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NASA wants to send humans to Venus—here's why that's a brilliant idea

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NASA wants to send humans to Venus—here's why that's a brilliant idea

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Let's be bold and build a colony on the moon

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Let's be bold and build a colony on the moon

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NASA's New Horizons Probe Prepares to Make History—Again

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NASA's New Horizons Probe Prepares to Make History—Again

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The Curiosity rover found organic molecules on Mars. This is why they're exciting.

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The Curiosity rover found organic molecules on Mars. This is why they're exciting.

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Elon Musk and SpaceX pull off another feat few thought possible

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Elon Musk and SpaceX pull off another feat few thought possible

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Have you got what it takes to become an astronaut in the new era of human spaceflight?

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Have you got what it takes to become an astronaut in the new era of human spaceflight?

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NASA is moving too fast with SpaceX's reusable rockets

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NASA is moving too fast with SpaceX's reusable rockets

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He may sound like a comic book character from the age of Dan Dare, but Ham the astro-chimp had a serious purpose.

One of a squadron of 40 chimpanzees specially trained by the U.S. to make a monkey out of the Soviet Union's attempt to win the space race, Ham made history 50 years ago as the first chimp to be launched into space.

With the Russians inching ever closer to the Holy Grail of sending a human into orbit, the Americans decided to use a three-year-old chimp - in the style of a gas-detecting canary in a mine - to find out whether humans would be able to survive in space.

The Soviet Union had previously sent dogs into space, but the U.S. chose chimps because of their similarities to humans.

Originally from Cameroon in Africa, and once the star attraction at a Florida zoo, Ham was purchased by the United States Air Force to boldly go where only fruit flies, rhesus monkeys and a dog called Laika had gone before.

Laika was a Russian hound who became the first animal to orbit the earth in November 1957 aboard the Sputnik 2 satellite. She survived for seven days before her oxygen ran out.

The difference with Ham - whose name was taken from the initials of the Holloman Aerospace Medical Center in New Mexico, where he was housed - was that he would not only go up into space, but also come down again safely.

He and his fellow chimps were prepared for the flight for two-and-a-half years, and taught to complete simple tasks in response to lights and sounds. Pushing a lever within five seconds of seeing a flashing blue light earned him a banana pellet; failure gave him a mild electric shock to the soles of his feet.

Teams of white-coated scientists put the apes to the test on machines that measured the stresses they could cope with in terms of gravity, velocity and heat. They were even fed the diet of banana capsules that would sustain them in space.

On January 31, 1961, Ham was launched on Mission MR-2 - but almost immediately there was a hitch. The flight path was a degree higher than it should have been, meaning the craft reached an altitude of 157 miles above the earth - higher than the planned target of 115, and oxygen levels began to drop.

For six minutes of the flight, Ham was weightless as the capsule sped across the sky at around 5,000mph.

It splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean 16 minutes and 39 seconds later, and when rescuers reached it, Ham gratefully accepted an apple and half an orange.

He was unharmed by his adventure, and went to live at the National Zoo in Washington for 17 years. He died at North Carolina Zoo at the age of 25.

The space race didn't end with his flight, though. Although the Americans could claim they had put a primate into space, the Russians argued that the flight was only sub-orbital - in other words, it hadn't gone right round the world.

On April 12, 1961, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin entered the history books when he became the first man in space aboard Vostok 1.

The Americans followed a month later on May 5 when Alan B. Shepard became their first astronaut. By then, Ham already had his feet up.

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Apestronaut! Meet Ham, the chimp recruited by the U.S. 50 years ago to help beat Russia in the space race

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One of a squadron of 40 chimpanzees specially trained by the U.S., Ham made history 50 years ago as the first chimp to be launched into space.

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Permanently shadowed regions capable of accumulating surface ice were identified in the northern hemisphere of Ceres using images taken by NASA's Dawn mission combined with sophisticated computer modeling of illumination. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The journal just published six significant papers about the dwarf planet Ceres. We pored over them to see what has planetary scientists so excited.

Ceres is the only dwarf planet in the asteroid belt, located between Mars and Jupiter. On June 30, the Dawn spacecraft over Ceres completed its prime mission, and NASA has since extended its mission through at least April 2017, at which time the vessel will possibly run out of hydrazine fuel. (Yesterday it moved to a higher orbit, where it will have less of Ceres's gravity dragging on it, and can thus conserve fuel.) Dawn's continuing mission will involve studying Ceres as the world reaches perihelion-that is, as it reaches its closest point to the sun its elliptical orbit.

Since Dawn's arrival at Ceres last year-after first spending a year orbiting Vesta, a minor planet in the asteroid belt-the dwarf planet has proven captivating beyond anyone's expectation. Its mysterious white spots garnered unprecedented public interest. NASA even launched a poll for people to guess what they might be. (Those who suspected alien beacon were, sadly, incorrect; scientists believe the correct answer is salt.)

The spots are but a tiny part of the scientific bonanza delivered by Dawn, however, and 16 months after its arrival at Ceres, scientists have finally been able to get a grip on the libraries of data being returned from the spacecraft. Here are some of their key findings.

Ahuna Mons is an isolated mountain on the surface of Ceres that is, according to one paper published today, "distinct in its size, shape, and morphology." The mountain's formation, scientists suspect, is as such: cryomagma (ice lava!) erupted to the surface of Ceres, causing the development and spreading of an cryovolcanic ( ice volcano!) dome. This occurred much in the same manner as a volcano forms on Earth. As material erupted, it followed the grooves and fractures already present on the surface of Ceres. The ice volcano's formation and composition suggest that the surface of Ceres is warmer than that of icy moons, and within Ceres, there is or was some long-term heat source. Moreover, other "topographic rises" on Ceres might well "share a common formation process and imply that volcanic activity occurred over an extended period." Differing structures and shapes of said rises might be attributed to changes in flow and ascent over time.

Dawn's Framing Camera has mapped Ceres, and the revealed geology is a scientific bonanza, giving scientists clues necessary to piece together the history and geologic activities of the mysterious world. Debra Buczkowski is one of those scientists. She is the lead author of one of the papers published today. She tells mental_floss that what surprised her most about Ceres was the discovery of "floor-fractured craters," or craters with shallow floors cut by fractures of various shape.

"These are features found on the Moon and Mars," she said, "where they are thought to form due to magma upwelling beneath impact craters, pushing their floors upward and causing them to fracture." Such features were not predicted on Ceres. As to the implications, Buczkowski says, "Finding these features on Ceres means that there was at some point in time magmatic processes occurring on Ceres." She notes that evidence of magmatism (along with the identification of Ahuna Mons as a cryovolcanic feature) indicates that Ceres was at some point in time geologically active, "although we have yet to find evidence that it is still an active body."

Another of the Science papers found a relatively even composition (but unequal abundance) of clay-like phyllosilicate minerals-which need water to form-on Ceres' surface. This suggests that "widespread and extensive aqueous alteration processes have affected the dwarf planet at some point in its history."

Planetary scientists have long believed that the mantle of Ceres is rich in water ice (and perhaps water). According to another paper published today, data from the visible and infrared mapping spectrometer (VIR) identified "without ambiguity" H ₂O absorption bands in a young crater on Ceres called Oxo: "These bands are most likely due to surface materials," the scientists say. In other words, in at least this 10-kilometer crater, there is water ice on the surface of Ceres -and not billion-year-old ice that probably tastes awful, but the young, fresh stuff. At Oxo's latitude, water ice could at best last a few hundred years before disappearing, and would be undetectable in tens of years because of dust in the ice, which would quickly become "the dominant material within the optical thickness (a few micrometers at most)."

So where did this ice come from? The authors of the paper suggest four possible origins: exposure of internal ice due to a surface impact (i.e. giant rock smashing into Ceres); re-condensed water vapor that originated from within Ceres, much in the way the nuclei of comets release water vapor; a water-rich rock crashed into Ceres; or water molecules formed due to "implantation of protons" by solar winds. (This happens on our Moon, too.)

Craters tell an astonishing amount about celestial objects, from their age and composition to their history and internal processes. Ceres is heavily cratered and yet lacks craters larger than 300 kilometers, which is a bit unexpected. Moreover, the suspected composition of Ceres suggests that many of those craters should have "relaxed" over time, which by and large has not happened. This leads scientists to believe that the crust of Ceres possesses less ice than was expected or might be thicker than once thought. Rather than possessing a solid ice shell just below the surface, Ceres might have more of a rocky-ice (or icy-rock) shell.

An exosphere is the very outer limits of an atmosphere. (For reference, the Earth's exosphere begins around 300 kilometers beyond the altitude of the International Space Station.) It's where particles are gravitationally bound to an object but are very heavily influenced by the Sun. Before Dawn arrived at Ceres, instruments on the Hubble Space Telescope were unsuccessful in detecting an exosphere at the dwarf planet. Data returned by Dawn now tell a slightly different story. The Dawn spacecraft carries an instrument called the Gamma Ray and Neutron Detector (GRaND). On multiple orbits, GRaND detected bursts of energetic electrons. At those moments, scientists suspect that the weak atmosphere at Ceres was "ionized by the energetic particles in the solar wind, producing a bow shock as the solar wind was deflected," as the paper authors write. When the solar event stopped, ionization of the atmosphere ceased, and the exosphere vanished.

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5 Revelations About Ceres That Are Blowing Scientists' Minds

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Science just published six significant papers about the dwarf planet Ceres. We pored over them to see what has planetary scientists so excited.

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Never before had so small and so harmless an object created such consternation.
-Daniel J. Boorstin, The Americans: The Democratic Experience

"Listen now," said the NBC radio network announcer on the night of October 4, 1957, "for the sound that forevermore separates the old from the new." Next came the chirping in the key of A-flat from outer space that the Associated Press called the "deep beep-beep." Emanating from a simple transmitter aboard the Soviet Sputnik satellite, the chirp lasted three-tenths of a second, followed by a three-tenths-of-a-second pause. This was repeated over and over again until it passed out of hearing range of the United States.

The mouse that roared

The satellite was silver in color, about the size of a beach ball, and weighed a mere 184 pounds. Yet for all its simplicity, small size, and inability to do more than orbit the Earth and transmit meaningless radio blips, the impact of Sputnik on the United States and the world was enormous and unprecedented. The vast majority of people living today, at the beginning of the 21st century, were born after Sputnik was launched and may be unaware of the degree to which it helped shape life as we know it.

Now is an especially good time to take a fresh and focused look at the event whose impact looms even larger with the passing of time. In the last decade an incredible amount of once-secret material has been declassified and made public. Scholars and writers both inside and outside government have coaxed key Cold War documents out of hiding. Collectively, this material has given new dimensions and twists to almost every aspect of the events leading up to and following the launch of Sputnik.

For example, one recently released document reveals evidence of a long-forgotten pre-Sputnik "olive branch" extended by Russian scientists, who asked their American counterparts to supply a piece of scientific equipment for a planned launch. By most indications, this piece of equipment was meant for the third Sputnik.

It was as if this orderly march into the future was a part of America's destiny.

It is not widely known even now that one of the reasons President Dwight D. Eisenhower and those around him did not react with alarm over Sputnik going into space ahead of an American satellite was that Eisenhower welcomed the launch to help establish the principle of "freedom of space" [the idea that outer space belonged to everyone, thereby allowing satellite flights over foreign countries].

At the time of the Sputnik "crisis," the White House, Central Intelligence Agency, Air Force, and a few highly select and trustworthy defense contractors were creating a spy satellite that was so secret that only a few dozen people knew of it. Even its name, CORONA, was deemed secret for many years. Instead of being concerned with winning the first round of the space race, Eisenhower and his National Security Council were much more interested in launching surveillance satellites that could tell American intelligence where every Soviet missile was located.

Heard 'round the world

For many of us born before the 1950s, the fascination and astonishment engendered by the launch of Sputnik remain fresh in our minds. Like many of my generation, I can recall exactly where I was when I heard about Sputnik's launch. I was 18 years old, a college freshman at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. A friend stopped me in the middle of the campus to say that he had heard about it on the radio. Instinctively, we both looked up.

Within hours I would actually hear its signal rebroadcast on network radio. Before the weekend was over, I got to hear it directly on a shortwave radio as it passed overhead.

Not only could you hear Sputnik, but, depending on where you were, it was possible to see it with the naked eye on certain days in the early morning or the late evening when the sun was still close enough to the horizon to illuminate it. While standing in the middle of the college football field a week or so after the launch, I first saw the satellite scooting across a dark evening sky orbiting the Earth at a speed of 18,000 miles per hour. Watching Sputnik traverse the sky was seeing history happen with my own eyes. To me, it was as if Sputnik was the starter's pistol in an exciting new race. I was electrified, delirious, as I witnessed the beginning of the Space Age.

A new world

Prior to Sputnik, popular interest in science and technology had been on the rise since as early as the 1939 "World of Tomorrow" World's Fair in Flushing Meadows, New York. I attended the fair, albeit in utero, as I was born three days after my parents' last visit. But they saved many artifacts of the fair for me, including an official guidebook, which fascinated me as a kid and jump-started my interest in all sorts of things, particularly space travel.

That guidebook turned out to be a preview of the future. Exhibits like Ford's "Road of Tomorrow," General Motors' "Futurama," and the multisponsored "Town of Tomorrow" were more than fanciful prototypes; many of their imagined advances made their way into everyday life within a couple of decades. The fair's centerpiece was "Democracity," and it heralded wartime dreams and postwar realities: superhighways, ranch-style houses, rec rooms, workshops for "do-it-yourselfers," and booming suburbs (known as "satellites" in the Democracity display) replete with prefab houses, two-car garages, and stereophonic sound. Something called "television" was actually demonstrated at the RCA exhibit.

The fair's Transportation Pavilion was devoted to space exploration. There was a rocketport, a moonport, and a rocketship shot from a "rocketgun." In one lavish demonstration you could simulate blastoff on a trip to Venus. Once there, you could stroll a primeval jungle inhabited by immense Venusian beasts and a colony of Martians. The fair promised a day when sleek vehicles would take passengers to the planets as easily as they could fly from New York to Chicago. It was as if this orderly march into the future was a part of America's destiny.

As it turned out, the real "world of tomorrow" was delayed because of World War II, but its vision was carried intact into the late 1940s and early 1950s, when it began to be realized. Americans who had struggled through the Great Depression and the war embraced the promise of a burgeoning middle class having goods, services, and comforts that formerly had been the province of European royalty. The average family's car had more pure horsepower than existed in all the stables of Buckingham Palace a generation earlier.

"No event since Pearl Harbor set off such repercussions in public life."

By 1957, a new world was at hand for the United States. The country was creating an interstate highway system; the suburbs were growing; families with two cars and color televisions were becoming the norm. The highest peacetime federal budget in history ($71.8 billion) was in place, and it was the first year in which more than 1,000 computers would be built, bought, and shipped. There were advances in public health, although none more stunning than Dr. Jonas Salk's discovery of a vaccine against polio, the scourge of an entire generation of children.

At the same time, social changes were beginning to transform the United States. A great struggle to achieve a more egalitarian society was beginning. The first civil rights legislation since Reconstruction had been enacted in Congress on September 9, less than a month before Sputnik's launch. The Arkansas National Guard was in Little Rock, Arkansas, enforcing the right of blacks to go to school with whites. Culturally as well, the country was moving to a different beat. Rock 'n' roll had come onto the scene, and Elvis Presley owned the summer of 1957 with his two-sided monster hit record of "Don't Be Cruel" and "Hound Dog."

The Army's Wernher von Braun, seen here with a model rocket, was prevented from making America's first attempt to put a satellite in orbit and was forced to defer to a team from the Naval Research Laboratory. When the Navy's Vanguard failed, von Braun put America in space with Explorer in January, 1958.

A Crisis of Confidence

Just when Americans were feeling self-confident and optimistic about the future, along came the crude, kerosene-powered Sputnik launch. The space race was under way, and the Soviets had won the first leg-the United States was agog and unnerved.

"No event since Pearl Harbor set off such repercussions in public life," wrote historian Walter A. McDougall in The Heavens and the Earth-A Political History of the Space Age. Simon Ramo, space pioneer and cofounder of Thompson Ramo Woolridge, later known as TRW, Inc., wrote in The Business of Science that "the American response to the accomplishment of the Soviet Union was comparable to the reaction I could remember to Lindbergh's landing in France, the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, and Franklin D. Roosevelt's death."

There was a sudden crisis of confidence in American technology, values, politics, and the military. Science, technology, and engineering were totally reworked and massively funded in the shadow of Sputnik. The Russian satellite essentially forced the United States to place a new national priority on research science, which led to the development of microelectronics-the technology used in today's laptop, personal, and handheld computers. Many essential technologies of modern life, including the Internet, owe their early development to the accelerated pace of applied research triggered by Sputnik.

On another level, Sputnik affected national attitudes toward conspicuous consumption as well, symbolically killing off the market for the Edsel automobile and the decadent automotive tail fin. It was argued that the engineering talents of the nation were being wasted on frivolities. Americans, wrote historian Samuel Flagg Bemis from the vantage point of 1962, "had been experiencing the world crisis from soft seats of comfort, debauched by [the] mass media..., pandering for selfish profit to the lowest level of our easy appetites, fed full of toys and gewgaws, our power, our manpower softened in will and body in a climate of amusement."

Spur for spacemen

Sputnik also changed people's lives in ways that filtered into modern popular culture. Sputnik was the instrument that gave Stephen King the "dread" that fuels his novels, caused the prolific Isaac Asimov to begin calling himself a science writer rather than a science fiction writer, inspired Ross Perot to create an electronics dynasty, and led others to become cosmonauts and astronauts.

NASA astronaut Franklin R. Chang-Díaz is a case in point. He was born on April 5, 1950, in San José, Costa Rica. On a trip to Venezuela in October 1957, the seven-year-old was told by his mother to look skyward to see the Russian satellite crossing the night sky. Although the young Franklin could not spot Sputnik, he became so infatuated with the fact that human influence had moved into space that he decided then and there that this was his future. Once the American manned space program was under way, he wrote to Wernher von Braun, director of the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center, to find out how he might apply to become an astronaut. In the form letter that came back, he was advised to get a scientific or engineering degree and learn to fly. He also was told that he would have to become an American citizen. The United States, after all, was in a race with the Soviet Union.

At 18 he came to the United States from Costa Rica; he received a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Connecticut in 1973 and a doctorate in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1977. Along the way he became a U.S. citizen and then in 1981 an astronaut. Chang-Díaz hopes to go to Mars eventually.

The space race begins

Politically, Sputnik created a perception of American weakness, complacency, and a "missile gap," which led to bitter accusations, resignations of key military figures, and contributed to the election of John F. Kennedy, who emphasized the space gap and the role of the Eisenhower-Nixon administration in creating it. But although the Sputnik episode publicly depicted Eisenhower as passive and unconcerned, he was fiercely dedicated to averting nuclear war at a time when the threat was very real. His concern for national security took precedence over any concerns about beating the Russians into Earth orbit.

Without Sputnik, it is all but certain that there would not have been a race to the moon.

When Kennedy as president decided to put Americans on the moon, he did so with the belief that voters who had been kids at the time of Sputnik were more willing than their parents to pay the high price of going into space.

Diplomatically, Sputnik helped realign the United States and Great Britain as allies. For a decade, ties between the two nations had weakened partly due to the 1946 Atomic Energy Act, which had deprived the United Kingdom of American nuclear secrets, and partly because of the strong position that the United States had taken against the British and French during the Suez Crisis, which had been prompted by Egypt's seizure of the Suez Canal in July 1956. Now with the common threat of Soviet power implied by Sputnik, NATO was strengthened, guaranteeing the placement of American nuclear arms in Europe. The satellite touched off a superpower competition that may well have acted as a surrogate contest for universal power-perhaps even a stand-in for nuclear world war.

NASA chief historian Roger D. Launius wrote on the 40th anniversary of the launch: "To a remarkable degree, the Soviet announcement changed the course of the Cold War.... Two generations after the event, words do not easily convey the American reaction to the Soviet satellite." Without Sputnik, it is all but certain that there would not have been a race to the moon, which became the centerpiece contest of the Cold War.

To the moon

From the outset, wrangling among the branches of the military over control of the rockets that would take the United States into space threatened the success of the American space program even before Sputnik. Eisenhower was at odds with his generals over the program, and each branch of the service had its own aspirations of going into space. The main event pitted the Army's von Braun and his Rocket Team in Huntsville, Alabama against a team from the Naval Research Laboratory. The Army had the mighty Jupiter C rocket and its own Orbiter or Deal satellite (later to become Explorer) pitted against the Navy's experimental Viking rocket and Vanguard satellite.

The most powerful early rockets were developed as weapons-first as German V-2 technology from World War II and ultimately as intercontinental ballistic missiles. The space program seemed destined for civilian control just as the power of the atomic bomb had been taken from the military a decade earlier. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration began in 1958 as a reaction to Sputnik and as a means for turning missiles into launch vehicles for America's civilian space efforts.

President Eisenhower opposed sending men to the moon, but his successor, John F. Kennedy, made a lunar landing a national priority. Receiving virtual carte blanche in budget requests, NASA won the race for the United States, but victory was by no means an easy feat.

National insecurity, wounded national pride, infighting, political grandstanding, clandestine plots, and ruthless media frenzy were but a few of the things the United States had to overcome to bounce back from the blow dealt to the nation by Sputnik.

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Editor's Notes

This feature originally appeared on the site for the NOVA program Sputnik Declassified.

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Never before had so small and so harmless an object created such consternation. -Daniel J. Boorstin, The Americans: The Democratic Experience "Listen now," said the NBC radio network announcer on the night of October 4, 1957, "for the sound that forevermore separates the old from the new."

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It's a bird. It's a plane. It's a space shuttle filled with tourists?

While that idea sounds like science fiction, the reality of sending tourists to space is right around the corner - at least if you believe Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. He recently announced that Blue Origin, his private space company, could begin flying private citizens to the edge of the atmosphere by next year.

Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX and Bezos' chief competitor in private space flight, says his company plans to send two people around the moon and back by the end of 2018.

All of this raises the question of who will be writing and enforcing safety protocols for private space travel. As of now, the companies themselves will be writing their own safety rules, says Tim Fernholz, a writer for Quartz.

"We're moving into a brave new era now where private companies are taking on more and more of the share of space work," he says. "NASA is primarily a scientific and exploratory agency and they don't want to be in charge of wrangling everybody in the country that wants to go to space."

The Federal Aviation Administration, the agency that regulates airlines, will be in charge of creating and enforcing safety regulations. But its purview goes only so far.

"The FAA's main jurisdiction is making sure nobody on the ground is hurt if something goes wrong, [like] if a rocket blows up," Fernholz says. This is already happening in Van Horn, Texas, where Blue Origin has its headquarters.

The question of who will be in charge of keeping space tourists safe during flight is a gray area because the FAA doesn't currently have control over that aspect of space flight. The agency has made rules only about things crew members must be protected from, or must have, because the crew is considered part of a flight's safety system.

"Passengers are just told, 'Hey, the U.S. government did not certify this plane, here are the risks and sign on the dotted line,'" Fernholz says.

Until the number of private space tourists increases beyond the single digits, the question of who will write the rules remains on the back burner. There have been discussions about whether an independent commercial space flight regulatory body that is separate from the FAA should be created.

Fernholz says that the important thing to remember about space tourism is that it's an industry with lots of delays. He cites Virgin Galactic as a prime example; the company has been working to send a private citizen to space since 2005 and still hasn't launched a successful flight. It's unlikely that the company will even begin operations before 2019.
Written by Molly Smith.

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If You Want To Go Into Space, Don't Expect A Seatbelt Sign Or A Flight Attendant Lecture

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It's a bird. It's a plane. It's a space shuttle filled with tourists? While that idea sounds like science fiction, the reality of sending tourists to space is right around the corner - at least if you believe Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

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The first earthling to orbit our planet was just two years old, plucked from the streets of Moscow barely more than a week before her historic launch. Her name was Laika. She was a terrier mutt and by all accounts a good dog. Her 1957 flight paved the way for space exploration back when scientists didn't know if spaceflight was lethal for living things.

Humans are explorers. Since before the dawn of civilization, we've been lured over the horizon to find food or more space, to make a profit, or just to see what's beyond those trees or mountains or oceans. Our ability to explore reached new heights-literally-in the last hundred years. Airplanes shortened distances, simplified travel, and showed us Earth from a new perspective. By the middle of the last century, we aimed even higher.

Our first steps into space began as a race between the United States and the former Soviet Union, rivals in a global struggle for power. Laika was followed into orbit four years later by the first human, Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri A. Gagarin. With Earth orbit achieved, we turned our sights on the moon. The United States landed two astronauts on its stark surface in 1969, and five more manned missions followed. The U.S.'s National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) launched probes to study the solar system. Manned space stations began glittering in the sky. NASA developed reusable spacecraft-space shuttle orbiters-to ferry astronauts and satellites to orbit. Space-travel technology had advanced light-years in just three decades. Gagarin had to parachute from his spaceship after reentry from orbit. The space shuttle leaves orbit at 16,465 miles an hour (26,498 kilometers an hour) and glides to a stop on a runway without using an engine.

Space travel is nothing like in the movies. Getting from A to B requires complex calculations involving inertia and gravity-literally, rocket science-to "slingshot" from planet to planet (or moon) across the solar system. The Voyager mission of the 1970s took advantage of a rare alignment of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune to shave off nearly 20 years of travel time. Space is also dangerous. More than 20 astronauts have died doing their job.

That hasn't stopped people from signing up and blasting off. NASA's shuttle program has ended, but private companies are readying their own space programs. A company called Planetary Resources plans to send robot astronauts to the Asteroid Belt to mine for precious metals. Another company named SpaceX is hoping to land civilian astronauts on Mars-the next human step into the solar system-in 20 years. NASA and other civilian companies are planning their own Mars missions. Maybe you'll be a member of one? Don't forget to bring your dog.

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The first earthling to orbit our planet was just two years old, plucked from the streets of Moscow barely more than a week before her historic launch. Her name was Laika. She was a terrier mutt and by all accounts a good dog.

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Astronomy is the study of space. If you were an astronomer, you might focus on galaxies, stars, planets, or traveling objects such as comets and asteroids. Don't get astronomy confused with astrology. Astrology is a form of mystical prediction based on the stars and the time of year. Horoscopes are based on astrology. Astronomy is grounded in science. Astronomy uses math and science to study and predict the actions of the universe.

To be a good astronomer, you need to understand its history of scientific discoveries. Over thousands of years, humans have developed and proved many ideas about space. Proving the fact that the Earth revolved around the Sun was one of the first major accomplishments of modern astronomy. As you learn more, you will find out that ancient societies understood the movement of the Earth long before it was accepted by ruling powers. We are now using orbiting telescopes to photograph possible black holes (Hubble, Chandra). There are still thousands of unanswered questions. This science will depend on a long future of exploration.

Humans rarely visit other planets. Humans do take pictures of other universal bodies. From those pictures we study the colors, movement, and composition of other objects in the universe. Astronomers need to understand the sciences of Earth because this is the only place we can study firsthand. Astronomers work with chemistry when studying the atmospheres on other planets. Astronomers need to understand geology to explain the structure of planets and stars. Astronomers also need to know physics to explain how objects move through the universe.

The countries of the world are currently building a space station that orbits the Earth. This is the first step in our efforts to colonize and study the Solar System. One day (maybe in your lifetime), there may be groups of scientists working on the Moon and Mars. As time passes, Earth will also send more probes into deep space to study the outer planets and the interstellar region outside of our system. Even though the study of space has been going on for thousands of years, we have only been able to study the universe firsthand for about 40 years.

In 2006, NASA announced that its new exploration vehicle would be called Orion. The Constellation Program will develop the new spacecraft and its launching technology (Ares rockets). The new manned capsule will have the latest technology and be the foundation for missions to the Moon and Mars.

Encyclopedia.com (Space Program):
http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Space_Program.aspx
Wikipedia (Space Exploration):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_exploration
Encyclopædia Britannica:
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/557348/space-exploration

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Cosmos4Kids.com! This astronomy tutorial introduces space exploration. Other sections include the Universe, galaxies, stars, and the Solar System.

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For more than 50 years, NASA's Human Research Program (HRP) has studied what happens to the human body in space. Researchers are using what they learn to design procedures, devices, and strategies to keep astronauts safe and healthy throughout their missions.

NASA engineers use the lessons learned to better design spacecraft and improve the fit and functions of spacesuits. The research also aids in the development and assessment of medical standards, physical fitness programs and standards, physiological and psychological adaptation training, sensorimotor training, and nutritional health protocols.

Understanding the effects of spaceflight on humans is essential as astronauts move from the International Space Station in low-Earth orbit to deep space destinations on and around the Moon, and beyond. With the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and next man on the Moon using innovative technologies to explore more of the lunar surface than ever before, gathering new data while keeping astronauts healthy and safe.

NASA is particularly interested in investigating how the body reacts to long-duration spaceflight as the agency plans for extended missions on the Moon and Mars. Scott Kelly and Christina Koch were the first American astronauts to spend nearly one year in space onboard the space station, twice the previous average. Scott, Christina, and seven other astronauts have spent more than 200 days in space during a single spaceflight.

In addition to spending almost a year in space, Scott was involved in the unique Twins Study. Scott participated in several biomedical studies onboard the space station while his identical twin brother, retired astronaut Mark Kelly, stayed on Earth as a control subject, someone who provides a basis of comparison.

The study provided valuable data about what happened to Scott, physiologically and psychologically, as compared to his brother Mark. Their contribution to science helped generate data that researchers will use for decades to come.

NASA is planning more dedicated extended-duration research on the space station. The studies are expected to shed light on how the body adapts to living in the spaceflight environment for various longer time periods, which will be pivotal for future deep space missions.

What exactly happens to the body in space and what are the risks? Are the risks the same for astronauts who spend six months on the space station versus those who may be away on a Mars mission for years?

The simple answer is: No. NASA is researching risks for Mars missions which are grouped into five human spaceflight hazards related to the stressors they place on the body. These can be summarized with the acronym " RIDGE," short for Space Radiation, Isolation and Confinement, Distance from Earth, Gravity fields, and Hostile/Closed Environments.

Space Radiation

On Earth, we are shielded by the planet's magnetic field and atmosphere from the majority of particles that make up the space radiation environment. Even so, everyone on Earth is exposed to low levels of radiation every day, from the food we eat to the air we breathe.

In space, astronauts are exposed to varied and increased levels of radiation that are different from those on Earth. Three major sources contribute to the space radiation environment: particles trapped in Earth's magnetic field, solar energetic particles from the Sun, and galactic cosmic rays.

A big challenge in reducing the risks of radiation exposure is that some space radiation particles (especially galactic cosmic rays) are difficult to shield against. Exposure to increased radiation can be associated with both short- and long-term health consequences, depending on how much total radiation astronauts experience and the time frame in which they experience that exposure.

Increased risk of cancer and degenerative diseases, such as heart disease and cataracts, have been observed in human populations exposed to radiation on Earth. Health risks for astronauts from radiation exposure in space are mainly driven by long-term impacts.

Additionally, animal and cellular research indicate that the type of radiation in the space environment has a larger impact on health outcomes compared to the radiation experienced on Earth. Not only will astronauts be exposed to more radiation in space than on Earth, but the radiation they are exposed to could pose increased risks.

The Key: The current strategy to reduce the health risks of space radiation exposure is to implement shielding, radiation monitoring, and specific operational procedures. Compared to typical six-month space station missions, later Moon and Mars missions will be much longer on average. Consequently, the total amount of radiation experienced and associated health risks may increase.

NASA is developing new radiation detectors to monitor and characterize the radiation environment, which will provide better estimates of the dose and type of radiation to which the crews are exposed. Scientists and engineers are optimizing and implementing operational procedures that use available vehicle stowage and materials to reduce radiation exposure effectively.

To investigate the health risks of space radiation exposure beyond low-Earth orbit, NASA supports research that analyzes the biological effects of simulated cosmic rays at ground-based research facilities. Research at these facilities helps NASA understand and reduce the risk of space radiation, ensure proper measurement of the doses that astronauts receive on the space station and in future spacecraft, and develop advanced materials that improve radiation shielding for future missions.

Studies of radiation-exposed human cohorts are also being conducted to estimate the health risks in populations relevant to astronauts.

Isolation and Confinement

Expedition crews selected for a stay onboard the space station are carefully chosen, trained, and supported to ensure they will be able to work effectively as a team for the duration of their six to 12-month missions. Crews for a Moon or Mars mission will undergo even more careful assessment, selection, and preparation since they will travel farther and potentially for longer than previous humans in an isolated and confined environment, with only a few other people. Additionally, crews will likely be international and multi-cultural, making cross-cultural sensitivity and team dynamics paramount to mission success.

Ensuring astronauts get quality sleep is also important; otherwise, their internal biological clocks, or circadian rhythm, might be altered by factors like different dark and light cycles, a small and noisy environment, the stress of prolonged isolation and confinement, and a 37-minute extended day on Mars.

It is important to prepare for the fatigue astronauts may experience during spaceflight, given that there will be times with heavy workloads and shifting schedules. To prevent crew boredom, NASA considers the kinds of activities in which the astronauts will participate during a multi-year round trip to Mars.

Communication and understanding among crew members are vital to the success of the mission, and changes in morale and motivation are possible as the mission unfolds. This may relate to reduced stimulation, the longing for loved ones, or feeling unable to assist with family emergencies back on Earth, regardless of how long the mission lasts.

Using spaceflight analogs on Earth, NASA's research has revealed that both the duration and type of confined and isolated experience are important to consider. The more restricted the space, and the less contact with people outside the environment, the more likely humans are to develop behavioral or cognitive conditions or psychiatric disorders.

The Key: NASA has been studying people in isolated and confined environments for years, and has developed methods and technologies to counteract possible problems.

NASA scientists are using devices, such as actigraphy, that help assess and improve sleep and alertness by recording how much people move and how much ambient light is around them. New lighting, spurred by the development of Light-Emitting Diode (LED) technology, is used on the space station to help align astronaut's circadian rhythms and to improve sleep, alertness, and performance.

A 10-minute self-test of vigilance and attention assesses the effect of fatigue on performance. Astronauts write in journals as a safe place to vent frustrations and provide researchers a tool to study behavioral issues that are on the minds of crew members who are living and working in isolation and confinement.

Researchers are also looking into using virtual reality to simulate relaxing environments to help improve the mood of crews in isolation. Engaging in relevant, meaningful activities, including learning a language or learning new medical skills, could help ward off depression and boost morale. Crews may even tend to a space garden, which could have positive behavioral health benefits in addition to providing a fresh source of food and helping to purify the air.

Researchers are using Earth-based analogs to investigate how muchprivacy and living space will be needed on longer missions where crew members will be restricted in a relatively small spacecraft together. NASA is also determining strategies to formulate the best crew by studying individual and team attributes, composition, and dynamics.

Distance from Earth

The space station orbits 240 miles above Earth. The Moon is 1,000 times farther from Earth than the space station. In contrast, Mars is on average 140 million miles from Earth. With a communication delay of up to 20 minutes one-way while on Mars, astronauts must be able to solve problems and identify solutions as a team without help from NASA's mission control.

The types of food and medicine to be packed for a multi-year trip without access to a grocery store or pharmacy are also important to consider. Unlike space station crews, which regularly receive supplies from cargo flights from Earth, astronauts going to Mars will have to bring all of the food, equipment, and medical supplies they need.

The Key: NASA is using its human spaceflight experience on the space station to figure out what types of medical events happen in space over time and what types of skills, procedures, equipment, and supplies are needed so that they will have a good idea of what to pack for future missions to the Moon and Mars.

Space station astronauts already receive medical training before and during space missions that teach them how to respond to health problems as they arise. For example, astronauts learn how to use onboard space station equipment to produce an intravenous (IV) solution from purified water, which can be used for medical administration.

Crew members also perform ultrasound scans on each other to monitor organ health. If one crew member becomes sick during the mission, crews are ready to perform laboratory testing to help make the right diagnosis and guide treatment.

NASA is working on developing a medical data architecture for spacecraft that enables the capabilities of clinical decision support tools, which could use artificial intelligence and machine learning to further help diagnose and treat various illnesses. Researchers are also looking into the role that virtual assistants could play to help crews identify and respond to spaceflight anomalies quickly for more distant missions.

Additionally, the agency is studying and improving food formulation, processing, packaging, and preservation systems to ensure the nutrients remain stable and the food remains acceptable for years. Space-resilient medications and packaging systems that preserve the integrity of pharmaceuticals for long-duration missions are another significant part of NASA's research.

Gravity Fields

Astronauts will encounter three different gravity fields on a Mars mission. On the six-month trek between the planets, crews will be weightless. While living and working on Mars, crews will be in approximately one-third of Earth's gravity. Finally upon returning home, crews will have to readapt to Earth's gravity.

Transitioning from one gravity field to another is trickier than it sounds. It affects spatial orientation, head-eye and hand-eye coordination, balance, and locomotion, with some crew members experiencing space motion sickness.

Landing a spacecraft on Mars could be challenging as astronauts adjust to the gravity field of another celestial body. When shifting from weightlessness to gravity, astronauts may experience post-flight orthostatic intolerance where they are unable to maintain their blood pressure when standing up, which can lead to lightheadedness and fainting.

NASA has learned that without Earth's gravity affecting the human body, weight-bearing bones lose on average 1% to 1.5% of mineral density per month during spaceflight. After returning to Earth, bone loss might not be completely corrected by rehabilitation; however, their risk for fracture is not higher. Without the proper diet and exercise routine, astronauts also lose muscle mass in microgravity faster than they would on Earth.

Moreover, the fluids in the body shift upward to the head in microgravity, which may put pressure on the eyes and cause vision problems. If preventive or countermeasures are not implemented, crews may experience an increased risk of developing kidney stones due to dehydration and increased excretion of calcium from their bones.

The Key: By analyzing how the body changes in weightlessness and after returning to Earth's gravity, NASA is developing protective measures against these changes for a Mars mission.

Functional task testing is in place to help detect and improve balance control after landing on a gravitational surface. Fine motor skill testing is done to detect any changes in the ability of astronauts to interact with computer-based devices.

Distribution of the fluids in the body is closely monitored to help evaluate any connection to changes in vision. Compression cuffs worn on the thighs help keep the blood in the lower extremities to counteract those fluid shifts. A lower-body negative pressure device could help draw fluids from the head into the legs as well.

Back pain, which some astronauts have reported experiencing during spaceflight, is monitored by obtaining spinal ultrasounds. Muscle size and bone density are assessed for deterioration using MRI and high-resolution imaging techniques, before and after flight. Crew members perform periodic fitness self-evaluations to help researchers better understand the decline in heart function that can occur during spaceflight.

Medicines that NASA is studying, such as potassium citrate, may help combat the physiological change that could increase the risk of developing kidney stones. Bisphosphonate medications have been shown in NASA studies to be effective in preventing bone loss.

NASA has also designed an efficient way to collect and measure how much urine a crew member produces in space, which is essential to human research since it reveals key information about a person's health. For example, researchers can analyze different levels of certain substances in an astronaut's urine to determine whether they are at risk of developing a kidney stone in space, and make modifications to the diet, exercise routine, and water intake as preventive measures.

Aerobic and resistive exercise has been shown to keep the heart healthy, bones and muscles strong, the mind alert, as well as maintain a more positive outlook, and may even help with balance and coordination. Software-generated workout partners could be used to help motivate astronauts to exercise regularly for longer space missions. NASA has even completed a joint Earth-based bed rest study to determine whether centrifuge artificial gravity may be an effective way to counter the physiological effects of weightlessness.

Hostile/Closed Environments

NASA has learned that the ecosystem inside the spacecraft plays a big role in everyday astronaut life in space. Microbes can change characteristics in space, and micro-organisms that naturally live on the human body are transferred more easily from person to person in closed habitats, such as the space station. Stress hormone levels are elevated and the immune system is altered, which could lead to increased susceptibility to allergies or other illnesses.

Earth-based analogs do not perfectly simulate the spaceflight environment, making them insufficient for studying on the ground how human immune systems react in space. However, NASA-funded Antarctic analog studies could provide insight into how certain spaceflight stressors may affect the human immune system. What is known is that spaceflight changes the immune system, although crews do not tend to get sick upon returning to Earth. Even though astronauts' acquired immunity is intact, more research is needed into whether spaceflight induced altered immunity may lead to autoimmune issues, in which the immune system mistakenly attacks the healthy cells, organs, and tissues present in the body.

Beyond the effects of the environment on the immune system, every inch and detail of living and working quarters must be carefully thought-out and designed. No one wants their house to be too hot, too cold, cramped, crowded, loud, or not well lit, and no one would enjoy working and living in such a habitat in space either.

The Key: NASA is using technology to monitor the air quality of the space station to ensure the atmosphere is safe to breathe and not contaminated with gases, such as formaldehyde, ammonia, and carbon monoxide. Thermal Control Systems function to maintain temperatures of the space station and keep astronauts comfortable.

Blood and saliva samples are analyzed to identify changes in the immune system and the reactivation of latent viruses during spaceflight. NASA uses advanced molecular techniques to evaluate the risk of microbes that may cause illness for crew members. Various parts of the body and the space station are swabbed regularly for analysis of the microbial population that inhabits the environment. Crews change out air filters, clean surfaces, and treat the water to prevent illnesses that may result from the accumulation of contaminants.

Astronauts are advised to get a flu shot to boost their immunity and are quarantined before their missions to avoid catching any sort of illness before launch. During the Twins Study and One-Year Mission, Scott Kelly administered a flu vaccine to himself while his brother received his on Earth. The immunization proved to work as well in space as it does on Earth, which is a good finding for longer missions to the Moon and Mars.

Living quarters and work environments are carefully planned and evaluated to ensure that designs balance comfort and efficiency. Lighting onboard the space station is similar to what would be experienced naturally on Earth, thanks to the new LED lighting system.

NASA is taking action on all of these risks and working to solve the challenges of human spaceflight with some of the most brilliant minds in their fields. The results garnered from laboratories, ground analogs, and space station missions will provide more insight into these adaptations and present a stepping stone for longer missions.

On upcoming Artemis missions to lunar orbit and the surface of the Moon, even more data will be collected as this work continues. On future longer duration missions to the Moon and Mars, astronauts will benefit from years of research that will ensure they will be able not just to survive, but thrive on their spacefaring missions.

Click here for an infographic summarizing the risks of human spaceflight and the safeguards against them.
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NASA's Human Research Program, or HRP, pursues the best methods and technologies to support safe, productive human space travel. Through science conducted in laboratories, ground-based analogs, and the International Space Station, HRP scrutinizes how spaceflight affects human bodies and behaviors. Such research drives HRP's quest to innovate ways that keep astronauts healthy and mission-ready as space travel expands to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
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For more than 50 years, NASA's Human Research Program has studied what happens to the human body in space.

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How big is space? Interactive infographic

Our top 12 stories of 2014 - #3: Fancy riding a rocket through our Solar System?

Then check out our amazing interactive infographic.

To celebrate our second anniversary, we've created an interactive version of a previous infographic, which is so big, it's too big for this page.

This time round you get to pilot a rocket through the Solar System. There's even more information packed into this graphic: you'll see how close comets have come to our planet; what is the farthest travelled by a human being; how long the trip will take if you were on the Starship Enterprise... as well as a few surprises too.

So buckle up and scroll (and scroll... and scroll) through our interactive infographic of space to explore our cosmic neighbourhood.

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Buckle up and ride a rocket through the Solar System to explore our cosmic neighbourhood.

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Space travel has given us a wealth of knowledge which has in turn helped us create inventions and technologies that have made human life easier and helped us learn more and explore further into the universe.

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20 Inventions We Wouldn't Have Without Space Travel

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Space travel has given us a wealth of knowledge which has in turn helped us create inventions and technologies that have made human life easier and helped us learn more and explore further into the universe.

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What Are The Benefits Of Space Exploration?

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Why explore space? It’s an expensive arena to play in, between the fuel costs and the technological challenge of operating in a hostile environment. For humans, a small mistake can quickly become fatal — something that we have seen several times in space history. And for NASA’s budget, there are pro…

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Since its inception in 1958, NASA has accomplished some pretty spectacular feats of science. Our country has landed humans on the Moon six times. We've successfully put laboratories onto the surface of Mars, and we've flown by every single planet in our solar system, including the recently promoted asteroid-turned-dwarf planet, Ceres.

Despite decades of scientific and technological achievements, some people still think that funding NASA is a waste of money. However, when you do the calculations, it turns out we are actually getting a great value from this government-run agency.

What NASA Gives Us

We can thank the Cold War for NASA's existence in the first place. After the launch of Sputnik in 1957, President Eisenhower realized we were losing the space race. So, on July 29th, 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration was born. Upon signing the Space Act, Eisenhower said this about the new program: "There are many aspects of space and space technology which can be helpful to all people as the United States proceeds with its peaceful program of space and exploration. Every person has the opportunity to share through understanding in the adventures which lie ahead."

For 57 years NASA has provided the world with new perspectives on our species and our place in the cosmos. After the Apollo 8 mission sent back the famous "Earthrise" image, we were able to see ourselves for the first time. There we were, a beautiful blue ball, where everyone lives. Then on Valentine's day in 1990, the Voyager 1 spacecraft turned around on its way out of our solar system, and took the ultimate family portrait. This time, from a distance of 3.7 billion miles away, we were tiny, just a speck among the stars. It was because of moments like these that for decades when children were asked what they wanted to be when they grew up, they answered, "an astronaut!" This dream only existed because of NASA.

Gorgeous, super hi-res image of Pluto

The colors have been enhanced to highlight Pluto's variety of compositions.

Recently, the world was united once again in the spirit of space exploration as the New Horizons spacecraft flew by Pluto. Always the underdog of the solar system, and discovered only in 1930, we never really knew what Pluto looked like; it is 3 billion miles away, after all. On July 14th it seemed as though the world stopped; people tweeted, Facebooked, and cheered on the streets while humankind accomplished something great. And while no one could see the spacecraft, we all watched in awe as the nine-year journey came to a close and we flew past Pluto, only to find out it was more interesting than anyone could have ever imagined.

The Price Of Awe And Amazement

Getting inspired by science and discovery is one of the most rewarding parts of being a human. But exploring isn't free, especially not in the space case. What is the price of awe and amazement?

Since the end of the Apollo program in 1972 NASA has operated with an average 0.5 percent of the total US budget. That's not even a percent of the total 3 trillion dollars allocated to the U.S. in 2014. Although that may still seem like a lot of money, let's compare it to the beginning of the Apollo program.

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy decided that NASA would send humans to the Moon before the end of the decade. At that time, each U.S. citizen was paying $20 per year to NASA. JFK needed that number to go up to $26 a year to help get our astronauts to the Moon. In 2015 dollars, the Apollo era budget would have been equivalent to each American paying over $200 a year to the space administration. If NASA still had that sort of funding in 2015, that would make its budget a whopping $65 billion dollars per year, compared to its actual budget of $17.5 billion. Instead, in 2014 each American paid an average of $54 per year to NASA.

That money gets spread out over many different projects. So even though the Curiosity rover had an astounding $2.6 billion price tag, each citizen only paid about about $0.41 per year to put the SUV-sized robot on Mars.

The Real Cost Of NASA Missions

Since 1972, NASA's budget hasn't increased, but has been cut by roughly 75 percent, and it's stayed that way for 42 years. While the Apollo era budget was arguably not sustainable, it raises questions as to what might be possible if NASA once again had access to more financial support.

NASA has made a little bit of money go a long way. In addition to organizing science missions, the space agency employs over 60,000 people including private organizations. But NASA can't do it all. Budget cuts are delaying the development of the Commercial Crew program, which would get astronauts launching from American soil again. In the meantime, we'll be forced to continue buying tickets on the Russian Soyuz.

NASA's budget has flatlined in recent decades

What Lies Ahead

Despite its ongoing budgetary battles, NASA continues to do good science.

Next on the horizon for NASA's space exploration agenda is a flyby of Europa. The mission to Jupiter's icy moon has created a lot of excitement for astrobiologists. Because Europa has more water in its oceans than all of the water combined on Earth, it has the potential to harbor life.

There won't be another "Apollo moment" for our space program.

The quest to land humans on Mars in the 2030's is also something scientists at NASA are trying to plan for.

It's widely accepted that there won't be another "Apollo moment" for our space program. NASA will probably never receive the amount of funding it did when JFK set his sights on the Moon. There also probably won't be another Cold War, but there will always be this question: What else is out there?

We've barely scratched the surface of the solar system-there are so many more questions, and many more questions we don't even know we have. The price of understanding is small, and for people around the globe to feel connected over a rocket launch, a rover landing, a photo, or a spacewalk is priceless. Let's not stop. Let's keep pushing forward and as NASA says, let's continue to "dare mighty things."

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Could we survive prolonged space travel? - Lisa Nip

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Prolonged space travel plays a severe toll on the human body: microgravity impairs muscle and bone growth, and high doses of radiation cause irreversible mutations. As we seriously consider the human species becoming space-faring, a big question stands: even if we do break free f…

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Going Green: SpaceX sends the first recycled spacecraft back into orbit

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Going Green: SpaceX sends the first recycled spacecraft back into orbit

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Would You Like to Spend Thanksgiving in Space?

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Would You Like to Spend Thanksgiving in Space?

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