Latest Spacecraft propulsion Stories

Nine days from now "“ on March 17 "“ the MESSENGER spacecraft will execute a 15-minute maneuver that will place it into orbit about Mercury, making it the first craft ever to do so, and initiating a one-year science campaign to understand the innermost planet.Starting Monday, antennas from each of the three Deep Space Network (DSN) ground stations began a round-the-clock vigil, allowing flight control engineers at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel,...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., Feb. 23, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is among seven nominees competing for one of the most prestigious awards in aerospace, the National Aeronautic Association's (NAA) Robert J. Collier Trophy. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is being nominated as part of the team that powered the hypersonic X-51A WaveRider vehicle last May in the longest-ever supersonic combustion ramjet (scramjet) powered flight. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is a United...

NIAGARA FALLS, N. Y., Feb. 22, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- AMPAC-ISP CORP., American Pacific Corporation's (Nasdaq: APFC) wholly-owned In-Space Propulsion subsidiary (AMPAC-ISP or AMPAC In-Space Propulsion), is producing bipropellant thrusters for the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle under contract to Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems. These engines provide vernier reaction control for the spacecraft, and are designed in varied configurations to match the vehicle contour at their specific...

After more than a dozen laps through the inner solar system, NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft will move into orbit around Mercury on March 17, 2011. The durable spacecraft "” carrying seven science instruments and fortified against the blistering environs near the Sun "” will be the first to orbit the innermost planet.At 8:45 p.m. EDT, MESSENGER "” having pointed its largest thruster very close to the direction of travel "” will fire that thruster for nearly 14 minutes, with other...

As the team of scientists behind NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft eagerly awaits the craft's entry into Mercury's orbit on March 17, we could soon get answers to questions about the origin, composition, interior structure and geological history of this mysterious planet.Louise Prockter, deputy project scientist on the mission, writes exclusively in February's Physics World about the challenges the craft has been designed to face, the early successes of the mission and her own triumphant voyage...

So you think global warming is a big problem? What could happen if a 25-million-ton chunk of rock slammed into Earth? When something similar happened 65 million years ago, the dinosaurs and other forms of life were wiped out."A collision with an object of this size traveling at an estimated 30,000 to 40,000 mile per hour would be catastrophic," according to NASA researcher and New York City College of Technology (City Tech) Associate Professor of Physics Gregory L. Matloff. His...

NASA has formed a partnership with Spaceweather.com to engage the amateur astronomy community to submit the best images of the orbiting NanoSail-D solar sail. NanoSail-D unfurled the first ever 100-square-foot solar sail in low-Earth orbit on Jan. 20.To encourage observations of NanoSail-D, Spaceweather.com is offering prizes for the best images of this historic, pioneering spacecraft in the amounts of $500 (grand prize), $300 (first prize) and $100 (second prize).The contest is open to all...

On Friday, Jan. 21 at 10 a.m. EST, engineers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., confirmed that the NanoSail-D nanosatellite deployed its 100-square-foot polymer sail in low-Earth orbit and is operating as planned. Actual deployment occurred on Jan. 20 at 10 p.m. EST and was confirmed today with beacon packets data received from NanoSail-D and additional ground-based satellite tracking assets. In addition, the NanoSail-D orbital parameter data set shows an appropriate...

On Wednesday, Jan. 19 at 11:30 a.m. EST, engineers at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., confirmed that the NanoSail-D nanosatellite ejected from Fast Affordable Scientific and Technology Satellite, FASTSAT. The ejection event occurred spontaneously and was identified this morning when engineers at the center analyzed onboard FASTSAT telemetry. The ejection of NanoSail-D also has been confirmed by ground-based satellite tracking assets.Amateur ham operators are asked to listen...

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Dec. 23, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Aerojet, a GenCorp (NYSE: GY) company, celebrates NASA's recent announcement that Voyager 1 has reached a point at the edge of our solar system where there is no outward motion of solar wind. Now approximately 10.8 billion miles from the sun, Voyager 1's passage through the heliosheath, the turbulent outer shell of the sun's sphere of influence, and the spacecraft's upcoming departure from our solar system, mark a major milestone...