The non-profit B612 Foundation aims to build, launch, and operate the first privately funded deep space mission—a space telescope in orbit around the Sun that will map the inner Solar System in search of asteroids that could impact Earth.

Sentinel is a space-based infrared (IR) survey mission to discover and catalog 90 percent of the asteroids larger than 140 meters in Earth’s region of the solar system. The mission should also discover a significant number of smaller asteroids down to a diameter of 30 meters. Sentinel will be launched into a Venus-like orbit around the sun, which significantly improves the efficiency of asteroid discovery during its 5.5 year mission.

Asteroids are a scientific and economic opportunity in that they contain the original building blocks of the Solar System. They are targets for future human exploration, and may contain valuable raw materials for mining. These asteroids are also a threat in that they can pose great risk to humanity here on Earth. Taking advantage of these opportunities and dealing with these threats require not only knowing where each of these individual asteroids is now, but also projecting where they will be in the future.

NASA's Space shuttle last mission lift off. Shuttle Endeavour went to space for the last time on May 16th, 2011 at 8:56 AM EDT. By Wednesday May 18th they will have reached the space station and their return back after a 16 day mission is expected by early June, 2011

Benefits of space surround us. Exploration fuels innovation. Groundbreaking technologies we develop to explore space keep us close and safe right here at home.

Have you ever wondered why some telescopes are launched into space while others are built on remote mountain tops? What is actually the best for astronomy? Here we provide a ringside view of the fight for the elusive photons from deep space - is it a battle of the telescope giants?

Planetary Resources' mission is mine near-Earth asteroids for raw materials, ranging from water to precious metals. Through the development of cost-effective exploration technologies, the company is poised to initiate prospecting missions targeting resource-rich asteroids that are easily accessible.

Resource extraction from asteroids will deliver multiple benefits to humanity and could be valued at billions of dollars annually. The effort will tap into the high concentration of precious metals found on asteroids and provide a sustainable supply to the ever-growing population on Earth.

The first American woman in Space talks about her historic flight on NASA's 50th anniversary. She flew aboard Space Shuttle Challenger in June 1983 on the STS-7 mission.

Space shuttle Atlantis lands at Kennedy following the successful STS-132 mission to the International Space Station.

Twenty-seven years ago, Sally Ride became the first American woman in
space on Jun 18, 1983. She accomplished this historic milestone when
she flew aboard Space Shuttle Challenger as a mission specialist for
the six-day STS-7 mission. Ride, a southern California native, was also
a mission specialist for a second shuttle mission, STS 41-G in October of 1984.
Since leaving the astronaut corps in 1987, Ride, who has a Ph.D. in physics,
has taught at various universities and authored several books. In 2001,
she founded Sally Ride Science, an innovative program dedicated to promote
student interest in mathematics, science and technology. She is a member
of the National Women's Hall of Fame and the Astronaut Hall of Fame, and
has received numerous awards, including two NASA Space Flight Medals.
(Interview conducted April 21, 2008)