Free Republic

NASA has taken another step toward returning America’s ability to launch crew missions to the International Space Station from the United States in 2017. The Commercial Crew Program ordered its first crew rotation mission from The Boeing Company. SpaceX, which successfully performed a pad abort test of its flight vehicle earlier this month, is expected to receive its first order later this year. Determination of which company will fly its mission to the station first will be made at a later time. The contract calls for the orders to take place prior to certification to support the lead time necessary...

<p>The surface of Mars is scoured by dust storms of biblical immensity -- dust storms that could make life rough, even risky, for the first astronauts who visit the fourth planet from the sun.</p> <p>Now that President Bush wants to send Americans to Mars, NASA planners are likely to launch careful studies of the potential hazards of the Red Planet.</p>