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After more than a decade of construction, it is nearing completion and finally has a full crew of six astronauts. The last components should be installed by the end of next year. And then? "In the first quarter of 2016, we'll prep and de-orbit the spacecraft," says NASA's space station program manager, Michael T. Suffredini. That's a polite way of saying that NASA will make the space station fall back into the atmosphere, where it will turn into a fireball and then crash into the Pacific Ocean. It'll be a controlled reentry, to ensure that it doesn't take out a...

Achievement: The nation that put the first man on the moon may have put its last as budget cuts slash NASA's plans to return. Men will return to the moon, but they will likely speak Chinese. On May 25, 1961, President Kennedy announced in front of a joint session of Congress the dramatic and ambitious goal of sending an American to the moon by the end of that decade. It was a clarion call to the American spirit and technology to rise up and prove that America's best days were still ahead. Forty-one years after Neil Armstrong set foot on...

FYI, The NASA press release below refers to 'holiday' or 'seasons' greetings six times. No mention of Christmas, of course. [comment deleted]! In a bizarre historical turnabout, religious activity on the space station has now become almost entirely dominated by the Russians. They fly icons blessed by priests (http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=6673) Photos: http://hochu.vkosmos.ru/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/ikona.jpeg and http://www.svet-valaama.ru/photoalbom/2006_05_icon_from_space/2006_05_icon_from_space_01.jpg Also http://www.interfax-religion.ru/img/2308.jpg I haven't seen anything remotely similar from the American side. What have I missed? For the next manned launch this Sunday, also expect Russian Orthodox priests from the newly-built church in Baykonur (news story: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10729300) to bless the rocket and the crew. File photo: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Mp59h1-TVgE/SsKiot99hvI/AAAAAAAAAnA/1QV6t9vIfrs/s400/Best+Soyuz+Bless.jpg...

"DOUBLE FLYBY ALERT: Space shuttle Atlantis undocked from the International Space Station this morning at 4:53 am EST. The separation sets the stage for double flybys of North America on Wednesday evening, when Atlantis and the ISS will soar through the night sky side by side--a fantastic sight! Check the Simple Satellite Tracker for flybys." See SpaceWeather.com for Wednesday, Nov 25, 2009:http://www.spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=25&month=11&year=2009 Simple Satellite Tracker (simply enter your zip code):http://www.spaceweather.com/flybys/?PHPSESSID=397dsdousovks7si6boot44dh5&PHPSESSID=stlakv4povvhbcfakao2nm7sp3 __________________________________________ For more detailed and precise International Space Station visible pass info, see Heavens-Above.com: (note that on HA.com, the International Space Station is abbreviated to "ISS"):http://heavens-above.com/ Also note that you...

Russia's last cargo spaceship with an analogue control system plunged on Sunday into a "spaceship cemetery" in the southern Pacific, the Russian Mission Control said. "Fragments of the Progress M-67 space freighter with waste material from the International Space Station (ISS) drowned at about 14.20 Moscow time [10.20 GMT]...several thousand kilometers to the east of New Zealand," space officials said. Progress M-67, which arrived at the ISS on July 29 bringing 2.5 tons of supplies, including fuel, water and various equipment, undocked from the orbital station on September 21. During its automatic flight, the craft was used as a laboratory...

After 15 years of construction, narrow congressional votes, delays and, yes, cost overruns, the $100 billion international space station finally appears ready for prime time. The orbiting station, which in size and scope far exceeds anything humans have ever put into space, recently has been on quite a roll. In May the space station doubled its crew from three to six astronauts, and this summer two space shuttle missions delivered a new laboratory and critical scientific equipment.

The International Space Station may have to fire its thrusters to avoid a piece of space junk that is on course to pass within two miles of the orbiting complex and its 13 astronauts. Nasa is tracking debris from a portion of a European rocket, the Ariane 5, that was launched more than three years ago. The debris could pass close enough to require astronauts to fire thrusters to move the station and shuttle Discovery that is docked there out of the way, NASA officials said at a briefing. The debris posed no immediate danger to the station or the...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Astronauts aboard the International Space Station used a pair of robot arms to install a pallet of equipment on Sunday, but when break-time came they may have found long lines at the bathrooms. With a record 13 people aboard the station, the main toilet broke down, sending astronauts scrambling to the use backup commodes on the Russian side of the station and aboard the visiting U.S. shuttle Endeavour. "Put an 'Out-of-Service' note on the WHC (waste and hygiene compartment)," Mission Control's Hal Getselman told a crewmember after a fruitless attempt at repairs. The commode, which...

The shuttle Endeavour has successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS). Before docking, the shuttle performed a backflip, allowing the ISS team to photograph Endeavour's heat shield to see if it has suffered launch damage. When the two crews join together shortly there will be a record 13 astronauts on the orbiting outpost. During their 11-day visit, the shuttle team will finish work on a Japanese research laboratory called Kibo. Endeavour was finally launched successfully from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on Wednesday after five failed attempts.

The U.S. and major foreign partners on the International Space Station have agreed in principle to keep it operating through 2020, at least five years beyond the current deadline, according to government and industry officials. There had been looming questions about the future of the space station -- which took nearly two decades and more than $100 billion to design and build -- because until now, the major partners hadn't committed to keeping it going past 2015. An extension could give new momentum to the scientific research conducted there, which initially was delayed by false starts and problems finishing assembly...

The International Space Station has grown so big and bright, you can see it even when it is directly in front of the Moon. Oscar Martin Mesonero of Salamanca, Spain, took this picture on April 1st: Click on link below for a larger image (~750 KP) (BE SURE TO CLICK ON THE IMAGE ITSELF TO ENLARGE IT)http://www.spaceweather.com/swpod2009/03apr09/Oscar-Martin-Mesonero1.jpg?PHPSESSID=ja5b01lq2khqagamnuk41qbik7 "I recorded the transit using my 8-inch Celestron telescope and a Canon EOS 50D," says Mesonero. "The ISS was much brighter than the lunar background." His snapshot caught the space station passing over the Sea of Nectar (Mare Nectaris). Just to the north...

photo, Stephen Colbert poses in New York. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow, … * Stephen Colbert Slideshow:Stephen Colbert WASHINGTON – NASA's online contest to name a new room at the international space station went awry. Comedian Stephen Colbert won. The name "Colbert" beat out NASA's four suggested options in the space agency's effort to have the public help name the addition. The new room will be launched later this year. NASA's mistake was allowing write-ins. Colbert urged viewers of his Comedy Central show, "The Colbert Report" to write in his name. And they complied, with 230,539 votes. That clobbered Serenity, one of...

March 20, 2009 — Spanning the length of a football field (including the end zones) and weighing approximately the same as a loaded space shuttle orbiter, the International Space Station's (ISS) integrated truss, or backbone, was completed in orbit this week after nine years of assembly. "We're the largest space structure in all of history and it is really amazing to be on-board," exclaimed ISS Expedition 18 commander Mike Fincke on the morning after the final piece of the truss was attached. The 356-foot, girder-like truss supports the station's living modules and laboratories, as well as eight 115-foot solar array...

If you're along the east coast up to about New York City, you **MAY** be able to see the Shuttle just after takeoff tonight. From NYC it should appear about 8 degrees above the south-west horizon and be visible for around 30-90 seconds (so I'm told). Eight degrees above the horizon is **very low** in the sky, so you will need a **clear, unobstructed view of the south-west horizon** (no trees or buildings in the way --very difficult for NYC). A fist held at arm's length represents about 10 degrees of sky, so try holding your fist out at arm's...

The briefcase-sized tool bag drifted away from astronaut Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper on Tuesday as she cleaned and lubed a gummed-up joint on a wing of solar panels on the space station.

A computer virus is alive and well on the International Space Station (ISS). Nasa has confirmed that laptops carried to the ISS in July were infected with a virus known as Gammima.AG. The worm was first detected on Earth in August 2007 and lurks on infected machines waiting to steal login names for popular online games. Nasa said it was not the first time computer viruses had travelled into space and it was investigating how the machines were infected. Orbital outbreak Space news website SpaceRef broke the story about the virus on the laptops that astronauts took to the ISS....

Experts are growing increasingly concerned that the United States will have to rely entirely upon Russia to take astronauts to and from the international space station for at least five years. NASA's dependency upon the Russian Soyuz space capsules and rockets to carry astronauts to the station is the result of a five-year gap between the scheduled retirement of the shuttle in 2010 and the debut of its replacement in 2015. The agency had hoped it could narrow this gap by accelerating the initial launch of the craft to 2013 but announced Monday that because of inadequate funding and technical...

The troublesome toilet aboard the International Space Station appears to be working again, thanks to a replacement pump taken to the station by the shuttle Discovery. “The toilet appears to have been repaired,” said Rob Navias, the commentator for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s video channel on the Web, NASA TV (www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/). The single toilet aboard the station has separate systems for dealing with solid and liquid waste, and the systems are designed to work without the help of gravity. The solid waste system was operating properly, but the liquid system, which uses air flow to direct urine and...

ISS = International Space Station To see if the pair will in fact pass and be visible over your particular location, schedules and other important information are available from the website just below (heavens-above.com):http://www.heavens-above.com/ NASA-International Space Station (official website):http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/ Important note for first time Space Station observers: Unless the Station is scheduled to pass 20 or more (depending on your viewing location--obstructions, etc) degrees above the horizon, you may not see it at all. But if the pass IS high enough above your local horizon, it will 'look' like a very bright white star, w/ no blinking or colored lights...

HOUSTON - The international space station's toilet trouble appeared to be taken care of Wednesday after a Russian cosmonaut replaced a malfunctioning pump. The space station's toilet broke two weeks ago. The problem — confined to the urine side of the commode — forced the orbiting outpost's crew of an American astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts to flush manually with extra water several times a day. Space shuttle Discovery brought up a new pump for the toilet, as well as the space station's newest room, a $1 billion Japanese lab. Oleg Kononenko spent more than two hours installing the new...