International Space Station

If all goes as planned, sometime this morning a spacecraft will blast off from its launchpad in Cape Canaveral, Fla., and ride a fiery plume of contrails upward through the pre-dawn darkness to begin a two-week journey to the International Space Station and back. But the flight won't be just another NASA resupply mission. Instead, the Falcon 9 rocket and its unmanned Dragon cargo capsule built by Space Exploration Technologies Corporation - SpaceX for short - will be the first commercially owned and operated vehicle ever to rendezvous with the station's orbiting astronauts.

A science experiment designed by a Charles County high school junior is part of the cargo aboard Dragon, the space capsule NASA and the SpaceX Corporation sent into orbit early Tuesday, and is on its way to the International Space Station as part of the historic flight, according to NASA. Paul Warren, an 11th-grader at Henry E. Lackey High School in Indian Head, Md., conceived of the experiment, a series of tests that will allow investigators to measure the effects of weightlessness and higher-than-normal radiation on the growth of roundworms.

Apologies for the late notice, but there's a nice opportunity to view the International Space Station on Saturday morning. Thanks to my predecessor, Frank Roylance, for the heads up. Of course, the spacecraft is constantly orbiting the planet and coming into view multiple times a week, but chances to see it during somewhat normal waking hours and for more than a minute or two are more rare. That's not to mention the risk of cloud cover -- of which there will be some Saturday morning.

Space Exploration Technologies is vying to be the first private company to send a spacecraft to the International Space Station, and its mission got off to a successful start with a launch this morning. A Dragon spacecraft launched from the company's launch pad at Cape Canaveral at 3:44 a.m. Tuesday. It will soon begin a series of tests in space to determine if it can indeed dock with the space station. Officials with the company, known as SpaceX, said the launch was a successful first step regardless of what happens later in the mission.

Space Exploration Technologies is vying to be the first private company to send a spacecraft to the International Space Station, and its mission got off to a successful start with a launch this morning. A Dragon spacecraft launched from the company's launch pad at Cape Canaveral at 3:44 a.m. Tuesday. It will soon begin a series of tests in space to determine if it can indeed dock with the space station. Officials with the company, known as SpaceX, said the launch was a successful first step regardless of what happens later in the mission.

Thanks to reporter Candus Thomson for her Maryland Weather Blog about Friday morning's opportunity to see the International Space Station fly over our region ("Get a glimpse of the International Space Station," Dec. 1). My husband and I went out to see it at 6:33 a.m., and it was beautiful as it crossed the sky. I was worried that it might be so low on the horizon it might be blocked from view by houses and trees. But that was not the case. In fact, it was quite high, and the reflections from the pre-dawn sunlight made it very visible.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The shuttle Atlantis, America's long-haul space truck, returned to duty yesterday, blasting into orbit with a 17-ton load of construction material for the International Space Station. Atlantis roared off pad 39B on the last possible day of the launch window, after two weeks of delays caused by bad weather and minor mechanical glitches. "What we saw today was a flawless countdown and a majestic launch," said NASA Administrator Michael D. Griffin. NASA cameras captured images of five incidents of ice and insulating foam flaking off the shuttle's external fuel tank.

WASHINGTON - The two astronauts aboard the International Space Station are cutting their consumption of food as supplies are running shorter than expected before the planned arrival of a Russian supply ship Christmas Day. If there is a problem with the launch or docking of the unmanned Progress spacecraft, NASA officials said yesterday, they're prepared to order that the station be evacuated, because the crew would have only enough food for seven to...

It's been called the biggest engineering project in history, but you can't tell by squinting at the blueprints.The prefab structure will be assembled on a remote site by a few dozen laborers. There will only be enough room inside for seven people to live and work. No tourists in T-shirts and shorts will ever tromp around outside. When it's finally finished, it will resemble some bus-sized beer cans stuck together like Tinker Toys and fitted with metal dragonfly wings.Still, the completed International Space Station should be an awe-inspiring sight -- in part, because it will have survived so many technical and political crises.

If all goes as planned, sometime this morning a spacecraft will blast off from its launchpad in Cape Canaveral, Fla., and ride a fiery plume of contrails upward through the pre-dawn darkness to begin a two-week journey to the International Space Station and back. But the flight won't be just another NASA resupply mission. Instead, the Falcon 9 rocket and its unmanned Dragon cargo capsule built by Space Exploration Technologies Corporation - SpaceX for short - will be the first commercially owned and operated vehicle ever to rendezvous with the station's orbiting astronauts.

Get outside Wednesday and Thursday nights for chances to view the International Space Station fly over the region. Wednesday, the spacecraft will appear as a bright, swiftly moving light on the northwest horizon just before 9:44 p.m. It will move three-quarters of the way up in the sky as it goes toward the west-southwest before disappearing into the Earth's shadow about 9:47 p.m. Thursday night, look to the northwest horizon at...

Baltimoreans can get a nice look at the International Space Station tonight - late enough to be visible but early enough for the kids to watch before bedtime. The station will appear as a bright, swiftly moving star just over the southwest horizon at about 8:22 p.m. It will move toward the northeast, rising to about two-thirds of the way above the horizon before disappearing in the northeast sky at 8:29 p.m. On board are two NASA astronauts, three Russian cosmonauts and a European Space Agency astronaut.

Half a century ago, the future was an oft-discussed topic. There would be flying cars in skyways that would have replaced our highways. Colonies in space or on the moon? Heck, there was serious talk of commuting to and from space stations. Oh yeah, there would be no money. Instead things would be bought and sold through an automated system that linked credit and cash on hand in an account. Cars don't fly, highways on the ground are congested and no one commutes to the International Space Station, at least not on a daily basis, but 50 years after a space age vision of the future was a subject of discussion for an optimistic America, one prediction has nearly come true: cash just ain't what it used to be. Sure, just about everyone carries a few bucks, maybe even a Jackson or two, but most transactions involving double digit dollar amounts are conducted in the space age way. Swipe a card, tap a token or simply punch in a code on a keypad and hundreds or even thousands of dollars (virtual dollars, actually)

Thanks to reporter Candus Thomson for her Maryland Weather Blog about Friday morning's opportunity to see the International Space Station fly over our region ("Get a glimpse of the International Space Station," Dec. 1). My husband and I went out to see it at 6:33 a.m., and it was beautiful as it crossed the sky. I was worried that it might be so low on the horizon it might be blocked from view by houses and trees. But that was not the case. In fact, it was quite high, and the reflections from the pre-dawn sunlight made it very visible.

What does it say about our country that a marvel like the Webb telescope faces possible cancellation after years of development and with its components 75 percent complete? We face budget problems, I understand. But boundary-pushing missions like Apollo, Mars rovers, and the Webb are fundamental to the American character - we go where no one's ever been, and do things no one else can do. Other nations aren't slowing down. China is launching a new space station, and its Chang'e probe just mapped the moon and is now parked at the L2 Lagrange orbital point, more than a million kilometers from earth.

I read with dismay that the Russian spacecraft that was to supply provisions for the International Space Station, where two American astronauts are housed, burnt up in the atmosphere while our own shuttle program at NASA was recently mothballed. I heard with concern on a news program on WYPR that we don't make crucial medications in this country anymore, and thus depend on China, India and others to do it for us. The same program also mentioned that there are crucial shortages of these lifesaving medications.