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Space  Traveling  Humans are going to Mars. We don’t know exactly when, who it will be, or exactly what spacecraft will be the first to make the journey, but with several space-faring nations setting their sights firmly on the red planet, it’s going to happen sooner rather than later. To make that goal a reality, groups like NASA are going to need the help of companies like Lockheed Martin, and the latter  just released  its newest vision for what an orbiting Mars space station and reusable lander. The station, which is built with our current scientific understanding of Mars in mind, features a pair of what Lockheed Martin is calling “MADVs,” or Mars Ascent/Descent Vehicles. Those vehicles function as landers to ferry astronauts to and from the surface of the planet, with the space station itself acting as a “base camp.” “Sending humans to Mars has always been a part of science fiction, but today we have the capability to make it a reality,” Lisa Callahan, vice president and genera

NASA, SpaceX and Boeing expect test flights of their Crew Dragon and CST-100 Starliner vehicles to take place next year after extensive delays. Credit: SpaceX artist's concept and Boeing WASHINGTON — Both NASA and the two companies developing commercial crew vehicles say those efforts remain on schedule for test flights that are in some cases less than a year away. NASA published July 20 what it called “the most recent publicly-releasable dates” of the test flights of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX’s Crew Dragon vehicles. Each company, under terms of Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) contracts awarded in September 2014, are required to first fly an uncrewed test flight of their spacecraft, followed by one with astronauts on board. The latest SpaceX schedule calls for an uncrewed test flight in February 2018, followed by a crewed test flight in June 2018. Boeing’s schedule anticipates an uncrewed test flight in June 2018 and a crewed test flight in August

PLATO is a European Space Agency telescope set to launch in 2024. The name is an acronym for "PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars." The overall goal of the mission is to figure out under what conditions planets form and whether those conditions are favorable for life.  To do this, PLATO will seek out and investigate Earth-size exoplanets, especially planets that orbit in the habitable zone around sun-like stars. (The habitable zone is usually defined as the area around a star where there is enough energy for liquid water on a planet's surface, although habitability also depends on other factors such as star variability.) It will determine how big their radii are; verify the mass of the planets from ground-based observatories; use astroseismology or "starquakes" to learn about a star's mass, radius and age; and identify bright targets for atmospheric spectroscopy along with other telescopes. If all goes to plan, the mission should be able to provid

By  Trevor Mogg   NASA The mission could provide vital information that helps pave the way for a human trip to Mars. As the rover’s own name cleverly suggests, Mars 2020 is set to head for the red planet in three years’ time. The mission, assuming everything goes to plan, will see the rover carry out geological assessments of its landing site on Mars, as well as examine the habitability of the harsh environment. It’ll also search for signs of ancient Martian life, and attempt to make an assessment of the natural resources and hazards for future human visitors. Its work could also lead to the first-ever return of rock samples from the planet. Landing site After a recent meet-up with scientists at a workshop in Monrovia, California, NASA has taken a big step toward choosing the all-important landing site for Mars 2020. The team narrowed the choice from eight locations to three, though the original list included 30 different sites. First up is Columbia Hills, Gusev Crater. “Miner

SpaceX's final version of the Falcon 9 rocket, which Elon Musk aims to launch before the end of the year, will fix a potential problem with cracks in its turbopumps, the company said on Thursday. Its statement followed a report that the U.S. Government Accountability Office will flag turbine wheel cracks in the rocket's turbopumps as a safety issue. NASA, the U.S. space agency, and the Air Force are among SpaceX's customers. The GAO’s preliminary findings were reported by the Wall Street Journal on Thursday. In an email to Reuters, SpaceX said it has "qualified our engines to be robust to turbine wheel cracks. However, we are modifying the design to avoid them altogether,” said spokesman John Taylor. In addition to flying cargo to the International Space Station, SpaceX has NASA contracts to begin flying astronauts to the orbiting research laboratory as early as 2018. "SpaceX has established a plan in partnership with NASA to qualify engines for manned spacefl