SCIENCE
July 30, 2012
1960 USSR - Marsnik 1: Rocket failed USSR - Marsnik 2: Rocket failed 1962 USSR - Sputnik 22: Exploded in Earth orbit during Cuban missile crisis; debris triggered U.S. early warning radar systems. USSR - Mars 1: Radio failed at 65.9 million miles. USSR - Sputnik 24: Achieved Earth orbit only. 1964 U.S. - Mariner 3: Cover of craft never detached from rocket. U.S. - Mariner 4: First Mars success; returned 21 photos.
SCIENCE
June 23, 2012 | By Amina Khan, Los Angeles Times
NASA led the way for Americans in space, but now the U.S. space agency is actively encouraging companies to take over primary responsibility for getting in and out of Earth's orbit. Last month, a capsule built and operated by SpaceX completed a nine-day cargo-hauling mission to the International Space Station, becoming the first private-sector spacecraft to make such a journey. But it won't be the last. Ed Mango, manager of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, is charged with helping companies develop vehicles that could ferry astronauts - and eventually, perhaps, civilians - on routine trips to space.
SCIENCE
January 14, 2012 | By Eryn Brown, Los Angeles Times
An ill-fated 14.6-ton Russian spacecraft built to explore the Martian moon Phobos is expected to crash back to Earth this weekend, Russian officials said. Exactly where and when Phobos-Ground will strike, nobody knows. But scientists say it could fall as far north as London or as far south as Patagonia, leaving most populated portions of the planet at risk. Most of the craft will burn up as it reenters the atmosphere, and because the majority of Earth's surface is covered by water, chances are the space vehicle won't crash on land.
WORLD
November 29, 2011 | By Sergei L. Loiko, Los Angeles Times
Russia's space program has a bad case of the Red Planet blues. As the NASA rover Curiosity, launched Saturday from Cape Canaveral, Fla., streaks toward Mars, Russia's Phobos-Ground probe is marooned in near-Earth orbit and largely unresponsive to commands from ground controllers. Russian officials acknowledge that the narrow ballistic window for the spacecraft to reach Mars has closed, making it another in a series of failures for the country's space research. Since the retirement of the last space shuttle in July, U.S. astronauts heading to the International Space Station need to hitch a ride with the Russians, but officials say Russia's space program is suffering from worn-out equipment, a graying workforce and inability to attract a new generation of young specialists.
SCIENCE
July 28, 2011 | By Amina Khan, Los Angeles Times
Turns out the moon's not the Earth's only traveling companion. Space scientists have discovered an asteroid that's been following our fair planet for thousands of years, at least — and there may be many more where it came from, according to a recent study. If other so-called Trojan asteroids are found, they could turn out to be ideal candidates for a visit from astronauts, something NASA hopes will be possible within the next 15 years. Most of the asteroids in the solar system populate the belt of rocky debris between Mars and Jupiter.
OPINION
March 22, 2010 | By Louis Friedman
It is an old saying in Washington: "The president proposes, but Congress disposes." Congress may well dispose of the president's plan for NASA, but if all they do is try to protect the special interests of their own congressional districts, then we will again have a human spaceflight program with no rationale except to protect vested interests. Twenty-seven members of Congress (two-thirds of them from Alabama and Texas) have written to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden saying: "The termination of the Constellation programs is a proposal by the president, but it is Congress who will accept or reject that proposal.