Is this a new dawn for suborbital travel? The Blue Origin company’s New Shepard rocket test vehicle made a successful flight into space on its second mission from its West Texas launch pad on 23 November 2015. Blue Origin aims to develop a series of reusable passenger carrying space vehicles Read more…
Humans have been exploring mysterious lands and faraway civilizations for hundreds of years ever since they had the ability and knowledge to do so. A curiosity and a desire to investigate the unknown has helped humans learn more about the world around us. Technology today has also developed to allow Read more…
The year 2014 could see the first 3D printer brought into space, the first fare-paying passengers leave Planet Earth on the Virgin Galactic and the first test mission of a new vehicle called Orion that might one day take humans to Mars. Exciting stuff, bring on 2014! But what else Read more…
So, last year I compiled a top 10 list of the best Space/Astronomy gifts which you can view by clicking here. I was so looking forward to receiving my Sheldon bobble head but it looks like those close to me did not take the hint! So this year I have Read more…
Imagine taking two human beings and sealing them in a box for 500 days. The pair must survive on only the boxes of food and water crammed around them. Throughout their confinement they are at risk of being sprayed with a lethal dose of radiation. This is not the cruel Read more…
In the upcoming weeks you will be hearing in the news the words “Dragon Spacecraft”, so Sinead McNicholl has the full story on what exactly this new vehicle is and what it will be used for. The Dragon is a spacecraft developed by a company called the Space Read more…
Once upon a time rockets were exciting symbols of a glorious and exciting future when everyone would get their chance to have a holiday on the Moon. Well the future is now and the lunar resorts are still not here. Launch vehicles are another dull but necessary piece of civilisation’s Read more…
What exciting space events has 2012 in store for us? What important space anniversaries are coming up this year? Welcome to our annual guide to what the Universe has waiting ahead! This year marks twenty years since the first extra-solar planets were discovered when a pair of planets were Read more…
Back in December 2009, with great fanfare, space tourism company Virgin Galactic unveiled the vehicles their fare-paying passengers will ride in as they ascend into space. Built by the Spaceship Company (a coventure of Virgin and that supremely adventurous aircraft manufacturer Scaled Composites), the pair are engineering marvels. The huge Read more…
Virgin Galactic, the space tourism company founded by Richard Branson, is celebrating the first glide test of its SpaceShipTwo spaceplane this weekend. Piloted by Pete Siebold and Mike Alsbury, the VSS Enterprise was released from its WhiteKnightTwo mothership at an altitude of 13.7km (45 000 ft) for a unpowered Read more…
Sub-orbital space tourism took a step forward on Monday 22 March 2010 when Virgin Galactic’s first spaceplane, VSS Enterprise, took to the air for the first time. The amazing craft was carried by its equally extraordinary twin-fuselage WhiteKnightTwo mothership throughout the flight which was made from Mojave Air and Space Read more…