The Future of Space Exploration

Astronauts and NASA personnel look the future and where they think the space program will go next.

These were the top 10 space events of 2015

This was a golden year for planetary exploration thanks to all of the NASA and European Space Agency missions that were planned and implemented decades ago. Not since Apollo and the epic space race of the Cold War has space featured so heavily in the public eye.

The Space Review: Delayed gratification: early results from the New Horizons Pluto flyby

For decades, Alan Stern talked about how important it was to send a spacecraft to Pluto. Those speeches, given to any audience willing to lend an ear, helped build up support for a mission to what was once classified the ninth planet, maintain support once NASA agreed to fly a mission after previous efforts foundered, and to retain interest once New Horizons was on its long cruise to Pluto.

Mars mission expert believes space travel will be affordable one day

Dr Amitabha Ghosh, who has worked in multiple Mars missions of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) since the US launched the Mars Pathfinder spacecraft in 1996, believes that one day space travel will become "affordable".

NASA funds five space missions for possible launch in 2020 | The Verge

Five possible space missions have been selected by NASA to receive preliminary funding, ahead of a possible launch as early as 2020. Each of the projects, chosen as part of NASA

Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) | NASA

As NASA seeks to reduce costs and extend the length and capabilities of ambitious new solar system science and exploration missions, alternative propulsion technologies may deliver the right mix of savings, safety and superior propulsive power to enrich a variety of next-generation journeys to worlds and destinations beyond Earth orbit.

Clocking an accelerating universe: first results from BOSS

First spectroscopic results from BOSS give the most detailed look yet at the time when dark energy turned on some six billion light years ago, as the expansion of the universe was slipping from the grasp of matter

Mars mission 'returns' to earth

Astronauts bravely say they are ready to go on another spaceship as their 520-day simulated mission to Mars ends. .

Voyager 1 & 2 - mission status 2011

Feb. 2015 update - distance to sun - Voyager 1: 131 AU, Voyager 2: 108 AU.

Kepler-10b Earth-size "VULCAN" exoplanet confirmed by Kepler mission 2011 in HD

Kepler-10b is an Earth-size exoplanet Please visit http://www.SpaceChronology.com Video and narration: Credit: NASA/Kepler Mission/Dana Berry NASA's Kepler mission confirmed the discovery of its first rocky planet, named Kepler-10b. Measuring 1.4 times the size of Earth, it is the smallest planet ever discovered outside our solar system. The discovery of this so-called exoplanet is based on more than eight months of data collected by the spacecraft from May 2009 to early January 2010. This video is narrated by Kepler Deputy Science Team Lead Natalie Batalha.

Mars 500, simulated mission accomplished [+video]

After 520 days of total isolation in a mock spaceship, the Mars 500 crew were reunited with their loved ones in the outside world. In this edition of Space we have the men’s first accounts and exclusive images of their sealed capsule. We also witness the aftermath and follow their medical and psychological check ups. Finally, we discover just how important this simulated trip to nowhere…

First Mission to Mercury

As the team of scientists behind NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft eagerly awaits the craft’s entry into Mercury’s orbit on 17 March, we could soon get answers to questions about the origin, composition, interior structure and geological history of this mysterious planet.