Spaceflight

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Spaceflight is the use of space technology to achieve the flight of spacecraft into and through outer space.

Spaceflight is used in space exploration, and also in commercial activities like space tourism and satellite telecommunications. Additional non-commercial uses of spaceflight include space observatories, reconnaissance satellites and other earth observation satellites.

A spaceflight typically begins with a rocket launch, which provides the initial thrust to overcome the force of gravity and propels the spacecraft from the surface of the Earth. Once in space, the motion of a spacecraft -- both when unpropelled and when under propulsion -- is covered by the area of study called astrodynamics. Some spacecraft remain in space indefinitely, some disintegrate during atmospheric reentry, and others reach a planetary or lunar surface for landing or impact.

For more information about Spaceflight, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with space flight


As shuttle's career nears an end, NASA turns focus to satellites

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Dec 26, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (8) | comments 1

NASA heads into 2010 with the bittersweet assignment of retiring the space shuttle after nearly three decades. But that's not all the agency has planned: There are also launches of three new satellites aimed at better understanding ...





Search results for space flight


New materials designed to deal with hypersonic and supersonic hot stuff (w/ Video)

New materials designed to deal with hypersonic and supersonic hot stuff (w/ Video)

Physics / Condensed Matter

created Dec 24, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (19) | comments 6

University of Queensland researchers are testing new materials to withstand the extreme heat experienced by hypersonic vehicles in flight so they can fly for substantially longer.


Keck Telescopes Take Deeper Look at Planetary Nurseries

Keck Telescopes Take Deeper Look at Planetary Nurseries

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Dec 23, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (12) | comments 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- Astronomers using the W. M. Keck Observatory have peered far into a young planetary system, giving an unprecedented view of dust and gas that might eventually form planets similar to Jupiter, ...


Top-bottom: Soichi Noguchi, Timothy J. Creamer and Oleg Kotov wave before boarding a Soyuz TMA-17 spacecraft

Astronauts dock at International Space Station

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Dec 22, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

A Russian rocket carrying three astronauts from Japan, Russia and the United States docked at the International Space Station Wednesday, the Russian flight control centre said.


The world's next economic hot spot?

The world's next economic hot spot?

Other Sciences / Economics

created Dec 21, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- A bailout by neighboring emirate Abu Dhabi has apparently stabilized Dubai’s financial crisis. But the longer-term economic impact—on Dubai and other nations—could grow more serious.


Silicon technology offers extended X-ray vision of high-energy cosmos

Silicon technology offers extended X-ray vision of high-energy cosmos

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Dec 21, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- As elements of the integrated circuits running our computers, phones and electronics, silicon wafers are everywhere. An ESA-led effort is establishing an out-of-this-world use for these ...


An undated photo shows then director of Sukhumi's monkey nursery, Sergei Ardzimba, feeding his monkeys

War-torn 'nursery' hopes to send monkeys to Mars

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Dec 20, 2009 | popularity 2.4 / 5 (7) | comments 6

The monkeys at this run-down research centre which was once the pride of Soviet science have seen it all -- a brutal civil war, freezing winters and starvation.


Research in aircraft control systems and robotics helps improve flight safety

Research in aircraft control systems and robotics helps improve flight safety

Technology / Engineering

created Dec 18, 2009 | popularity 2 / 5 (1) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- At first blush, it may not seem like robots and aircraft control systems have anything in common. When you put them together, however, you arrive at the core of Guangjun Liu’s unique research ...


How to spur energy storage innovations

How to spur energy storage innovations

Other Sciences / Other

created Dec 17, 2009 | popularity 2 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Imagine flying all the way from coast to coast, completely guilt-free, in an airplane that doesn’t emit a single particle of greenhouse gas or air pollutants. That could happen someday, perhaps brought to ...


Orion Launch Abort System Attitude Control Motor Lights Up Sky

Orion Launch Abort System Attitude Control Motor Lights Up Sky

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Dec 17, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- It looked like a light show in Elkton, Md., on Tuesday, Dec. 15, as NASA ground tested a full-scale attitude control motor, or ACM. The motor operated with precision as its elaborate eight-valve ...


Ardi

Science's breakthrough of the year: Uncovering 'Ardi'

Other Sciences / Other

created Dec 17, 2009 | popularity 2.3 / 5 (3) | comments 2

The research that brought to light the fossils of Ardipithecus ramidus, a hominid species that lived 4.4 million years ago in what is now Ethiopia, has topped Science's list of this year's most significant s ...



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