ESO Announces Three Super-Earths Orbiting Nearby Star
The European Southern Observatory (ESO) announced today that astronomers have discovered more planets around Gliese 667C, a star 22 light years away, and three of the planets are the much …
Shenzhou-10 Crew Departs Tiangong-1, Will Land Tonight EDT
The Shenzhou-10 crew undocked from Tiangong-1 and made a fly-around of the space station overnight Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) and is now preparing to return to Earth. The Chinese media say …
China's President Talks to Tiangong-1 Crew, Still No Official Word on Landing
China’s President Xi Jinping spoke with the three Shenzhou-10 astronauts today as they orbited Earth in the Tiangong-1 space station. China still has not announced when the trio will return to …
Shenzhou-10 Completes Manual Docking Test, Crew Readies for Return to Earth
China’s three-person Shenzhou-10 crew tested manual docking techniques with the Tiangong-1 space station this morning (Beijing time) as their two-week mission nears its end. Maj. Gen. Nie Haisheng was at …
Space Policy Events for the Week of June 24-28, 2013
The following space policy-related events may be of interest in the coming week. The House and Senate are both in session. During the Week Congress continues to work on FY2014 funding …
Nelson Pessimistic About NASA Authorization Bill, Implores Aerospace Community to Help
Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) offered a grim assessment on Wednesday of the chances of a NASA authorization bill, or any budget-related legislation, clearing Congress this year. As for the draft …
Chinese "Teacher in Space" Gives Lecture, Says No UFO Sightings Yet
The Chinese media have provided scant news about what their three astronauts are doing aboard the Tiangong-1 space station, but today their official press service, Xinhua, is full of stories about Wang …
House Hearing Shows Opposition to Asteroid Mission, Divisions on Draft Bill
The House subcommittee hearing on a draft 2013 NASA Authorization Act this morning showed continued skepticism about or opposition to the Obama Administration’s proposed asteroid initiative. It also revealed that even …
George Levin, Former ASEB Director and Former NASA Official, Passes Away
George M. Levin, who spent 35 years at NASA before joining the National Research Council (NRC) as Director of the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board (ASEB), died yesterday after a …
House Appropriators Want Deep Cut to FAA Commercial Space Launch Office – update
UPDATE, June 23, 2013: Full committee markup is on June 26 (not June 27) according to the committee’s website. UPDATE, June 20, 2013: The subcommittee took only 20 minutes to …