Latest Robotic spacecraft Stories

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory Space enthusiasts will be able to get "up close and personal" (bring your camera) with a full-scale replica of the Curiosity Mars rover before the free Jan. 23 public premiere of the documentary film "The Changing Face of Mars." The model, about the size of a small SUV automobile, will be on display outside Caltech's Beckman Auditorium in Pasadena, Calif. Also on display will be the "first image of Mars." The unusual origins of this historic image is one...

Lawrence LeBlond for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Stanford University researchers, working with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and MIT, have designed a new robotic platform that could be used to explore the moons of Mars. The platform consists of a mother spacecraft and anywhere from one to several spiky, spherical rovers that can be deployed on the surface of a moon, such as Phobos, where they can hop, roll and tumble their way across rugged terrain. Each rover, dubbed...

WASHINGTON, July 11, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A NASA-created application that brings some of the agency's robotic spacecraft to life in 3-D now is available for free on the iPhone and iPad. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) Called Spacecraft 3D, the app uses animation to show how spacecraft can maneuver and manipulate their outside components. Presently, the new app features two NASA missions, the Curiosity rover that will touch down on Mars Aug. 6...

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., invites the public to its annual Open House on Saturday, June 9, and Sunday, June 10, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event, themed "Great Journeys," will take visitors on a "ride" through the wonders of space. Highlights include a life-size model of Mars Science Laboratory, the NASA/JPL spacecraft currently bound for Mars; demonstrations from numerous space missions; JPL's machine shop, where robotic spacecraft parts are built; and the...

ESA has awarded the contract to build its next-generation Sun explorer to Astrium UK. Solar Orbiter will investigate how the Sun creates and controls the heliosphere, the extended atmosphere of the Sun. Prof. Alvaro Giménez Cañete, ESA Director of Science and Robotic Exploration and Miranda Mills, National Director – Earth Observation, Navigation and Science of Astrium signed the contract on 26 April on the occasion of a ceremony celebrating 50 years of the UK in space. The...

PITTSBURGH, April 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Astrobotic Technology today announced a NASA contract to determine whether its polar rover can deploy an ice-prospecting payload to the Moon. The ice could yield water, oxygen, methane and rocket propellant to dramatically reduce the cost of space exploration. "Astrobotic seeks the immense resources available on the Moon to both accelerate space exploration and improve life on Earth," said David Gump, president. "The lunar path is near...

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., April 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Moon Express, a Google Lunar X PRIZE contender, announced today that it has successfully delivered a mission design package to NASA under its Innovative Lunar Demonstration Data (ILDD) Program, providing NASA continuing data on the development of the company's commercial lunar missions and plans to mine the Moon for precious planetary resources. The newest task order in the $10M ILDD contract called for Moon Express to provide...

When people think of space technologies, many think of high-tech solar panels, complex and powerful propulsion systems or sophisticated, electronic guidance systems. Another critical piece of spaceflight technology, however, is an ultra stable, highly accurate device for timing - essential to NASA's success on deep-space exploration missions. NASA is preparing to fly a Deep Space Atomic Clock, or DSAC, demonstration that will revolutionize the way we conduct deep-space navigation by...

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., March 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Moon Express, a Google Lunar X PRIZE contender, announced today that it has won an additional task order from NASA under its Innovative Lunar Demonstration Data (ILDD) Program contract. The newest task order in the $10M ILDD contract calls for Moon Express to provide NASA with data about the company's progress through a Preliminary Design Checkpoint Technical Package that documents details of mission operations, spacecraft...

Russian media sources have reported that the Kremlin has agreed to fully finance numerous space research programs for one of the country’s top aerospace engineering companies through 2016. According to Viktor Khartov, chief of the Research and Production division of the state-owned aeronautics firm Lavochkin, the Russian government has authorized full funding for two planned Moon missions, one trip to Venus and a handful of new scientific research satellites that will be used for probing...