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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Astronauts on the shuttle Columbia were trying to regain control of their craft before it broke apart in 2003, but there was no chance of surviving the accident, a NASA report said on Tuesday. From the crew's perspective, the shift from what appeared to be a normal descent on Feb. 1, 2003, into tragedy happened so fast that the astronauts did not even have time to close the visors on their helmets. Columbia broke apart about 20 kilometres over Texas as it headed for landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The cause of the...

As 40 years have passed since Gagarin’s flight, new sensational details of this event were disclosed: Gagarin was not the first man to fly to space. Three Soviet pilots died in attempts to conquer space before Gagarin's famous space flight, Mikhail Rudenko, senior engineer-experimenter with Experimental Design Office 456 (located in Khimki, in the Moscow region) said on Thursday. According to Rudenko, spacecraft with pilots Ledovskikh, Shaborin and Mitkov at the controls were launched from the Kapustin Yar cosmodrome (in the Astrakhan region) in 1957, 1958 and 1959. "All three pilots died during the flights, and their names were never...

Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, answered questions from Israeli children Tuesday in his first visit to the Holy Land, showing animation and energy in discussing the feelings and justification for space travel. Armstrong was invited by a local investment company to lecture on the subject of motivation. In the morning, he visited the Space and Technology Museum in Haifa, where he talked to a group of children, museum spokeswoman Ahuva Kfir said. ... "How does it feel to be inside a space ship?" a small girl asked him. With a huge smile, Armstrong replied, "You would like...

SAN FRANCISCO (Feb. 18) - An asteroid may come uncomfortably close to Earth in 2036 and the United Nations should assume responsibility for a space mission to deflect it, a group of astronauts, engineers and scientists said on Saturday. Astronomers are monitoring an asteroid named Apophis, which has a 1 in 45,000 chance of striking Earth on April 13, 2036. Although the odds of an impact by this particular asteroid are low, a recent congressional mandate for NASA to upgrade its tracking of near-Earth asteroids is expected to uncover hundreds, if not thousands of threatening space rocks in the near...

While cobbling together captured V-2 rockets in the Texas desert shortly after World War II, German rocket scientists called themselves POPs - "prisoners of peace" - to alleviate the sometimes tedious work of America's infant rocket program, a key member of Dr. Wernher von Braun's German rocket team said Sunday. Dr. Ernst Stuhlinger, who was close to von Braun during World War II and at Redstone, said the German team is significant in history not only for the advances in rocketry and science but also because of their role as volunteers.In modern history, Stuhlinger told a group of about 200...

CAPE CANAVERAL - A spacewalking Russian cosmonaut plans to hit a golf shot outside the International Space Station this summer as part of a publicity campaign that already has raised safety concerns. Clad in a cumbersome spacesuit and anchored to a specially designed tee box, Pavel Vinogradov will hit a six-iron drive along side the station's Russian segment, taking great care not to hook the ball into the outpost. ...

Neil Armstrong has proven to be an enigmatic hero. He is certainly one of the most famous astronauts, having achieved one of the great firsts in spaceflight. He reached that pinnacle through hard work, dedication, focus, endurance, a little luck, and no small amount of sheer talent. But he never really wanted the limelight, and he never really embraced The Cause. The Cause, of course, is space exploration, and it is no secret that most ardent supporters of space exploration, particularly human exploration, share many traits with religion. Their beliefs are based far more on faith than they are on...

Is This the Right Way to Return to the Moon? By Glenn Harlan Reynolds Published 09/21/2005 President George W. Bush has called for Americans to return to the moon by 2020. Now NASA has come out with a more detailed presentation, reported in Space.com, of what they have in mind: NASA briefed senior White House officials Wednesday on its plan to spend $100 billion and the next 12 years building the spacecraft and rockets it needs to put humans back on the Moon by 2018. The U.S. space agency now expects to roll out its lunar exploration plan to key...

With the shuttle fleet grounded and the International Space Station staffed by a skeleton crew, NASA is set to unveil plans on Monday to take people and cargo to the moon.Even before the official announcement, there is criticism from Capitol Hill over the reported $100 billion cost of the lunar program, given U.S. government commitments to the Iraq war and the recovery from Hurricane Katrina. "This plan is coming out at a time when the nation is facing significant budgetary challenges," Rep. Bart Gordon, a Tennessee Democrat on the House Science Committee, said in a statement. "Getting agreement to move...

Now that the Space Shuttle Discovery is back safely, we can breathe a sigh of relief, hail the pluck and bravery of its crew, and ask: How did our space program become so invested in such a clunker?

CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, Fla. (AFPN) -- What took years to build required only seconds to knock down Aug. 6 when 171 pounds of strategically placed explosives toppled a historic 179-foot mobile service tower here. The 1,300-ton structure was used to launch 51 Atlas/Agena space vehicles in the 1960s and 1970s. The most famous of those launches were five Lunar Orbiter missions for NASA in 1966 and 1967. Those missions photographed about 99 percent of the moon’s surface and helped pave the way for men landing on the moon in 1969. The last launch from the complex was in...

NASA realizes debris that fell of external fuel tank yesterday came close to causing irrepairable damage to shuttle now in orbit. Fleet GROUNDED. More later Chances to return to flight again, no better than 50/50.

Space pioneer John Young has been named a NASA Ambassador of Exploration. Young received the award and commemorative moon rock Wednesday at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, where the items remain on display. The Ambassador of Exploration Award recognizes the sacrifices and dedication of the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo astronauts. The awards remain property of NASA, but are displayed at a museum or educational institution of the recipient's choice. The goal of the awards is to inspire a new generation of explorers. In a letter to the astronaut, NASA Administrator Michael Griffin stated Young's superb service had earned him...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Maybe NASA's managers still view the shuttle as the Cadillac of space technology, but they sometimes make it sound as if it were a cranky old Ford with a few too many miles on it. Deputy shuttle manager Wayne Hale says its recent on-again, off-again electronics problem "reminds me of an old truck I own." The Space Shuttle Discovery sits on Launch Pad 39B in this photo made Tuesday, July 12, 2005. NASA officials said Friday, July 15, 2005 that the scheduled launch of STS-114 would be delayed at least seven to ten days. (AP Photo/Bob...

She Wants To Be A Pioneer In Space. That is Maryam from Kuwait and the Excellent So I Want To Be An Astronaut Blog which details her Hopes, Dreams, Studies, and Desires of becoming the First Arab Female Astronaut or Cosmonaut, as well as her Admiration for another Space Pioneer, Famed Russian Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalov. Excerpts: MG: When did your dreams start of becoming an Astronaut? Maryam: I always have such passion for space since I was little kid but I don't remember that I ever wished to be an astronaut. However, I remember the exact moment when it pops...

Last Updated: Friday, 15 April, 2005, 10:24 GMT 11:24 UK   China rocket man held for bribery   Li Jianzhong was influential in the 2003 Shenzhou V mission Li Jianzhong, a key figure in China's successful space programme, has been arrested on bribery charges, state news agency Xinhua has reported.Mr Li, former head of China's launch vehicle maker CALT, is alleged to have taken more than $200,000 in bribes and to have embezzled nearly $19m. CALT builds China's Long March rockets, one of which powered the manned Shenzhou V craft into space in 2003. Investigations into Mr Li started...

The shocking-but-false story of America's Blackstronauts

You might not know her name, but you should. She beat out John Glenn in physical and mental readiness for space in the Mercury program, in fact. And how could you forget a name like Wally Funk? Despite the fact that our nation is fresh on the heels of women's history month, is it any surprise that we don't know the names and accomplishments of some of the most interesting women in history, despite the depth or, in Wally Funk's case, the height of their achievements? They should be household names - The Mercury 13. That's right, 13. In 1961,...

..........Jasin said in his appeal that he believed his actions were legal because he'd been assured they had been approved by officials in Washington. The judge in the case, who could have sentenced him to five years, reduced the sentence to two years. "I still love my country," Jasin told reporters at his 1998 sentencing. "But I'm afraid of my government." Well, maybe not too afraid. Unclear how Jasin got hired by NASA -- apparently even before the federal prosecutors had dismissed his indictment. Word is NASA never checked with federal prosecutors. Asked about these matters, NASA spokeswoman Dolores Beasley...

Next week marks the thirty-eighth anniversary of the launch pad fire of Apollo 1, which took the lives of Astronauts Gus Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee. In a grim irony, that same week also marks the nineteenth anniversary of the Challenger disaster, as well as the second anniversary of the loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia. Though memorials are certainly in order, a closer examination of the nature and cause of each catastrophe reveals much about the nation throughout the past four decades. Particularly in the wake of the Columbia tragedy and its ensuing investigations, disturbing trends in NASA...