nasa

12.03.09

Astronauts Want a Next-Gen Ride 10 Times Safer Than the Shuttle

Astronauts say the next crew launch vehicle should have disaster odds of just 1 in 1,000

By Jeremy Hsu Posted 11.30.2009 at 4:34 pm 11 Comments

Spaceflight continues to represent one of the more extreme and hazardous undertakings for humans, even if it's just about getting off the ground. But the men and women of NASA's astronaut corps say that the U.S. space agency can improve on the odds that faced the doomed shuttle crews of Challenger and Columbia.

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NASA Scientists Say Martian Meteorite May Have Brought Life to Earth

New analytical data supposedly backs the case for Martian life having once existed

By Jeremy Hsu Posted 11.25.2009 at 12:09 pm 12 Comments

Martians may have already landed on Earth, at least in ancient microbial form. The same NASA team that discovered the controversial Allen Hills meteorite has shared new data that points to a biological origin for structures within the Martian rock, Spaceflight Now reports. NASA headquarters plans to officially address the new findings within days.

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READ MORE ABOUT > aliens, allen hills, asteroids, extraterrestrial life, Mars, martians, meteorites, nasa, space, space rocks

NASA Robotic Rocket Plane To Survey Martian Surface

By Stuart Fox Posted 11.24.2009 at 1:29 pm 18 Comments

Since budget cuts and the inability to overcome problems like boredom and high radiation doses have ruled out any manned mission to Mars in the foreseeable future, NASA has shifted gears back towards a program of robotic exploration. To that end, NASA now wants a rocket-powered UAV to fly around the Red Planet, photographing the surface.

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