As NASA prepares the Space Shuttle for its final missions, it does so knowing that the moment the shuttles retire, the U.S. will, for the first time since the dawn of manned space flight, lack a vehicle capable of transporting humans into Earth orbit. This precarious position will force NASA temporarily to rely on Russia, [...]
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Tags: Elon Musk, Falcon 9, Final Space Shuttle flight, NASA, Space Shuttle, SpaceX 
3 Comments »A plane ticket to Cape Canaveral to watch one of the few remaining space shuttle launches is expensive. Watching the shuttle take flight from every conceivable angle on YouTube in high definition isn’t. Ever since NASA started outfitting the shuttle with cameras to record various external views during launch, amazing video-graphic views like this have become common. [...]
If I was even a remotely sentimental person, I’d probably have a tear welling up in my eye while writing this. Today, NASA conducted what is effectively the final test burn of the reusable solid rocket boosters used to thrust the Space Shuttle into orbit. The test, carried out by ATK Launch Systems in [...]
Posted in Science, Space, Technology Tags: Final Space Shuttle flight, NASA, space, space exploration, Space Shuttle 5 Comments »