astronauts

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Atlantis Crew Finds Minor Damage to Shield

(Newser) - Atlantis astronauts found some minor damage to the shuttle’s heat shield during an arduous, nine-hour inspection today, Space.com reports, with NASA officials saying nicks sustained during liftoff weren’t a serious concern, but that more analysis was needed. Astronauts will inspect the shield—vital to the shuttle’s...

Atlantis Lifts Off on Mission to Hubble

(Newser) - The space shuttle Atlantis and seven astronauts blasted off today en route to the Hubble Space Telescope. It is NASA's final trip to Hubble and comes after a seven-month delay. Atlantis and its crew were supposed to fly to Hubble last fall, but the telescope broke down. The telescope is...

NASA Gives Atlantis Crew Go Ahead for Hubble Rescue

Oft-delayed mission set to launch tomorrow

(Newser) - NASA has declared space shuttle Atlantis' crew fit to fly, and weather permitting, the much-delayed 11-day mission to fix the Hubble Space Telescope will take off tomorrow, reports Space.com. Endeavour is standing by just in case Atlantis itself needs rescuing. The mission includes five spacewalks and lots of tinkering...

NASA, Pols Cringe at Space Station Costs

Washington standoff delays funding, key nomination

(Newser) - After years of wrangling, the US and other operators of the International Space Station have resolved to keep the facility operating through 2020, but the 5-year extension deal is creating new challenges, the Wall Street Journal reports. Washington will need to fork out at least $10 billion, which could cut...

Mock Mars Mission Blasts Off
 Mock Mars Mission Blasts Off 
Mar 31, 2009 12:26 PM CDT

Mock Mars Mission Blasts Off

Experimenters will spend 105 days locked in fake spaceship

(Newser) - Europe launched its first shot at a manned mission to the Red Planet today—by locking six scientists in a tiny capsule in Moscow for 105 days to simulate the voyage, the BBC reports. The volunteers, who can leave the experiment but score $20000 if they make it, will perform...

First Repeat Space Tourist Arrives at ISS

(Newser) - A Russian spacecraft carrying a cosmonaut, an astronaut, and the first two-time space tourist has docked with the International Space Station, the CBC reports. The Soyuz capsule will soon offload the two crew members and US billionaire Charles Simonyi. Simonyi will return to Earth in the same capsule on April...

India Struggles to Create Astronaut 'Space Curry'

(Newser) - One of the biggest challenges of India’s burgeoning space program is culinary, the London Times reports. Researchers at the country’s defense science lab are struggling to adapt the complex, spicy national cuisine into something that will work in space. “Curry tends to be spicy, high in fat...

2 Teachers Make Mission's Final Walk

(Newser) - Two astronauts who were teaching math and science to middle school students just 5 years ago went on a spacewalk together today, their path cleared of dangerous orbiting junk that had threatened the space station and shuttle. It's the first time two former schoolteachers have been on a spacewalk together,...

Astros Fire Up Thrusters to Dodge Trash

Space junk becomes increasing concern

(Newser) - Discovery's astronauts fired thrusters yesterday to maneuver the million-pound International Space Station out of the path of approaching space junk, the third such threat to the orbiting lab in two weeks, reports Space.com. The four-inch chunk of debris—from a Chinese rocket that broke apart in 2000—was heading...

Astronauts Take 2nd Spacewalk

(Newser) - Astronauts took another spacewalk at the international space station today, this time to lighten the workload for future crews. As soon as they floated outside, Steven Swanson and Joseph Acaba made their way all the way to the end of the space station's power-grid framework. They loosened bolts holding down...

Space Station Panels Unfurled, Despite Threat of 'Stiction'

(Newser) - Astronauts on the International Space Station successfully unfurled the last of the craft’s solar panels today, despite the chronic problem of “stiction,” ABC reports. Stiction is, predictably, the engineering term for things sticking together. When panels have had trouble opening in the past, spacemen have resorted to...

Astronauts Install Last Pair of Solar Panels

(Newser) - The International Space Station is about to get full power for the first time. Two astronauts today installed the last pair of solar panels for the station in a six-hour spacewalk, reports Space.com. The station, which now has a total of eight solar panels, will unfurl the newly installed...

Shuttle Docks at Space Station
 Shuttle Docks at Space Station 
Mar 17, 2009 4:41 PM CDT

Shuttle Docks at Space Station

(Newser) - Space shuttle Discovery has arrived at the International Space Station. The shuttle docked with the orbiting outpost late this afternoon, carrying the station's final set of solar wings. Before arriving, Discovery did a 360-degree backflip so station astronauts could photograph its belly. NASA will examine the photos as a precaution...

NASA: Debris Will Miss Space Station
 NASA: Debris Will 
 Miss Space Station 
UPDATED
Mar 16, 2009 8:25 PM CDT

NASA: Debris Will Miss Space Station

(Newser) - NASA gave the all-clear to the international space station tonight, telling its astronauts they would not need to steer away from an orbiting piece of satellite junk. Experts had been keeping close tabs on the debris all day, at one point believing it might pass within a half-mile of the...

Discovery Blasts Off With Crew of 7

(Newser) - Space shuttle Discovery is rocketing toward the international space station after more than a month of delays, the AP reports. The space shuttle and its crew of seven blasted off today just as the sun was setting. The shuttle is carrying a final set of solar wings for the space...

Hail of Debris Forces Space Station Evacuation

(Newser) - Fearing a strike by orbiting space junk, the three astronauts on the International Space Station evacuated to an attached capsule this morning, the Houston Chronicle reports. Though the chance of impact was slight, the debris—a 4-inch piece of an old rocket—could have caused major damage to the station....

Columbia Crew Had No Chance to Survive

Report says astronauts couldn't have survived shuttle's disintegration

(Newser) - The seven astronauts aboard the space shuttle Columbia lost consciousness quickly and did not suffer when the craft broke up during its descent to Earth in 2003, a  NASA report says. While the crew had zero chance of survival, the report found fault with the astronauts' safety equipment and recommended...

Missing Tool Bag Spotted in Space

Watchers with telescopes in NJ, Ontario spot gear lost during spacewalk

(Newser) - Look, in the sky: It's a bird, it's a plane, it's … the tool bag that floated away during a spacewalk last week. A few backyard astronomers have spotted the shiny bag that drifted away from an astronaut outside the International Space Station. The $100,000 toolkit will be visible...

Astronauts Wipe Off Grime on Final Walk

(Newser) - Astronauts lubed a joint and wiped a solar panel clean today on the last spacewalk of the Endeavour mission, Space.com reports. The final repairs on the International Space Station took just over 6 hours but were cut short for astronaut Shane Kimbrough when carbon dioxide levels rose in his...

British College Launches Astronaut Course

(Newser) - A British university is making a political stand as it teaches students how to survive in outer space, the Guardian reports. The University of Leicester has hired NASA shuttle veteran Jeff Hoffman to lead a new course on how to become an astronaut, despite the UK government's ban on manned...

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