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hese experiments are designed to give agencies a better idea of how humans would interact and cope during a long space journey. The volunteer research subjects start their virtual journey to Phobos on October 1, in a ground-based habitat at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Their home for the 45 days will be a small habitat called the Human Exploration Research Analog, or HERA - with collected data informing the design of future missions to the Red Planet, expected to happen in the 2030s. HERA is a two-story, four-port cylindrical habitat unit with a total of 636 sq....

Full Title: "Fresh blow for Mars missions as researchers find long-duration space travel causes crippling back pain that can last for up to four YEARS" The changes in muscle composition are still present up to four years after long-duration spaceflight, according to the new research by Katelyn Burkhart, MS, of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and colleagues. They write, 'Spaceflight-induced changes in paraspinal muscle morphology may contribute to back pain commonly reported in astronauts.' The researchers analyzed computed tomography (CT) scans of the lumbar (lower) spine in 17 astronauts and cosmonauts who flew missions on the International Space Station. Scans obtained...

Tea, Earl Grey, hot. Those are the words spoken by Capt. Picard to the computer when he wants his favorite beverage replicated. While we're still a long ways away from that becoming reality, we're taking steps toward it. NASA will be taking that step when it takes a 3D printer up to the International Space Station in June 2014. MORE: How 3D Printing Will Save You

The Space Shuttle Discovery flying piggyback on a Boeing 747 for its “Last Hurrah” flight around the Washington Monument and the White House was a grim reminder of misplaced and misspent priorities. The storied 30-year space shuttle program, which began with the launch of Columbia, April 12, 1981, ended last July, when Atlantis landed back on Earth. Since then, the price of a Russian taxi ride aboard the Soyuz to reach the International Space Station has skyrocketed from $55.8 million per seat — with a guarantee of no less than six trips to 12 round trips — to $63 million...

<p>With the landing of the Atlantis shuttle only a few days away, reality is setting in: For the first time in more than 50 years, the United States of America will not have the capability of launching American astronauts into space.</p>

Washington - NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft has reached the outer edge of the solar system where wind from the Sun is no longer blowing outward, but sideways, the US space agency said. The spacecraft was launched in 1977 and has since snapped images of Earth and other planets in the solar system and provided NASA with crucial information as it makes its long journey into outer space. NASA researchers think Voyager 1 will leave the solar system and enter interstellar space, or the area in between the end of the Sun's influence and the next star system, in about four

Lawmakers across Capitol Hill, both Democrats and Republicans, were surprised to learn recently that the Obama administration has made reaching out to Muslim nations a top priority for the space agency NASA. They will probably be more surprised to learn that administration officials told the Middle East news organization Al Jazeera about it before they told Congress. Rep. Pete Olson, the ranking Republican on the House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics, got a call from NASA Administrator Charles Bolden on June 28, the day the White House released its new long-term plan for the space program. "He ran down some...

In this spoof, NASA has a new plan for reaching out to Muslims and making them feel good about their historic contributions to science. Barack H. Obama 666 Pennsylvania Ave Washington, DC 20006 Dear Sir, I cannot tell you how much we appreciate your budget cuts, your cancellation of the space shuttle and any replacement launch vehicle for it, forcing us to rely on Russian Soyuz ships and their space program, which can't It will take approximately 3000 suicide bombers within the SRB's to provide adequate liftoff thrust for the shuttle launch. All systems go! even seem to dock with...

Preparations are well under way for the Valley's premier aviation event - the Edwards Air Force Base Open House and Air Show. The free two-day event is set for Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 28 and 29, at the base that has been home to flight testing nearly every aircraft in the Air Force inventory - past, present and future. That heritage is reflected in the event's theme - "The Edwards' Edge: Making History, Reaching New Heights." This year's festivities also will honor the 60th anniversary of the Air Force, one of the first official events to do so. Headlining the...

Source: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory Date: 2004-01-29 NASA's Mars Rover Opportunity Begins Standing Up NASA's Opportunity rover has untucked its front wheels and latched its suspension system in place, key steps in preparing to drive off its lander and onto martian soil. Overnight tonight, mission controllers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., plan to try tilting the lander platform down in the front by pressing the rear petal downward to raise the back. "What we want to do is lower the front edge by about 5 degrees," said JPL's Dr. Rick Welch, activity lead for preparing the rover for roll-off....

Nasa's Martian rover nearly ready to roll By Roger Highfield, Science Editor (Filed: 13/01/2004) Nasa scientists are readying the Spirit rover to roll down a ramp on to Gusev Crater after a delay in its mission to find evidence of water on Mars. Engineers scrapped plans for a forward roll off after they were unable to retract partially-deployed airbags that could have snagged on Spirit's solar panels. They will now turn the rover 120 degrees atop the lander, a process that will take two Martian days. Mission control in Pasadena, California, delayed the rover's departure by one day, until Thursday...