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Yesterday, after almost a year onboard the International Space Station, NASA's tweet-happy automaton astronaut (dubbed Robonaut 2 by its creators) did something no robot has ever done in space: it shook a human's hand. You're looking at what could go down as one of the most iconic grip-and-grins in history — human or otherwise. More »
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One of the great fears of the early space race was what effect microgravity would have on human explorers — and while we know it won't instantly die when leaving the atmosphere, there's still a lot we don't know about the long term effects of low gravity. If we ever want to set up a long-term space settlement, it'd be good to have some idea what happens to the body in those environments... and according to some new research, it isn't good. More »
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On January 4, NASA shot this amazing composite image of the International Space Station crossing over the face of the Moon from Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. More »
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You may have heard how a portion of the Soyuz-2 rocket destroyed some poor guy's house in Siberia. That wasn't the only shenanigan Soyuz debris pulled last weekend. A portion of the Soyuz rocket that transported three astronauts to the International Space Station flared up the skies over Germany, Belgium, and France on Christmas Eve, leading confused observers to assume that Santa Claus had fed his reindeers napalm. More »
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High-energy radiation and atomic oxygen wreak havoc on satellite parts. To evaluate the durability of materials being developed for future satellites, the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory is running samples through a space-based torture test called MISSE-8. Astronauts bolted a platform full of one-inch samples of mirror coatings, laser-tuning crystals, structural foam and other materials to the outside of the International Space Station, where it will remain for just over two years. The samples, which were sent to the ISS on one of the last space shuttle flights, in May, will return to Earth in July 2013 on the SpaceX Dragon capsule. Scientists from the labs that made each sample will examine them for pitting, cracks and discoloration. More »
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Life on the International Space Station has its ups and downs (well, technically its ups and ups or downs and downs). Thanksgiving dinner comes in bags, but the views are undeniably ravishing. Another added perk of microgravity? You can play baseball by yourself. Allow ISS astronaut Satoshi Furukawa to demonstrate. More »
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It's orbiting the planet! It comes in airtight bags! You have to affix your cranberry sauce against the wall or it will fly up your nose! Just like Plymouth Plantation in 1621! The only difference these days is that NASA replaces zero-gravity turkey with braised moon spiders. More »
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Boy howdy, this video definitely confirms that if you're going to gaze at our planet, the International Space Station is the best seat in the house. This video was shot during Expeditions 28 and 29 aboard the ISS from August-October of this year. Time to pretend you're an alien fleet joy-riding through the Milky Way. More »
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Back in August, Russia's Progress 44 cargo vessel ran into complications on its delivery to the International Space Station, falling to Earth after the Soyuz-U rocket propelling it into space failed unexpectedly. More »
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The International Space Station is privy to many a gorgeous view of this big blue marble we live on, but this composite video of an evening on the ISS reinvents jaw-dropping. More »
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Astronaut Ron Garan has shared some amazing photography from the International Space Station before. Now he's snapped the southern lights from his privileged position on the ISS. More »
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It's decently likely that, sometime in the future, a major solar storm will hit Earth, wreaking havoc on our infrastructure and crippling our satellites. But there's a more long-term danger: space could become too dangerously radioactive to stay there. More »
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For personal reasons, I had to miss yesterday's NASA press conference, which gave an update on International Space Station operations following the failure and crash of a Progress resupply vehicle last week. When I returned home and saw the headlines about the briefing from other news sites, I thought, "Wow, everyone is really overreacting about how this might affect the space station." More »
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An uncrewed Russian cargo shipment to the International Space Station crashed into Siberia just minutes after blastoff this morning. The Russian space agency is reporting that the Progress M-12M cargo ship (pictured above) failed to detach from its launch vehicle at the correct stage of the launch, and was subsequently unable to enter the correct orbit. More »
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It's about time. After months of being boxed up in a crate, and five more months of sitting around after an awesome unboxing, NASA's Robonaut 2 helper droid has finally been powered up. More »
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On August 10, Bryan Stewart was filming a fly-by of the International Space Station in Texas when a Perseid meteor jumped into the shot. More »
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What an amazing image! The ATV-2 Johannes Kepler looks like an X-Wing fighter from Star Wars as it departs from the International Space Station. More »
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Nathan Bergey has built and programmed a lamp that shines whenever the International Space Station is in the vicinity. It's definitely a groovy idea, and what's even cooler is that the inventor's put directions and the code up for grabs. More »
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The space shuttle Endeavour has taken its final bow, but its last mission also marks the first time a space shuttle has ever been photographed while docked to the International Space Station. More »
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Fire takes a different form away from the force of gravity. Now a kaleidoscopic shot of heptane combustion from the International Space Station shows the unusual way fuels burn in weak gravity. More »
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On its final flight, the space shuttle Endeavour will carry the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer. It's a state-of-the-art particle detector that provides perhaps our best chance to find dark matter particles, and in this video NASA scientists explain how it works. More »
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The Space Shuttle Discovery's crew today includes one special robot — Robonaut 2, who has way more lifting and manipulation capacity than existing humanoid robots. Check out this super-dramatic movie-style trailer, showing why Robonaut is the bot with a mission. More »
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These pictures offer a spectacular view of the rising Moon from the International Space Station. But look closely at the Moon in these photos and you can see how it appears to be strangely squished. What's causing this weird effect? More »
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This is a once-in-several-lifetimes photograph. Thierry Legault journeyed from France to Oman to get this picture, showing a solar eclipse — in which the International Space Station is also transiting the sun at the same time. Click to enlarge. [BadAstronomy] More »
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This disaster always seems to happen in movies, but the chances of this occurring in real life are slim. But inquiring minds want to know — what's NASA's protocol for a float-away astronaut? More »
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Space travel is always expensive - especially having to build satellites on the ground and then drag them up into orbit. Why not use 3D printers to build those satellites in orbit? More »
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Robonaut 2, a robot designed to help astronauts with difficult tasks, will leave the earth behind and start his new life on the International Space Station in November. Check out what he can do now — and in the future. More »
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A rusty old cart sits in front of the Soyuz TMA-01M spacecraft at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, just a few days before its launch to the International Space Station. (The Soyuz craft, not the cart.) [Carla Cioffi/NASA via Space.com] More »
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It's a planetary disturbance so massive, it looks like the whole atmosphere is churning. This is Hurricane Danielle, photographed by astronaut Douglas H. Wheelock aboard the International Space Station. And click through for his picture of Hurricane Igor. More »
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Earth glows with a ghostly blue fire, as a sliver of moon rises above the horizon, in this amazing photo taken from the International Space Station. Seldom has the Earth looked so magical and... unearthly. Check out another pic below. More »
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This movie was taken by Don Pettit on the International Space Station - it's a time-lapse view of the Earth zooming by. You can see the northern lights glowing in the atmosphere, over illuminated cities. Gorgeous. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5630796&view=rss&microfeed=true Speaking of rapid aging, a new study found that just six months on the International Space Station caused super-fast deterioration in astronauts' muscles, leaving them as weak as people twice their age. According to the Associated Press, "the accelerated space aging is temporary: Astronauts' muscles recover after a few months back on Earth." But the findings, based on calf-muscle biopsies on Russian astronauts who were living on the ISS from 2002 to 2005, are worrying for the future of deep-space exploration in general. The worst deterioriation happened in the slow-twitch muscle fibers, which are crucial for balance and posture, and the strongest weightlifting astronauts were the hardest hit. [Associated Press] More »
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On May 29, this photo was taken on the International Space Station by a NASA astronaut on Expedition 23. It shows aurora australis, the southern Lights, zigzagging towards the South Pole. More »
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Photographer Thierry Legault captured this picture of the International Space Station and the shuttle Atlantis as their orbit took them in front of the sun — a transit that lasted all of a half a second. More »
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If you ever wondered whether the pyramids were visible from space, wonder no longer. Astronaut Soichi Noguchi twittered this picture of the pyramids as seen from the International Space Station. [via BadAstronomer] More »
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Earth's atmosphere shimmers in the sunlight, against a dark background, in this amazing photo taken by the crew of the International Space Station during a docking with the Space Shuttle Atlantis. [NASA] More »
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Space Shuttle Atlantis took to the skies this week, carrying thousands of microscopic worms to be used in muscle-degeneration research. We already know these worms can handle spaceflight, because in 2003, another group of them survived a fall from orbit. More »
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With the toilet on the International Space Station busted once again, we can't help but wonder whether humanity is doomed to a space-faring future without working facilities. Fortunately, there are plenty of fictional, functional space toilets to ease our minds. More »
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A specially designed rocket soars over Wallops Island, VA, on its way to test a new astronaut escape system for NASA's Orion spacecraft, due to start launching in 2015. Want to see the fancy new escape system? There are parachutes... More »
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It's the moment that all astronauts knew that they'd have to face, but really didn't want to: The drinking of their own recycled urine. And, just to make the event more pleasurable, these astronauts are doing it on camera. More »
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