Category Archives: Space exploration

Government reopens, NASA back on track

Posted on October 19, 2013 by Alex R. Howe

On Wednesday, the US Congress passed a budget deal reopening the government and avoiding the much worse debt ceiling collision by only a couple of hours. Of course, we can expect loads more fun when the short-term deal runs out … Continue reading →

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Government shuts down: now what?

Posted on October 2, 2013 by Alex R. Howe

By now, you’ve probably heard that the United States government is shut down, having failed to pass a budget, something that last happened in 1996. I’ll spare the annoying political details and just say that neither of the two parties … Continue reading →

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Welcome to the Future: the year we became an interstellar civilization

Posted on September 16, 2013 by Alex R. Howe

When the Voyager 1 spacecraft was launched in 1977, it’s mission was to explore Jupiter and Saturn. But 35 years and 122 astronomical units later, the venerable probe entered interstellar space. Read that again: We put a spacecraft in interstellar … Continue reading →

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Kepler Mission officially retires from planet hunting

Posted on August 16, 2013 by Alex R. Howe

Today, NASA announced that the Kepler Spacecraft has been officially retired from its primary mission of looking for Earth-like planets around other stars. Two of the spacecraft’s four reaction wheels–basically gyroscopes that keep it pointed straight–have failed in the past … Continue reading →

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Astronaut records first song from space

Posted on February 9, 2013 by Alex R. Howe

Chris Hadfield, Commander of Expedition 34 on the International Space Station, joined Ed Robertson, lead singer of Barenaked Ladies, to perform the first song composed and recorded (partly) in space. The result: I.S.S. (Is Somebody Singing). Check it out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj0xADpjSW8 … Continue reading →

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Felix Baumgartner’s World Record Skydive

Posted on October 15, 2012 by Alex R. Howe

On Sunday, Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner made a parachute jump from a high altitude balloon and became the first human to break the sound barrier unassisted as part of the Red Bull Stratos mission. Breaking the sound barrier isn’t that … Continue reading →

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SpaceX makes first contracted delivery to the International Space Station

Posted on October 10, 2012 by Alex R. Howe

Space Exploration Technologies, better known as SpaceX, has successfully launched its Dragon space capsule to the International Space Station (ISS), completing the first of 12 resupply missions under its $1.6 billion contract with NASA. Dragon delivered replacement parts for the … Continue reading →

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