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The statement didn’t specify what it meant by “space altitude,” but company officials have previously said they were using the altitude of 50 miles, or approximately 80 kilometers, used by NASA and the U.S. Air Force for awarding astronaut wings. “For Virgin Galactic, the major milestone that we perceive is the altitude at which NASA and Air Force folks get their astronaut wings, which is 50 miles,” George Whitesides, chief executive of Virgin Galactic, said last month. “For us and our customers, I think we’ll be focused on 50 miles, at least at the start.” That is below the 100-kilometer...

When news broke that the upcoming Hollywood film about the moon landing leaves out the planting of an American flag in lunar soil (though it apparently shows the flag later), both sides of the ideological aisle instantly weighed in, each with compelling arguments. The film in question has only been seen by a select few, meaning the truth won’t be clear until its Oct. 12 release. That didn’t stop Social Media Nation. (Does it ever?) The problem began when Ryan Gosling, who stars as Neil Armstrong in director Damien Chazelle’s film, shared why we don’t see the astronaut planting an...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - American astronaut Alan Bean, the fourth person to walk on the moon in 1969 during the Apollo 12 mission and commanded a crew on the Skylab space station in 1973, died in Houston on Saturday, federal officials said.

NASA's Administrator Charles Bolden acknowledged Wednesday there is no back-up plan to fly the International Space Station if Russia cuts off U.S. access to space. "We would make an orderly evacuation," Bolden said during a U.S. House Appropriations subcommittee hearing. Because both countries are dependent upon one another, the $140 billion station would be lost.

After Neil Armstrong's death, his widow, Carol, discovered a white cloth bag in a closet, containing what were obviously either flight or space related artifacts. She contacted Allan Needell, curator of the Apollo collection at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, and provided photographs of the items. Needell, who immediately realized that the bag—known to the astronauts as the Purse - and its contents could be hardware from the Apollo 11 mission, asked the authors for support in identifying and documenting the flight history and purpose of these artifacts. After some research it became apparent that the purse and...

We’re returning human spaceflight launches to America. Learn who will take crews to the #ISS. Watch NASA TV at 4pm ET http://youtu.be/ceQycm1uCFI

The passing of Neil Armstrong on Saturday appears to be coinciding with a decline in American manned space exploration, as Asian countries develop plans to expand their footprint on the moon and in outer space. China, Japan, and India have all unveiled aggressive space initiatives in the recent months and years. New Delhi has said it plans to launch the first manned mission by 2016 and a Mars orbiter in the coming years. The Japanese already participate in the International Space Station program and have discussed studying asteroids for potential mineral extraction. But China has emerged as the most likely...

AFP - On Tuesday, the world will be awash with talk of courage and vision as it looks back on 50 years of manned space flight, a trail blazed by Yuri Gagarin's 108-minute trip around the planet. But what if the past half-century has been just a cosmic waste of money? Presidents and space agencies insist manned missions will always be at the heart of their space programmes.

Summary Obama is a liar. Pure and simple. I know some of you are offended to hear him called a liar, but he is. He is also a coward for not facing the people whose hopes and dreams for our Human Space Flight Program are being destroyed by this man and his accomplices in Congress and NASA. There is no new Human Space Flight Program. There is just a poorly written Powerpoint, lacking in specifics or even a name, posted on Obama’s teleprompter. No ship, no hardware, no employees, nothing but crap. There is no destination, no idea what NASA...

I can't believe it. I guess now I'll have to vote for Bush in the upcoming elections...Not what I expected, but after reading this report where he evinces strong support for the space program, I've had to switch alliances. As many of you know, I'm a big fan of science fiction, but I don't want to live out my life just reading about space--I'd like to go there, and perhaps teach there! However, as usual, Bush is a bit muddled in his plans. Fans of Ben Bova or Bob Zubrin Mars Society Founder know that a moonbase is an unnecessary,...