Nov 20th, 2008 · NASA's aging shuttle fleet is expected to be retired before the agency has a new space transportation system in place. The GAO has identified this spaceship gap as one of 13 urgent issues facing the new administration.
Nov 20th, 2008 · The international space station turns 10 this week, and NASA is celebrating with an upgrade of the orbiter's bedrooms and bathrooms.
Nov 20th, 2008 · Washington's National Mall will regain a star attraction Friday, when the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History reopens after a two-year renovation. It took $85 million and a horde of curators, builders, architects and advisers to reframe space for the museum's 3 million historic objects.
Nov 14th, 2008 · Mechanical engineers Seth Lichter and Mark Weislogel wondered what would happen if they popped water balloons aboard NASA's low-gravity aircraft. Aside from the "fun-factor," as Weislogel puts it, the results demonstrate some basic principles of physics.
Nov 14th, 2008 · A new toilet and fridge will soon be orbiting the Earth. Astronauts on board space shuttle Endeavour will be taking a load of new equipment up to the International Space Station, to get everything ready so that next year the station can double its crew from three to six. The space shuttle is scheduled to liftoff Friday night.
Nov 12th, 2008 · The Supreme Court has heard a case testing whether any religious group has the right to erect a monument in a public space if there is already another one. Federal appeals courts around the country have ruled in different ways in a variety of cases.
Nov 12th, 2008 · The Supreme Court hears a case Wednesday testing whether any religious group has the right to erect a monument in a public space — if there is already another one there, such as a Ten Commandments monument. Federal appeals courts across the country have ruled in different ways in a variety of cases.
Nov 10th, 2008 · We receive several hundred CDs a week at All Songs Considered and do our best to listen to a bit of everything. But there's only enough time and space on the show to cover a tiny fraction of them. That means a lot of great albums get missed. Fortunately, as we compile our ballot for the year's best CDs, NPR listeners have been helping us find some of those buried and overlooked musical gems. On this edition of All Songs Considered we share some of those picks: the best of the CDs we missed this year, including music from Flobots, Department of Eagles, Human Highway, and more.