The Forward Bulkhead And tunnel For Exploration Mission 1 Undergoing Paint Priming, October 9, 2015.

Wernher von Braun’s space station concept in Collier’s, March 22, 1952 - (source)

New Horizons captures images of water ice and blue skies on Pluto    

New Horizons, the spacecraft that keeps on giving.

Alternate Concept: Minimized Fairing and Stage 2 Recovery

The first structural test article of Orion’s Service Module arrived at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio yesterday (November 9). Manufactured by Airbus Defense and Space in Europe, (the same company who built the Automated Transfer Vehicle), the European Service Module will provide Orion’s electrical, propulsion and umbilical capabilities during flight. A single Orbital Maneuvering System engine leftover from the Space Shuttle program will power the spacecraft, and four 11-kilowatt solar panels will generate electrical power. The STA will be used for fit checks and other engineering tests at NASA’s Plumb Brook facility, which is a sub-facility of Glenn. An Antonov-124 aircraft, the second largest cargo plane in the world delivered the ESM STA to Cleveland International Airport November 9.

spoopy

Cygnus entering the atmosphere, photographed by Alexander Gerst on the ISS.

7 Things That Happen When You Go To Space

Told Through Astronaut Scott Kelly’s Tweets

Astronaut Scott Kelly is currently spending a year in space. Most expeditions to the space station last four to six months. By doubling the length of this mission, researchers hope to better understand how the human body reacts and adapts to long-duration spaceflight. During this one-year mission, Kelly is also participating in the Twins Study. While Kelly is in space, his identical twin brother, retired NASA Astronaut Mark Kelly, will participate in a number of comparative genetic studies.

Here are a few things that happen when astronauts go to the space station:

1. Your personal hygiene takes on a different form:

2. Sleeping arrangements might take some getting used to:

3. Internet services will remind you of the 90s:

4. You never have to do laundry:

5. You get to become immersed in a range of different cultures:

6. All of your water is recycled…yes…that means urine too:

7. You get to see the Earth like never before:

Follow Astronaut Scott Kelly’s Year in Space mission on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. 

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This is what our night sky could look like guys.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day 2015 September 5 

Atlas V Rising 

Early morning risers along Florida’s Space Coast, planet Earth, were treated to a launch spectacle on September 2nd. Before dawn an Atlas V rocket rose into still dark skies carrying a US Navy communications satellite from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station into Earth orbit. This minutes long exposure follows the rocket’s arc climbing eastward over the Atlantic. As the rocket rises above Earth’s shadow, its fiery trail becomes an eerie, noctilucent exhaust plume glinting in sunlight. Of course, the short, bright startrail just above the cloud bank is Venus rising, now appearing in planet Earth’s skies as the brilliant morning star.