By Ben Evans, on January 29th, 2018
Of all the fragments of Challenger which were recovered, this shard of the craft, bearing part of her name, was particularly poignant. Photo Credit: NASA
On 7 March 1986, six weeks after the loss of Challenger, divers from the U.S.S. Preserver found the remains of the ill-fated shuttle’s crew cabin. It “was disintegrated, […]
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By Paul Scott Anderson, on March 15th, 2017
Artist’s conception of the Venera-D spacecraft in orbit around Venus. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Last week, AmericaSpace reported on why NASA should return to Venus, and new technology being developed to help make that happen, especially as in longer-lived landers or rovers. With its extremely hostile conditions, Venus has been much less of a […]
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By Ben Evans, on April 10th, 2016 After its Thermal Protection System (TPS) successfully bore the brunt of the fiery return to Earth, Columbia performed an unpowered, “deadstick” landing at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., on 14 April 1981. Photo Credit: NASA, via Joachim Becker/SpaceFacts.de
Thirty-five years have now passed since the maiden voyage of the Space Shuttle Program. On […]
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By Paul Scott Anderson, on September 22nd, 2015
Sequence of images showing the surface changes in the Imhotep region. Image Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA
Since August 2014, the Rosetta spacecraft has been orbiting Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, providing an unprecedented look at an active comet as it moves closer to the Sun in its orbit. As expected, the level of activity […]
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By Paul Scott Anderson, on August 5th, 2015
Self-portrait of the Curiosity over in Gale crater on Mars. Part of Mount Sharp is in the background. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
NASA’s Curiosity rover has just reached its third anniversary milestone on Mars, after landing in Gale crater on Aug. 5, 2012, and since then has made some incredible science discoveries, with more […]
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By Paul Scott Anderson, on February 26th, 2015 Jupiter’s ice-covered moon Europa hides a water ocean beneath its surface. A return mission is now planned to help search for evidence of life there. Photo Credit: NASA/JPL
Jupiter’s moon Europa, with its subsurface ocean, is considered by many to be the best place in the Solar System to search for extraterrestrial life. […]
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By Emily Carney, on November 22nd, 2014 Scott G. Phillips stands by his space shuttle tribute display. Phillips’ new memoir, Remove Before Flight, tells the story of his own personal shuttle odyssey. Photo Credit: Scott G. Phillips
Since the beginning of the space shuttle era, which kicked off with STS-1’s triumphant launch in 1981, space buffs, historians, and writers chronicling […]
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By Ben Evans, on October 5th, 2013 Twenty-five years have now passed since STS-26, the mission which laid the ghosts of Challenger to rest and opened the gates for a second Golden Age of shuttle operations. Photo Credit: NASA
Twenty-five years have now passed since the voice of launch commentator Hugh Harris exulted “Americans return to space” on the morning […]
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By Paul Scott Anderson, on June 6th, 2013 [video width="500" height="340" src="http://wpc.50e6.edgecastcdn.net/8050E6/mmedia-http/download/public/videos/2013/05/049/1305_049_AR_EN.mp4" /]With all of the attention that NASA’s rovers Opportunity and Curiosity have been getting, and deservedly so, we might forget sometimes that there are still other spacecraft orbiting Mars as well. NASA’s Mars Odyssey and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter continue to return amazing high-resolution views of the planet from orbit, but there […]
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By NASA, on April 25th, 2013 This graphic of Jupiter’s moon Europa maps a relationship between the amount of energy deposited onto the moon from charged-particle bombardment and the chemical contents of ice deposits on the surface in five areas of the moon (labeled A through E). Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Ariz./JHUAPL/Univ. of Colo.
The surface of Jupiter’s moon […]
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