Medicine & TechnologySpaceX is set to launch its Dragon cargo capsule to the International Space Station on Monday, and mission control plans again to make history by landing their rocket back on Earth after blast off. The computer aims to bring the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket back to Earth for a soft touchdown on an unmanned "spaceport drone ship" in the Atlantic Ocean, after the booster sends the Dragon cargo container on its way to the International Space Station.
It might be a sad fact, but in our daily lives, the most obvious example of species cohabitation may just be that of humans and ants. Now they’re not man’s best friend, that’s an obvious fact, but these little pests get away with a lot and whether we like it our not they tend to keep coming back. But when researchers looked into the tiny species, they revealed that the reason for their blissful cohabitation may be a lot more similar to why dogs like human homes as well—namely table scraps.
While the United States and Russia relations may be at their lowest point in decades, the space agencies are working together better than they ever have before. NASA and the Russian space agency Roscosmos today announced plans to build a new space station for when the International Space Station is retired in 2024.
While you might think that NASA and other space agencies have made great strides in investigating the final frontiers of space, it turns out that there are far too many limitations for what humans are able to do. Astronauts and cosmonauts train for the better part of the lives, learning technical information and perfecting the physical attributes needed to live in space. But when it comes down to mission time, they only have a few months in space—at best. Considering that new missions to Mars will look towards taking human journeys far deeper into space than anyone has been before, NASA’s new experiment is looking into how long exposure to zero-gravity will affect humans. And they’re using a familiar method of testing their hypotheses—twins.
While NASA already knows many of the affects on the human body while in space, when astronaut Scott Kelly launches for the beginning of his year long mission at the International Space Station, he has one long-range goal on his mind.
There is nothing like coming home after a long day at work or even after a nice long trip. What this means for most of us is a car ride or plane trip home. While these journeys may seem long and sometimes even tedious, it is nothing compared to the return home of an astronaut from space.
Should the vapors be cause for concern? Well it certainly has been a question that has crossed NASA and the astronauts’ aboard the International Space Station minds. Since the snafu on Wednesday, Feb. 25, when a routine spacewalk led to water leaking into space station flight engineer Terry Virts’ helmet, the team has been buzzing with news of whether or not they will be cleared to walk again this weekend.
How’d you spend your weekend? Bet you didn’t have as great of a time as NASA astronaut Terry Virts, who clocked a couple of hours this Saturday, Feb. 21, in the void of space. While Virts and his colleague Barry Wilmore have been aboard the International Space Station for a couple of months now, the duo spent their weekend commemorating their first spacewalk with a collage of space selfies, posted on their Twitters.
When better than Valentine’s Day to discuss matters of the heart? As February happens to be American Heart Month, dedicated to heart health and the physical fitness of everyone around the world, it seems that NASA and astronauts aboard the International Space Station are taking the promise of heart health to new heights. A new year, a new crew, and a new attitude has come aboard the International Space Station, and this time they’re vowing to keep their hearts just as healthy as their minds and our thirst for knowledge in space exploration.
Scott and Mark Kelly, identical twin brothers and astronauts for NASA are participating in a new study that is the first of its kind. The study will look at the effects of long-term space missions on the human body, with the hopes of gaining insights on what will happen to humans on a mission to Mars.
Astronauts on the U.S. side of the International Space Station had quite a scare today after an apparent false alarm raised concerns about an ammonia leak on that side of the station; forcing a partial evacuation.
After weeks of anticipation for private spaceflight company SpaceX’s innovative new launch scheduled for departure earlier this morning, Jan. 6, NASA officials reported that the launch was called off due to technical difficulties, only minutes before liftoff.
Knowing the waste associated with space exploration, the millions of dollars invested in early flight stages merely shelled off into space, private-sector rocket company SpaceX has decided to rework how the space exploration game is played. Developing reusable pieces, that if brought back with a spacecraft could be used on yet another mission, the company not only intends to change their role in the rocket industry, but the way our tax dollars are spent as well.
Christmas is a time of the year when we can all gather around a warm, natural gas fed fire and talk about what we've all been up-to this past year. But, if you're in space, a fire probably isn't a good idea.
The European Space Agency compiled the five months' worth of pictures down to a 6 minute video that, while depicting space in the most accurate way, feels like science fiction to watch. The video shows natural phenomena such as auroras, lightening and other intense weather patterns like us earth-dwellers have never seen before. It even shows the most breathtaking views of lit-up cities, deep blue oceans, stars and clouds.