Latest Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer Stories
NASA A new NASA-developed, laser-based space communication system will enable higher rates of satellite communications similar in capability to high-speed fiber optic networks on Earth. The space terminal for the Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration (LLCD), NASA's first high-data-rate laser communication system, was recently integrated onto the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft at NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. LLCD will demonstrate...
RICHMOND, Va., Feb. 5, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Leaders from NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., and NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Va., will join industry representatives Feb. 6 and 7 to meet with General Assembly members to promote aerospace in Virginia. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) This is the eighth "Aerospace Days," which include meetings with legislators, briefings to various committees such as science...
Peter Suciu for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online Our modern society is typically removing dust; including dust in the air, dust on surfaces and of course dust in our electronics. While most dust is considered just something that gathers on old books and other flat surfaces, some dust is apparently worth preserving and even restoring. On Thursday NASA announced that 40 years after the last Apollo spacecraft launched and headed to the moon the scientific research from those...
Engineers at NASA’s Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., have installed the third and final science instrument that will fly onboard NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE). LADEE is a robotic mission that will orbit the moon to gather detailed information about the lunar atmosphere, conditions near the surface and environmental influences on lunar dust. "The installation of the final science instrument to LADEE’s flight structure in the clean room at...
Solar storms and associated Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) can significantly erode the lunar surface according to a new set of computer simulations by NASA scientists. In addition to removing a surprisingly large amount of material from the lunar surface, this could be a major method of atmospheric loss for planets like Mars that are unprotected by a global magnetic field. The research is being led by Rosemary Killen at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., as part of the...
ARLINGTON, Va., Nov. 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- ATK (NYSE: ATK) announced that it successfully performed the first orbit insertion of a satellite using its new STAR(TM) 48BV rocket motor with an innovative vectorable nozzle. The new STAR(TM) 48BV system served as the fourth and final stage of the Orbital Minotaur IV+ rocket, which recently launched the Tactical Satellite-4 (TacSat-4) into low-Earth orbit. ATK's STAR(TM) 48BV is the latest evolution of the highly reliable...
[ Watch the Video ] Lunar researchers have been struggling with the mystery for years, and they may have finally found a solution. But first, what is an ionosphere? Every terrestrial planet with an atmosphere has one. High above the planet’s rocky surface where the atmosphere meets the vacuum of space, ultraviolet rays from the sun break apart atoms of air. This creates a layer of ionized gas--an "ionosphere." Here on Earth, the ionosphere has a big impact on communications...
It currently takes 90 minutes to transmit high-resolution images from Mars, but NASA would like to dramatically reduce that time to just minutes. A new optical communications system that NASA plans to demonstrate in 2016 will lead the way and even allow the streaming of high-definition video from distances beyond the Moon. This dramatically enhanced transmission speed will be demonstrated by the Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD), one of three projects selected by NASA's...
2 probes, repositioned from THEMIS mission, will map surface magnetic fieldsBy Robert Sanders, University of California - BerkeleyOn Sunday, July 17, the moon will acquire its second new companion in less than a month. That's when the second of two probes built by the University of California, Berkeley, and part of NASA's five-satellite THEMIS mission will drop into a permanent lunar orbit after a meandering, two-year journey from its original orbit around Earth.The first of the two probes...
We all remember a moment in which a teacher or mentor made a difference in our lives. It could be a nod of encouragement, a helping hand, a lesson that inspired wonder or discovery, and ultimately may have given purpose and value to our lives.These moments of awareness are what educators and mentors at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. hoped to inspire in our new generation on July 26, 2010, when it celebrated scientific discovery and technological innovation as part of its...
