NASA LANGLEY RESEARCH: Softer-Landing Tests Officials Hope Airbags Can Provide Greater Safety for Returning Astronauts
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By A.J. Hostetler, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va.  May 24--Engineers and technicians at Langley Research Center in Hampton are testing airbag designs that could help protect the next generation of moon walkers as they return to Earth.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida  - Astronauts aboard the U.S. space shuttle Atlantis prepared on Wednesday for their imminent return to Earth, provided Florida's fickle weather cooperates.
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The astronauts who will make NASA's first shuttle flight since the Columbia disaster said Friday they are confident it will be a safe voyage, and while they won't be able to fix a hole the size of the one that doomed Columbia, they will have options the last crew did not.
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Atlantis' heat shield is safe to return to Earth, mission managers decided Wednesday, a day before the space shuttle was planned to land in Florida. A forecast for thunderstorms appeared to be the main obstacle for its return.
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NASA is close  to&nbsp;meeting all&nbsp;of the return-to-flight safety requirements set by  Columbia accident investigators and should be able to launch a shuttle by May  2005, shuttle program officials said today.
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Bad weather could delay the return to Earth of space shuttle Atlantis and its crew of seven after a successful mission to the International Space Station, a NASA spokesman said Wednesday.
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By Martin Merzer, The Miami Herald  Jun. 21--Mission managers declared shuttle Atlantis fit to return to Earth on Thursday, but a higher authority -- nature -- might give the seven astronauts an extra day in space.
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By JON W. GLASS  By Jon W. Glass  The Virginian-Pilot  HAMPTON  Some engineers at NASA Langley Research Center will be watching the space shuttle Atlantis' return to Earth with special interest.
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Weather conditions were looking good for the Atlantis space shuttle and its seven crew to return to Earth on Wednesday, NASA officials said Tuesday.
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NASA engineers said yesterday that plans to send the space shuttle aloft next May appear to be proceeding smoothly, but designers acknowledged &quot;setbacks&quot; in devising onboard techniques to
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NASA will take a key step to returning astronauts to space when engineers ship a fuel tank that has been refitted. All this too decrease the likelihood of falling debris that caused the destruction of the space shuttle Columbia, officials said Tuesday.
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NASA has redesigned the space shuttle`s fuel tank, marking a big step in returning to space. The new tank has been designed to prevent chunks of insulating foam from breaking off during launch.
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HOUSTON Oct. 2, 2004 - The first shuttle flight since the Columbia tragedy has been pushed back by NASA because hurricane damage and implementation of new safety measures made a spring 2005 launch &quot;no longer achievable.
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The space program may be troubled now, but it did produce some cutting-edge breakthroughs in astronaut comfort. Inside Lisa Nowakâs travel wear.
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NASA (news - web sites) is close to meeting all of the return-to-flight safety requirements set by Columbia accident investigators and should be able to launch a shuttle by May 2005, shuttle program officials said today.
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The study found that side air bags are particularly effective in sport utility vehicles, cutting the chances of a fatality by 52 percent.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Before doing their heavy lifting in space, the astronauts on the shuttle Atlantis did lots of heavy lifting back on Earth.