Space Race

NASA Simply Stopped Being a Priority

Howard Steven Friedman | Posted 04.30.2012

Howard Steven Friedman

Will we look back and ask ourselves whether the decision to abandon space was a wise decision? Or will historians look back and identify this decision as a textbook example of when America sacrificed long-term strategic goals for short-term interests.

In the Age of Obama, the Eagle Has Fallen

Ken Blackwell | Posted 04.24.2012

Ken Blackwell

The American Apollo program was one of the greatest events in all of human history. By turning our backs on JFK's achievement, we have consented to national humiliation and national decline.

First Man In Space Celebrated 51 Years After Historic Mission

Posted 04.12.2012

By: Clara Moskowitz Published: 04/12/2012 12:51 AM EDT on SPACE.com For more than five decades, humans have been suiting up and riding rockets t...

Expanding Our Horizons on Yuri's Night

Aleksander Popovskiy | Posted 04.12.2012

Aleksander Popovskiy

Tonight is a celebration of the first time humanity sent one of its own into space. Throughout the world right now, a young boy or girl is looking upward, and asking, "What else is possible?" After all, if you can calculate a rocket's trajectory into space, you can calculate almost anything.

PHOTOS: Space Walks And Gorgeous Views From NASA's Gemini Missions

The Huffington Post | Travis Korte | Posted 04.06.2012

April 2012 marks 50 years since the beginning of NASA's Gemini program. Carried out from 1962-1966, during the feverish middle years of the space race...

The New Space Race: The Next 30 Years of Human Exploration of Space

Richard Garriott de Cayeux | Posted 04.22.2012

Richard Garriott de Cayeux

So, why travel into space and why should tax payers pay for humans to travel beyond Earth? Because this exploration will return direct economic value beyond exploration, in areas such as energy and minerals.

PHOTOS: John Glenn's Record-Setting Mission 50 Years Later

AP | MARCIA DUNN | Posted 04.17.2012

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The name still resonates and generates goose bumps like few others in the world of spaceflight. John Glenn....

Icons: Fifty Years Ago, a Space-Age Photo That Transcended the Television Age

David Schonauer | Posted 04.01.2012

David Schonauer

2012-02-01-Screenshot20120131at7.38.44PM.jpgThe photo, a portrait of John Glenn in his space helmet, appeared on Life's February 2, 1962 issue -- 50 years ago this week.

Lost in Space: The Decline of the American Spirit

Bob Burnett | Posted 09.14.2011

Bob Burnett

Fifty years after Alan Shepard became America's first astronaut, the U.S. launched its last space shuttle, marking the end of our space program -- and a new low for the American spirit.

The 50th Anniversary of Kennedy's "Go to the Moon" Speech

Meg Waite Clayton | Posted 07.25.2011

Meg Waite Clayton

President Kennedy had no idea how we might accomplish the goal of putting an American on the moon when he announced the goal. No one did.

First Man In Space: A 50-Year-Old Feat Remembered

AP | By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV | Posted 06.10.2011

STAR CITY, Russia -- It was the Soviet Union's own giant leap for mankind, one that would spur a humiliated America to race for the moon. It happened ...

Obama's New Theme: A Sputnik Moment

Chris Weigant | Posted 05.25.2011

Chris Weigant

While Obama may indeed be right about America being in serious danger of falling behind on a worldwide scale, this Sputnik moment simply doesn't have a Sputnik. There is no one overarching threat.

Declining U.S. Space Power Requires Greater Cooperation

Timothy A. Ridout | Posted 05.25.2011

Timothy A. Ridout

The U.S. is still the clear hegemon in outer space -- more so even than it is on Earth -- but it cannot unilaterally dominate for long.

Hugo Chávez's Geopolitical Rivalry Reaching Soaring New Heights

Nikolas Kozloff | Posted 05.25.2011

Nikolas Kozloff

In an effort to build up his "multi-polar world," Chávez has allied himself with anti-democratic countries like China and Russia.

Beyond Left and Right: Scarborough Says Obama's BP Speech Should Echo JFK's On Space Race (VIDEO)

Posted 05.25.2011

President Obama should use his upcoming address about the BP oil spill as a chance to declare a new energy policy that will allow America to lead, arg...

Why We Should Keep Flying the Space Shuttle

Buzz Aldrin | Posted 05.25.2011

Buzz Aldrin

Instead of planning the retirement of the Space Shuttle program, America should be preparing the shuttles for their next step in space: evolving, not shutting them down and laying off thousands of people.

Rat, Turtles, Worm In Space: Iran Announces Launch Of Animals Into Space

latimes.com | Borzou Daragahi | Posted 05.25.2011

State television aired footage of the flying Kavoshgar-3. Photos posted to news websites showed a rat strapped into a space pod. Reports said two turt...

U.S. Losing Its Lead In Space, experts warn Congress

McClatchy | Robert S. Boyd | McClatchy Newspapers | Posted 05.25.2011

America's once clear dominance in space is eroding as other nations, including China, Iran and North Korea, step up their activities, a panel of exper...

Military Space Race 'Inevitable', China Commander Says

Telegraph | Peter Foster in Beijing | Posted 05.25.2011

An arms race in space is an "historical inevitability", a senior Chinese air force commander has warned, marking an apparent shift in Beijing's opposi...

From The Pentagon To Monty Python: The Internet Turns 40

Chris Weigant | Posted 05.25.2011

Chris Weigant

Technology has grown by such leaps and bounds since 1969 that it's hard to conceive how things were before we all had access to computers.

Energy, the Next Great Thing

Hal Donahue | Posted 05.25.2011

Hal Donahue

For 150 veterans assembled at the White House, the greatest immediate and long term threat to our national security is climate change and energy policy.

South Korea Launches First Rocket Into Space

AP | KWANG-TAE KIM | Posted 05.25.2011

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea's first rocket launch Tuesday failed to push a satellite into its orbit but the flawed mission may still anger ...

The American Science Deficit -- and What to do About it

Chris Mooney | Posted 05.25.2011

Chris Mooney

The policies and cultural changes unleashed in the wake of Sputnik shaped the course of American science for decades -- and made us world leaders. But then, something went very wrong.

Mars Flight Simulation: 6 Men Endure 105 Days Of Isolation In Simulated Flight

AP | Posted 05.25.2011

MOSCOW -- Russian engineers broke a red wax seal and six men emerged from a metal hatch after 105 days of isolation in a mock spacecraft, still smilin...

Branson To Partially Unveil Commercial Spaceship On Monday

AP | ALICIA CHANG | Posted 05.25.2011

LOS ANGELES — Aerospace engineers have been holed up in a Mojave Desert hangar for four years, fashioning a commercial spaceship to loft rich to...