Why It's Time for a 'Triplanetary' Economy

House NASA Bill Cancelling Lunar Base Makes No Sense – Even To Go To Mars

As NASA’s Spitzer telescope’s mission ends, here’s a look back at its discoveries

NASA Working to Fix Voyager 2 From 11.5 Billion Miles Away

Could a Mars Fantasy Ruin NASA’s Space Exploration?

How Spitzer's infrared eyes helped astronomers unlock the invisible universe

Russian Scientists Reveal Plans for Fusion-Fission Reactor

The death of the Challenger and the birth of commercial space

HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE CLEARS NASA AUTHORIZATION BILL, BUT IT’S JUST THE BEGINNING

House subcommittee advances NASA authorization bill

World’s most powerful solar telescope is up and running

This Early Warning Signal Could Successfully Predict Betelgeuse's Supernova

The hottest known exoplanet is melting molecules in its atmosphere

The Age of Interstellar Visitors

The Israeli–Palestinian Peace Plan Is a Much-Needed Dose of Reality

NASA Bill Cancelling Lunar Base Makes No Sense – Even To Go To Mars

Lead investigator of NASA mission tells story of reaching Pluto

NASA spacecraft breaks its own record with another swing by the sun

Alien Nations: Why Life on Other Planets Will Resemble Ours

The Key to Future Mars Exploration? Precision Landing

Astronomers chance upon a ‘vampire’ star feeding frenzy

The death of the Challenger and the birth of commercial space

On January 28, 1986, at 11:39 EST, the space shuttle Challenger lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center. Her crew consisted of six NASA astronauts, Commander Francis R. Scobee, Pilot Michael J. Smith, mission specialists Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnik and Gregory Jarvis, and teacher Christa McAuliffe, who had been chosen to become the first American civilian to go into space. No one cheering when the Challenger cleared the tower knew, but both shuttle and her gallant company were doomed.

NASA’s Lucy spacecraft could unravel the mystery of how the solar system formed

NASA selects Axiom Space to build commercial space station segment

What's the Difference Between Belief in Dark Matter and Belief in God?

Does Information Have Mass?

U.S. government urges Americans to reconsider travel to China because of coronavirus

House NASA Bill Cancelling Lunar Base Makes No Sense – Even To Go To Mars

On Jan. 24, the House Science, Space and Technology Committee released the draft of a NASA authorization bill that canceled the planned lunar base. Instead, the U.S. would mount a series of Apollo-style expeditions to the lunar surface solely to practice going to Mars. But the plan makes no sense — even to go to Mars.

Also House legislators want to hand NASA’s human spaceflight program over to Boeing

NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine has some thoughts, which is to say a devastating takedown of the House bill.

Homer Hickam has some marching orders for the committee.

CSF Statement on House Space Subcommittee NASA Authorization Bill

Is the Moon a Stepping Stone or a Cornerstone for Mars?

NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley will be the first to fly SpaceX's Crew Dragon spaceship. Here's how they're preparing.

Coronavirus: 100,000 may already be infected, experts warn

How one woman became the exception to her family’s Alzheimer’s history

What your voice would sound like on other planets and moons

Population Control Isn't the Answer to Climate Change. Capitalism Is.

SpaceX's inflight abort test paves way to commercial human spaceflight

For Hottest Planet, a Major Meltdown, Study Shows

Here's how SpaceX and Boeing became NASA's best shot at resurrecting American spaceflight.

Trump's big reelection weapon: A remarkable manufacturing jobs boom

America can't afford to lose to China in the 5G race

NASA is hiring someone to help figure out how to get Mars rocks back to Earth — and the position pays at least $182,000

Small Modular Reactors

How fast can biotech come up with a vaccine for the latest outbreak?

Four new US spaceships may start launching people into space this year

House introduces NASA authorization bill that emphasizes Mars over moon

A travesty for a whole host of reasons. The House bill should be opposed with the utmost vigor. More to come.

Donald Trump’s legacy may be written on the high frontier of space

SpaceX's inflight abort test paves way to commercial human spaceflight

NASA Begins Testing Next Moon Rover

NASA Artemis Program and Stennis Space Center Set the Stage for Testing in 2020

Major Insurers Pledge $55 Million to Try to Lower Generic Drug Prices

Gremlin Drone's First Flight Turns C-130 Into a Flying Aircraft Carrier

This Is What We'll See When Betelgeuse Really Does Go Supernova

China releases huge batch of amazing Chang'e-4 images from moon's far side

First Commercial Moon Delivery Assignments to Advance Artemis

Interstellar Visitors Could Export Terrestrial Life to Other Stars

New China virus: Five questions scientists are asking

Trump says Elon Musk is like Thomas Edison: ‘He’s one of our great geniuses’

SpaceX's inflight abort test paves way to commercial human spaceflight

Starliner’s thruster performance receiving close scrutiny from NASA

NASA's next Mars rover will get one of these 9 names

The new drugs of 2019

Earth's Oldest Asteroid Strike Identified – It May Have Caused a Global Thaw

How Far Is It To The Edge Of The Universe?

ELON MUSK REVEALS HOW HE'LL DEPOSIT ONE MILLION PEOPLE ON MARS BY 2050

NASA expected to detail costs for fast-track moon landing program next month

Immune discovery 'may treat all cancer'

Our current food system can feed only 3.4 billion people sustainably

Death on Mars

SpaceX's inflight abort test paves way to commercial human spaceflight

It is not every day that a successful test of a rocket involves destroying the launch vehicle in midflight. SpaceX managed the feat during the inflight abort test it conducted Sunday morning. The test was an important milestone in the development of commercial human spaceflight.

Lexus design concepts imagine how we’ll travel on the moon

NASA considering extended Crew Dragon test flight to ISS

SpaceX aces Crew Dragon launch abort test, destroys rocket on purpose

Living in Alan Turing’s Future

The U.S. Space Force Is Not a Joke

How would the Space Force wage war?

Elon Musk is still thinking big with SpaceX's Starship Mars-colonizing rocket. Really big.

Virgin Galactic Stock Takes Off Before SpaceX and Blue Origin

Amazon Web Services enlists AI to help NASA get ahead of solar superstorms

NASA expected to detail costs for fast-track moon landing program next month

The Spitzer Space Telescope will shuts down Jan. 30. NASA celebrates its legacy this week.

U.S. Space Force begins to organize Pentagon staff and field operations

Space Force offers first look at service uniforms

Navy to Name Aircraft Carrier for Pearl Harbor Hero Doris Miller

The Year of UFOs

All the frontrunners could survive initial Iowa test

You come at the Trump, you best not miss

Where the Space Force must go

Christopher Tolkien Dies: Literary Executor For Father J.R.R. Tolkien Who Expanded His World Was 95

How would the Space Force wage war?

We're All Going to Live in Mushroom Houses on Mars

An Asteroid has been Found that Orbits the Sun Closer than Venus

Astronauts and addiction: Ending the stigma

A Critical Test for NASA’s Monster Rocket

Some Space Rocks Are Notorious for Being Stinky

Have you hugged a fracker today? Our oil expansion keeps us safe from Iranian meddling.

NASA's Mars habitats could be made from a surprising material: fungi

Robotic skins might enable the next generation of space exploration

‘Living bricks’ that can reproduce could cut construction’s carbon footprint

Megadrought Helped Topple the Assyrian Empire

New "Achilles Heel" for Blood Cancers Identified

How would the Space Force wage war?

NASA to Provide Coverage of SpaceX Crew Dragon Launch Escape Test

See NASA's new lunar rover test out its 'moon shimmy' on Earth

Ex-Navy SEAL and Harvard graduate is NASA's first Korean-American astronaut

Five Features That Make Sierra Nevada’s Dream Chaser Spaceplane Unique

How the fight over a Hawaii mega-telescope could change astronomy

Dynetics teams up with Sierra Nevada Corp. for NASA’s big lunar lander competition

NASA tests its water-hunting lunar rover VIPER

Navy: Top-Secret UFO Files Could 'Gravely Damage' National Security if Released

Nasa is preparing to launch its most ambitious Mars mission ever

Democratic leadership turns its back on Iranian protesters

How would the Space Force wage war?

A recent article in Defense One suggests that while the United States Space Force knows how it will fight wars beyond the atmosphere, those plans are so highly classified that industry is not able to build the things that will make war in space possible.

SpaceX tests rocket for critical Crew Dragon in-flight abort launch on Jan. 18

Japanese billionaire Maezawa seeks girlfriend for SpaceX voyage

Raiders Of The Lost Arawaks: Columbus Was Not Exaggerating About Caribbean Cannibalism

Hubble Finds Teeny Tiny Clumps of Dark Matter

Does A Time-Stopping Paradox Prevent Black Holes From Growing?

We Should Go to Mars

What was the Sea Dragon rocket, and what would it have been used for?

Fox executive teases Browncoats with hints of possible Firefly revival

If You Make It to 2083, You Could Witness Two Stars Collide

How IoT devices & smart home automation is entering our homes in 2020

Artificial Intelligence Makes Bad Medicine Even Worse

NASA’s path to the moon leads through Congress. Good thing NASA’s No. 2 knows his way around Capitol Hill.

A Japanese Billionaire Wants A ‘Single Woman’ To Go To The Moon With Him On A SpaceX Rocket In 2023

The Ancient and Honorable Order of Turtles

I notice that the incoming astronaut class is calling themselves "the Turtles." I wonder if any of them know the history behind that name, especially in regard to the early space program.

The custom was to ask a fellow member of the Turtles, "Are you a Turtle?" If the respondent did not answer, "You bet your sweet ass I am" he had to buy drinks for everyone in earshot. This caused some complications as we will see.

During the Mercury-Atlas 8 mission (part of the United States space program), astronaut Wally Schirra was asked by a ground controller whether he was a turtle. Not wanting to use vulgar language while his communications were being broadcast worldwide, he temporarily stopped transmitting while he gave the required response "YBYSAIA".

Deke Slayton, a mere three minutes into Sigma 7's flight, came on the radio, which was open for everyone to hear, and asked, "Hey, Wally, are you a turtle?" Schirra switched his mic from live to record and uttered the appropriate response. On the open line, he said, "Rog."

Later, on board the recovery ship USS Kearsarge, in front of Slayton, Walt Williams and the other astronauts, Walt Williams demanded to know how Schirra replied to Deke's question. Schirra played the recorder. "Hey, Wally, are you a turtle?" followed by the proper response, "YBYSAIA". This incident is also recounted in Tom Wolfe's book The Right Stuff.

Wally Schirra's membership in the Ancient Order of Turtles came up again during Apollo 7, which was captured by the in-flight recorder:

CAPCOM radioed, "Just a minute, Wally. Let's see. Oh, it's a little message to Deke Slayton. A little bit closer Wally. Kind of looks like something about - 'Are you a, are you a—" Schirra acknowledged, "That's right." CAPCOM continued, "Looks like it says, 'Are you a turtle, Deke Slayton?"

Schirra confirmed, "That's right." Eisele added, "You get an A for reading today Jack." Swigert continued, "Here comes another one. Walt, oh, that-a-way, that's the way to turn it. It says, 'Paul Haney, are you a turtle?'" Cunningham radioed, "You'll get a gold star. Perfect score!" Swigert reported, "And there is no reply from Paul Haney there." Cunningham asked, "You mean he's speechless?"

A short while later, CAPCOM Cernan informed Schirra, "Wally, this is Gene. Deke just called in, and we've got your answer, and we've got it recorded for you return." Schirra acknowledged, "Roger. Real fine."

Shortly thereafter, Schirra asked CAPCOM Swigert, "Have you got Haney's answer yet?" Swigert replied, "No, Haney's isn't talking, Wally." Swigert then added, "Somebody tells me he isn't talking, but just buying." A pleased Schirra responded, "He is buying. Thank you very much. Very good."

This exchange about turtles was a reference to the notorious Turtle's Club drinking club of which Wally Schirra held the title of a Grand Potentate. During Schirra's Mercury flight Deke Slayton had radioed up to Schirra asking Schirra if he was a turtle.

A membership card for the "Interstellar Association of Turtles (Outer Shell Division)" signed by astronauts Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper and Wally Schirra sold at auction for $1,952 on May 5, 2011.

President Kennedy was allegedly asked if he was a Turtle at a press conference, to which he replied, "I'll buy you your drink later

Could Unseen Aliens Exist Among Us?

3D Printing and the Murky Ethics of Replicating Bones

'Flash' Radiation Therapy Could Deliver Cancer Treatment in Microseconds

Why America has less to fear from an oil shock

Planes Can Plant 1 Billion Trees A Year With Seed Bombs

What was the Sea Dragon rocket, and what would it have been used for?

Aiming higher: SpaceX hopes to launch Starship by spring

NASA’S SUPER-MUSCULAR MICE RETURN TO EARTH FROM SPACE

The Next DARPA X-Plane Won’t Maneuver like Any Plane Before It

An Idea From Physics Helps AI See in Higher Dimensions

Did HAL Commit Murder?

Big News in Cancer, Versus Big Talk About It

Why Didn't Tuberculosis Wipe Out Humanity in the Paleolithic Era?

The Ice Giant Spacecraft of Our Dreams

Beard Bravado: 75% Of Men Feel More Confident With Facial Hair

Virgin Galactic’s next spaceship reaches build milestone

What was the Sea Dragon rocket, and what would it have been used for?

NASA may ask lunar lander aspirants to put more skin in the game

The largest gaseous structure ever observed in the Milky Way

Two stars colliding in 2083 will outshine all the others in the sky

Will A.I. Take Over? Quantum Theory Suggests Otherwise

Are we part of a dying reality or a blip in eternity? The value of the Hubble Constant could tell us which terror awaits

The length of a day on Venus keeps changing

How SpaceX's Satellite Internet Will Actually Work

Jupiter Is Flinging Comets Toward Earth

Mysterious radio signal from space seems to have suddenly vanished

Meet the scientist trying to travel back in time

For All Mankind s01e10 post-credits scene. The Sea Dragon launch

What was the Sea Dragon rocket, and what would it have been used for?

In the very last scene of the final episode of the first season of “For All Mankind,” the Apple TV Plus series about an alternate space race, an immense rocket emerges from the ocean, hurtling into space, carrying a cargo of plutonium nuclear fuel to the Jamestown moon base in 1983. It turns out that the rocket was a Sea Dragon, a real-world proposal of what would have been the mightiest launch vehicle ever built. The Sea Dragon never flew in real-life history. Had it been built, its capabilities would have inspired awe.

United Kingdom Teaming With United States in Space

I'm off for my surgery later this morning. Wish me luck.

Chang’e 4 Celebrates a Year on the Farside of the Moon

Why the quantum internet should be built in space

There May Be Active Volcanoes on Venus: New Evidence

This pitch-black exoplanet is spiraling toward its doom

Could We Just Build A 'Space Sunshade' To Counteract Global Warming?

SpaceX And Virgin Orbit Are Looking To Hit Major Milestones In January And February

Asteroid that could cause ‘violent’ sky explosions approaching Earth

A new battery could keep your phone charged for five days

The Real Butterfly Effect

The New York Times is in denial as scholars eviscerate its 1619 Project

THE CREATION OF A U.S. SPACE FORCE: IT’S ONLY THE END OF THE BEGINNING

China's next moonshot could decide who owns the future

NASA astronaut's blood clot in space gets treated by doctor on Earth

NASA PROPOSED SENDING JAPANESE ASTRONAUTS TO THE MOON

This may be a transcendent year for SpaceX

New Light Sail Design Would Use Laser Beam to Ride Into Space

Why We Keep Sending Music to Extraterrestrials

Apple TV’s ‘For All Mankind’ Needs More Space Adventure, Less Political Commentary

The Apple TV+ alternate history series “For All Mankind” has completed its first season, which was rife with political commentary. Its producers should consider focusing less on left-wing commentary and more on space in future seasons.

NASA 2020: Are You Ready?

Months after failed lunar landing, India reveals plan for third moon mission

Watch what SpaceX's first-ever astronaut launch will look like

The Decade in Spaceflight: NASA Shuttles Retired as Private Spaceships Took Flight in the 2010s

How Long Has It Been Since We Saw A Supernova?

The Long History of Eco-Pessimism

China's next moonshot could decide who owns the future

The Space Missions to Watch in 2020

The seven most exciting space missions of 2020

In the final frontier, how should we behave?

Is Notre-Dame Too Fragile to Be Saved?

The Millennium Bug Was Not a Hoax