http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Curiosity is about to go to Mars. The car-sized rover, also known as the Mars Science Lab, is scheduled for launch in late November or early December 2011 from the Kennedy Space Center. After an eight-month voyage to Mars, Curiosity will land at the foot of a 3 mile high mountain in a crater named "Gale." http://phys.org/news236852984.html Space & Earth Mon, 03 Oct 2011 09:30:56 EST news236852984 Business is steady these days at Aero Industries Inc., a small metal-parts operation in Orlando. Once heavily dependent on NASA's space-shuttle program, the company now has a mix of new clients, in industries ranging from energy and aviation to health care. http://phys.org/news236230677.html Space & Earth Mon, 26 Sep 2011 04:50:01 EST news236230677 From the time a space shuttle launched until it landed at the Kennedy Space Center, NASA's space communication networks provided the constant communication link necessary for every mission. http://phys.org/news235643004.html Space & Earth Mon, 19 Sep 2011 09:24:01 EST news235643004 (PhysOrg.com) -- Construction began this week on the first new NASA spacecraft built to take humans to orbit since space shuttle Endeavour left the factory in 1991, and marked a significant milestone in carrying out the ambitious exploration vision President Obama and Congress have laid out for the nation. http://phys.org/news235023091.html Space & Earth Mon, 12 Sep 2011 05:11:57 EST news235023091 NASA Langley's Bell UH-1H Huey helicopter returned to the Center Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2011, after a five-year long stint supporting space shuttle operations at Kennedy Space Center. The KSC work added another chapter to the Huey's more than 40-year history. It was manufactured in 1968 and, according to records, spent part of its life as a MASH (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) helicopter in Viet Nam. http://phys.org/news234087705.html Space & Earth Thu, 01 Sep 2011 09:21:58 EST news234087705 (AP) -- NASA's retired space shuttles are trading places. http://phys.org/news232297013.html Space & Earth Thu, 11 Aug 2011 15:57:05 EST news232297013 A piece of the ill-fated space shuttle Columbia has surfaced in eastern Texas, where a severe drought has dried up a lake and exposed debris from the 2003 accident, NASA said Tuesday. http://phys.org/news231521686.html Space & Earth Tue, 02 Aug 2011 18:10:01 EST news231521686 July 21, 2011: Space shuttle Atlantis landed at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, wrapping up the final mission of NASA's space shuttle program. http://phys.org/news230877162.html Space & Earth Tue, 26 Jul 2011 05:32:58 EST news230877162 (AP) -- Kennedy Space Center workers in Florida celebrated and mourned the final space shuttle landing Thursday. http://phys.org/news230488756.html Space & Earth Thu, 21 Jul 2011 17:39:33 EST news230488756 Cigars were passed around, flowers brightened desktops and pictures were snapped from all angles as NASA employees hugged, laughed and cried after the shuttle Atlantis landed one final time. http://phys.org/news230465507.html Space & Earth Thu, 21 Jul 2011 11:11:58 EST news230465507 The space shuttle passed into history Thursday, the words "wheels stop" crackling over the cockpit radio for the very last time. http://phys.org/news230447067.html Space & Earth Thu, 21 Jul 2011 06:04:35 EST news230447067 Atlantis began its re-entry into Earth's atmosphere Thursday ahead of a final homecoming that brings down the curtain on NASA's 30-year space shuttle program. http://phys.org/news230445986.html Space & Earth Thu, 21 Jul 2011 05:46:42 EST news230445986 (AP) -- Perfect weather awaited space shuttle Atlantis on Thursday for the very last landing of the 30-year program. http://phys.org/news230438549.html Space & Earth Thu, 21 Jul 2011 03:42:44 EST news230438549 The US space shuttle is the most complex and costly flying machine ever built. It helped build a pioneering space outpost but also kept Americans confined to low Earth orbit for 30 years. http://phys.org/news230397080.html Space & Earth Wed, 20 Jul 2011 16:11:29 EST news230397080 NASA astronauts and engineers fought off tears Wednesday as Atlantis made its final approach toward Earth, bringing an end to the 30-year shuttle program and closing a chapter in human spaceflight. http://phys.org/news230396975.html Space & Earth Wed, 20 Jul 2011 16:09:54 EST news230396975 The end of the US space shuttle program brings the start of a new chapter for the remaining orbiters, which will soon take up residence as museum pieces in Florida, Virginia, California and New York. http://phys.org/news230396641.html Space & Earth Wed, 20 Jul 2011 16:04:13 EST news230396641 The crew of Atlantis undocked Tuesday from the International Space Station, wrapping up the last visit by a US shuttle to the orbiting outpost and setting its sights on an emotional homecoming. http://phys.org/news230300030.html Space & Earth Tue, 19 Jul 2011 13:14:10 EST news230300030 (AP) -- The astronauts on NASA's final shuttle voyage floated out of the International Space Station for the last time Monday, leaving behind a historic U.S. flag and a commemorative shuttle model to mark the end of a 30-year era. http://phys.org/news230220809.html Space & Earth Mon, 18 Jul 2011 15:13:39 EST news230220809 Space Shuttle Discovery was briefly on public display on Wednesday July 13 as she emerged from the hanger at the Kennedy Space Center where she has been undergoing processing for retirement since her final landing on the STS-133 mission. http://phys.org/news229946707.html Space & Earth Fri, 15 Jul 2011 11:30:03 EST news229946707 Fuel cells are used in the space shuttle as one component of the electrical power system, so perhaps it was appropriate that a hydrogen fuel cell-powered mobile lighting system could be seen on the grounds of the Kennedy Space Center as the Space Shuttle Atlantis launched into space last week, the 135th and final mission for the NASA Space Shuttle Program. http://phys.org/news229868257.html Technology Thu, 14 Jul 2011 13:18:03 EST news229868257 When Atlantis takes off from Kennedy Space Center, it will be the last time NASA launches astronauts aboard a government-built spacecraft for perhaps the rest of this decade. http://phys.org/news229518878.html Space & Earth Sun, 10 Jul 2011 14:20:01 EST news229518878 The shuttle Atlantis docked at the orbiting International Space Station for one last hitch-up Sunday, on its final space voyage before the entire 30-year US shuttle program shuts down for good. http://phys.org/news229518188.html Space & Earth Sun, 10 Jul 2011 12:03:23 EST news229518188 Thirty years of flight by NASA's space shuttles will end once Atlantis returns home from this last mission. The space agency will be looking to deeper space exploration, but the future is still somewhat unclear. http://phys.org/news229363632.html Space & Earth Fri, 08 Jul 2011 17:07:34 EST news229363632 Atlantis blazed a path into history Friday as it rocketed off the launch pad for a final time, marking the last-ever liftoff of the 30-year-old American space shuttle program. http://phys.org/news229350404.html Space & Earth Fri, 08 Jul 2011 13:27:02 EST news229350404 Emmy-nominated composer Bear McCreary, known for his television scores, has composed a fanfare specifically to commemorate the final space shuttle flight. After composing four seasons of music for a television show set in space, creating music inspired by a historic NASA mission was a natural fit. The composition will be played first on Friday morning at the NASA launch TweetUp. http://phys.org/news229341761.html Space & Earth Fri, 08 Jul 2011 11:02:53 EST news229341761 NASA's Ames Research Center will send a variety of life science experiments and technology demonstrations aboard the final space shuttle to better our understanding of how robots can help humans live and work in space and how spaceflight affects the human body, the growth of cells, yeast and plants. Future astronauts on long-term space missions in low-Earth orbit, to asteroids, other planets and beyond will rely on robots and need to understand how to prevent illnesses during space travel. http://phys.org/news229341536.html Space & Earth Fri, 08 Jul 2011 10:59:33 EST news229341536 (PhysOrg.com) -- With its beginnings rooted deeply in the historic days of Apollo, the MILA Spaceflight Tracking and Data Network Station has played a key role throughout the 30 years of the Space Shuttle Program. But just as the shuttle program is drawing to a close, so is the long history of MILA. http://phys.org/news229341123.html Space & Earth Fri, 08 Jul 2011 10:52:17 EST news229341123 Riding a space shuttle is sort of like surging skyward aboard a high-speed, rickety roller coaster and then returning through a pulsing cosmic nightclub, US astronaut Terry Virts says. http://phys.org/news229331180.html Space & Earth Fri, 08 Jul 2011 08:06:38 EST news229331180 Showers and thunderstorms are likely to force a delay to this week's planned final launch of the space shuttle, NASA's weather officer said on Tuesday. http://phys.org/news229081170.html Space & Earth Tue, 05 Jul 2011 10:39:44 EST news229081170 (AP) -- The four astronauts who will close out NASA's space shuttle program are at their Florida launch site, eager for a Friday takeoff. http://phys.org/news229011945.html Space & Earth Mon, 04 Jul 2011 15:26:01 EST news229011945