nasa

Reeling from projected budget cuts totaling more than $3 billion through 2013, NASA managers and engineers working to build a post-shuttle rocket system for an eventual return to the moon are bracing for a critical review that could set the agency on a different course.

The review was ordered by the Obama administration. The chairman of the independent review panel charged with evaluating NASA's post-shuttle manned space program said Friday he will bring an open mind and "go where the facts lead" in assessing the technical and economic feasibility of the space agency's current manned space … Read more

The Obama administration's fiscal 2010 NASA budget request includes $630 million in additional near-term funding for development of follow-on rockets and spacecraft needed for the agency's post-shuttle moon program, officials said Thursday. But most of the increase is from the administration's economic stimulus package, and projections through 2013 show a $3.1 billion reduction in overall funding for the program compared with 2009 projections.

Unveiling NASA's $18.7 billion 2010 budget on Thursday, acting Administrator Chris Scolese said the Obama administration had ordered an independent review of NASA's plans to replace the space shuttle with … Read more

NASA said on Thursday that it has released a collection of 3D photographs of the International Space Station and its Mars rover.

The photos, which were created using Microsoft's Photosynth tool, show both internal and external views of the space station, as well as a model of the rover.

Because the images were prepared using Photosynth, users can zoom in or out of any of the images, allowing them to see "details of the space station's modules and solar arrays or...a more global view of the complex."

At the same time, the Mars rover images … Read more

With retirement of the space shuttle program looming next year and just nine flights remaining, NASA managers announced Thursday the first major wave of job losses, saying 160 contract workers would face layoffs Friday, the first of some 900 jobs that will be cut between now and the end of September.

"They are primarily manufacturing team members," shuttle Program Manager John Shannon said. "We have delivered the last pieces of hardware that those team members produce and we don't keep them on the (payroll). And that is in order to get our budget down to the … Read more

Few topics interest me more than space. Though I'll admit that I don't know nearly as much as I would like, it has always been my goal to learn about the universe. I bet I'm not alone. That's why I'm sharing this list of 18 space sites. They all offer something neat. And they're all informative.

Amazing Space Though the site is designed for students, Amazing Space is a fantastic resource for anyone who wants to learn something about space. If you want basic information on topics such as gravity and black holes, the site offers it. If you want to gain some knowledge about Earth and how it was formed, you can learn that too. It's not as in-depth as some sites in this roundup, but it's not meant to be. Amazing Space is for the beginner.

Astroengine Each day, Astroengine sifts through studies and documents released by scientists around the world and publishes those that don't get noticed. For example, Saturn's icy moon, Enceladus, might have a liquid ocean, according to a study published by scientists. Astroengine has a nice discussion on that. Few major sources do.

Astronomy Picture of the Day If you just want pictures of what's going on in space, look no further than NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day. Each day, the site is updated with one picture of space. Underneath the picture is an informative description of the image's significance. I go there every day to see what they'll display next. You should too.

Chandra The Chandra X-Ray Observatory from Harvard University continuously takes pictures of space phenomenon thousands of light years away. You can view all those pictures on the site. I'm amazed at the quality of the photos. If you want to see space outside of the solar system, this is the destination for you.

Daily Galaxy Daily Galaxy provides news and information about galactic events. There are also some videos that help you gain a better understanding of space. Daily Galaxy doesn't often stray beyond the Galaxy (thus its name), but you'll still find a wealth of information on the site. Check it out.

Hubble Site As you might expect, Hubble Site takes an in-depth look at the Hubble Telescope. From news to its latest image captures, the site has it all. You can even learn about how it works and how it helps scientists learn about space. The best part of the site is its galleries section. I literally spent over an hour last night looking through the beautiful images. The Hubble Site is fantastic. It's a must-see.

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's site is filled with space news. It also has updates on missions. But if you want to be entertained, you can spend hours perusing the site's images and videos depicting different solar systems and star clusters around the universe. NASA.gov even has interactive features that let you see objects in Space in 3D. You'll be blown away by NASA's resources. … Read more

Launch of the shuttle Atlantis on a mission to upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope has been moved up one day and retargeted for May 11 at 2:01:49 p.m. EDT.

NASA officials said Wednesday that they hoped to push the launch date up in order to increase the odds of a successful launch before a deadline of May 14. But they needed to assess whether such a schedule change was feasible. Engineers and managers concluded Friday that processing could, in fact, be accelerated without affecting required work. Senior managers will hold an executive-level flight readiness review next Thursday … Read more

A one-and-one-eighth-inch socket from a torque wrench fell from a service platform and hit the shuttle Atlantis' left payload bay door radiator during Hubble Space Telescope cargo installation earlier this week. In a lucky break for NASA's shuttle team, no one was injured, coolant lines in the radiator were not damaged, and a dent where the socket impacted will not need repairs.

Atlantis is tentatively scheduled for liftoff May 12 on a fifth and final mission to service, repair, and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope. Shuttle managers planned to meet Friday for a second round of discussions on whether … Read more

NASA managers are debating whether to move up launch of the shuttle Atlantis by one day to maximize the launch opportunities it has before reaching a May 14 deadline, officials said Wednesday.

The shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to launch at 1:31 p.m. EDT on May 12 for the fifth and final mission to service and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope. But a military operation on the range will prevent any shuttle launch attempts for about a week starting May 14. That operation requires support from the Air Force Eastern Range, which provides tracking and telemetry support for all … Read more

The space shuttle Endeavour was hauled to launch pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center early Friday for work to prepare the ship for a flight NASA managers hope will never happen: a mission to rescue the astronauts charged with repairing and upgrading the Hubble Space Telescope.

The shuttle Atlantis is scheduled for launch May 12 from pad 39A on NASA's fifth and final mission to the space telescope. Because Hubble operates in a different orbit, the Atlantis astronauts would not be able to seek safe haven aboard the International Space Station if any problems develop that might prevent … Read more