Category: Space Station
Deep Space Travel: NASA Picks Six Companies to Build Habitation Modules
Traveling to distant planets can be tough on space travelers. Spacecraft are constantly bombarded with radiation, debris impact is an ever-present threat, and cramped confines can cause even the most steely-eyed astronaut to question his […]
The First Operational Inflatable Spacecraft is Working!
Last week, NASA inflated the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) that was flown to the International Space Station on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on April 8th. After an aborted attempt to inflate it […]
The New Space Race: Elon Musk Will Beat Everyone to Mars
A few weeks ago, Elon Musk announced his ambitious plan to have SpaceX send an unmanned Red Dragon capsule to Mars in 2018. Yesterday, he upped the ante, saying that he anticipates sending the first […]
First Inflatable Space Station Module is… Inflated
On a few occasions, I’ve written about Bigelow Aerospace and their inflatable spacecraft modules. A few days ago, NASA astronaut Jeff Williams opened a pressure valve in the International Space Station (ISS) and began to […]
Mars Space Station in the Works
A manned mission to Mars was once the stuff of science fiction, now it is the equivalent of this generation’s Apollo Program. It will take a Herculean effort to send astronauts on a journey of hundreds of […]
Inflatable Module Attached to Space Station
Earlier today, the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) was connected to the International Space Station (ISS). As I wrote just before it launched, it is a test for the use of inflatable spacecraft and will be […]
Inflatable Space Station Module Nears Launch
A few months ago I wrote a post on Bigelow Aerospace’s B330 inflatable space module, and how the technology could facilitate trips to Mars. Inflatable modules offer more space for less launch weight than rigid […]
Fire in Space
A fire on board a spacecraft is typically not a good thing. Just ask any of the six members of the Mir team in February of 1997 when a fire broke out on the Russian […]
ESA’s Moon Base and How it Gets Us to Mars
The European Space Agency (ESA) recently formalized plans to send missions to the moon beginning in the early 2020s, with manned missions following by the middle of the decade. By 2030, they hope to have […]
The Secret Space Station
The first space station was the Salyut 1, launched by the Soviet Union on April 19, 1971. The first U.S. station was Skylab, launched just over two years later. But those were almost upstaged by […]
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