Latest Spacecraft propulsion Stories

ATK-Tested HPGP Thruster Technology Provides Increased Performance, Safety and Cost-Effectiveness for NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) ARLINGTON, Va., May 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- ATK (NYSE: ATK), the nation's largest rocket motor producer, has successfully completed the first U.S.-based testing of the High Performance Green Propulsion (HPGP) thruster technology for the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). The testing was conducted at ATK Defense Group's test...

MARLBORO, N.J., May 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- US Precious Metals, Inc. (OTCQB: USPR) announced today that Professor Edgar Choueiri, Director of Princeton University's Program in Engineering Physics and Director of Princeton's Electric Propulsion and Plasma Dynamics Laboratory (EPPDyL) has joined its Board of Directors. Professor Choeiri is one of the world's leading authorities in plasma technology. Stay informed on U.S Precious Metal developments by getting FREE news alerts &...

CANOGA PARK, Calif., May 7, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The X-51A WaveRider hypersonic vehicle, powered by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne's SJY61 scramjet engine, achieved aviation history on May 1 by making the longest-ever supersonic combustion ramjet-powered flight, flying full duration and achieving mission success. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is a United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) company. "This test flight brings aviation closer than ever to the reality of regular, sustained...

Brett Smith for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online NASA has announced that it will stop using the rocket fuel that has been an aeronautics mainstay since the 1940s and switch to a greener, environmentally-benign propellant. The space agency says that the first space flight powered with this new fuel will take place in 2015. Hydrazine was used to power the first rocket-powered fighter plane in World War II, the Viking Missions of the 1970s, and more recently the Curiosity mission on...

Tenshon® shade sail manufacturer in Mesa, AZ is excited to announce the launch of a new scholarship program that aims to give students in the field of architecture, design and engineering a chance to compete to win a $1,500 scholarship for the most creative shade sail design. Mesa, AZ (PRWEB) April 26, 2013 Tenshon® shade sail manufacturer in Mesa, AZ is excited to announce the launch of a new scholarship program that aims to give students in the field of architecture, design...

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...

Michael Harper for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online There are many who would like to one day go to Mars. This list of willing candidates likely dries up when asked to dedicate a total of four years to the trip. The Inspiration Mars Foundation, on the other hand, believes they can shoot a couple around the Red Planet and back again in just over 500 days. Now, researchers at the University of Washington aim to make the trip in even less time – somewhere around 30 days, to be...

CENTENNIAL, Colo., April 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- United Launch Alliance recently honored three California-based suppliers with a 2012 Small Business Excellence award for their support of the Atlas V and Delta IV launch vehicles. ULA's Atlas and Delta vehicles support a wide range of missions including the Department of Defense Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) Program and NASA science missions, and are poised to launch the next generation of astronauts to the International...

Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online MIT researchers writing in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society A say they found ionic wind thrusters may be a more efficient source of propulsion than conventional jet engines. Ionic wind, or electrohydrodynamic thrust, was first identified in the 1960s. The phenomenon takes place when a current passes between two electrodes, creating a wind in the air between. If enough voltage is applied, the wind produces a thrust...

HAMPTON, Va., April 1, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Humans may step on the interstellar gas pedal some day and "Boom!" goes the engine. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) On Tuesday, April 2, at NASA's Langley Research Center, theoretical physicist Friedwardt Winterberg will present, "To Mars in Weeks by Thermonuclear Micro-Bomb Propulsion," at 2 p.m. in the Reid Conference Center here. Winterberg will be available to answer questions from the media...