in space by an […]
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By Ben Evans, on March 13th, 2016
Gemini VIII’s nose edges into the docking collar of the Agena target. Although this mission achieved a successful rendezvous and docking, it fell victim to violent oscillations, due to a stuck-on thruster, which almost cost Neil Armstrong and Dave Scott their lives. Photo Credit: NASA
Fifty years ago, this week, NASA astronauts Neil […]
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By Ben Evans, on March 12th, 2016
Gemini VIII (foreground) enters into the final stages of rendezvous with the Agena target vehicle. Photo Credit: NASA
At the dawn of 1966, America’s drive to land a man on the Moon had accelerated into high gear. Five Gemini crews had shown that astronauts could survive in space for long enough to complete […]
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By Ben Evans, on March 9th, 2016
The Soyuz-MS crew will form the second half of Expedition 48, before rotating into the core of Expedition 49, under Anatoli Ivanishin’s command. Photo Credit: Michael Galindo/AmericaSpace
Destined to fly a slightly shorter increment than normal to the International Space Station (ISS), the Expedition 48/49 crew of Russian cosmonaut Anatoli Ivanishin, NASA astronaut […]
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By Ben Evans, on March 7th, 2016
Scott Kelly (left), pictured with his identical twin brother, Mark, also a former astronaut. Photo Credit: Michael Galindo/AmericaSpace
Despite fatigue, muscle soreness and—untouched by the full force of terrestrial gravity in almost a year—a peculiar “itchiness” of the skin, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly feels that his 340 days in space have cleared a […]
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By Ben Evans, on March 6th, 2016
Spectacular view of Columbia’s payload bay and aft compartment, during STS-75. Photo Credit: NASA, via Joachim Becker/SpaceFacts.de
Two decades ago, Space Shuttle Columbia rocketed into orbit carrying one of the most unusual experiments on record: the reflight of the Tethered Satellite System (TSS-1R). It was intended to demonstrate the “electrodynamics” of a conducting […]
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By Ben Evans, on March 5th, 2016
The STS-75 crew pose for their official portrait. Seated are Pilot Scott “Doc” Horowitz, Commander Andy Allen, and Payload Commander Franklin Chang-Diaz, with Maurizo Cheli, Umberto Guidoni, Jeff Hoffman, and Claude Nicollier standing. Photo Credit: NASA
Twenty years ago, Space Shuttle Columbia rocketed into orbit carrying one of the most unusual experiments on […]
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