NASA Voyager Heads Into Deep Space: Should We Expect Visitors Soon?

Grok Headline matches for NASA Voyager Heads Into Deep Space: Should We Expect Visitors Soon?

NASA Considers Space Visitors

NASA Considers Space Visitors 04/12/2004 04:56 AM
The Russian Space Agency wants to make room for paying customers to travel to the international space station. NASA is considering the proposal, which would mean lengthening the time astronauts stay on the station to a year.

NASA weighs request for space visitors

NASA weighs request for space visitors 04/12/2004 02:19 PM
globetechnology.com Apr 12 2004 6:46PM GMT

NASA Proposes Ending Voyager

NASA Proposes Ending Voyager 04/05/2005 02:24 PM

Voyager 1 Reaches Interstellar Space

Voyager 1 Reaches Interstellar Space 11/05/2003 04:45 PM
letxa2000 writes "CNN is reporting that Voyager 1, now some 8.4 billion miles (90 AUs) from the sun, has left the solar system and entered interstellar space ...

Voyager I on verge of interstellar space

Voyager I on verge of interstellar space 11/05/2003 10:34 PM
USA Today Nov 5 2003 9:50PM ET

Three and a half-year old SETI@home
project identifies candidate radio
signals from space, heads for Arecibo to
take second look | SpaceRef - Your Space
Reference

Three and a half-year old SETI@home
project identifies candidate radio
signals from space, heads for Arecibo to
take second look | SpaceRef - Your Space
Reference 03/13/2003 10:21 AM
the SETI@home screensaver that crunches data in search of intelligent signals from space has produced a list of candidate radio sources that deserve a second look

track this site | 11 links

Helping NASA keep track of its
employees, associates and visitors

Helping NASA keep track of its
employees, associates and visitors 06/05/2005 11:57 PM
I spent a fascinating three days last week in Washington, D.C. where I was invited to be on an external review team for a large-scale identity management project at NASA.

Some at NASA Say Its Culture Is
Changing, but Others Say Problems Still
Run Deep

Some at NASA Say Its Culture Is
Changing, but Others Say Problems Still
Run Deep 04/04/2005 04:41 AM
Some are questioning how serious the space agency is about fixing the "broken safety culture" that investigators have said was a major cause of the Columbia disaster.

Maryland Game Developer Vision
Videogames Receives NASA Space Act
Agreement To Develop Space Station Game

Maryland Game Developer Vision
Videogames Receives NASA Space Act
Agreement To Develop Space Station Game 05/31/2004 01:55 PM
Vision Videogames of Towson, Maryland received a Space Act Agreement from The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) earlier this month to develop their PC/PS2/Xbox game, Space Station:SIM, due for consumer release this Christmas season. The Space Act Agreement is a continuation of one received by GRS Games before Vision Videogames management bought out the company in March 2004. It allows Vision Videogames a flow of information from, and access to, NASA personnel so the company can gather information to build their game. “The game has captured everyone’s imagination. We have individuals and international agencies including JAXA (The Japanese Space Agency) volunteering to help us with drawings, science, music – anything you can imagine,” says company president Bill Mueller. In Space Station:SIM, the player assumes the roll of the Chief Administrator of NASA, creating astronaut crewmembers with unique needs, abilities and personalities while managing their activities and personal relationships like “The SIMS®”. [PRWEB May 31, 2004]

Deep Impact Nasa to fire projectile at
Comet!

Deep Impact Nasa to fire projectile at
Comet! 12/24/2004 12:47 PM

I guess I am into domesday scenarios, and think if you are going to spend money to fire a projectile at a comet then why not fire a nuke at it and see what effect that has. Instead they plan on making a mini crater on the comet and looking at the dust. I suppose a nuke would defeat their plan to look at the dust created by the impact. [ZDNet]

Deep Space Diplomacy

Deep Space Diplomacy 04/22/2004 10:52 PM
Deep Space Diplomacy is back!!!

Duct tape/Deep Space/Gravity=Fun

Duct tape/Deep Space/Gravity=Fun 12/29/2004 04:35 PM
Great Shockwave Game - "Doom Funnel Chasers" asks you to launch projectiles through space, plugging the funnels o' doom. Each attempt leaves its own trail, producing a fun Spirograph-ic effect. [Found via Qarcade]

New Look for NASA for the Next Space Age

New Look for NASA for the Next Space Age 06/25/2004 12:42 AM
Responding to outside recommendations, NASA has begun a top-to-bottom reorganization that will make it leaner and more focused on its goals.

New Crew Heads To Space Station

New Crew Heads To Space Station 04/15/2005 09:46 AM
CBS News Apr 15 2005 1:21PM GMT

Crew heads for space station

Crew heads for space station 04/16/2005 02:44 AM
OptusNet Apr 16 2005 6:12AM GMT

The Next Space Race: China Heads to the
Stars

The Next Space Race: China Heads to the
Stars 01/22/2004 04:38 PM
The U.S. and China stand at a critical juncture, between cooperation or competition, in what could be a costly and dangerous new space race.

Space Station's Next Crew Heads to
Launch Pad

Space Station's Next Crew Heads to
Launch Pad 04/10/2005 12:54 PM
Sci-Tech Today Apr 10 2005 4:42PM GMT

Private Rocket Plane Heads to Space

Private Rocket Plane Heads to Space 06/21/2004 12:14 PM
MOJAVE, Calif. (AP) -- A rocket plane soared toward space Monday in a historic attempt to make the first privately financed spaceflight.

TalkToAliens.com -- World's First
"Intergalactic Communication System" --
Now Transmitting for the Public into
Deep Space

TalkToAliens.com -- World's First
"Intergalactic Communication System" --
Now Transmitting for the Public into
Deep Space 03/14/2005 06:15 PM
TalkToAliens.com allows the public to broadcast messages into space via a custom engineered "Intergalactic Transmitter" and parabolic dish antenna. People simply need to call the TalkToAliens.com phone line. The system operates 24 hours a day. [PRWEB Mar 9, 2005]

Nasa blasts iPaqs into space

Nasa blasts iPaqs into space 05/07/2004 10:43 AM
Personal Computer World May 7 2004 2:17PM GMT

Beckham penalty outrage ball heads for
space

Beckham penalty outrage ball heads for
space 08/06/2004 07:48 AM
X-prize bid for infamous sphere

Japanese tourist heads for space station
(Reuters)

Japanese tourist heads for space station
(Reuters) 05/18/2004 08:52 PM
Reuters - A U.S. space travel agency and a Japanese advertising firm aim to send a "prominent Japanese figure" to the International Space Station aboard a Russian Soyuz, the Space Adventures company says.

A Fresh Crew Heads to the International
Space Station

A Fresh Crew Heads to the International
Space Station 04/19/2004 05:45 AM
A U.S. astronaut, a Russian and a Dutchman blasted off in a Soyuz TMA-4 craft and soared into the clear, blue sky above Russia's Baikonur cosmodrome today.

Hurricane Frances heads straight for the
space coast

Hurricane Frances heads straight for the
space coast 09/01/2004 10:09 AM
Xeni Jardin: JP says:

Thanks to newfangled satellites and high speed computers Floridians now enjoy many days fair warning that disaster approaches -- unlike many other natural and voting disasters-- but will everyone get out of the way? Frances' projected path now shifts towards Cape Canaveral. Unfortunately some prized national treasures cannot be moved and NASA workers are already powering down the Space Shuttle orbiters, closing their payload bay doors and stowing their landing gear. Fingers are crossed as the launch control center is built to withstand a Category 5 storm but many buildings at KSC can take only a Category 3 storm or less, including the buildings that house the space shuttles.

Forecasters say conditions are "favorable" for Frances to strengthen within the next 48 hours into a Category 5 storm.

Only three Category 5 storms have ever landed in the U.S. since 1900. If Frances hits Florida it will be the first time since 1950 that two major hurricanes have slammed into the state within a month. American taxpayer dollars fund the ongoing research and early warning Geostationary Satellite Server Storm Floater 1 Satellite. If you live in Florida pay heed to the visible image< /a> loo p as well as the Hurricane Hunter researchers. Even if the current computer models are not accurate it seems as if yet another chunk of Florida is about to have a very bad Labor Day weekend...

Link to image of storm's approach

NASA Taking Chances on Space Station
(AP)

NASA Taking Chances on Space Station
(AP) 06/23/2004 05:34 PM
AP - NASA is taking bigger chances and more of them — even bending its own safety rules — to keep the international space station running with a two-man crew and no shuttle visits.

NASA Taking Chances on Space Station

NASA Taking Chances on Space Station 06/25/2004 12:30 AM
Abcnews.go.com - Thu Jun 24, 07:38 am GMT

Hollywood to Help NASA Catch Space Probe

Hollywood to Help NASA Catch Space Probe 09/08/2004 03:09 AM
In a meeting of the cinematic with the scientific, Hollywood helicopter stunt pilots will try to snatch a returning NASA space probe out of the air before it hits the ground.

NASA Expects Space Shuttles to Fly Again
by Next Spring

NASA Expects Space Shuttles to Fly Again
by Next Spring 04/30/2004 11:17 PM
NASA has made sufficient progress modifying the space shuttle fleet to warrant growing confidence that the spacecraft can safely resume flying next spring.

NASA Finally Gets Down to Business Side
of Space

NASA Finally Gets Down to Business Side
of Space 07/21/2004 02:44 AM
On the 35th anniversary of man's first landing on the moon, NASA came to the international air show in Farnborough, England, to take one giant leap into the business side of space exploration.

Should NASA send government employees
into space?

Should NASA send government employees
into space? 01/07/2004 04:20 PM

On April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin ushered in an era of government-operated manned space flight.  In the intervening 42 years we've seen the following:

• several accidents in which NASA flight accidents have killed off government employees who had become public heroes, a popular schoolteacher, etc., causing widespread international grief (plus a bit of euphoria in the Palestinian world after the crash of the Columbia)
• an inability by NASA to take the risk or massive expense out of manned space flights
• improvements in technology have led to various private groups (see http://www.xprize.org/) deciding that personal space travel has become practical

Perhaps it is time to ask the question "Why should NASA operate manned space flights?"  I.e., is sending a human into space an inherently governmental function?

In some ways it would appear that the U.S. government must be involved. No private individual or company can afford to set up a worldwide tracking and communications network.  No private individual or company can afford to invest in fundamental research and development on new kinds of jet and rocket motors.

Yet the same arguments could be made for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).  It makes sense to have the government fund infrastructure that facilitates flight.  The FAA pays weather briefers and air traffic controllers.  The FAA funds airport design, construction, and maintenance.  The FAA researches instrument approaches to airports and publishers procedures that it believes to be safe.  The FAA certifies airplanes, pilots, and airlines.

But the FAA doesn't buy the planes or have its employees fly them.

When the U.S. government goes flying it is extremely risk-averse.  Army helicopter pilots train in expensive Bell Jet Ranger turbine-powered helicopters ($600/hour).  The Black Hawk helicopters have airbags to lessen injuries to occupants in the event of a crash.  The Feds look at a piston-powered Robinson R22 ($150/hour; the standard private sector trainer) or a homebuilt helicopter with horror.  They'd never want to be responsible for an 18-year-old Army kid going into one of those death machines.  Roughly half of the crashes of homebuilt airplanes supposedly occur on the very first flight.  The FAA is well aware of the dismal statistics but they're happy to check your work, give you an Experimental certificate for your new kitplane, and wish you good luck.

Conclusion:  there are plenty of activities that the Federal government facilitates but considers too risky to undertake.  They don't want a Federal employee doing it but if Irving Goldberg, a divorced retired dermatologist, wants to do it they will actually facilitate his risk-taking.

Why not do space travel the same way?  NASA can fund all of the infrastructure, do research, sell rockets cheap, and then shake the hand of any adventurous folks who want to head up beyond the Wild Blue Yonder.  In the small airplane world we have Angel Flight in which private pilots volunteer their time and airplanes to transport medical patients and their families, to the tune of approximately 15,000 missions per year.  Similarly in the private space travel world the government could ask these adventurers "Say, as long as you're going up into space, would you mind conducting this experiment for us?"

It was a national tragedy when Christa McAuliffe died on the Challenger.  It is only a minor local news event when an adventurous soul crashes his or her small aircraft.

Frances Damages NASA Space Center

Frances Damages NASA Space Center 09/07/2004 12:57 AM
Abcnews.go.com - Mon Sep 6, 10:40 pm GMT

NASA: Space Station Running Low on
Oxygen (AP)

NASA: Space Station Running Low on
Oxygen (AP) 09/24/2004 06:09 PM
AP - Oxygen and food will be worrisomely low on the international space station by Christmas, and it's crucial that a Russian supply ship get there by then, a top NASA official said Friday.

NASA Acknowledges Space Shuttle Risks
(AP)

NASA Acknowledges Space Shuttle Risks
(AP) 04/06/2005 07:34 AM
AP - After a two-year struggle to keep big chunks of foam from coming off the shuttle fuel tank during launch, NASA acknowledged Tuesday even marshmallow-size pieces could doom the spacecraft under the worst circumstances.

New Crew to Leave for Space Station on
Oct. 11, NASA Says

New Crew to Leave for Space Station on
Oct. 11, NASA Says 09/25/2004 03:21 AM
A new crew will be sent to the International Space Station next month, even though there are concerns about adequate oxygen and other supplies.

First-Of-A-Kind Private Rocket Plane
Heads to Space (Reuters)

First-Of-A-Kind Private Rocket Plane
Heads to Space (Reuters) 06/21/2004 09:07 AM
Reuters - SpaceShipOne lifted off early on Monday in the initial stage of the world's first attempted commercial space flight.

"TalkToAliens.com" Unveils "E-Mail to
Aliens" -- The World's First Public
Service for Sending E-Mails into Deep
Space

"TalkToAliens.com" Unveils "E-Mail to
Aliens" -- The World's First Public
Service for Sending E-Mails into Deep
Space 03/22/2005 03:26 PM
TalkToAliens.com allows the public to broadcast telephone and e-mail messages into space via a custom engineered "Intergalactic Transmitter" and parabolic dish antenna. The system operates 24 hours a day. [PRWEB Mar 22, 2005]

NASA pumps $400m into nuclear space
probe

NASA pumps $400m into nuclear space
probe 09/22/2004 07:54 AM
Fission-fuelled trip to Jupiter

House Asks NASA to Postpone Space Plane

House Asks NASA to Postpone Space Plane 10/28/2003 11:06 PM

NASA names space exploration panel
leader

NASA names space exploration panel
leader 06/02/2004 01:05 AM
AP via New Jersey Online Jun 2 2004 4:49AM GMT
Grok Description matches for NASA Voyager Heads Into Deep Space: Should We Expect Visitors Soon?
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NASA Voyager Heads Into Deep Space: Should We Expect Visitors Soon?

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