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.
Tuesday, January 28, 2025, 5:30 pm Central Time Join the National Space Society Iowa Chapter for “In Search of Falling Stars,” a Zoom presentation by...
By Hoyt Davidson, NSS Executive Vice President The National Space Society celebrates the 100th anniversary of the seminal 1923 publication of Hermann Oberth’s Die Rakete...
STS-5 crew walkout, November 11, 1982. Front, from left: PLT Robert Overmyer and CDR Vance Brand. Back, from left: MS Bill Lenoir, George Abbey, and...
Neil Armstrong somehow finds some time to practice landing on the Moon while he simultaneously spends 4,000 hours in the X-15. Real caption from NASA:...
1962 NASA photo: “Astronaut John H. Glenn Jr. looks into a Celestial Training Device (globe) during training in the Aeromedical Laboratory at Cape Canaveral, Florida.”...
Square-jawed Dr. Ed Gibson gets ready to upset some space journalists, NASA photo, Sept. 10, 1973: “Scientist-astronaut Edward G. Gibson, science pilot for the third...
This year, the space community lost many notables, including Gene Cernan, Dick Gordon, and Paul Weitz (pictured aboard Skylab). NASA photo, June 1973: “Astronaut Paul...
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...
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...
Venus: the enigma of the Solar System, and Island of Clouds’ target. Gerald Brennan’s newest book supposes NASA sent astronauts on a flyby mission to...
Emily Carney is a writer, space enthusiast, and creator of the This Space Available space blog, published since 2010. In January 2019, Emily’s This...
When smoke gets in your eyes: 1965 Life magazine photo. In September, John Young’s autobiography Forever Young, edited by Neil Armstrong’s biographer James Hansen, was...
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...
