international space station

NASA Orders First Ever Commercial Human Spaceflight from Boeing

Since the retirement of the shuttle program, the restoration of launching American astronauts to the International Space Station from American soil by 2017 has been a goal of NASA. Now, that goal has taken a giant leap forward as NASA has ordered its first commercial spaceflight mission from Boeing.

A Bird’s Eye View Aboard an Aborted SpaceX Test Mission

SpaceX is one step closer to being the first privately-owned company to send astronauts to space. And one of the most important aspects of any mission is protecting the lives of the crew. So they recently tested an abort system that would propel astronauts to safety in the event of an emergency. And a point-of-view camera let us come along for the ride.

SpaceX Dragon Departs International Space Station

SpaceX confirmed yesterday that their Dragon capsule successfully departed the International Space Station and successfully splashed down in the Pacific Ocean both on time and on target.

Are You a Whiz At Cad? NASA Offers $2.25 Million Prize for Best Space Habitat Design

NASA and the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute, known as America Makes, are hoping that additive construction innovators will design a deep space exploration habitat and then fabricate it in a new competition worth US $1.1 million for each of two winners. Phase One registration opened at the Bay Area Maker Faire on Saturday, and the second stage begins September 27.

How the ISS Plans on Getting Rid of Space Debris—Plans to Vaporize Comets in Space

Fans of shoot-em-up sci fi everywhere will be thrilled with the latest proposal for freeing the International Space Station (ISS) from the need to repeatedly alter its trajectory to avoid crashing into space junk. Researchers from the Riken Computational Astrophysics Laboratory of Japan want to use a laser system to zap dangerous space debris on a collision course with the ISS.

Russia Restarts Progress Spacecraft on ISS After Failed First Attempt

The problems for Russia's space agency seem to continue. The Russian Space Agency said that after a failed first attempt to start the engines of the Progress spacecraft on the International Space Station, they managed to get them started on the second attempt to correct the orbit of the ISS.

Progress Spacecraft Falling to Earth

The unmanned Russian cargo spacecraft that malfunctioned causing the Russian space program to lose control of the craft as it made its way to the International Space Station last week, will fall to Earth later this evening.

SpaceX Preps for Test of Dragon Capsule

The Dragon Capsule, a commercial spacecraft designed by SpaceX to ferry U.S. astronauts into orbit by 2017 is set for a major test on Wednesday, when the private space company plans to blast the capsule away from the launch mount at Cape Canaveral on a mile-high demo flight designed to test the craft's ability to protect occupants in the event of a catastrophic rocket failure on the pad.

Will Russia Dismantle the ISS?

Since 1998, the International Space Station has stood has a symbol of global cooperation even at times when the participating countries weren't seeing eye to eye. It's 15 modules have been inhabited continuously since 2000 and over the years it has played host to almost 200 astronauts and cosmonauts from 15 different nations. However, despite countries extending support until 2024, this could all still come to an end.

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