Free Republic

A high-level panel of experts has praised the idea of sending NASA astronauts to visit a nearby asteroid and recommends ambitious robotic missions that will be made possible by next-generation rockets. But the panel also warns that these missions could carry big price tags... When the Ares V rocket makes its first planned flight in 2020, it will be able to lift larger and heavier payloads than any existing vehicle. It will be able to launch objects stretching more than 8 metres across and haul dozens of tonnes of cargo into space on a single flight. For example, it can...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The name of the new vehicle that NASA hopes will take astronauts back to the moon was supposed to be hush-hush until next week. But apparently U.S. astronaut Jeff Williams, floating 220 miles above Earth at the international space station, didn't get the memo. Williams, through no fault of his own, let it slip Tuesday that the new vehicle's name is Orion. "We've been calling it the crew exploration vehicle for several years, but today it has a name — Orion," Williams said, taping a message in advance for the space agency that was transmitted accidentally...