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Editorial Team

Space Travel Editorial Team

Editorial Team

The Space Travel Editorial Team produces Space Travel's coverage of human spaceflight and access to space. We report on launch, crewed missions and space tourism, and the propulsion, vehicles and human factors of getting people to space. Articles reflect our team's collective editorial process, source verification, drafting, technical review, and editing, rather than a single writer's work. Space Travel takes editorial responsibility for content under this byline. For more on how we work, see our editorial policy.

President Hu: China Joins Nations With Capability Of Deep Space Exploration

Beijing (XNA) Dec 14, 2007 - Chinese President Hu Jintao said the success of the first stage of China's lunar probe program indicated the nation had joined countries with capability of deep space exploration. Hu made the remarks at a grand ceremony held Wednesday morning at the Great Hall of the People to celebrate the first-phase lunar probe project's success. He said the lunar probe was another milestone in China's space exploration, following the successes of man-made satellites and manned space flights.

Dec 14, 2007

NASA aims for early January launch

Houston (UPI) Dec 14, 2007 - NASA officials have set a January date for the next scheduled launch of the shuttle Atlantis, giving workers time to spend the holidays with their families.

Dec 14, 2007

Russia Soon To View Two Space Transport Projects

Moscow (RIA Novosti) Dec 14, 2007 - Russia's rocket and space corporation Energia has developed six projects for new manned spacecraft, two of which will be submitted to Russia's space agency in the near future, a source said Wednesday. Two of the most attractive projects for spacecraft as part of a reusable manned transport system could be submitted to the Federal Space Agency in the near future, the spokesman said.

Dec 14, 2007

Lightning Protection For The Next Generation Spacecraft

Cape Canaveral FL (SPX) Dec 14, 2007 - Thunder rumbles in the distance as darkening clouds gather above NASA Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39B, where a sleek Ares I launch vehicle stands awaiting an upcoming flight. A blinding lightning flash suddenly streaks down from the sky, striking one of the pad's tall steel masts. The surge of electrical current quickly is diverted away from the rocket and carried safely into the ground.

Dec 14, 2007

NASA Targets Space Shuttle Atlantis Launch For January 10

Houston TX (SPX) Dec 14, 2007 - NASA's Space Shuttle Program managers have targeted Jan. 10 for the launch of shuttle Atlantis' STS-122 mission to the International Space Station. The workforce has stepped up to and met every challenge this year, said Wayne Hale, Space Shuttle Program manager at NASA's Johnson Space Center.

Dec 14, 2007

Brain Stem Cells Sensitive To Space Radiation

Gainesville FL (SPX) Dec 13, 2007 - Measures to protect astronauts from health risks caused by space radiation will be important during extended missions to the moon or Mars, say researchers in a paper currently online in Experimental Neurology. Using a mouse model designed to reveal even slight changes in brain cell populations, scientists found radiation appeared to target a type of stem cell in an area of the brain believed to be important for learning and mood control.

Dec 13, 2007

ATK Test Fires Liquid Oxygen-Methane Rocket Engine In Vacuum

Minneapolis MN (SPX) Dec 13, 2007 - Alliant Techsystems recently demonstrated a critical capability of its liquid oxygen (LOX)/Methane rocket engine by igniting it in a vacuum chamber. The successful ignition test was designed to demonstrate the viability of a LOX/Methane rocket engine for a lunar ascent mission.

Dec 13, 2007

NASA Selects Prime Contractor For Ares I Rocket Avionics

Washington DC (SPX) Dec 13, 2007 - NASA has selected The Boeing Company of Huntsville, Ala., as the prime contractor to produce, deliver and install avionics systems for the Ares I rocket that will launch the Orion crew exploration vehicle into orbit. The selection is the final major contract award for Ares I. The award resulted from a full and open competition.

Dec 13, 2007

Lockheed Martin Team Opens Development Laboratory For Orion And Constellation

Houston, TX (SPX) Dec 13, 2007 - Lockheed Martin has announced the opening of its new space Exploration Development Laboratory in a ceremony dedicating the facility to support the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Project Orion and Constellation Program. Orion isAmerica's next-generation human spaceflight vehicle that will transport up to six astronauts to and from the International Space Station and up to four to the moon and destinations beyond, beginning in 2015 after the space shuttle is retired.

Dec 13, 2007

NASA to test faulty shuttle gauges next week

Washington (AFP) Dec 12, 2007 - NASA will test next week the faulty fuel tank sensors that grounded the Atlantis' mission to the International Space Station until January, space shuttle program manager Wayne Hale said.

Dec 12, 2007

Chang’e-1 Photographs Dark Side Of The Moon

Beijing (XNA) Dec 12, 2007 - The charge-coupled device (CCD) camera on Chang'e-1, China's first lunar orbiter, has started imaging probes on the dark side of the moon and captured photos of parts of this region, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced Tuesday. The CNSA said that the orbiter is operating normally in terms of flying, probing, land control and communication, as well as data transmitting and processing.

Dec 12, 2007

China’s space ambitions key to nation’s strength: Hu

Beijing (AFP) Dec 12, 2007 - China's space exploration should be used to help build the nation's social, economic and technological strength, President Hu Jintao said Wednesday, while stressing the endeavour will be peaceful.

Dec 12, 2007

Kennedy’s Desert RATS

Flagstaff AZ (SPX) Dec 11, 2007 - Every September, after the summer rain backs off but before the mornings get too cold, a pack of RATS descends on the desert near Flagstaff, Ariz., to spend two weeks testing technologies that will play a vital role in the future of space exploration. Roughly 150 engineers and scientists participate in the NASA program, known as Desert Research and Technology Studies, or Desert RATS.

Dec 11, 2007

Voyager 2 Proves Solar System Is Squashed

San Francisco CA (SPX) Dec 11, 2007 - NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft has followed its twin, Voyager 1, into the solar system's final frontier, a vast region at the edge of our solar system where the solar wind runs up against the thin gas between the stars.

Dec 11, 2007

United Launch Alliance Launches 2nd COSMO Satellite

Vandenberg AFB CA (SPX) Dec 10, 2007 - A United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket successfully launched the second Italian-built Constellation of Small Satellites for Mediterranean Basin Observation or COSMO-SkyMed 2 satellite at 6:31 p.m. PST, today. Blasting off from Space Launch Complex 2, it marked the third successful Delta II vehicle launch by Boeing Launch Services, a division of Boeing Network and Space Systems, of a commercial satellite.

Dec 10, 2007

Russia Tests Engine For Angara Carrier Rocket

Moscow (RIA Novosti) Dec 10, 2007 - Russia has successfully conducted preliminary tests of an engine for the first stage of the new-generation Angara carrier rocket, the Khrunichev State Research and Production Center said on Friday. The RD-191 oxygen-kerosene engine has been developed by Energomash research and production center for a new family of Russian launch vehicles based on a common core booster.

Dec 10, 2007