December 2013

Astronauts make rare Christmas Eve spacewalk

December 24th, 2013|Categories: News, Photography|Tags: , , , , , |

CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA. – Two space station astronauts popped in a new pump during a rare Christmas Eve spacewalk Tuesday, eager to wrap up urgent repairs to a cooling system. It was the second spacewalk in four days for U.S. astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Michael Hopkins, and only the second [...]

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Spacewalkers do repairs more quickly than expected — and stay dry

December 23rd, 2013|Categories: News|Tags: , , , , , |

Two NASA spacewalkers started fixing the International Space Station's cooling system more quickly than expected on Saturday, with no sign of the helmet-flooding problem that led NASA to outfit astronauts with snorkels for the first time. Astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Mike Hopkins finished the first of three planned spacewalks in [...]

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Private Rocket Launch Thursday Night Visible from US East Coast

December 17th, 2013|Categories: News, Photography|Tags: , , , , , , , |

People along the east coast of the United States should get a great opportunity to see a rocket launch from their own backyards this week. Weather permitting, observers from Massachusetts to the Carolinas could see an International Space Station-bound Cygnus spacecraft launch atop a two-stage Antares rocket Thursday (Dec. 19) [...]

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Why the next decade’s hot space race revolves around the moon

December 6th, 2013|Categories: News, Photography|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

If China’s just-launched Chang’e 3 lunar probe (quaintly known as the Jade Rabbit) drops its robotic rover down on the Moon’s surface in mid-December as scheduled, it will be the first soft landing on our nearest celestial neighbor in 37 years. It also kicks off a resurgence of interest in [...]

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