Space, (or outer space), describes the vast empty regions between planets and stars. The study of these, and other, astronomical objects is called Astronomy, one of the oldest sciences. It is often said that space exploration began with the launch of Sputnik 1, the first man-made object to orbit the Earth. Then, in an almost unbelievable feat of human achievement, in 1969 Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin travelled to the Moon and set foot on the surface during the Apollo 11 mission. Recently, it has become clear that the possibility of space colonization may no longer be exclusively reserved for science-fiction stories, and many controversial issues surrounding space have come to light, including commercial spaceflight, space laws and space weapons.
ISS after STS-128 undocked on September 9, 2009
A space station is an artificial structure designed for humans to live in outer space. So far only low earth orbit (LEO) stations are implemented, also known as orbital stations. A space station is distinguished from other manned spacecraft by its lack of major propulsion or landing facilities — instead, other vehicles are used as transport to and from the station. Space stations are designed for medium-term living in orbit, for periods of weeks, months, or even years. The only space station currently in use is the International Space Station. Previous ones are the Almaz, Salyut series, Skylab and Mir.
Space stations are currently (as of 2009) used to study the effects of long-term space flight on the human body as well as to provide platforms for greater number and length of scientific studies than available on other space vehicles. Since the ill-fated flight of Soyuz 11 to Salyut 1, all manned spaceflight duration records have been set aboard space stations. The duration record for a single spaceflight is 437.7 days, set by Valeriy Polyakov aboard Mir from 1994 to 1995. As of 2008, three astronauts have completed single missions of over a year, all aboard Mir.
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The Pleiades (also known as M45 or the Seven Sisters) is an open cluster in the constellation of Taurus. It is among the nearest to the Earth of all open clusters, probably the best known and certainly the most striking to the naked eye.
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Upcoming spaceflight launches
This is not an automated list. Last manual update: October 24, 2009.
| 18 October 2009: |
IBEX satellite releases first all sky map |
| 7 October 2009: |
New ring discovered around Saturn, could explain dark side of its moon |
| 27 September 2009: |
Indian lunar mission Chandrayaan finds water on moon |
| 22 September 2009: |
Images show new dimension to Saturn's rings |
| 29 August 2009: |
Space Shuttle Discovery successfully lifts off on mission STS-128 |
| 27 August 2009: |
Extrasolar planet will most probably fall into its star |
 More Space news from Wikinews…
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Astronomical events in March 2010
- All times UT unless otherwise specified.
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