While everyone was debating Obama’s new plan for NASA, and awaiting the return of the shuttle to our ash-covered planet, India quietly exploded a rocket. Ok, it probably wasn’t quiet. I bet it was very, very noisy. But people outside of India were distracted. Here’s the exciting build up to the launch as reported inside [...]

Richard Branson’s new “mothership” which will carry SpaceShipTwo—and paying space tourists—into sub-orbital space—made an appearance at an Oshkosh, Wisconsin airshow. Branson is head of the private space tourism company, Virgin Galactic, which operates WhiteKnightTwo. After making a couple of passes over the crowd, the aircraft made a smooth and quiet landing on runway 18. This [...]

In the 1970s, the Soviets designed a military space station called Almaz. Under the guise of the non-mThe military program operated briefly, and two stations—called Salyut 3 and Salyut 5—were tested and used. Then, in 1978, the Soviets abandoned the program, deciding that unmanned satellites were more cost-efficient spies than manned space stations. Now, a [...]