Outer-Space.org

Category: Space

  • Active NASA missions

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    ChrisDMarshall
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    As we close out another year we are going to take a look at some of the other NASA missions that are active in the Solar System exploring other planets.  While the future looks a little uncertain at the moment due to the growing budget crisis there are plenty of spacecraft still in operation. Voyager…

  • And then there were six

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    ChrisDMarshall
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    This morning Oleg Kononenko, Andre Kuipers and Don Pettit successfully launched from Kazakhstan aboard their Soyuz TMA-03M spacecraft heading to the space station to complete the full Expedition 30 crew and once again return the station to a six man crew. Despite the bitter cold weather, the crew launched on time and will now spend two days…

  • NASA Discovers First Earth-size Planets

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    ChrisDMarshall
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    Two weeks ago NASA announced the first planet is the habitable zone of another star.  Yesterday they announced the discovery of the first Earth-size planets orbiting a sun-like star outside our solar system. The planets, called Kepler-20e and Kepler-20f, are too close to their star to be in the so-called habitable zone but they are the smallest exoplanets…

  • Stratolaunch Systems

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    ChrisDMarshall
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    Today we return to our commercial space series as we look at a new player to the field. Paul G. Allen and Burt Rutan announced yesterday that they were once again partnering to revolutionize the space launch industry.  Their last adventure led to the Ansari X Prize winning SpaceShipOne craft which achieved three sub-orbital flights…

  • Kepler – A Search for Habitable Planets

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    ChrisDMarshall
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    This week the Kepler mission confirmed its First Planet in Habitable Zone of a Sun-like Star, they increased the number of planet candidates to 2365, they celebrated 1000 days in space and finally held their first science conference.  Today we take a look at the Kepler mission and what it has discovered so far. The…

  • Falling Behind

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    ChrisDMarshall
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    China are on the verge of surpassing the US for second place in the number of spacecraft launched in a single year.  Last year we were tied for second place and so far this year have one more mission than China but with no more planned US launches this year and at least one more…

  • The History of Mars Exploration (NASA)

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    ChrisDMarshall
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    To follow up the successful launch of MSL, which NASA confirmed last night was inserted into an almost perfect trajectory towards Mars, today we take a look at the history of successful Mars Exploration missions by NASA. The History of Mars Exploration Year Name Type Summary 1964 Mariner 4 Flyby First spacecraft to flyby of…

  • MSL – Launch Pictures

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    ChrisDMarshall
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    Pictures from this morning’s launch of MSL (captured from NASA TV)

  • Mars Science Laboratory – Curiosity

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    ChrisDMarshall
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    This morning the massive Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) launched torwards Mars.  Scheduled to land in August 2012 the rover will bring a host of scientific instruments to the planet and continue the exploration that started in 1975 with the Viking landers. Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) By far the largest rover every launched to another planet…

  • Mars Exploration Rovers

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    ChrisDMarshall
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    Tomorrow NASA will be launching the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) to begin an eight month journey to the red planet.  Today we take a look at it’s predecessors the highly successful Mars Exploration Rovers. Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) Launched in 2003 the twin rovers Spirit and Opportunity were sent to explore the surface and geology…