NASA Archives - The Minnesota Sun

Troubled Boeing Spacecraft Returns to Earth Without Pilots on Board

September 7, 2024 Daily Caller News Foundation

A Boeing spacecraft successfully returned to Earth on Saturday, without the pilots on board.

The Boeing Starliner has been plagued with technical problems since it was launched into space with astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore more than three months ago, essentially stranding the pilots in space. NASA and Boeing have been deliberating options as to how to get Williams and Wilmore home and decided to keep them in space for the time being rather than fly them home on the troubled return vessel, which successfully touched down in New Mexico on Saturday.

NASA Says Its Working on Schedule for Next Moon Mission After Watchdog Report

December 11, 2023 The Center Square

NASA said it is working on a timeline for its next crewed mission to the moon after a Congressional watchdog reported that the space agency’s planned 2025 date was “unrealistic.”

The U.S. Government Accountability Office reported in late November that NASA’s timeline for the Artemis III mission was “unrealistic.”

Biden Moves to Shift Power over Defense Contracts to Climate Activist ‘Cabal’ Bent on Curtailing Economic Growth

June 7, 2023 Minnesota Sun Staff

The Biden White House is pushing to give veto power over major Pentagon contracts to a group of climate activist groups that advocate for establishing “guardrails” on economic growth, according to a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation.

The White House proposed a rule in November that requires major contractors for the Department of Defense (DOD), NASA, and Government Services Agency (GSA) to submit climate-related goals to a consortium of activist organizations, called the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), for validation. If the SBTi rejects the contractor’s plan to reduce emissions, the company would no longer be eligible to compete.

NASA Commissions UFO Study

June 14, 2022June 13, 2022 Admin

NASA on Thursday announced plans to create a scientific study starting this Fall to investigate “unidentified aerial phenomena,” also known as UFOs.

The space agency stressed in a press release that there is no evidence showing that the aircraft are of extra-terrestrial origins.

Bezos Offers to Waive $2 Billion in Fees to Secure Lunar Landing Contract

July 28, 2021July 27, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

Former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos offered to waive $2 billion in payments to secure his spaceflight company Blue Origin a NASA contract.

Bezos asked NASA Administrator Bill Nelson in an open letter Monday to award Blue Origin a contract to construct a Human Landing System (HLS), a lunar-landing vehicle, as part of the Artemis program, offering to waive up to $2 billion in fees. Elon Musk’s space company SpaceX had been awarded the $2.9 billion contract in April, beating out Blue Origin’s bid, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The Artemis program is intended to return human astronauts to the Moon, with a manned mission to Mars planned as well. Though the program was initially planned as a joint contract, it was awarded solely to SpaceX due to budgetary constraints which Bezos’ offer sought to alleviate, according to the letter.

“Blue Origin will bridge the HLS budgetary funding shortfall by waiving all payments in the current and next two government fiscal years up to $2 billion to get the program back on track right now,” Bezos wrote in the letter.

Commentary: Wally Funk’s Lifelong Journey to the Stars

July 10, 2021July 9, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

Mary Wallace “Wally” Funk always wanted to fly. She had her first flying lesson when she was nine years old and grew up making wooden planes, building treehouses, riding horses, biking, hunting, and fishing. As a young girl growing up in the 1940s and 1950s, Wally recalls, “I did everything that people didn’t expect a girl to do.”

Wally’s curiosity and love of flying, however, would ultimately shape the rest of her life. She obtained her flying license at Stephens College when she was in her teens, then joined the “Flying Aggies” aviation team at Oklahoma State University, where she earned a degree in education. Wally then got her first job at Fort Sill, Oklahoma where she was the only female flight instructor.

At the height of the Space Race, in 1961, when she was just 22 years old, Wally became infatuated with the idea of taking her passion for flying to the next level, as an astronaut in space.

NASA Makes History with First Helicopter Flight on Another Planet

April 20, 2021April 19, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration made history Monday morning when it conducted the first ever powered and controlled flight on a different planet.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Ingenuity, a solar-powered helicopter, took flight on Mars for more than 39 seconds, reaching a maximum altitude of 10 feet, the agency announced. Hours after the flight, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California confirmed the success after it received data sent from the helicopter.

“Ingenuity is the latest in a long and storied tradition of NASA projects achieving a space exploration goal once thought impossible,” acting NASA Administrator Steve Jurczyk said in a statement Monday.

NASA Releases Perseverance Rover’s First Photos of Mars

February 22, 2021February 21, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration released the first photos taken by its Perseverance rover on Mars after it became just the fifth rover to ever successfully complete the landing.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) photos released Saturday showed Mars’s vast landscape and rocky terrain. On Thursday, Perseverance successfully completed its landing on the Red Planet after a nearly seven-month flight from Earth.

Space Abounds in Security Threats, Technological Promise, NASA Chief Says

October 10, 2020October 9, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

In a wide-ranging interview on “Just the News AM,” NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine touted his agency’s innovations in 3D-organ printing, immunization, and fiber optics made possible through microgravity in space.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine on Thursday applauded the United States’ recent ending of nine years of reliance on Russia to transport American astronauts to the International Space Station, while also warning of the growing threat of Chinese and Russian anti-satellite technologies.

Texas A&M Professor and NASA Researcher Zhengdong Cheng Arrested for Alleged China Ties

August 25, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

Texas A&M professor and NASA researcher Zhengdong Cheng was arrested Sunday for alleged conspiracy, false statements, and wire fraud.

According to a United States Department of Justice press release, Cheng allegedly “willfully took steps to obscure his affiliations and collaboration with a Chinese University and at least one Chinese-owned company.”

SpaceX Capsule and NASA Crew Make First Splashdown in 45 Years

August 3, 2020August 2, 2020 The Associated Press

Two NASA astronauts returned to Earth on Sunday in a dramatic, retro-style splashdown, their capsule parachuting into the Gulf of Mexico to close out an unprecedented test flight by Elon Musk’s SpaceX company.

It was the first splashdown by U.S. astronauts in 45 years, with the first commercially built and operated spacecraft to carry people to and from orbit. The return clears the way for another SpaceX crew launch as early as next month and possible tourist flights next year.

NASA’s Next Mars Rover Sports Brawn, Brains, and Even a Helicopter

July 28, 2020July 27, 2020 The Associated Press

With eight successful Mars landings, NASA is upping the ante with its newest rover.

The spacecraft Perseverance — set for liftoff this week — is NASA’s biggest and brainiest Martian rover yet.

It sports the latest landing tech, plus the most cameras and microphones ever assembled to capture the sights and sounds of Mars. Its super-sanitized sample return tubes — for rocks that could hold evidence of past Martian life — are the cleanest items ever bound for space. A helicopter is even tagging along for an otherworldly test flight.

Hole in the Ozone Layer Shrinks to Smallest Size on Record

October 23, 2019October 22, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

The hole in the ozone layer shrank to its smallest size since scientists began recording it, NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Monday.

Commentary: Fifty Years Ago, the Eagle Landed

July 20, 2019July 19, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

by Lee Edwards Let us pause to celebrate the 50th-anniversary today of a mission once thought impossible: the landing of a man on the moon. Let us proclaim, without embarrassment, that America, and only America, had the requisite leadership, scientific community, and resources to make it possible for Apollo…

NASA Will Allow Private Citizens at the International Space Station

June 8, 2019June 7, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

by Shelby Talcott NASA announced its plan to open the International Space Station (ISS) as early as 2020 to private astronauts who want to see life on the other side of Earth’s atmosphere. Parts of the ISS will be opened for space tourism and commercial filming, according to The…

Astronaut to Eclipse Record for Longest US Spaceflight by a Woman

April 19, 2019April 18, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

A female astronaut is due to set a record for the longest spaceflight by a woman, the U.S. space agency said Wednesday, the same astronaut who was to have been in the first all-female spacewalk scrapped over lack of a right-sized spacesuit. Astronaut Christina Koch, who completed the spacewalk with…

After the Moon in 2024, NASA Wants to Reach Mars by 2033

April 3, 2019April 2, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

NASA has made it clear they want astronauts back on the Moon in 2024, and now, they are zeroing in on the Red Planet – the US space agency confirmed that it wants humans to reach Mars by 2033. Jim Bridenstine, NASA’s administrator, said Tuesday that in order to achieve…

Pence Calls for Landing US Astronauts on Moon in Five Years

March 28, 2019March 27, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday called for landing astronauts on the moon within five years, an accelerated pace that would aim to put Americans on the lunar south pole. Pence said NASA needs to achieve that goal “by any means necessary.” Speaking at a meeting of the National Space…

FAKE NEWS: Headline-Grabbing Ocean Warming Study is Full of ‘Factual Errors and Misleading Statements,’ Scientist Says

January 22, 2019January 22, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

by Michael Bastach Another major headline-grabbing climate study suggesting oceans have warmed faster than previously thought is full of “factual errors and misleading statements,” according to independent scientist Nic Lewis. Lewis challenged the climate paper’s central arguments that more recent estimates of ocean heat content (OHC) are higher than…

NASA Makes Space History with Distant Fly-By

January 2, 2019January 1, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

Just 33 minutes into the New Year, NASA’s New Horizons probe made space exploration history, flying by the most distant body ever visited by a spacecraft from earth. The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, which built and operates the spacecraft, said Tuesday it had “zipped past” the object known…

‘Climate Alarmism,’ ‘Propaganda’ Fill US Agency Websites, Report Finds

December 21, 2018December 20, 2018 Minnesota Sun Staff

by Tim Pearce Multiple federal agencies are pushing agenda-driven climate science on their websites, according to The Heartland Institute. The Trump administration has taken a public stance supporting fossil fuels and questioning the scientific “consensus” of climate change research. Parts of federal websites should be overhauled or taken down…

US ‘Extremely Committed to Getting to Mars,’ NASA Administrator Says

November 28, 2018November 28, 2018 Admin

by Alex Christy NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine is looking to the future of Mars exploration after NASA successfully landed its InSight Mars Lander on Monday. “This accomplishment represents the ingenuity of America and our international partners and it serves as a testament to the dedication and perseverance of our…

NASA Opens Investigation Into SpaceX Over Musk Smoking Weed

November 22, 2018November 22, 2018 Admin

by Chris White NASA is ordering an investigation into SpaceX’s culture and commitment to safety after company CEO Elon Musk took a hit off a marijuana cigarette in September on a livestreamed podcast. The agency’s review will look at both Boeing and SpaceX, both of which are responsible for…

Commentary: ‘First Man’ – Let’s Just Skip This Movie

September 5, 2018September 5, 2018 Admin

by CHQ Staff Universal Pictures’ chose Oscar-winning French director Damien Chazelle and Canadian actor Ryan Gosling to lead “First Man,” the story of the American National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s quest to land a man on the moon. The story line focuses on astronaut Neil Armstrong and the years…

Dr. Bradford Smith, NASA’s ‘Tour Guide for Voyager,’ Missions Dies at 86

July 10, 2018July 9, 2018 Admin

Bradford Smith, a NASA astronomer who acted as planetary tour guide to the public with his interpretations of stunning images beamed back from Voyager missions, has died. Smith’s wife, Diane McGregor, said he died Tuesday at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, of complications from myasthenia gravis, an autoimmune…

President Trump Announces Next-Generation ‘Space Force’ as an Independent Service Branch

June 19, 2018July 18, 2018 Admin

Vowing to reclaim U.S. leadership in space, President Donald Trump announced Monday he is directing the Pentagon to create a new “Space Force” as an independent service branch aimed at ensuring American supremacy in space. Trump envisioned a bright future for the U.S. space program, pledging to revive the country’s…

It’s Time to Let Supersonic Flight Soar Again

June 10, 2018July 18, 2018 Admin

by Jason Snead Before he became the first American to orbit the Earth, John Glenn was famous for another pioneering achievement. In 1957, he became the first man to fly across the country faster than the speed of sound, traveling from California to New York in just three hours and 23…