The future of travel beyond Earth.

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.

NASA Extends Space Shuttle Main Engine Contract

Washington DC (SPX) Aug 03, 2007 - NASA has signed a $975 million contract extension with Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne to maintain the agency's fleet of space shuttle main engines until the orbiter is retired in 2010. The contract began on April 1, 2006. It is scheduled to conclude Sept. 30, 2010. The $975 million contract extension brings the total value of the cost-plus-award/incentive fee contract to slightly more than $2.05 billion.

Aug 3, 2007

Launch Gantry At Cape A Bridge To The Future

Cape Canaveral (SPX) Aug 02, 2007 - Towering far above the trees at Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., NASA's gantry is far more than a directional landmark for local aviators, fishermen and sailors. This red and white structure looming in the blue is a piece of national history. The 240-foot-high massive steel structure has been serving NASA for over 40 years and still holds a vital place in research, discovery and exploration.

Aug 2, 2007

Making the Transition From Shuttle To Constellation

Cape Canaveral FL (SPX) Aug 02, 2007 - The United States is transitioning from a country that sends astronauts to orbit the Earth to a nation that sends humans out into the solar system. NASA is working to make this transition - from the Space Shuttle Program to the Constellation Program - seamless and safe. The agency is tapping existing people, processes, technology, infrastructure, facilities and equipment as much as possible to ensure Constellation's success.

Aug 2, 2007

Engineers Work To Resolve Endeavour Leak

Cape Canaveral (KSC) Aug 02, 2007 - At Launch Pad 39A, preparations continue for the launch of Endeavour on STS-118, currently targeted for launch at 7:02 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, Aug. 7. Engineers are working to resolve an abnormal leak rate in Endeavour's crew cabin. The problem was traced to one of two positive pressure-relief valves which ensure that the crew cabin does not become over-pressurized. Workers plan to remove and replace the suspect valve using a valve from Atlantis.

Aug 2, 2007

European Automated Space Truck Arrive At South American Spaceport

Kourou, French Guiana (ESA) Aug 02, 2007 - After a transatlantic crossing by sea, Jules Verne, the first Automated Transfer Vehicle for the International Space Station, arrived at Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, yesterday morning. Nearly two weeks after leaving Rotterdam harbour, the French cargo ship MN Toucan, carrying around 400 tonnes of spacecraft and equipment for the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), sailed into Pariacabo harbour on Monday afternoon.

Aug 2, 2007

Russian Space Cargo Ship Progress Undocks From ISS

Moscow (RIA Novosti) Aug 02, 2007 - Russia's Progress M-59 space cargo ship carrying garbage from the International Space Station has undocked, and its unburned fragments will land in the Pacific Ocean at 23:26 Moscow time (7:26 p.m. GMT). The ship has undocked from the ISS in normal mode, a Mission Control spokesman said. Mission Control is preparing another cargo ship - Progress M-61 - for launch to the orbital station in line with the ISS flight program.

Aug 2, 2007

A Double Transfer At The Spaceport For The Next Two Ariane 5 Launchers

Kourou, French Guiana (SPX) Aug 02, 2007 - The Ariane 5 ECA for Arianespace's upcoming heavy-lift flight has been transferred to the Final Assembly Building at Europe's Spaceport, where the vehicle will be fitted with its dual satellite payload. This rollout marked a new milestone in preparations for the August 14 mission, and also underscored the flexibility of Ariane 5's launch infrastructure at the Spaceport in French Guiana. The next flight will be Arianespace's third Ariane 5 mission of 2007, and is to carry the BSAT-3a and SPACEWAY 3 spacecraft.

Aug 2, 2007

China Trains Rescue Teams For Third Manned Space Program

Xian, China (XNA) Aug 01, 2007 - Xi'an Satellite Control Center, a major Chinese institution responsible for recovering satellites and spaceships, has started training its rescue and search teams for the third manned space mission, scheduled to be launched in 2008. Yao Liang, head of the center's rescue and recovery team, said their work, which is the last step of a manned space program, includes locating the space capsule that re-enters the earth's atmosphere, rescuing astronauts and transporting the capsule from the landing site to the control center.

Aug 1, 2007

Endeavour Marches Toward Launch

Cape Canaveral FL (SPX) Jul 31, 2007 - Space Shuttle Endeavour is ready to fly, NASA managers concluded July 26 after wrapping up the two-day flight readiness review at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Launch of Endeavour on the STS-118 mission is officially set for August 7. On behalf of all the people that work on Endeavour, both here and really across the country, it's a great, great feeling to have Endeavour back on the pad, said Shuttle Launch Director Mike Leinbach. We're looking forward to a great launch.

Jul 31, 2007

Cabin Leak Threatens US Space Shuttle Launch

Washington (AFP) July 31, 2007 - NASA engineers have discovered a leak in space shuttle Endeavour's cabin and are rushing to find its source to prevent a delay in the mission's launch, a US space agency spokesman said Tuesday. The engineers found a small leak over the weekend after they closed the shuttle's hatch to check that the cabin seals properly during a routine check for the August 7 launch, NASA spokesman Kyle Herring told AFP. You can't launch with a cabin leak, Herring said, adding, however, At this point there is no delay of the launch.

Jul 31, 2007

Progress To Launch To Space Station

Baikonur, Kazakhstan (SPX) Jul 31, 2007 - A new Progress cargo carrier is scheduled to launch to the International Space Station at 1:34 p.m. EDT Thursday, Aug. 2, with more than 2.5 tons of fuel, air, water and other supplies and equipment aboard. The station's 26th Progress unpiloted spacecraft will bring to the orbiting laboratory almost 1,600 pounds of propellant, more than 100 pounds of air and oxygen, more than 465 pounds of water and 2,954 pounds of dry cargo. Total cargo weight is 5,111 pounds.

Jul 31, 2007

Houston Wine Company Offers Wine Discount To NASA Astronauts

Houston, TX (SPX) Jul 31, 2007 - A Houston based wine company, Luko Wines, which makes botique wines in California has reacted to the obvious need of NASA astronauts by offering them a 10% discount. The owner, James Luko, is quoted as saying for operational and safety reasons, it's better that our astronauts at least have access to high quality wine with low sulfites to reduce adverse reactions once they are in orbit. We support the astronauts dangerous missions and if they feel the need to supplement their training with a little, 'space juice' then why not use the best available?

Jul 31, 2007

Udall Says House NASA Budget A Step In The Right Direction

Washington, DC (SPX) Jul 31, 2007 - House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics Chairman Mark Udall (D-CO) issued the following statement today following passage by the House of H.R. 3093, the Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations bill for 2008, which contains appropriations for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA):

Jul 31, 2007

NASA Faces Congress Scrutiny As Russia Denies US Astronauts Had Chance To Booze

Washington DC (AFP) Jul 30, 2007 - The US space agency faced a full-blown crisis Saturday as US lawmakers promised to probe how NASA allowed astronauts to fly missions while drunk as well as the sabotage of in-flight computers. The US House of Representatives Science and Technology committee called an oversight hearing for September, after a NASA report found astronauts had shown up to work drunk. House Space and Aeronautics subcommittee chairman Mark Udall warned that the report was a wake-up call.

Jul 30, 2007

Name And Designer Logo Revealed For Paolo Nespoli Shuttle Mission To The ISS

Paris, France (ESA) Jul 27, 2007 - ESA and the Italian Space Agency (ASI) announced that they have chosen the name for the upcoming mission of astronaut Paolo Nespoli, a member of the STS-120 crew assigned to a Shuttle launch next October. The mission has been dubbed Esperia from the Ancient Greek name for the Italian peninsula. The choice of name reflects how Nespoli's Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) will be a showcase for European technology, with the delivery of Italian-built Node 2.

Jul 27, 2007

India Plans To Double Satellite Launches Within Five Years

New Delhi (RIA Novosti) Jul 27, 2007 - India intends to double the number of satellites it orbits within five years, the head of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) said Thursday. India has been successfully developing its space program in recent years, regularly launching satellites using its own booster rockets. On the average, four-five launches annually against a maximum of two a year, which we make now, Press Trust of India quoted Madhavan Nair as telling journalists in Bangalore.

Jul 27, 2007