Galveston TX (SPX) Jul 30, 2009 - When the Apollo 11 crew got back from the moon, 40 years ago this week, they showed no ill effects from seven days spent in weightlessness. But as American astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts began conducting longer-duration space flights, scientists noticed a disturbing trend: the longer humans stay in zero gravity, the more muscle they lose.
Oshkosh WI (SPX) Jul 29, 2009 - Abu Dhabi's Aabar InvestmentsAabar Investments and Virgin Group have announced that they have agreed to enter a strategic partnership, which will see Aabar take an equity stake in the world's first commercial spaceline - Virgin Galactic. To date, Virgin Galactic has been wholly owned and funded by Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group.
Washington (AFP) July 28, 2009 - The space shuttle Endeavour undocked from the International Space Station on Tuesday to take photographs of the orbiting research facility before final maneuvers to prepare its return home.
Dayton OH (SPX) Jul 27, 2009 - XCOR Aerospace has announced that it has finished a series of wind tunnel tests of the aerodynamic design of its Lynx suborbital launch vehicle. The tests took place at the U.S. Air Force test facility located at Wright-Patterson Air Base near Dayton, OH, using an all-metal 1/16th scale model of the Lynx.
Washington (AFP) July 27, 2009 - Two astronauts returned from open space Monday after installing cameras on the International Space Station's new Japanese laboratory during the final spacewalk of the space shuttle Endeavour mission.
Houston TX (SPX) Jul 27, 2009 - In yet another deft handoff maneuver, the space shuttle robotic arm this morning grabbed the Japanese Exposed Section cargo carrier from the International Space Station robotic arm and carefully placed the cargo carrier back into Endeavour's payload bay bringing to close this mission's robotics work on the space station's new porch.
Bangalore, India (SPX) Jul 27, 2009 - The intense radiation from the sun that roasted India's first unmanned lunar satellite's key orientation instrument - the star sensor - has raised concerns over the safety of Indian astronauts on the country's first manned space flight, planned around 2015.
Paris, France (SPX) Jul 24, 2009 - The Optus D3 telecommunications satellite is undergoing its pre-launch checkout at Europe's Spaceport in preparation for an August liftoff on Arianespace's fourth heavy-lift Ariane 5 mission of 2009.
Langley VA (SPX) Jul 24, 2009 - NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and Deputy Administrator Lori Garver addressed a standing-room-only crowd in Langley's Reid Conference Center on Wednesday, while another group of employees watched from a quarter-mile away at the Pearl Young Theater.
Washington (AFP) July 24, 2009 - Two astronauts finished a fourth spacewalk Friday outside the International Space Station orbiting high above Earth, and completed tasks left undone after the last sortie was cut short.
Houston TX (SPX) Jul 24, 2009 - Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata and his space shuttle Endeavour crewmates completed transferring three payloads from a cargo carrier to Kibo's Exposed Facility. This was the first operational use of the Kibo robotic arm.
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jul 23, 2009 - NASA's desire to provide outstanding communications support for the International Space Station, the Hubble Space Telescope, and other unmanned spacecraft moved closer to this goal in July when agency officials approved critical elements for the next generation of Tracking and Data Relay Satellites, TDRS K and TDRS L.
Evry, France (SPX) Jul 23, 2009 - Avanti Communications Group plc, has chosen Arianespace to launch the HYLAS telecommunications satellite. This new contract is the 11th signed by Arianespace with the major satellite operators.
Cape Canaveral FL (SPX) Jul 23, 2009 - Andrews Space has delivered a 48 inch diameter composite liquid oxygen (LOX) tank to the United States Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) to demonstrate technologies for reusable launch vehicle airframe structures. The Pathfinder experiment is being conducted under AFRL's Future-Responsive Access to Space Technologies (FAST) Program.
Washington (AFP) July 22, 2009 - NASA on Wednesday ordered spacewalking astronauts back into the International Space Station ahead of schedule after a spacesuit was found to be working improperly.
Houston TX (SPX) Jul 22, 2009 - Endeavour's crew is enjoying off-duty time this afternoon before undertaking preparations for Wednesday's third spacewalk. At 5:58 p.m. the crew will conduct a spacewalk procedure review and at 8:28 p.m. spacewalkers Dave Wolf and Chris Cassidy will camp out in the Quest Airlock. The International Space Station crew goes to sleep at 9:33 p.m., followed 30 minutes later by the shuttle crew.
