Will Russia stay or will Russia go? The country’s announcement today (July 26) that it plans to pull out of the International Space Station (ISS) consortium after 2024 sounds definitive. But the space community remains divided about how seriously to take that stated threat. “What they mean is that the Russian decision to withdraw from participation in the station by 2024 is becoming firmer,” John Logsdon, a space historian and policy analyst at George Washington University, told Space.com. Related: Russia says it will leave the International Space Station after 2024…
Read MoreMonth: July 2022
Buzz Aldrin’s moon-flown Apollo 11 jacket sells for record $2.8M at Sotheby’s
A jacket worn to the moon by astronaut Buzz Aldrin set a new record for the most-ever paid at auction for a flown-in-space artifact, while Aldrin’s pen credited with saving the Apollo 11 mission failed to sell. The bidding for Aldrin’s inflight coverall jacket (opens in new tab) opened at $500,000 at Sotheby’s in New York on Tuesday (July 26). One of 70 lots being offered from the 92-year-old moonwalker’s collection, the glass-woven (Beta cloth) jacket was donned by Aldrin when he wasn’t wearing his Apollo 11 spacesuit on the…
Read MoreTitan Books celebrates 20 years of ‘Firefly’ with novel ‘What Makes Us Mighty’
Browncoats around the globe are celebrating the 20th anniversary of Joss Whedon’s first and only season of the cult space western, “Firefly.” Starring Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk, Morena Baccarin, Adam Baldwin, and Jewel Staite, the rowdy sci-fi series first aired on the Fox Network starting in September of 2002 and finished its one-and-done run of 14 episodes in December of that same year. (Our Firefly streaming guide has details on how to watch the series online). A “Firefly” feature film titled “Serenity” was released by Universal Pictures…
Read MoreNASA Prepares for Space Launch System Rocket Services Contract
As NASA prepares for the first integrated flight test of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Orion spacecraft to the Moon this summer as part of Artemis, the agency is moving toward a services contract model for long-term SLS hardware production and operations to reduce costs.
Read MoreHeading into (Orbital) Sunrise
The crew doesn’t just snap pretty pictures; the research aboard the station benefits humanity in numerous ways.
Read MoreAfter Kitt Peak telescopes’ close call with wildfire, essential personnel are returning to evaluate the damage
“A great deal of remediation” will be needed at Kitt Peak National Observatory as a few astronomers return to the site to help it recover from wildfire damage, its managing authority says. Essential personnel are returning to the Arizona observatory to assess the damage caused by a large wildfire that ripped through the mountainous area in June, officials from the National Science Foundation’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab), which runs the observatory, said in a statement (opens in new tab) on Thursday (July 21). The blaze required firefighting efforts…
Read MoreUnited Arab Emirates astronaut will spend 6 months on the space station next year
Sultan AlNeyadi will be the first astronaut from an Arab nation to conduct a long-duration mission on the International Space Station. The announcement, made Monday (July 25), will see the United Arab Emirates (UAE) astronaut fly to the orbiting lab on SpaceX’s Crew-6 mission, which is expected to launch in 2023. His seat was arranged through a previously disclosed agreement with Axiom Space, a Texas-based aerospace company. AlNeyadi thanked Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum on Twitter (opens in new tab) shortly after the UAE vice-president’s Arabic-language announcement (opens in new…
Read MoreBenjamin Sisko returns as a god to begin IDW’s bold new era of ‘Star Trek’ comics
The “Star Trek” universe has never seen anything like this before. Breaking news out of this week’s San Diego Comic-Con is coming hot and heavy, and that means IDW Publishing has just announced word of a rebooted flagship “Star Trek” comic book series headed to our corner of the Milky Way this fall. Arriving in October and written by Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing (“Star Trek: Year Five”) with illustrations by artist Ramon Rosanas (Marvel’s “Star Wars,” “Ant-Man”), IDW Publishing‘s “Star Trek #1” will navigate a thrilling adventure storyline that…
Read MoreNASA Goddard Center Director Shares Plans to Retire
Dennis Andrucyk, director of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, has announced his intent to retire after more than 36 years of federal service, including multiple leadership roles at NASA and as Goddard’s director since January 2020.
Read MoreNASA Air’s Space Station R&D, Benefits to Humanity Conference
NASA will highlight groundbreaking discoveries, benefits for humanity, and how the agency and its commercial and international partners will maximize research and development aboard the International Space Station at the 11th annual International Space Station Research and Development Conference.
Read More