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Houston Gets Lame Space Shuttle Replica Delivered In Lamest Way Possible The deliveries of the real Space Shuttles to their final resting places were grand events that created amazing images. Houston, which deserved a real d@mn shuttle, is getting a replica. And just in case Houstonians didn't know they were getting shortchanged, it was delivered on a plane but instead on a d@mn barge. Thanks, NASA. I'm not going to get into all the reasons why Houston didn't get a Space Shuttle as it might be mistaken as saying someone else doesn't deserve one. Clearly, both D.C. and Los Angeles...

Updated 4/29/2012By Stephen Singer The Associated PressHARTFORD, Conn. Less than a year after NASA ended its shuttle program, players in America's space business are casting around for new direction.United Technologies Corp. is the most recent company to announce it will sharply scale back its role in space exploration. It's selling Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, a manufacturer of rocket engines and liquid-propulsion systems...[snip] Greg Hayes, chief financial officer at United Technologies, rapped U.S. space policy when he announced the decision in mid-March to sell Rocketdyne."Growth will be limited at Rocketdyne," Hayes told investor analysts. "It's still a very good business. It's...

The new spaceship being built by private aerospace firm Sierra Nevada Corp. may look like a miniature space shuttle, but while the design takes cues from the past, company officials are hoping this vehicle shepherds in a new era of commercial human spaceflight. Sierra Nevada's Dream Chaser space plane is being developed to take astronauts to and from the International Space Station in low-Earth orbit. The company is aiming to begin full orbital flights in 2016. But the Dream Chaser design, which is reminiscent of NASA's space shuttle, is actually based on a concept vehicle, called HL-20, which was first...

One of Nasa's retired space shuttles has made a dramatic flypast over the centre of the US capital on the way to its final resting place in a museum. Discovery flew over the monuments along the National Mall in Washington DC at about 10:00 EST (14:00 GMT). Piggy-backing on a modified Boeing 747, Discovery was flying at an altitude of about 1,500ft (457m), Nasa said. The shuttle programme ended in 2011. Discovery will be on show at the Air and Space Museum in Virginia. After circling four times over the Washington Monument, and passing the National Mall over Capitol Hill,...

Technicians had worn them for decades as they prepared the space shuttles for their move from Kennedy Space Center’s three Orbiter Processing Facilities to the towering Vehicle Assembly Building, and eventually the launch pad. “Bunnysuits,” those white coveralls with floppy hoods and rubber-banded booties, were designed to keep dirt and debris from contaminating the orbiter interiors. But on this summer day in one Orbiter Processing Facility, technicians working inside Discovery’s crew module wore street clothes. No need to worry about contamination: Discovery would not be returning to space. After flying 148 million miles and orbiting Earth 5,830 times, Discovery, first...

Drop whatever you're doing and watch this. NASA has released videos shot from onboard the Space Shuttle's Solid Rocket Boosters in the past, but you've never seen one prepared as masterfully as this. For one thing, the footage was shot in high definition, so the image is exceptionally clear. But what puts this video head and shoulders above most other rocketcams is the sound. The audio has been remastered by the folks over at Skywalker Sound (yes, that Skywalker Sound), and the final product is nothing short of incredible.

The night before the 1986 explosion, Boisjoly and four others argued that joints in the shuttle's boosters couldn't withstand a cold-weather launch.

Rory Cooper’s criticism of the space agency today is notable not so much for what it says, but for what it leaves out of the story. Beyond that, it gets several things factually wrong.

The US space agency is offering schools and universities a special deal on astronaut cuisine and heat tiles from the now extinct space shuttles, just over 20 dollars a pack, NASA said Monday. "The lightweight tiles protected the shuttles from extreme temperatures when the orbiters re-entered the Earth's atmosphere," NASA said in a statement. "The food, which was precooked or processed so that refrigeration is unnecessary, is ready to eat or could be prepared simply by adding water or by heating." Since the items are government property, the price to mail them was set at $23.40 for a package of...

These days NASA is dismantling the once great shuttles, getting them ready to hang in museums all over the country -- except in the one museum many of us Houstonians think it should be.

A piece of the ill-fated space shuttle Columbia has surfaced in eastern Texas, where a severe drought has dried up a lake and exposed debris from the 2003 accident, NASA said Tuesday. The globe-shaped object that turned up in Lake Nacogdoches, north of Houston, was one of 18 tanks on Columbia that helped power the shuttle, said NASA spokeswoman Lisa Malone. Member of NASA's Columbia Reconstruction Team is pictured at the Kennedy Space Center in 2003 "Late last week, we were contacted by the Nacogdoches sheriff's office letting us know that they had found an item of what they thought...

The state's worst drought since the 1950s has led to the recovery in East Texas of a large piece of debris from space shuttle Columbia, which disintegrated over there nearly a decade ago. Officials in Nacogdoches made the discovery Friday as waters in Lake Nacogdoches receded during a relentless drought that began last October. “The lower water level has exposed a larger than normal area on the northern side of the lake,” said Nacogdoches Police Department Sgt. Greg Sowell. The Nacogdoches officials sent photos to NASA and the space agency confirmed the debris on Tuesday as a fuel tank that...

This is pretty cool- click on pic: At the link above you see the actual cockpit of the US Space Shuttle Discovery- note insulation panels installed over windows for re-entry- guess they get a little warm. Last week's final mission -completing 30 years of manned Shuttle flights- was completed by the Atlantis... some facts about the craft: The Space Shuttle was the first orbital spacecraft designed for reuse. It carried different payloads to Low Earth Orbit, provided crew rotation for the International Space Station (ISS), and performed servicing missions- the first one went up in the early days of the Reagan Administration,...

This unprecedented view of the space shuttle Atlantis, appearing like a bean sprout against clouds and city lights, on its way home, was photographed by the Expedition 28 crew of the International Space Station.

Well this is it folks.. It has been a fun ride. It is a shame that I didn't get to see those birds launch in person. Oh well should have moved to Florida.

The Space Shuttle Atlantis closed its hatch at the International Space Station on Tuesday, for the last time, not just for that orbiter, but for any. It separated from the ISS, and will perform a few final tasks in orbit over the next couple days. Then, weather permitting, it will fire its orbital maneuvering engines to slow itself, and start its long, last fall back into the atmosphere, with a final stop of the wheels on the runway in Florida, where it will spend the rest of its days in a museum at the NASA Kennedy Space Center. After a...

Space Toilet Gives Astronauts Smelly Time in OrbitThe downside to zero gravity: a lot of maintenance for waste disposal By Denise Chow and SPACE.com | July 14, 2011 HOUSTON — Even soaring high above Earth on a high-tech space station doesn't excuse astronauts from the most mundane household chores … especially when you're dealing with a smelly space toilet. The 10 astronauts on the International Space Station today (July 13) tackled the daunting chore of unpacking tons of supplies delivered by NASA's shuttle Atlantis this week. But one station crewmember, NASA astronaut Ron Garan, had a more pressing duty: fixing...

Look Up and See!

We were in Titusville by 5 AM, the place was already swamped and people still coming in. By 7AM we were out on a bridge over the Indian river. People were still coming in a steady stream right up to launch. I was all set up but at the end of the countdown a mob started pushing for a better view., I lost some shots because people bumped me just as I shot. The haze was thick as smoke and the clouds were so low the shuttle was hidden almost as soon as it started. I don't have any idea...

The last Space Shuttle just took off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission – crewed by NASA astronauts Chris Ferguson (commander), Doug Hurley (pilot), and mission specialists Rex Walheim and Sandy Magnus – will “deliver supplies, logistics and spare parts to the International Space Station.” Along with bringing stuff up for the space station, Atlantis will be bringing the first iPhone into space to help with some experiments during the 12 day mission.