Spacecraft

NASA invites public to send names, poems and messages to Mars

Washington: Want to be a part of space exploration history? NASA is inviting public to submit their names, short poems and personal messages online for a DVD to be carried aboard a spacecraft that will study the Martian atmosphere. The DVD will carry every name submitted. The public also is encouraged to submit a message in the form of a three-line poem, or haiku, NASA said.

However, only three haikus will be selected. The deadline for all submissions is July 1. An online public vote to determine the top three messages to be placed on the DVD will begin on July 15. The DVD will be in NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft, which is scheduled for launch in November 2013.

The DVD is part of the mission's 'Going to Mars Campaign' coordinated at the University of Colorado at Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (CU/LASP). "The Going to Mars campaign offers people worldwide a way to make a personal connection to space, space exploration, and science in general, and share in our excitement about the MAVEN mission," said Stephanie Renfrow, lead for the MAVEN Education and Public Outreach programme at CU/LASP.

Participants who submit their names to the campaign will be able to print a certificate of appreciation to document their involvement with the MAVEN mission. "This new campaign is a great opportunity to reach the next generation of explorers and excite them about science, technology, engineering and math," said Bruce Jakosky, MAVEN 

India to launch mission to Mars in 2013, says President

India will launch its first mission to Mars in 2013, President Pranab Mukherjee said on Thursday, as the emerging Asian nation looks to play catch up in the global space race alongside the United States, Russia and its giant neighbour China. ...  

Neil Armstrong to be buried at sea

Washington: US astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, will be buried at sea, family spokesperson Rick Miller said. Miller said on Thursday that no other details on the timing or the location of the burial were available, reported Xinhua. Neil Armstrong died on August 25 at the age of 82 following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures. Armstrong commanded the Apollo 11 spacecraft that landed on the moon...  

NASA gives 3 firms $1.1 bn to build new spacecraft

Washington: NASA has given three firms a total of $1.1 billion to build a new range of "space taxis" that will take astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS), a media report said. The hi-tech spacecraft to be used to transport crew and supplies to the ISS will replace NASA's space shuttle which were decommissioned last year, the Daily Mail reported. The three firms are Sierra Nevada, Space X and...  

Sunita Williams: Russian spacecraft docks at ISS

Houston: Record-setting Indian-American cosmonaut Sunita Williams along with two other astronauts on Tuesday docked their Russian spacecraft at the International Space Station for a four-month stay. 46-year-old NASA astronaut Williams, Russian Soyuz Commander Yuri Malenchenko and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency flight engineer Akihiko Hoshide arrived at the ISS after two days in orbit. The trio docked its Soyuz TMA-05M spacecraft to the Rassvet module at around 10:21 IST, NASA said...  

Sunita Williams to vote from space for US Presidency

Houston: Indian-origin astronaut Sunita Williams, who took off for her second space mission on Sunday, will cast her vote from the International Space Station in the US presidential election to be held in November, just about a week before her return to the Earth. Forty-six-year-old NASA astronaut Williams, Russian Soyuz Commander Yuri Malenchenko and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency flight engineer Akihiko Hoshide took off their space journey on a Russian...  

Watch: The life and times of Sunita Williams

Indian-American NASA astronaut Sunita Williams created history on Sunday by becoming the first woman to head a space expedition. This is her second space visit. ...

Sunita Williams takes off on 2nd space visit

New Delhi: Indian-American NASA astronaut Sunita Williams took off on her second space visit at around 8.10 am on Sunday morning. With this expedition, Sunita Williams has become the first woman in history to head a space mission. Wishes and prayers began to pour in for Sunita as she got ready for her second space odyssey. The 46-year-old took off aboard the Soyuz spacecraft that lifted off from the Baikonur...  

China accomplishes its first space docking

Beijing: China on Thursday accomplished its first space docking mission when two Chinese spacecraft silently coupled in space more than 343 km above the Earth's surface as part of the country's maiden attempt to build a space station by 2020. The unmanned spacecraft Shenzhou-8 which was launched two days ago docked with space lab module Tiangong-1, sent into space last month providing a big leap forward for China's space program....  

Russia poised to resume space station flights

Cape Canaveral: A Russian cargo ship is poised for liftoff on Sunday to the International Space Station following a launch accident in August that forced a cut in staffing levels aboard the orbital outpost. The Progress freighter, due to launch at 6:11 am EDT (1011 GMT) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, will be the first flight to the station since an upper-stage rocket failure doomed a similar unmanned freighter...  

China to launch spacecraft

Beijing: China will launch a spacecraft that will perform the country's first docking with a space lab module. The country will launch the Shenzhou-8 spacecraft in early November at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, reported Xinhua. The spacecraft is expected to perform China's first space docking with Tiangong-1, or Heavenly Palace-1, a space lab module that was launched in September from the same launch centre. The Shenzhou-8...  

China has a plan to avoid asteroid collision?

Beijing: A group of Chinese scientists have proposed a method to prevent the possible collision of Apophis - a 46-million-tonne asteroid - with the Earth in 2036. The asteroid - which is 270 metres in diameter - will approach Earth at a distance of 37,000-38,000 km in 2029. In 2036, Apophis may come back and collide with Earth April 13, 2036. According to scientists, the chance of a collision in...  

NASA launches Juno robot to explore Jupiter

Cape Canaveral: An unmanned Atlas 5 rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Friday, sending a robotic scout on its way to Jupiter to sniff out details about how the solar system formed. The rocket carrying NASA's Juno spacecraft lifted off at 12:25 p.m. (1625 GMT), the first step in a five-year, 445-million mile (716-million km) journey to the largest planet in the solar system. Launch was...  

ISRO to launch eight spacecraft annually

Chennai: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is gearing up to launch eight spacecraft annually to increase revenue and meet global technology demand, a top official of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre said today. "Right now, we have four launches including GSLVs and PSLVs per year. The process is on to launch eight spacecraft a year to meet global demand," VSSC Director P.S. Veeraraghavan told reporters on the sidelines of...  

NASA launches planet-hunting spacecraft

This spacecraft will find out if there are more planets like Earth in the space. ...  

Watch: NASA is beyond astronauts and spaceships

NASA has seeped into our everyday lives. ...  

Star Wars Ship sells for £203k at auction

The man behind the auction, was totally delighted with the historical auction. ...  

Russia leads in spacecraft launches

Russia conducted 45 per cent of the world's spacecraft launches in 2006, maintaining its leading position. ...  

NASA Mars spacecraft settles into orbit

NASA’s most powerful spacecraft ever sent to Mars has settled into the nearly circular orbit. ...  

European spacecraft crashes into moon

The impact of the SMART-1 spacecraft was expected to leave a 3-metre-by-10-metre crater on the lunar surface. ...