Latest Ames Research Center Stories

WASHINGTON, May 20, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA Administrator Charles Bolden will hold media availabilities at all three of the agency's centers in California this week, highlighting progress on the asteroid mission, commercial crew transportation and space technology development. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) Bolden will tour of Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) Space Systems' Dream Chaser spacecraft Wednesday, May 22 at NASA's Dryden Flight...

WASHINGTON, May 15, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA will host a news teleconference at 4 p.m. EDT, today, May 15, to discuss the status of the agency's Kepler Space Telescope. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) Kepler is the first NASA mission capable of finding Earth-size planets in or near the habitable zone, which is the range of distance from a star where the surface temperature of an orbiting planet might be suitable for liquid water. Launched...

WASHINGTON, May 9, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA has selected Development Projects Inc. of Dayton, Ohio, to manage a new Centennial Challenge prize competition involving unmanned aircraft systems in 2014. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) NASA's Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Airspace Operations Challenge is focused on developing and demonstrating key technologies, particularly the ability to sense and avoid other air traffic. This will make it...

WASHINGTON, May 1, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA has selected 14 proposals from small business and research institution teams to continue development of innovative technologies that are needed for future NASA missions and could become viable commercial products and services. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) The Phase II selectees in NASA's Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program may enter negotiations for possible contract awards, worth a...

WASHINGTON, April 25, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA has selected 44 additional proposals from 42 small high-technology companies to enter into negotiations for Phase 2 contract awards through the agency's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) Valued at about $30.7 million, these selections complement 39 Phase 2 proposals announced in November. "These additional Phase 2 SBIR selections continue the...

Six-student team from Weston Florida's Cypress Bay High School wins $5000 Grand Prize in 2013 NASA Ames Space Settlement Design Contest, competing against 592 entries from 20 countries. Weston, FL (PRWEB) April 22, 2013 NASA Ames Research Center announces that a Cypress Bay High School team has won the $5,000 Grand Prize in the 2013 NASA Ames Space Settlement Design Contest. The six-student team created a space settlement plan, “Maui,” which was selected for the top award from 592...

NASA will host a news briefing at 11 a.m. PDT (2 p.m. EDT), Thursday, April 18, to announce new discoveries from the agency's Kepler mission. The briefing will be held at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., and will be broadcast live on NASA Television and on the agency's website. The briefing will also be streamed live at: http://www.ustream.tv/NASAJPL2, with a moderated Web chat featuring Kepler Deputy Project Scientist Nick Gautier of NASA's Jet Propulsion...

WASHINGTON, April 16, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Researchers using the airborne Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) have captured the most detailed mid-infrared images yet of a massive star condensing within a dense cocoon of dust and gas. (Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) The star is G35.20-0.74, commonly known as G35. It is one of the most massive known protostars and is located relatively close to Earth at a distance of...

WASHINGTON, April 15, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA will host a news briefing at 2 p.m. EDT, Thursday, April 18, to announce new discoveries from the agency's Kepler mission. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO ) The briefing will be held in the Syvertson Auditorium, Building N-201, at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., and be broadcast live on NASA Television and on the agency's website. Kepler is the first NASA mission capable of...

Airborne imaging technology developed at NASA and transferred to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service (USFS) in 2012 is being tested to prepare for this year's wildfire season in the western United States. The Autonomous Modular Sensor (AMS) is a scanning spectrometer designed to help detect hot-spots, active fires, and smoldering and post-fire conditions. Scientists at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., and USFS engineers installed it on a Cessna Citation...