Tag: NASA
What if Apollo 11 had ended in disaster?
Apollo 11 was an unprecedented mission, meaning there was always the possibility that astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin would not make it back from the moon’s surface. A speech was prepared for then-US president Richard Nixon, penned by White House speechwriter Bill Safire on July 18 1969. Fortunately, the mission was a success, meaning…
Returning to moon is waste of money, says BBC’s Apollo 11 presenter
Going back to the moon is a waste of money, according to the presenter behind the BBC’s coverage of the Apollo 11 moon landing 50 years ago. Science historian James Burke said he does not believe there is much political desire to put humans on the lunar surface once again due to the high costs…
NASA names centre after woman portrayed in Hidden Figures
A NASA facility in West Virginia has been renamed in honour of 100 year old Katherine Johnson who was portrayed in the film Hidden Figures. Her calculations proved critical to the success of not only our country’s first orbit in space, but to the first steps on the Moon. Today, the @NASAIVV Facility in Fairmont,…
NASA launches Orion crew capsule to test abort system
NASA has conducted a full-stress launch abort test for the Orion capsules designed to carry astronauts to the moon. The capsule was empty for the demo, which officials said appeared to be successful. Barely a minute after lift-off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the abort motor fired, pulling the capsule from the booster about…
NASA restores Mission Control 50 years after Apollo 11
NASA has held a grand reopening of its Mission Control room from the Apollo days after it was meticulously restored to the way it looked 50 years ago. The site at Johnson Space Centre in Houston was last used for space shuttle flights in the 1990s, and has been recreated down to the carpeting, wallpaper,…
NASA to send spacecraft to Saturn’s largest moon Titan
NASA will send a spacecraft to explore the surface of Saturn’s largest moon Titan and search for “the building blocks of life”, the space agency has revealed. The Dragonfly mission, part of NASA’s New Frontiers programme, will launch in 2026 and arrive at Titan in 2034. It marks the first time NASA will fly a…
NASA to open moon rock samples sealed since Apollo missions
NASA is to open some pristine samples of moon rocks and dirt which have been stored for decades after being collected by Apollo astronauts. Hundreds of pounds of moon rocks are locked up at Johnson Space Centre in Houston, and lab workers are preparing to give some of the samples to scientists for study. Nine…
NASA Mars Rover detects methane. Could it be sign of life?
A NASA Mars rover has detected its largest amount of methane yet, which could be an early indication of life on the Red Planet. The gas is commonly associated with living things back on Earth, though it can also be created through interactions between rocks and water. However, the American space agency’s Curiosity Rover is…
NASA captures closest image yet of Bennu asteroid
US space agency NASA has captured its closest and most-detailed image yet of Bennu, a 78 billion kilogram asteroid which makes a close approach to Earth every six years. It is the second time the spacecraft has put itself into orbit around the asteroid, snapping a shot at a distance of 0.4 miles from the…
NASA makes Star Trek joke after finding ‘dune footprint’ on Mars
NASA scientists tweeted a Star Trek joke after a photo was captured of a “dune footprint” on the surface of Mars that looks similar to the Starfleet insignia from the hit sci-fi TV show. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) took images of a series of the chevron shapes in the Hellas Planitia area of the…
