I can understand getting butterflies before a launch, but the next space shuttle mission will have butterflies in the launch vehicle.
The upcoming November 14th shuttle mission will have a bunch of “Painted Lady” butterflies aboard. The butterflies are black, white, orange and grey, and will be studied for the effects of zero g on their behavior and their life cyles.
WhiteKnightTwo (the mothership for Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo tourist vehicle got into a slight accident. The plane’s tail was slightly damaged as the pilot practiced landing. Photos at FlightGlobal.com. When it’s ready to go, WhiteKnightTwo will carry ShapeShipTwo aloft. Then, SpaceShipTwo will carry eight passengers and two pilots into what might be the first-ever fully private [...]
The European Space Agency (ESA) wants the International Space Station to keep flying at least through 2020…five years past its sceduled retirement. Jean-Jacques Dordain, Dirctor General of ESA, says that science at the ISS is being hurt by uncertainty over its future. He says that scientists seem reluctant to propose new projects for a facility [...]
The USSR was notably silent about its plans for space missions. They typically announced their missions afterwords—and boasted about their accomplishments, often achieving “firsts.” They had the first satellite, first man in space, first space walk, first space station, etc. The U.S. announced plans and then carried them out—at great risk—in sight of the whole [...]