Space Exploration, features and articles | Educational Science

Nov 30, 2007

NASA Taps Boeing to Build Avionics for New Rocket

WASHINGTON -- Boeing Space Exploration of Houston nabbed its second major role on NASA's new astronaut launcher, winning a contract potentially worth $800 million to build and outfit an avionics ring that will control the Ares I rocket in flight. Boeing beat out Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp. for the...

Nov 30, 2007

Canadian Earth-Watching Satellite Finally Reaches Orbit

PARIS - Canada's Radarsat-2 Earth observation satellite, which has been almost a decade in design and construction, launched successfully Friday aboard a Russian Soyuz-Fregat rocket from Russia's Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, according to launch-services provider Starsem S.A. of France. The 4,850-pound (2,200-kilogram) Radarsat-2 is expected to operate for seven years...

Nov 30, 2007

Ariane 5 Rocket Successfully Lofts Horizons-2, RascomStar-QAF1

KOUROU, French Guiana -- Europe's Ariane 5 rocket on Dec. 21 successfully launched telecommunications satellites for a U.S.-Japanese joint venture and a startup company that will offer telephone and Internet service throughout Africa after a decade-long struggle for financing. The launch, from the Guiana Space Center here, was the sixth...

Nov 30, 2007

Ariane 5 Rocket Makes Record Sixth Launch in a Year

KOUROU, French Guiana -- Europe's Ariane 5 rocket on Friday successfully launched telecommunications satellites for a U.S.-Japanese joint venture and a startup company that will offer telephone and Internet service throughout Africa after a decade-long struggle for financing. The launch, from the Guiana Space Center here, was the sixth Ariane...

Jan 31, 2008

Europeans Eager to Launch Orbital Science Lab

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Europe's bus-sized science lab will soon make its zero-gravity debut after the launch of NASA's space shuttle Atlantis tomorrow, weather permitting. Atlantis will ferry the 10.3-ton module to the International Space Station (ISS), where astronauts will attach it and make way for space-based science experiments throughout...

Jan 31, 2008

Europeans Celebrate Successful Launch of Science Lab

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — After two decades of waiting, Europeans are celebrating the arrival of their first piece of orbital real estate in space. It's a great day for ESA, said Jean-Jacques Dordain, director general for the European Space Agency (ESA), of the Columbus laboratory's launch today aboard the space...

Jan 31, 2008

Shuttle's Heat Shield Appears Undamaged, NASA Says

HOUSTON — A first look at video from space shuttle Atlantis' external fuel tank revealed no signs of damage to the spacecraft's heat-resistant underbelly, NASA mission managers said Friday. The seven-astronaut crew scanned the heat shield of Atlantis with a sensor-laden extension boom today to complement the discarded fuel tank's...

Jan 31, 2008

Shuttle Flight Back on Track After Astronaut's Illness

HOUSTON — Atlantis shuttle astronauts took a close look at a torn insulation blanket on their vehicle's engine pod Sunday as mission managers officially extended their flight by one day due to a crew member?s illness. John Shannon, NASA's deputy shuttle program manager, said Atlantis? now 12-day mission to deliver...

Jan 31, 2008

U.S. Will Try to Destroy Crippled Satellite

WASHINGTON — U.S. President George W. Bush approved a Defense Department plan to try and shoot down a crippled spy satellite after becoming convinced that the spacecraft's toxic hydrazine fuel posed an unacceptable risk to people on the ground, senior U.S. government officials said at a Pentagon press briefing Feb....

Jan 31, 2008

NASA Readies Backup Shuttle Runway to Aid Spy Satellite Shot

This story was updated at 11:59 p.m. EST. HOUSTON — NASA will call up a backup landing strip for the space shuttle Atlantis next week to give the U.S. military more leeway to shoot down an ailing spy satellite, mission managers said Friday. The space agency will activate a backup...

Jan 31, 2008

Astronauts Unfazed by Planned Spy Satellite Shot

HOUSTON — Astronauts aboard the shuttle Atlantis and the International Space Station (ISS) said Saturday that a plan to shoot down an ailing spy satellite poses no threat to their mission to install a European laboratory. Shuttle commander Stephen Frick and ISS commander Peggy Whitson said both of their spacecraft...

Jan 31, 2008

Shuttle Astronauts Prepare to Leave Station

This story was updated at 2:23 p.m. EST. HOUSTON — With warm words and embraces, the seven astronauts of NASA's shuttle Atlantis bid farewell to their counterparts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) Sunday as they prepare to head home after delivering a new European lab. Shuttle commander Stephen Frick...

Jan 31, 2008

Orbital Wins $171 Space Station Re-Supply Demo Deal

WASHINGTON — Orbital Sciences Corp. beat out several other finalists to win a NASA Space Act Agreement award worth $171 million to build and demonstrate a launch system capable of delivering cargo to the international space station. NASA made the award under its $500 million Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS)...

Jan 31, 2008

Shuttle Astronauts Glad to be Home

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The seven astronauts of NASA's shuttle Atlantis were glad to be home Wednesday after a successful space station construction mission that ended with a smooth glide back to Earth. Shuttle commander Stephen Frick and his STS-122 crew celebrated their 13-day flight, which delivered the European-built Columbus...

Jan 31, 2008

Spysat Debris Delays New Satellite's Launch

This story was updated at 3:34 p.m. EST. The planned Friday launch of a new U.S. spy satellite has been delayed by space debris from last week's destruction of its disabled predecessor, the mission's launch provider said Wednesday. Initially slated for a Feb. 29 liftoff from Vandenberg Air Force Base...