NASA

NASA announces plans to send a drone to explore Titan for signs of life 27 June 2019

Get ready for Dragonfly’s autonomous flight on Saturn’s largest moon.
Is there now, or has there ever been, life on Titan? Dragonfly will carry a suite of scientific instruments meant to address this question.
[MIT Technology Review]

The Future of the International Space Station 12 June 2018

NASA’s leader wants to privatize it. That’s a remarkably terrible idea.
There’s a case for killing the space station. There’s no case for turning over the keys to a private company.
[Vox]

The Saudi prince who took a joyride on the space shuttle
and other space misadventures
30 March 2017

International Collaborations in Space Always
Reflect Politics on Earth

A brief history of the countries that send people to space, and why.
[Slate]

How High the Moon? 4 October 2013

Book Review: ‘Dreams of Other Worlds’ by Chris Impey and Holly Henry
Where the Milky Way’s missing arms went and other tales of astronomical discovery.
[Wall Street Journal]

Red Rover: Inside the Story of Robotic Space Exploration, from Genesis to the Mars Rover Curiosity by Rogers Wiens 12 May 2013

A Review
When does NASA take risks? How it’s still possible to improvise, and what it’s like to run a scientific instrument on Mars.
[Washington Post]

Warp Factor 1 April 2013

An investigation
The saga of a NASA scientist who claims to be on the verge of faster-than-light travel.
[Popular Science]

NASA Must Do More To Prepare for Catastrophic Asteroids. Much More. 14 February 2013
Alzheimer’s and space travel 3 January 2013

Does radiation cause Alzheimer’s?
We don’t really know, and it’s not clear how it affects space travel.
[Slate]

NASA needs one “highest priority” not 16 of them 1 February 2012

More numbers, more problems
The flaws of a new National Research Council report on what direction NASA should take
[Slate]

Promise me the moon 31 January 2012

The emotional appeal of Gingrich’s space policy
The Republican presidential candidate wants to build a base on the moon. So do I.
[Huffington Post]

The 40-year itch 5 October 2011

How to build a really awesome spaceship, maybe
Would-be space explorers, scientists, and a couple of crackpots gather at DARPA’s 100-Year Starship Symposium to try to get interstellar travel unstuck.
[Slate]

Another bus will be along shortly…. 10 March 2011

I know it doesn’t launch for over a month, but NASA plans to move Endeavour to the launch pad tonight. Just made me think that if the shuttle program really had been like this (Discovery landed yesterday) with one shuttle taking off as soon as the previous one landed (the original idea was for a launch a week!) we’d be seeing a very different world in space. Of course, it was clear that it would never have worked. An excuse to link to Gregg Easterbrook’s famous, and awesome 1980 story.

A costly failure 21 October 2004

D’oh!
Why the Genesis probe crashed

Weaponising Space 26 July 2001

Something to watch over you
America’s defence establishment is thinking about weaponising space. Some people doubt that this a good idea.