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space travel

Art

Fantastic ’70s Illustrations of Futuristic Space Colonies

By Tom Hawking on

If you’re of a bookish bent and also of a certain age that starts with a “3,” you may well have gone through a phase in your childhood when you devoured every book in the local library on space/space travel/”the future” in general. If so, you may also emit a squeal of delight at these wonderful ’70s-era illustrations of space colonies, which we spotted at Visual News. The illustrations were commissioned by NASA as concept art of what future space colonies might look like, but to be honest, they look like they walked straight out of 50 Facts About Space or something similar. They’re not just a nostalgic pleasure for former (or current) sci-fi nerds, either — they’re a pretty fascinating insight into a romantic era when space really was viewed as the final frontier, as opposed to a whacking great drain on the federal budget. Sigh. Click through to check out a selection of our favorites. … Read More

Tech

Video of the Day: NASA Shuttle Launches Through The Decades

By Emily Temple on

Yesterday, Atlantis, NASA’s final shuttle for the foreseeable future, lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center. When Atlantis returns from its planned 12-day mission, it will mark the end of the US’s 30-year old space shuttle program and begin what is reported to be a four year wait before NASA is able to make spaceships again. Though NASA has spent years without making shuttles before, it still puts the program in a tenuous place. According to former astronaut Leroy Chiao, “After this mission, we will no longer have the ability to send American astronauts into space ourselves… And, arguably, we will no longer be the leaders in human spaceflight until we get that capability back.” To fuel your nostalgia for an age likely gone, NPR has compiled a nostalgia video about the glory days of shuttle launches past. Click through to watch and let us know how you feel about the momentous event in the comments. … Read More