Today is the official end of NASA space shuttle program. Here’s a wonderful video tribute to all the NASA missions, from the joys of floating in space to the horror of the two missions that didn’t make it home.
NASA
The last Space Shuttle re-entry seen from orbit
In addition to last night’s ethereal moonlit landing of the last Space Shuttle Atlantis at the Kennedy Space Centre, NASA has tweeted this image of the space craft’s plasma trail, writes Ben Sandilands.
The end of Discovery
After 27 years of being the workhouse of NASA’s shuttle fleet, the Discovery landed from its final mission yesterday. Peter Spotts looks back at the shuttle that brought the Hubble Telescope into being and delivered astronauts to space stations for decades.
Comet Hartley 2 up close
A new close-up photograph of Comet Hartley 2 by NASA’s Deep Impact/Epoxi spacecraft reveals a complex and highly active object. The smooth ‘neck’ of the comet nucleus is about 400 metres in diameter and the long axis appears to be around 2200 metres, writes Ben Sandilands.
Washington, we have a problem
The space race is over and NASA now struggles to justify its existence. Instead of moon landings, diplomacy with Muslim majority countries has become of its main aims.
Armstrong: Obama has surrendered the space race
In an open letter, astronauts Neil Armstrong, James Lovell and Eugene Cernan attack Obama’s new moon-snubbing plans for NASA: America will no longer be the best at something!
Space: the final frontier of industry
Forget the moon race of half a century ago: the new space race is to lead the space industry, designing, making and selling space ships and cleaning up space junk, says Ben Sandilands.
NASA discovers water on the moon — or did it?
NASA grabbed headlines around the world with its announcement it has found “a significant amount” of water on the moon. But is 25 gallons of water really all that “significant”? It all sounds like a galactic-sized cash grab to Jon Wiener.
The earth-asteroid collision that didn’t make headlines
On October 8, a mini-asteroid screamed into the upper atmosphere over the Indonesia and exploded with the force equivalent to two to three times that of the atom bombs that incinerated Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
PHOTO GALLERY: A spectacular Saturn at equinox
NASA’s Cassini spacecraft sent back some amazing photos of Saturn and its moons during equinox (when the sun crosses the celestial equator), including close ups of moon craters and Saturn’s famous rings.
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Visualising 50 years of space travel
An amazing interactive infographic displaying every mission into space for the last 50 years. Poor lonely Pluto.
NASA bombs the moon
NASA is about to launch a bombing raid on the moon, firing two space missiles at the lunar surface in an effort to look for more water. Space colonies, here we come!
How Twitter ruined NASA’s big day
NASA was all set to make its big announcement that water has been found on the moon, until some spoil-sports on Twitter let it all spill early. More proof the internet has killed the media embargo?
The dark side of the moon
The sun never shines on the floor of some of the moon’s deeper craters. So what lies there? Ice? Aliens? Spaceships? For the first time, the US and India are teaming up to take a closer look.
Space snacks: creating a menu for Mars
Freeze-dried shrimp cocktail and irradiated beef fajitas: modern space food has gotten pretty sophisticated. The LA Times meets the scientists-cum-chefs responsible for packing 6570 meals for NASA’s next trip to Mars.
Let’s invite China to the space party
China has spaceships, scientific know-how, money and man-power. Could bringing them into orbit with the US’s space program build a base for better relations between the two countries?
Guy Rundle: Stuff the Moon, stuff Mars, let’s go to the stars
Mars? We’d barely notice we’d got to Mars. The Moon? A commuter jump. Guy Rundle sets his sights higher.
The space race — over before it began
The American space program, the greatest, grandest, most Promethean — O.K. if I add “godlike”? — quest in the history of the world, died in infancy at 10:56 p.m. New York time on July 20, 1969, writes Tom Wolfe.
The Apollo 11 photos you don’t see
There are many classic photos of the Apollo 11 moon mission, and some that get overlooked, writes Ben Sandilands.
Forget about the moon, let’s fix Earth first
“What the hell do we have to show for manned space exploration besides neat pictures and a brief feeling of patriotic goodwill in the middle of Vietnam?” asks Gawker. Space isn’t going anywhere soon — why not fix problems on Earth before we start wrecking other planets.
Video of the Day: Walking on the Moon restored
To commemorate the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11, NASA released partially restored video of a series of 15 memorable moments from the July 20 moonwalk.
Driving in space
Meet Dr Ashley Stroupe, NASA’s lead robot driver for the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. Apparently, he’s grown pretty attached to Spirit and does “a lot of the long-term planning for her”.
500th astronaut blasts off
Former naval commander Chris Cassidy will become the 500th person to go into space this week.
Is NASA over-the-hill?
It’s been 40 years since man walked on the moon — what have you done for us lately, NASA?
NASA may not build a moon base
Boo! NASA are likely to abandon their plans to build an outpost on the moon. The GFC is shattering dreams. Space dreams.
