In a very cool looking night landing, the youngest ship in the fleet, the Endeavour, comes to rest at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Next month, Atlantis will be making the final shuttle flight to resupply the ISS as well as experiment with in-space refueling, a concept necessary for manned space travel to move beyond the Earth and Moon. She was rolled out onto the launch pad yesterday, watched by over 8000 NASA personnel and onlookers.
After a two week delay, NASA’s youngest shuttle completed her final launch this morning.
While not as storied as her two sisters, Endeavour has had her share of milestones for the manned space program.
There was no shortage of places willing to give the retiring orbiters their new homes, but four have been announced today by NASA.
MESSENGER, the first human probe to orbit the innermost planet, has sent back its first photo from orbit.
For the first time ever, a man-made probe has entered into orbit around the Sun’s closest neighbor.
Atlantis found again, dinosaurs grew horny sooner than we thought, a star blazes at room temperature, death and delays in space programs, and more– including updates and reliable donation contacts for the earthquake/tsunami in Japan.
Space Shuttle Discovery, the oldest and most experienced shuttle in the fleet has come home, one final time.
Endeavor and Atlantis are still scheduled for their own missions, but Discovery marks the beginning of the end for a 30-year era at NASA.
Discovery Retrospective from NASA
To get an idea of what she’s accomplished, look at it this way:
Private spaceflight, a Martian record, extra-terrestrial green and gold, and more.
On Wednesday, SpaceX had a successful launch and splashdown (check
here and here), and they hope for a visit to the space station in the near future
For those following Science news, you may have heard that NASA was planning on making a big announcement today about… something. Something astrobiology related. Well, those spoilers of all things spoilerriffic at Gizmodo have spilled the beans again – NASA found life different from life as we know it on Earth, organisms that use Arsenic instead of Phosphorous in their molecular structure. Continue reading →
Astronomers have discovered a number of extrasolar planets this century, but this earth-type world lies in its star’s “Goldilocks Zone,” and could support life (according to our understanding of the concept).
Unofficially nicknamed Zarmina’s World, the planet has some other interesting characteristics.