Boeing plays a key role in the scientific exploration of space, and has for many years. On this Web site, Boeing outlines numerous projects and developments currently underway. There are five general areas of the site, which include launch and orbital systems, human spaceflight and exploration, global connectivity, integrated battlespace, and missile defense. Each of these sections offers detailed...

The Space Shuttle Columbia disaster took place on February 1, 2003. For the next seven months, a group of scientists have been compiling evidence to determine what went wrong and how to prevent future accidents. At this NASA website, visitors can read the findings of this extensive report. Within the report interface, users can view six short movies illustrating the launch, the foam striking the...

Sponsored by Friends and Partners in Space and edited by Mark Wade, this site is a bit hard on the eyes, but it has few peers in terms of the sheer mountains of material it offers on spaceflight by all nations of the world. There is so much here that it is hard to decide where to begin. The main page offers a long list of highlights and new additions, most of them generously illustrated. The site...

With goals of maintaining the International Space Station and performing various experiments, the Expedition 8 Crew aboard the Russian Space Vehicle, Soyuz 7, launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan on October 18, 2003 and docked at the Space Station October 20, 2003. The two are expected to reside at the station until April 29, 2004. At this site, visitors can read biographies of the...

The Kennedy Space Center Multimedia Gallery provides a wide assortment of photographs and videos related to its numerous missions throughout the years. This user-friendly database allows visitors to search by keyword, type of media, time period, and category. Visitors can find materials for space shuttles, projects and missions, expendable launch vehicles, education, and much more. Through the...

NASA's Living in Space Web site allows kids of all ages the opportunity to learn how astronauts cope with zero gravity conditions in space. Everything from eating, dressing, working, and having fun is explained through descriptions, photographs, movies, audio files, and more. Other interesting items are also available, such as the interactive daily timeline of an astronaut's activities and several...

NASA's History Office Web site is offering a publication for public review entitled Looking Backward, Looking Forward: Forty Years of US Human Spaceflight Symposium. The two hundred and fifty page document chronicles NASA's history from the Sputnik era to the present including insights from Buzz Aldrin, perspectives on the future, the international space station, and much more. Readers will enjoy...

This Marshall Space Flight Center website presents images that "represent America's past, present, and future space programs." The images are organized into seven categories: benefits from NASA, International Space Station, Space Shuttle Projects, Space Transportation, Around Marshall, History, and Science. After reading the summary for a group, users can select a sub-category in order to view the...

This online article, produced by NASA's Office of Biological and Physical Research, discusses the research initiative to develop membranes that could solve some of the problems associated with traveling to and from Mars. With the help of a comprehensible explanation and a diagram, visitors can learn how NASA is planning to extract CO2 from the Martian atmosphere to propel rockets and rovers. The...

Since the tragic accident involving the space shuttle Columbia, the remainder of NASA's space shuttle fleet has been grounded indefinitely. This paper is "a periodically updated document demonstrating our progress toward safe return to flight and implementation of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board recommendations." Nearly 250 pages in length, the paper looks at specific systems of the...