Earth and Moon, seen from China’s Chang'e 5-T1 space probe. (NASA)
The destination is a small Kuiper Belt object (KBO) known as 2014 MU69 that orbits nearly a billion miles beyond Pluto.
Saturday will mark 1,500 days since the Space Shuttle touched down for the final time. Grounding human spaceflights was always supposed to be temporary as we made the necessary transition to a new generation of spacecraft, operated by American commercial carriers. Likewise, paying for seats on Russian spacecraft to send our astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) was always intended to be a stopgap.
Had Congress adequately funded President Obama’s Commercial Crew proposal, we could have been making final preparations this year to once again launch American astronauts to space from American soil aboard American spacecraft.
Instead we are faced with uncertainty—and we will continue to be so long as Congress resists fully investing in Commercial Crew.
light trails in the international space station cupola - photo by flight engineer Don Pettit, may 2012
NASA’s Dawn spacecraft spotted this tall, conical mountain on Ceres from a distance of 915 miles (1,470 kilometers). The mountain, located in the southern hemisphere, stands 4 miles (6 kilometers) high. Its perimeter is sharply defined, with almost no accumulated debris at the base of the brightly streaked slope.
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Astronaut Kimiya Yui tweeted this image shortly after capturing Japan’s “Kounotori” HTV-5 resupply ship today at 6:28 a.m. EDT (10:28 UTC) with the Canadarm2 robotic arm… “HTV capture was successful! Thank you for your support and hard work!
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dr. kjell lindgren announcing the hugo award for best novel from the international space station, august 22nd, 2015
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Eric Christensen, principal investigator for the Catalina Sky Survey, scanning for Near Earth Objects - (source)
This view from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft looks toward Saturn’s icy moon Dione, with giant Saturn and its rings in the background, just prior to the mission’s final close approach to the moon on August 17, 2015.
August 19, 2007 – Backdropped by the Earth, the International Space Station is seen receding into the distance as the Space Shuttle Endeavour departs the orbital outpost. (NASA)
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