April 2026
Exploring Mars – the key issues
... and surprising directions. Russian astronautics pioneer Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, who published much of the mathematical underpinnings of early spaceflight in 1903, said it best: our planet is “the cradle of the mind, but one cannot live in the cradle...
29 June 2015
SpaceX Falcon 9 failure: will launch markets and manned spaceflight be affected?
...SpaceX than it does about the tremendous financial risks associated with spaceflight as a whole. Perhaps the most immediate threat is now to U.S. plans of restarting manned spaceflight. As New Scientist has already pointed out, Falcon 9 is the rocket...
12 July 2019
NASA reassigns top leaders in Moon 2024 programme
... Administrator Jim Bridenstine has informed staff that key figures, including the widely respected director of human spaceflight Bill Gerstenmaier, will be replaced as part of a major shake-up at the agency. The move, which has come as a shock...
06 January 2021
India lays out its space plans for the next 10 years
.... The Gaganyaan Programme, will receive “a lion’s share of ISRO’s technology development & advanced R & D activities,” to help sustain human spaceflight activities in the long term, Kivan said in the New Years message. This would be a boost from last...
11 August 2025
Saying goodbye to my favourite astronaut
... astronauts and commander of the ill-fated but heroic Apollo 13 mission, has died aged 97. A veteran of four spaceflights – Gemini 7, Gemini 12, Apollo 8 and Apollo 13 – Lovell’s career stands as a testament to skill, resilience, and the human drive...
September 2016
Moon or Mars - how logical is NASA’s next step?
... Industries’ lobbyists essentially wrote the Space Competitiveness Act for the congressmen who supplied it. The Commercial Spaceflight Federation which was set up by some of the most eminent names in the commercial space industry (ie, SpaceX, Blue...
