The Air Force X-37B (Orbital Test Vehicle)
In December the Air Force will launch its first OTV also known as the X-37B Orbital test Vehicle. This small unmanned Space Shuttle-type vehicle will launch from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station grounds on an inaugural mission to test out its systems and capabilities. After the mission is...
Happy 10th Birthday International Space Station!
The ISS turned ten today and isn’t it truly amazing how time has flown by. In those ten years the station has covered just enough miles in space to have gone to Saturn and back. The station has grown from that first module to the largest man-made object ever...
Retire the Shuttle?
Unfortunately, the answer is yes. I don’t like the answer any more than most Americans. The thought that we’ll be without this magnificent machine and that the remaining fleet of Atlantis, Discovery and Endeavour will be relegated to static displays in a museum would signal the end of an...
The Art of Imitating Life
This past weekend I ventured down to the Kennedy Space Center to catch the annual airshow on the grounds of the space center complex. While there I took the time to catch the 3D IMAX film “Magnificent Desolation”. When I had first seen this movie several years ago needless...
A Dangerous “Trek” to Tranquility Base
Astrobotics has announced an exciting and ambitious effort to land a robotic rover on the lunar surface at the site of the Apollo 11 landing as part of the Google LunarX Prize competition. Dubbed the “Tranquility Trek” they plan to land and explore the historic site where humans first...
A New Vision
The economic bad news is never far away. All anyone needs to do is pick up a paper, turn on the local or national news, the radio or even talk to a co-worker or neighbor. We have major problems at every turn in this country including a massive deficit...
A Triumph for the American Space Program
Today, the U.S. House of Representatives defied the wishes of President Bush and by a wide margin of 409-15 approved an extra $2b dollars for NASA. The rare, almost unanimous support sends a strong message that the space program is vital to America and still the most visible sign...
The Militarization of Space
The recent action by the United States to shoot down an errant satellite spy satellite was met with condemnation from China and Russia and prompted a call from Presidential Candidate Barack Obama to ban weapons in space. The course taken by the United States whether to protect the populous...
Yesterday and Today
50 years ago yesterday America entered the space age when Explorer 1 successfully lifted off and became the first American satellite to orbit the Earth. The first in a series of flawless triumphs that resulted in man landing on the Moon. Today, February 1st marks the anniversary of the...
Remembering
Today, and the next week marks a time when several tragedies occured in the quest for space. Sixteen American astronauts risked their life to advance the cause of space exploration: Apollo 1 (January 27, 1967) – Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Ed White, Roger Chaffee Challenger (January 28, 1986) – Francis...