Space Exploration

NASA: One question that comes up a lot is why Ares I-X has a four-hour launch window. After all, unlike the Space Shuttle, it doesn't have to rendezvous with the Space Station, so what's the challenge? Actually, there are several.

NASA: NASA has chosen 18 proposals from universities around the country to receive up to $70,000 for Phase One of the NASA Ralph Steckler Space Grant Colonization Research and Technology Development Opportunity.

Grant money will support university research and technology development activities that support a sustained human presence in space, increase understanding of the moon's environment and develop basic infrastructure for future space colonies.

ESA: Starting in 2010, an international crew of six will simulate a 520-day round-trip to Mars, including a 30-day stay on the martian surface. In reality, they will live and work in a sealed facility in Moscow, Russia, to investigate the psychological and medical aspects of a long-duration space mission. ESA is looking for European volunteers to take part.

NASA astronaut Jeffrey Williams, Expedition 21 flight engineer, works in the Columbus laboratory of the International Space Station. high res (1.4 M) low res (113 K)

Human Research Facility Ultrasound on the International Space Station (Ultrasound)

An unpiloted ISS Progress resupply vehicle approaches the International Space Station, bringing 1,918 pounds of propellant, 110 pounds of oxygen and air, 926 pounds of water and 1,750 pounds of spare parts and supplies for the Expedition 21 crew members aboard the station. Progress 35 docked to the Pirs Docking Compartment at 8:40 p.m. (CDT), Oct. 17, 2009, after a three-day flight from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. high res (0.8 M) low res (61 K)

Image: Using multi-physics modeling tools, NASA scientists can predict the absorption of microwave energy into the simulated lunar soil as well as the temperature distribution. (NASA)

Intrigued by NASA lunar missions in the 1990s which suggested the existence of ice within craters at the moon's poles, NASA scientist Dr. Edwin Ethridge and his team started cooking up a way to extract water from lunar soil.