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Space Travel Editorial Team
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.

Legacy Reports

Russian Silkworms Spin First Space Silk In History

Moscow (RIA Novosti) Oct 04, 2007 - Silkworms on board the recent Russian Foton-M bio-satellite flight span the first space silk in history, a Moscow school teacher revealed Tuesday. As part of the satellite's scientific program, Moscow school students, led by biology teacher Alexander Koloskov, carried out an experiment to study how weightlessness influences the life cycle of silkworms. Experiments on board the satellite also revealed that worms are able to produce silk in microgravity conditions, but can not pupate, as they pass silk threads around the sticks they are sitting on rather than around their bodies.

Oct 4, 2007
Legacy Reports

First Test: Main Parachute For Ares I Rocket

Yuma AZ (SPX) Oct 04, 2007 - NASA and industry engineers successfully completed the first drop test of the main parachute that will help recover the first stage of the Ares I crew launch vehicle. Ares I will carry the NASA's Orion crew exploration vehicle to space. The test, conducted on September 25 at the U.S. Army's Yuma Proving Ground near Yuma, Ariz., is part of an ongoing series of tests to support the design and development of the Ares I parachute recovery system, which is derived from the system NASA uses to recover the space shuttle's solid rocket boosters after launch.

Oct 4, 2007
Legacy Reports

Ariane 5 Cleared For Intelsat 11 And Optus D2 Mission

Kourou, French Guiana (SPX) Oct 04, 2007 - Ariane 5 mission is cleared for an October 5 liftoff with Intelsat 11 and Optus D2 Arianespace's fourth mission of 2007 is set for Friday, October 5, with the green light given today (October 3) after the launch readiness review at Europe's Spaceport. This review, which is held before every Ariane flight, verifies the readiness of the Ariane 5 vehicle, its two payloads, the launch infrastructure at the Spaceport in French Guiana, and the downrange network of tracking stations.

Oct 4, 2007
Legacy Reports

Discovery At The Pad For October 23 Launch

Cape Canaveral FL (SPX) Oct 01, 2007 - Space shuttle Discovery arrived at Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, resting on the hardstand by 1:15 p.m. The shuttle began its slow 3.4-mile journey to the pad atop the crawler transporter at 6:47 a.m., leaving the Vehicle Assembly Building in the early morning darkness. Also at the pad is the payload canister containing the Harmony module that the STS-120 crew will deliver to the International Space Station. Harmony will be installed in Discovery's payload bay as launch preparations continue at the pad.

Oct 1, 2007
Legacy Reports

Kennedy Prepares To Host Constellation Launch Vehicle

Cape Canaveral FL (SPX) Oct 01, 2007 - The Ares rockets that will take over for the space shuttle and carry humans to the moon are closer to lifting off from the drawing board. Designs and modifications are under way at Launch Pad 39B, the Launch Control Center and the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to accommodate the first test flight of an Ares I rocket in April 2009. At the same time, workers in Kennedy's Assembly and Refurbishment Facility and Parachute Refurbishment Facility are working on the components for the first launch test.

Oct 1, 2007