In a distinguished step for space exploration, the Voyager 1 spacecraft has left our solar system. Voyager 1, 17.4 billion kilometers away from Earth is now at the outer edge of the solar system where solar winds are no longer blowing outwards but sideways. Launched into space In August and September of 1977, Voyager 2 [Continue]
One book that totally engrossed me was “Failure Is Not An Option” by Gene Kranz, former NASA flight director. Gene had the fortunate opportunity to be with NASA from almost the beginning. He witnessed American space firsts in the Mercury program and was part of the team that brought men to the moon. He was [Continue]
Attempting to become only the 10th nation to have space launch capabilities, a South Korean rocket exploded 137 seconds after launch. The rocket named Naro-1, built with Russian help, flew 70 km up before the explosion. This is South Korea’s second attempt at a space launch. Their first one back in August 2009 failed to [Continue]
Looks like US president Obama’s goal of promoting private space flight is taking off. Today from Cape Canaveral, the Falcon 9 from SpaceX took to the sky and reached orbit nine minutes later. SpaceX was formed by PayPal co-founder Elon Musk and has so far spent $400 million (USD) on the Falcon 9 program. The [Continue]
The Akatsuki spacecraft on a mission to Venus blasted off aboard an H-IIA rocket from the Tanegashima spaceport in southern Japan. In addition to the Venus probe, the H-IIA rocket carried five piggy-back experiments into space. These include a small satellite to practice the technique of sailing on sunlight. This was the second attempt at [Continue]