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ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The former astronaut at the center of a love triangle that featured a bizarre airport assault by his former astronaut girlfriend on his new love interest was the pilot who survived a small plane crash last month in rural Alaska, federal officials said Friday. Bill Oefelein piloted the shuttle Discovery in December 2006. Two months later, his former girlfriend, Lisa Nowak, raced the 900 miles from Houston to the Orlando airport to confront Colleen Shipman, wearing an astronaut diaper so that she wouldn't have to stop and she donned a wig and trench coat as Shipman...

What do YOU want to be when you grow up? In early November, NASA will seek applicants for its next class of astronaut candidates, hoping to bolster its reserves of brave spacemen -- in the face of a National Research Council report that warned the corps was getting too small. "For scientists, engineers and other professionals who have always dreamed of experiencing spaceflight, this is an exciting time to join the astronaut corps," said Janet Kavandi, director of flight crew operations at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Lisa Nowak, a former NASA astronaut whose 2007 arrest made national news, has officially retired from the U.S. Navy with an "other than honorable" discharge, officials said Thursday. In a statement, Assistant Secretary of Navy Juan Garcia said that Nowak "demonstrated a complete disregard for the well-being" of romantic rival Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman. Authorities said Nowak drove nonstop from Texas to Orlando, confronting Shipman, then the girlfriend of Nowak's former lover, at Orlando International Airport on Feb. 5, 2007.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. government has sued a former NASA astronaut to recover a camera used to explore the moon's surface during the 1971 Apollo 14 mission after seeing it slated for sale in a New York auction. The lawsuit, filed in Miami federal court on Wednesday, accuses Edgar Mitchell of illegally possessing the camera and attempting to sell it for profit. In March, NASA learned that the British auction house Bonhams was planning to sell the camera at an upcoming Space History Sale, according to the suit. The item was labeled "Movie Camera from the Lunar Surface"...

Cape Canaveral, Fla. -- The Russians are hiking the price of rocket rides again for U.S. astronauts — to nearly $63 million. The price goes up in 2014 for an astronaut to fly to and from the International Space Station on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. NASA announced the news Monday. The previous contract charged just under $56 million apiece. The contract extension with the Russian Space Agency totals $753 million. That covers trips for a dozen astronauts from 2014 through 2016. NASA officials say inflation is the reason for the latest price increase.

NASA officials say an astronaut who had been slated for a spacewalk on the upcoming shuttle mission has been hurt in a bicycle accident. The space agency said in a release late Saturday that Tim Kopra will be OK. But officials are still evaluating if he'll be able to perform his duties when the shuttle Discovery launches to the International Space Station on Feb. 24. (snip) The 47-year-old Kopra lives in Houston and is a retired Army colonel. He was one of two astronauts scheduled to go on a spacewalk during Discovery's mission to the space station.

I apologize if this has been posted...way too many threads to sort through. I appears that he was posting at ATS as Erad3. He started 4 threads there in July, 2 of which were about the Mars Rover missions being a hoax. He is adamant that manned space travel isn't possible and makes numerous comments about the shuttle program. Interesting...since Giffords husband is an astronaut and flew missions and was scheduled for another in April. I wonder if the question Loughner asked her back in 2007 had something to do with this (the year Giffords and Kelly married). This is...

The shocking gundown of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords has left NASA reeling: Her astronaut husband was due to rocket away in just three months as perhaps the last space shuttle commander, and her brother-in-law is currently on the International Space Station. Shuttle commander Mark Kelly rushed to his wife's hospital bedside Saturday as his identical twin brother, Scott, did his best to keep updated on the Arizona shooting through Mission Control, the Internet and the lone phone aboard the space station. (snip)

In yet another move to cleanse New Mexico of any and all environmental regulations, green, clean, renewable energy initiatives and efforts to mitigate the growing impact of damaging climate change, GOP Gov. Susana Martinez today named a climate change denier to head New Mexico's Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department. She's cleansing so her big donors can dirty things up with abandon in the state, as never before. Martinez has chosen former astronaut and senator from New Mexico, Harrison "Jack" Schmitt, aged 75, as a prominent partner in her planned environmental retreat back to the 1950s. Schmitt said as much,...

Former U.S. Sen. Harrison "Jack" Schmitt, a geologist and Apollo astronaut who bucks conventional theory on human-caused global warming, was named Thursday by Gov. Susana Martinez to head the state's Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department. Schmitt, a Silver City native who was elected to the Senate in 1976 and defeated after one term by current officeholder Jeff Bingaman, is one of the last people to walk on the moon. His appointment drew immediate fire from environmentalists. "We are disheartened to see the selection of a climate change denier," said Sandy Buffett, executive director of the Santa Fe-based Conservation Voters...

Former astronaut Harrison Schmitt, who walked on the moon and served in the U.S. Senate, was nominated Thursday by Gov. Susana Martinez to run a state agency that oversees energy production in New Mexico. Schmitt was selected as cabinet secretary of the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department. Schmitt, 75, was one of the last men to walk on the moon as part of the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. He won election to the Senate in 1976, but lost his re-election bid in 1982 to Democrat Jeff Bingaman, who remains in the Senate.Martinez said the Schmitt's task is to...

Forwarded through NASA alumni e-mail: I just received a call from Bill Lenoir's daughter. Bill was in a bicycle accident on Thursday and suffered severe head injuries. He passed away due to that accident. No services are planned. There may be a wake to celebrate his life at a later date. Astronaut bio can be viewed at this URL: http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/lenoir-wb.htmlBob Crippen

NASA is pushing ahead with work on its new Orion space capsule and Ares rockets despite their ambiguous status as lawmakers discuss the agency's 2011 budget request.  Orion and Ares are part of Constellation, a NASA program designed to take astronauts back to the moon. Under his 2011 budget proposal, President Barack Obama called for canceling Constellation and urged NASA to work toward sending humans to an asteroid and then on to Mars. The outlook for Constellation's fledgling rocket and capsule spacecraft is not clear. Obama did recommend continuing development of Orion -- but only as an escape ship that...

A Navy panel says the service should discharge former astronaut Lisa Nowak, who lost her NASA job over a bizarre airport attack on a romantic rival. The panel made the recommendation Thursday after a daylong hearing at the Naval Air Station in Jacksonville. The recommendation now goes to the Naval Personnel Command. A final decision will be made by the Secretary of the Navy. The panel recommended downgrading Nowak from captain to commander and giving her a discharge of "other than honorable." Nowak was sentenced to a year on probation last November after pleading guilty to third-degree felony burglary and...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- After a day-long hearing at Naval Station Jacksonville, a Navy Board of Inquiry recommended that a love-scorned astronaut who drove from Texas to Florida in 2007 should be demoted from captain to commander and separated from the Navy.....

Legendary astronaut and former Navy pilot received a pair of honorary Naval Astronaut Wings in a ceremony aboard USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) (Ike) March 10 in recognition for his dedicated service to the Navy and in the field of space exploration. Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the moon July 20, 1969, was aboard Ike as part of the "Legends of Aerospace" tour sponsored by Morale Entertainment. "Today is a special occasion for all of naval aviation. As you can imagine, it is a tremendous honor for me to present Neil Armstrong with astronaut wings,"...

Bigelow Aerospace seeks professional astronauts to fill permanent positions. Qualified applicants need to have completed a training program from their government or recognized space agency and have at least some flight experience on a recognized space mission. Specialized training and/or experience (ie: Medical, Payload Specialist, EVA, Pilot, etc.) is not a pre-requisite, but is definitely a plus. Possible opportunities will come in two areas: 1) Ground - Working with Marketing Team to secure government and cooperate clients. - Working with Design and Fabrication Teams to help optimize layout of systems for on-orbit serviceability and ergonomics. - Working with Mission Control...

The eleven scientists, engineers, and physicians chosen in 1967 as NASA’s newest astronauts had just arrived in Houston when Deke Slayton, Director of Flight Crew Operations, called them into a meeting and told them the bad news. The program NASA had envisioned, the program that would have had people living in space stations and studying lunar soil in the 1970s, was over. Project Apollo’s budget was declining, and while American astronauts were still two years away from walking on the moon, the men who would fly Apollo missions had already been selected weeks earlier. The choice Slayton offered the new...

As Secretary of State Gen. Colin Powell, a self-professed man of simple tastes, often stayed at Holiday Inns while traveling the globe to confab with world leaders. As such, he has a personal list of gripes and suggestions for Holiday Inn owners. Gen. Powell rattled off that list ...when he was at State he had professed his affinity for cheeseburgers and the Holiday Inn. His points elicited chuckles and nods of agreement: “I don’t want to go to astronaut training to figure out how to set a clock radio,” Gen. Powell said, adding later, “I’m only there for the night....

The former astronaut arrested in an attack against her romantic rival has pleaded guilty to lesser counts this afternoon. Before a packed courtroom 1:30 p.m., Lisa Marie Nowak, 46, pleaded guilty to counts of third-degree burglary of a conveyance and misdemeanor battery. She was originally charged with more-serious counts of attempted kidnapping and burglary with assault in addition to misdemeanor battery. Prosecutors dropped a count of burglary with assault. Orange County Circuit Court Judge Marc L. Lubet sentenced Nowak to two days in Orange County Jail with credit for time served and one year of probation. She must stay away...

Are UFO's real? Are we alone in this vast universe? If there is other life out there in the universe have they visited our planet?

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In what might embarrass less adventurous souls, astronaut Koichi Wakata is returning to Earth with the underwear he kept on for a solid month during his space station stay and scientists will check them out. They're experimental high-tech undies, designed in Japan to be odor free. ... Wakata has been off the planet for 4 1/2 months. "I haven't talked about this underwear to my crew members," Wakata said in an interview with The Associated Press, drawing a big laugh from his six shuttle colleagues. "But I wore them for about a month, and my station...

MELBOURNE, Florida — A Florida attorney says a couple who were rocketed into the public eye by the antics of a former astronaut are getting married. Kepler Funk, a Melbourne attorney who represents Colleen Shipman, said Friday that she and former space shuttle pilot Bill Oefelein have gotten engaged. The couple, who now live in Alaska, have not set a date. • Photos: Astronaut Love Triangle Authorities say Lisa Nowak, who worked with Oefelein in the space program, famously drove from Houston to the parking lot of Orlando International Airport in February 2007 to confront Shipman.

Nasa astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the Moon, has urged the world to forget about returning to our nearest satellite and head to Mars instead. 'Why do we want to go to go back to the Moon?' he asked. 'Some nations want to go for prestige to say they are 'first' in space exploration in the 21st century and they want Nasa to compete with them.

A chance recording by astronauts on the International Space Station has captured the moment a volcano explosively erupted, sending massive shockwaves through the atmosphere. Sarychev Peak, one of the most active volcanoes in the world, had been sitting quietly in the Kuril Island chain near Japan for 20 years, when it suddenly sprang to life on June 12. Fortuitously, the International Space Station was flying overhead at the time, and managed to capture this spectacular image of the ash-cloud tearing through the atmosphere, sending clouds scattering in its wake in a perfect circle.

Lykkebak's representative, Marti MacKenzie, said the attorney withdrew a motion filed in 2007 that prepared the groundwork for a possible insanity defense in Nowak's trial on battery, attempted kidnapping and attempted burglary with assault charges... Nowak stands accused of attempting to kidnap U.S. Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman Nowak stands accused of attempting to kidnap U.S. Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman in 2007 as part of a jealousy-driven attempt to wreck Shipman's romantic relationship with William Oefelein, then a U.S. astronaut. Investigators allege Nowak drove 1,000 miles to attempt the kidnapping

Science Museum to feature Astronaut Scott Carpenter.

NASA managers said Saturday that space shuttle Discovery is ready for Sunday’s launch opportunity as repairs on a leaking gaseous hydrogen vent line are moving along smoothly. “I think we’re in really good shape,” said Mike Moses, chairman of the Mission Management Team that reviewed the shuttle’s readiness. Mike Leinbach, shuttle launch director, said the work to replace a suspect quick disconnect assembly on the launch pad is about three hours behind schedule, but that will not delay the countdown. Leak checks will be performed later tonight. “We feel really good and we’re really excited about launching tomorrow,” Leinbach...

Harrison "Jack" Schmitt, one of the last men to walk on the moon and a former U.S. senator from New Mexico, doesn't buy the idea that humans are causing global warming. "I don't think the human effect is significant compared to the natural effect," he said. Schmitt, who is among 70 skeptics scheduled speak at an international conference next month [sponsored by the Heartland Institute], admitted his beliefs fly in the face of the political consensus that burning fossil fuels has increased carbon-dioxide levels, temperatures and sea levels. Scientists who disagree with this scenario "are being intimidated," Schmitt said. "They've...

SANTA FE, N.M. - Former astronaut Harrison Schmitt, who walked on the moon and once served New Mexico in the U.S. Senate, doesn’t believe that humans are causing global warming. "I don’t think the human effect is significant compared to the natural effect," said Schmitt, who is among 70 skeptics scheduled to speak next month at the International Conference on Climate Change in New York. Schmitt contends that scientists "are being intimidated" if they disagree with the idea that burning fossil fuels has increased carbon dioxide levels, temperatures and sea levels.

(video) We’re not conspiracy theory wackos. We absolutely believe American astronauts walked on the moon. Twelve of them on six different missions. They loped around, smacked golf balls, drove that little dune buggy, all that stuff. But take a look at this video. It really makes you wonder if the entire Chinese space walk was phony. We hate the American media. They’ve proven they’re untrustworthy. But what’s this world coming to when you can’t trust the Chinese media? Watch the video.

Nowak is the woman accused of driving 1,600 kilometres to confront a romantic rival for the affections of a space shuttle pilot. An appeals court ruled Friday that the diapers, along with latex gloves and other items found in Nowak's car can be used as evidence.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - A spacewalking astronaut accidentally let go of her tool bag Tuesday after a grease gun inside it exploded, and helplessly watched as the tote and everything inside floated away. It was one of the largest items ever to be lost by a spacewalker, and occurred during an unprecedented attempt to clean and lube a gummed-up joint on a solar panel. Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper was just starting to work on the joint when the mishap occurred. She said her grease gun exploded, getting the dark gray stuff all over a camera and her gloves. While wiping off...

Excerpt: "As a geologist, I love Earth observations. But, it is ridiculous to tie this objective to a "consensus" that humans are causing global warming in when human experience, geologic data and history, and current cooling can argue otherwise. "Consensus", as many have said, merely represents the absence of definitive science. You know as well as I, the "global warming scare" is being used as a political tool to increase government control over American lives, incomes and decision making..."

I was out smoking a cigarette and an astronaut just happened to be walking by (I work at KSC). She stopped and we introduced ourselves, she is one of the latest graduates of astronaut candidate training, clas of 2004. We started chatting about what we do and I asked her if she'd like to take a quick tour of our facility (we make the heat tiles for the shuttle). I got to give her a short tour and show her what I do, she seemed very interested. It was so cool, her name is Dottie Metcalf-Lindenbuger. She hasn't flown yet...

  NASA just awarded its future spacesuit contract to Oceaneering International. The US firm must now design, test, and produce two suits -- the default suit (pictured after the break) worn on-board for launch and landing and a second, more versatile, cheese-proof suit worn during space walks and upon the surface of the moon. The suits must be ready for the first scheduled launch of the Orion Space Capsule in 2015. The contract is valued at the government special price of just $745 million. Hey, we have to keep up appearances at the International Space Station, you know.  

SEOUL, April 29 (AFP) Apr 29, 2008 South Korea's first astronaut Yi So-Yeon has been admitted to hospital with severe back pains caused by her rough return voyage to Earth, officials said Tuesday. The state-run Korea Aerospace Research Institute said Yi is undergoing MRI and other scans at an air force hospital to determine the exact cause of her discomfort. "She has complained of considerable back pains and will have to cancel all her appointments for the time being, including visits to the presidential office and TV interviews," a doctor at the military hospital was quoted by Yonhap news agency...

One giant pitch for mankind: Astronaut to hurl Yanks' first pitch from spaceBy Caitlin Millat DAILY NEWS WRITER Tuesday, April 15th 2008, 5:21 PM Forget The Rocket. A real astronaut will throw the first pitch at Wednesday night's Yankee game. NASA astronaut Dr. Garrett Reisman will throw the ceremonial pitch from the International Space Station during Wednesday's game against the Red Sox. Broadcast on the stadium's JumboTron screens, it will be the first ceremonial first pitch in Yankee history thrown from space. Reisman, a lifelong Yankee fan, carried a Yankee banner, a cap autographed by George Steinbrenner and a pile...

Lombard astronaut Daniel Tani today called his deceased mother his “hero” and said he was aware of the possibility that a family tragedy could strike while he was in space. In a statement released by NASA, Tani thanked “everyone who has expressed their condolences during this time of grieving for me and my family.” Tani’s 90-year-old mother Rose was killed on Wednesday after she drove her car onto railroad tracks in Lombard and was struck by a freight train. He will not be able to return to Earth for weeks. “Living on the [International Space Station] means I experience all...

Stuck in space, Lombard astronaut Daniel Tani is unable to grieve with his family over the death of their mother, who was killed by a train Wednesday. Tani, aboard the international space station, is weeks away from returning home, but family members said they are attempting to arrange for a weekend service to be beamed to the astronaut by video conference. Rose Shegino Tani, 90, who endured more than two years in a World War II internment camp for Japanese Americans, was often cited by her son as his inspiration for success. She was killed when she drove around railroad...

Police say the mother of a NASA astronaut who is on board the International Space Station died this afternoon when a train struck her vehicle at a crossing in a western Chicago suburb. Police say 90-year-old Rose Tani (TAH-nee) of Lombard is the mother of NASA astronaut Daniel M. Tani. Authorities say she was stopped behind a school bus that had halted at a crossing for a train. Officers said she apparently became impatient and drove around the bus. The train struck the passenger side of the vehicle. The woman was later pronounced dead at a hospital. Daniel Tani has...

Physician-astronaut Scott Parazynski, working on the end of a boom carried by the space station's robot arm, successfully repaired a mangled solar array today, cutting away a snarled guidewire, installing five suture-like braces and then standing by while his crewmates extended the array its full 110-foot length. Working with deliberate care, astronaut Dan Tani, sending commands from a computer inside the shuttle-station complex, extended the array's central mast a half bay at a time, stopping and letting Parazynski assess the health of the repairs as tension slowly built up on the just-installed braces. There were no problems and as the...

A judge agreed Friday to toss much of the evidence against Nowak, a former astronaut accused of making a diaper-assisted, 1,000-mile drive to confront a woman vying for the affections of the same space shuttle pilot. Investigators took advantage of 44-year-old Lisa Nowak, who had not slept for more than 24 hours, coercing her into giving information in a lengthy arrest interview, Orange County Circuit Judge Marc L. Lubet said. Lubet granted a defense motion to throw out comments she made during the six-hour interview and items seized during a search of her BMW, including maps to alleged victim Colleen...

Buzz Aldrin said a former astronaut charged with attempted kidnapping should be ``admired'' -- but not excused -- for her resolve in allegedly confronting a romantic rival, according to a published report. Lisa Nowak was arrested in February after police said the married mother of three had driven nearly 1,000 miles to Orlando. ``Astronauts are not superhuman. They lead ordinary lives and have varied personalities,'' Aldrin said in comments published on Time magazine's Web site.

ORLANDO, FLA. — Former astronaut Lisa Nowak wants a judge to let her remove the ankle bracelet that allows authorities to track her location as she awaits trial for allegedly attacking a romantic rival, saying it is "an unnecessary and excessive expense." Nowak is paying $105 a week — $2,940 so far — for the monitoring device as a condition of her release, according to a court filing her attorney says was made Thursday. The clerk at the Circuit Court in Orange County could not find the filing, but said it could be in the pipeline. Nowak also argues that...

ORLANDO, Fla. - Former astronaut Lisa Nowak wants a judge to let her remove the ankle bracelet that allows authorities to track her as she awaits trial on suspicion of attacking a romantic rival, calling it expensive and unnecessary.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A spacewalking astronaut tossed two large chunks of junk off the international space station Monday, hurling the old equipment into orbit. Clayton Anderson, a sportsman who enjoys officiating basketball games back on Earth, heaved a 1,400-pound, refrigerator-size ammonia tank away from the station. His first toss was a 200-pound camera mounting. Mission Control declared the tank throw great and "right down the middle." "Well, in that case, give Brad Lidge and Roy Oswalt a call and tell them I just hummed a 17,500-mph fastball," Anderson said, referring to the star pitchers for his hometown Houston Astros....

A Canadian astronaut will be paying tribute to his Welsh heritage once more on his second mission into space. Dafydd Rhys Williams, whose father was from the valleys town of Bargoed, has already spoken Welsh in space and taken Gareth Edwards' rugby cap into orbit. Weeks away from his second trip on the space shuttle, Dr Williams told BBC Wales that a Welsh dragon would be watching over his mission notebook. The 14-day tour will see Dr Williams make three space walks. The former emergency room physician will be helping to build an extension on the international space station on...

HOUSTON -- After more than two decades of waiting, NASA's first official educator astronaut is ready to fly. Barbara Morgan, who first joined NASA's spaceflyer ranks 22 years ago during the agency's Teacher in Space program, is due to launch Aug. 7 with six STS-118 crewmates aboard the shuttle Endeavour on a construction mission to the International Space Station (ISS). "We're very thrilled that we have a mission specialist who is an experienced educator," said Joyce Winterton, NASA's associate administrator for the Office of Education, during a briefing today here at the agency's Johnson Space Center (JSC). "Her mission will...

ORLANDO, Florida — Former astronaut Lisa Nowak told a detective she came to Orlando to meet her rival for the affections of a fellow astronaut because she wanted to know where she stood in the bizarre love triangle, according to a police interview made public Monday. A 72-page transcript of the interview conducted after her February arrest, with portions redacted, was released by the State Attorney's Office. In it, Orlando Police Detective Chris Becton asks Nowak about why she wanted to meet Navy Capt. Colleen Shipman in a parking lot at the Orlando International Airport. Nowak, 44, is accused of...