Welcome to the NSS blog. Feel free to comment on any post (comments are moderated so won’t show up immediately). Contributors to the NSS Blog are unpaid volunteers. Unless specifically labeled an NSS position or press release, all blog posts represent the views of the author and not of NSS, even if written by an NSS officer.
By Dave Dressler NSS Director of Information Systems April 12th, holds particular significance in space history, marking Yuri’s Night, the anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s groundbreaking...
Category: Nonfiction Reviewed by: Douglas G. Adler Title: The Wrong Stuff: How the Soviet Space Program Crashed and Burned Author: John Strausbaugh Format: Hardcover/Kindle Pages:...
“Viktor, did you know I did all of the vocal tracks for Thriller? Well, I did. That guy Michael Jackson is partying it up back...
NASA photo, April 11, 1970: “Astronaut John L. Swigert Jr., command module pilot for NASA’s third lunar landing mission, appears to be relaxing in the...
From NASA: “In the shadow of Saturn, unexpected wonders appear. The robotic Cassini spacecraft now orbiting Saturn drifted in giant planet’s shadow for about 12...
NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) image, the Sun’s corona observed by Skylab. The corona in real color would actually be white; this computer-enhanced image...
NASA photo, Feb. 1975: “The five prime crew members of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) mission pose for a group photograph while at NASA’s Kennedy...
From July 18, 1966: “Astronaut Michael Collins, command pilot, is photographed inside the spacecraft during the Gemini 10 mission.” NASA photo. The late 1980s represented...
“The Apollo Saturn V 500F Facilities Test vehicle, after conducting the VAB stacking operations, rolls out of the VAB on its way to Pad 39A...
Several proposed military space programs, including the Manned Orbiting Laboratory program, are covered in Amazing Stories of the Space Age, Rod Pyle’s newest book. Image...
A Buran wind tunnel model. Photo by author Kobel, from Wikimedia Commons. Here is part two of space historian Jay Chladek’s series about the real...
From Wikimedia Commons: “OK-GLI Buran programme spacecraft at the Technik Museum Speyer, Germany on exhibition during 2013.” Image taken from Flickr user pasukaru76’s photostream, marked...
This long essay defends the NSS Vision against those who, like the author of the book being reviewed, think “we shouldn’t colonize Mars or the Moon, or even vacation there.” Ben Bramble, an Australian philosopher who teaches at Australian National University, has penned a YAASS (Yet Another Anti-Space-Settlement) book. These books are multiplying like flies, so space settlement advocates must be gaining ground to generate such an abundant response.
In HOTOL & Skylon: The Story of Britain’s Spaceplanes, Rob Coppinger covers the story of both in great detail, with the reminiscences of many who played integral roles in these ambitious programs. The book shines when it captures the enthusiasm and excitement of those involved, and there are extensive quotes from many who devoted years of work on these projects.
Anyone seeking a short but comprehensive introduction to human spaceflight would do well to start with this book. It reviews its history, highlights the accomplishments and tragedies, and describes the equipment used. It also looks at living in space, what space travelers experience, and how they work.
Back in 1966, Luna 9 became the first spacecraft to soft-land on the Moon. Apogee Books has provided an English-language NASA translation of a detailed report originally released by the USSR Academy of Sciences.
The National Space Society has just released a Position Paper on Selected Space Environmental Sustainability Issues. Below is the Conclusion section. The full paper can...
By Robin Scott NSS Chapter Middle Tennessee Space Society (MTSS) President Chuck Schlemm performs outreach, directly contacting about 560 attendees (STEM teachers, school faculty, students,...
By Burt Dicht NSS Space Coast Correspondent Some weeks in spaceflight are just busy. This one was something more. Over a period of four days,...
By Burt Dicht NSS Space Coast Correspondent A large anvil cloud hanging over Florida’s Space Coast added some uncertainty to the final hours of the...
Applications open 1 Oct – 1 Dec, 2026 The National Space Society’s Global Space Debates is a unique, 100% virtual program that brings high school...
