Latest Space technology Stories
$100 Million Space Shuttle Atlantis(SM) Attraction on Track for June 29 Opening at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., April 25, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- KENNEDY SPACE CENTER - NASA's Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex today began the two-day process of unwrapping the Atlantis orbiter from the protective shrink wrap that has encased the priceless artifact during construction of the $100 million Space Shuttle Atlantis(SM) attraction, set to open June 29....
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory The team in charge of successfully landing NASA's Mars rover Curiosity, managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., received the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's highest group honor at a dinner in Washington on Wednesday night, April 24. The 2013 Trophy for Current Achievement honors outstanding achievements in the fields of aerospace science and technology. The Mars Science Laboratory Project built and operates the rover...
HOUSTON, April 25, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA has exercised a contract option with Lockheed Martin Corp. of Gaithersburg, Md., to provide continued mission control systems services, development, maintenance and operations support as part of the Facilities Development and Operations Contract. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) The extension has a total estimated value of $166.8 million and extends the period of performance through Sept. 30, 2014. The...
CANOGA PARK, Calif., April 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, the rocket-engine manufacturer that helped power American astronauts to the moon during the Apollo era, has completed the last in a series of hot-fire tests on a J-2X engine with a stub-nozzle extension at simulated altitude conditions. This latest chapter in the development of America's next rocket engine paves the way toward full-motion testing of the J-2X engine, which is designed to power humans to...
[ Watch the Video: ScienceCasts: Comet ISON Meteor Shower ] Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online Astronomers have been given the clearest view yet of a comet that is supposed to light up the skies later this year. Comet ISON is expected to create a spectacular show in the night sky in November, and NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has provided scientists with a great preview, months before its premier debut. Comet ISON is a "dirty snowball," meaning it is a clump of...
[ Watch the Video: Grasshopper 250m Test | Ring of Fire ] April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online SpaceX, a private space transportation company, announced the fifth successful flight trial of its Grasshopper Vertical Takeoff Vertical Landing (VTVL) Vehicle. Grasshopper flew 820 feet straight up, hovered in place while holding against the wind, and then returned to the launch pad. According to a Universe Today report, the 10-story Grasshopper was designed by SpaceX to...
ESA Without hi-tech magnetic sensors, rovers wouldn’t be able to roam around Mars. These same sensors will soon boost terrestrial travel by improving the machinery that molds parts for cars and aircraft here on Earth. These devices will ‘feel’ parts in exquisite detail, noting features like the width and depth of drilled holes, helping to create perfect 3D pictures of each highly complex piece. It takes up to 20 minutes to beam information from Mars to Earth – more than...
WASHINGTON, April 22, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Three smartphones destined to become low-cost satellites rode to space Sunday aboard the maiden flight of Orbital Science Corp.'s Antares rocket from NASA's Wallops Island Flight Facility in Virginia. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) The trio of "PhoneSats" is operating in orbit, and may prove to be the lowest-cost satellites ever flown in space. The goal of NASA's PhoneSat mission is to determine...
BRISTOL, Pa., April 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- DUNMORE Corporation multi-layer insulation (MLI) materials protected the launch vehicle and its cargo delivery system Wednesday as a successful launch of the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program (COTS) test mission was conducted from Orbital Sciences' Wallops Island launch facility. DUNMORE MLI material is incorporated into the cargo compartment and control module of the Cygnus spacecraft that the Antares rocket launched into...
Study to Focus on Innovative Surveillance Technology for Battlefield Imagery ARLINGTON, Va., April 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- ATK (NYSE: ATK) was awarded a contract to support the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, Va. for the Space Enabled Effects for Military Engagements (SeeMe) program. SeeMe seeks to develop enabling technologies to provide reliable surveillance data to the warfighter in the field, using small, low-cost satellites that are...
Latest Space technology Reference Libraries
The Pioneer Program is a series of American unmanned space missions designed for planetary exploration. The program included a number of missions, but the most well-known missions were Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11. Both Pioneer 10 and 11 explored the outer planets and left our solar system. Both probes carry a gold plaque, depicting a man and a woman and information about the origin of the probes and their creators. The Pioneer probe was named by Stephen A. Saliga, who was chief designer of Air...
Project Constellation is a spaceflight program run by NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration). The program goals are to continue significant operations away from Earth's environment, to develop technologies needed for expanding exploration of space, and to continue conducting fundamental science. Project Constellation was developed by the Exploration Systems Architecture Study, which established how NASA would pursue the goals from the Vision for Space Exploration and the...
Wernher von Braun (March 23, 1912 - June 16, 1977) was one of the leading figures in the development of rocket technology in Germany and the United States. His work on the Nazi rocket program made him a controversial figure. The controversy was captured in a song by satirist Tom Lehrer, who described him as "A man whose allegiance is ruled by expedience". He was born on in Wirsitz, Posen, Germany and his mother gave him a telescope upon his Lutheran confirmation. His interest in astronomy...
NEAR-Shoemaker Mission -- The Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous - Shoemaker (NEAR Shoemaker), renamed after its launch in honor of Gene Shoemaker, is an unmanned spacecraft designed to study the near-Earth asteroid Eros from close orbit over a period of a year. The primary scientific objectives of NEAR were to return data on the bulk properties, composition, mineralogy, morphology, internal mass distribution and magnetic field of Eros. Secondary objectives include studies of regolith...
Terraforming -- Terraforming (literally, "Earth-shaping") is the process of modifying a planet, moon or other body to a more habitable atmosphere, temperature or ecology. The term was first used in a science fiction novel, 'Seetee Shock' (1940?) by Jack Williamson, but the actual concept is older than that. An example in fiction is 'First and Last Men' by Olaf Stapledon in which Venus is modified, after a long and destructive war with the original inhabitants, who naturally object to the...
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