Posted on May 21, 2012, at 5:07 am .
A Boeing 747-422 is being stripped for parts for the Stratolaunch project. (Credit: Douglas Messier)
The Stratolaunch project is moving along at the Mojave Air and Space Port. Two 747-422s are being stripped for parts to build the mammoth rocket launching platform, which will be the biggest aircraft in the world.
An engine has been removed from the 747 for use in the Stratolaunch aircraft, which will have six engines. (Credit: Douglas Messier)
Meanwhile, the first of two hangars is nearing completion at the other end of the spaceport.
The first Stratolaunch hangar nearing completion on May 17, 2012. (Credit: Douglas Messier)
And, as an added bonus, here’s a picture of the one of the critters who makes its home in the desert.
What I believe is a zebra lizard showing off its ability to walk on the side of a building. Spider-man ain't got nothing on this thing. (Credit: Douglas Messier)
Posted on May 20, 2012, at 6:36 am .
New results from NASA's NEOWISE survey find that more potentially hazardous asteroids, or PHAs, are closely aligned with the plane of our solar system than previous models suggested. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — Observations from NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) have led to the best assessment yet of our solar system’s population of potentially hazardous asteroids. The results reveal new information about their total numbers, origins and the possible dangers they may pose.
Potentially hazardous asteroids, or PHAs, are a subset of the larger group of near-Earth asteroids. The PHAs have the closest orbits to Earth’s, coming within five million miles (about eight million kilometers) and they are big enough to survive passing through Earth’s atmosphere and cause damage on a regional, or greater, scale.
The new results come from the asteroid-hunting portion of the WISE mission, called NEOWISE. The project sampled 107 PHAs to make predictions about the entire population as a whole. Findings indicate there are roughly 4,700 PHAs, plus or minus 1,500, with diameters larger than 330 feet (about 100 meters). So far, an estimated 20 to 30 percent of these objects have been found.
Continue reading ‘Killer Asteroids: A Lot More Than We Thought’
Posted on May 19, 2012, at 1:00 pm .
SAN MATEO, Calif. (Citizens in Space PR) – A NASA-inspired competition is challenging citizen scientists to build hardware for collecting microorganisms at the edge of space.
Citizen scientists can win cash prizes up to $10,000 in the High Altitude Astrobiology Challenge, announced Saturday by Citizens in Space, a project of the United States Rocket Academy. If successful, their work may help stop a future epidemic.
Continue reading ‘Citizen Scientists Seek Microbes at the Edge of Space’
Posted on May 19, 2012, at 9:42 am .
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL. (CASIS PR) – Today, the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), the nonprofit organization managing research on the International Space Station (ISS), announced the unveiling of a new website (
www.iss-casis.org) that will serve as a portal for researchers, businesses, educators and students to discover the unique opportunities available to them on board the ISS U.S. National Laboratory.
Continue reading ‘CASIS Unveils New Website’
Posted on May 19, 2012, at 8:31 am .
The Commercial Spaceflight Federation, Aerospace Industries Association and the Satellite Industry Association are all praising the passage this week of a House bill that will loosen the nation’s restrictive laws on satellite exports.
Washington D.C. (CSF PR) – The Commercial Spaceflight Federation lauds the passage of H.R. 4310 today, the National Defense Authorization Act, with Rep. Adam Smith’s amendment providing authority to the President to remove some satellites and related components and technology from the U.S. Munitions List, but calls for further progress regarding spaceflight participant training and the appropriate regulatory position for manned space vehicles.
Continue reading ‘Industry Groups Applaud House Bill Supporting Satellite Export Reform’
Posted on May 19, 2012, at 2:02 am .
The Falcon 9 rocket began the initiation sequence for launch and then cutoff at the last second. Smoke appeared at the base of the rocket before the flight was terminated at 4:55 a.m. EDT. There was an abort on Engine No. 5 due to excessively high chamber pressure. The computer apparently saw a parameter it didn’t like on that engine and aborted the launch sequence.
The next possible launch date is on Tuesday, May 22 at 3:44 a.m. EDT.
Posted on May 18, 2012, at 6:14 pm .
Washington (Bill Posey PR) - Today the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill introduced by Congressman Bill Posey (R-Rockledge) as an Amendment to H.R. 4310, the National Defense Authorization Act, that enables the Department of Defense (DoD) to work with Space Florida and commercial companies to improve space launch infrastructure to better meet national security and commercial space launch needs.
Continue reading ‘House Passes Measure to Support DOD-Private Space Cooperation’
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