Final Frontier in the News This Week

Mars Phoenix image from NASA

NASA Turns 50
July 29th, 2008 marked the 50th birthday of NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. To see amazing pictures of space, check out NASA's image archive at NASAimages.org.

Mars Phoenix Finds Water Ice on Mars!
The Mars Phoenix Lander (not a rover) was sent to Mars to get soil and possibly water ice samples in the polar caps of Mars, which may help prove the icy planet once contained life. The mission was a success. On July 31, 2008 the robotic arm harvested soil that contains water!

The mission is being managed by the University of Arizona. Read an article on the discovery at the UA-Phoenix site. NASA's site on the mission is here.

Virgin Galactic Unveils WhiteKnightTwo
Sir Richard Branson, the British business tycoon behind Virgin Group, which includes Virgin Galactic, unveiled the first privately funded spaceship, the WhiteKnightTwo. This mothership is to carry SpaceShipTwo, a sub orbital spacecraft, into space and make it possible for citizens to fly in an anti-gravity atmosphere. Some tickets have been purchased for up to $200,000.

Here is a story from the Charlotte Examiner, about one such lucky lady, a 75-year young retired chemist who has secured a seat, and hopes to fly to space by 2010. I better start saving my pennies!

UPDATE 8/5/08:
If you want to make reservations go here.
Great coverage of the unveiling on boingboingtv! (around 7 minutes)