Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network
China and the U.S. recently announced plans to send rovers to Mars in 2020, signaling the start of a new space race. China's plans to land a solar-powered rover on Mars in July or August of 2020 while NASA intends to launch its own $2.1 billion dollar nuclear isotope powered Mars 2020 rover the same month.
As the unmanned aircraft industry continues to evolve, the United States is depending on its space agency to help manage small drone traffic close to the Earth. NASA is currently entering the second phase of a four-step plan to draw up rules of the skies for drones that weigh 55 pounds or less and fly no higher than 500 feet.
Florida-based Moon Express was granted permission by the United State government to undertake a robotic lunar landing in 2017, marking the first time a non-governmental entity has been afforded such approval. Until now, privately held companies were restricted to missions on or around Earth, meaning that, as Moon Express co-founder told Space.com's Mike Wall, "this is not only a milestone, but really a threshold for the entire commercial space industry."
Moon Express is the first private outfit to get the OK from the U.S. government to go where few have gone before: the moon. The upstart space exploration company is competing for Google's Lunar XPrize, worth as much as $25 million.
The last Space Shuttle launched 5 years ago Thursday, but NASA still cannot put men into space without Russian cooperation due to President Obama's cuts to the agency's exploration and spaceflight capability. NASA plans to return to Earth's orbit are entirely dependent on private companies, some of which are scheduled to launch by the end of next year.
At the time Anderson took over, Virgin Galactic head Richard Branson was predicting that his spacecraft would be blasting passengers into sub-orbital space from Spaceport America by the summer of 2012 Anderson steps down as head of spaceport At the time Anderson took over, Virgin Galactic head Richard Branson was predicting that his spacecraft would be blasting passengers into sub-orbital space from Spaceport America by the summer of 2012 Check out this story on lcsun-news.com: http://lcsun.co/29Sms7i Spaceport America Chief Executive Officer Christine Anderson, looks on as the reflection of the spaceport is reflected in her glasses in July of 2009.
Five years after its launch from Earth, Juno is scheduled to go into orbit around the gas giant on Monday, July 4, 2... . This composite image of photographs made by NASA's Cassini spacecraft on Dec. 29, 2000 shows the planet Jupiter.
Space industry officials including a space flight veteran plan to visit a machine ship in southwest Ohio that is contributing to NASA's Orion and Space Launch System programs. Organizers say retired astronaut Brian Duffy and members of the Orion and SLS leadership team will be joined Wednesday by U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, other local officials and community leaders, and students in the program at Metalex Manufacturing Inc., in Cincinnati.
Retired U.S. astronaut and University of Tennessee Space Institute graduate Scott Kelly will speak at the school's "Welcome Week Life of Mind" celebration. Kelly's talk is a part of UT's First-Year Studies 100 class, which is a zero-credit pass-fail class that gives students their first taste of college studies.
Not all of the kids of West Orange, New Jersey's Pleasantdale Elementary School were exactly thrilled when they heard their school would be renamed to Kelly Elementary, according to the school's PTA members. But they quickly warmed to the idea - and yesterday , they cheered the loudest of all as members of the school community and city residents gathered to celebrate their identical-twin hometown astronauts, Mark and Scott Kelly.