“Manned spacecraft” on The Daily Caller

Critics of NASA aren’t saying “I told you so” yet, but some of them are surely muttering it under their breath. The word from the space agency last week was that the International Space Station (ISS), the American-led, $100-billion skyliner that has been continually occupied by astronauts for more than a decade, may have to be evacuated by early December if the Russian space agency can’t sort out what caused an unmanned Soyuz rocket on a resupply mission to crash into Siberia on Aug. 24, scattering nearly two tons of cargo across a barren stretch near the Mongolian border. Since post-shuttle NASA now relies on Soyuz rockets to carry American astronauts up and down, it may mean everyone out of the pool till the booster malfunction can be analyzed and fixed. (more)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA’s 30-year shuttle program inched closer to the end Wednesday, wrapping up its second-to-last mission and moving Atlantis to the launch pad for next month’s final flight. (more)

The X-37B robotic spacecraft, which resembles a miniature version of the space shuttle, touched down at Vandenberg Air Force Base early Friday morning, marking the first time an American unmanned vehicle returned from orbit to land on its own. (more)

Call it “American Idol” in space: NASA has launched a new contest that allows the public to pick – or even create – wake-up songs for astronauts flying on the agency’s two final space shuttle missions. (more)

A cargo vessel which failed to dock with the International Space Station is under control, a Russian space agency official has said. (more)

NASA is getting hit up for extra launch passes, and mission stickers and pins are flying off the shelf. Another Twittering crowd is descending on the space center. Even science fiction writers want in on the action. (more)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Space shuttle Discovery is back on Earth. (more)

On the 20th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, President George H.W. Bush capitalized on the excitement surrounding the commemoration of the landmark spacewalk by announcing big goals for the U.S. space program. In remarks delivered at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum on July 20, 1989, he said the U.S. would go, “Back to the moon: back to the future. And this time, back to stay,” hinting at the much promised manned moon base that was supposed to have gotten under way in the 1970s. He also said the U.S. would launch a manned mission to Mars. Though Bush’s announcement served to excite NASA and the public, the numbers weren’t pretty. A NASA study estimated the long-term cost of Bush’s plan would be approximately $500 billion — a staggering figure, even when spread across 20 to 30 years. As a result, NASA transitioned away from human exploration and focused on earth and space science. (more)

They’ve lived with each other for extended periods of time in very close quarters, but that doesn’t mean America’s astronauts see eye-to-eye. (more)

When America’s space shuttle program ends in September, the U.S. will be completely dependent on Russian rockets for launching men and women into space — and bringing them back. But what will happen to America’s astronauts if relations between the U.S. and Russia sour? (more)

Astronauts moved a cargo module the size of a mini bus the short distance from space shuttle Discovery’s payload bay to the International Space Station’s (ISS) Harmony node Thursday morning, setting the stage for a carefully choreographed ballet to begin transferring tons of supplies and equipment to and from and the orbiting laboratory (more)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Discovery’s astronauts surveyed their ship Tuesday for signs of launch damage, but the job was complicated by the failure of the space shuttle’s big dish antenna. (more)

A Russian Soyuz space capsule carrying a U.S. astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut from the International Space Station landed safely in Kazakhstan on Thursday. (more)

When archaeologists unearth the relics of the American Century, the space race will be our Holy Grail. Space was our New World. In 1962, when John F. Kennedy declared “we choose to go to the moon,” he encouraged every American to look up to the stars and summon the spirit of Columbus staring across the Atlantic. During the Apollo program every American taxpayer became a deckhand on the voyage to the moon. It was a journey that created the world we now live in, spawning GPS systems, plastics, alloy metals, cordless power tools and cancer detecting CAT scans (more)

U.S. space shuttle Endeavor arrived back on earth after a two-week mission to install the 16-ton “Tranquility” node and its attendant cupola on the International Space Station, which will give the facility’s crew more docking space for vehicles. The cupola includes windows for a sweeping view of earth, the better for crew to manipulate a robotic arm used to help dock craft heading for the station. Endeavor’s was one of the few remaining missions before NASA plans on mothballing its shuttles by the end of the year. (more)

A moon rock that was retrieved from the lunar surface by Apollo 11 crewmembers and later carried to the top of Everest by a mountaineering astronaut is back in outer space, thanks to the shuttle Endeavour. (more)

On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong, stepping onto the lunar surface, spoke the now iconic words, “That’s one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind.” Most Americans born subsequent to that seminal day are not able to appreciate the national pride and world approval shown then for a truly landmark achievement of humankind. And now, 40 years later, these new generations of Americans might just witness the death of America’s human space program. (more)

Astronauts did some rearranging at the International Space Station for the second night in a row Monday, moving an old docking adapter into a new position. (more)

Hours after Super Bowl fireworks lit up Miami, the Florida night sky was again ablaze as the space shuttle Endeavour lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in the shuttle program’s last, scheduled night launch. (more)

The space shuttle Endeavour lifted off from Kennedy Space Center early Monday on a two-week mission to the international space station. (more)