Tag: MarsPage 3 of 32
ESA Agrees to ExoMars Deal with Russia
ESA will go ahead with its ambitious ExoMars program with Russia stepping in after NASA withdrew:
The 20-nation European Space Agency (ESA) on Nov. 19 approved a cooperation arrangement with Russia under which the Russian space agency, Roscosmos, will provide two Proton rockets to launch what has become the Euro-Russian ExoMars mission in 2016 and 2018, according to ESA officials….
There was a fair amount of coverage on space blogs earlier t his month about Felix Baumgartner’s Red Bull Stratos skydiving adventure, in which he set a new world record by jumping from 128,100 feet (nearly 24 miles).
And why not? He ascended in a pressurized vessel that looked kind of like a space capsule wearing something very similar to a spacesuit to an altitude well above a good portion of the atmosphere. Space enthusiasts made the quick leap of imagination to a whole new sport of space diving, with daredevils jumping to Earth from suborbital space and, ultimately, orbit.
Well, just fahgedaboutit! Baumgartner says that’s a terrible idea. And he has some choice words for Richard Branson and Mars exploration.
Continue reading ‘Baumgartner Blasts Branson, Blows NewSpace Cred’
Antares rolled out to the launch pad on Wallops Island. (Credit: NASA)
Dulles, VA, 1 October 2012 (OSC PR) – Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE: ORB), one of the world’s leading space technology companies, today announced that it has commenced Antares launch vehicle operations at the liquid-fuel launch complex at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS).
Following a four-year design, development, construction, test and inspection process, the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority (VCSFA), which oversees MARS, has authorized Orbital to begin on-pad operations leading up to flight demonstrations of its Antares medium-class launch vehicle and Cygnus cargo logistics spacecraft, the vehicles Orbital will use to fulfill a $1.9 billion NASA contract to deliver essential cargo to the International Space Station (ISS). The MARS launch complex is located at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in eastern Virginia and is owned and operated by MARS, under the auspices of the VCSFA, which receives its funding from the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Continue reading ‘Antares Rolled Out to the Pad on Wallops Island’
Elon Musk discusses cargo and crew transportation to the International Space Station as well as his plans for Mars, which he calls a “fixer-upper of a planet.”
Richard Branson says he’s flying on SpaceShipTwo by the end of next year. He also wants to be involved in setting up a colony on Mars, which he says people will be living in giant domes. And point-to-point travel will be coming at some point in his lifetime or his kids’ lifetimes.
Mars in opposition. (Credit: STScI)
With its Chandrayaan-II moon mission on hold due to the lack of reliable rocket to send it there, ISRO has decided to its its first spacecraft to Mars next year.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is expected to launch a Mars Orbiter as early as November next year with a 25kg scientific payload.
The Mars mission, which will study its atmosphere, will be launched by an extended version of ISRO’s warhorse rocket –the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).
This week on The Space Show with Dr. David Livingston…
1. Monday, August 27, 2012, 2-3:30 PM PDT (5-6:30 PM EDT, 4-5:30 PM CDT): We welcome back DR. PAT HYNES to discuss the upcoming International Symposium For Personal and Commercial Spaceflight, Oct. 17-18, 2012 in Las Cruces, NM. Please visit www.ispcs.com for more detailed information & registration.
2. Tuesday, August 28, 2012, 7-8:30 PM PDT (10-11:30 PM EDT, 9-10:30 PM CDT): We welcome JPL’s DR. ANITA SENGUPTA to the program to discuss electric propulsion, Entry Descent and Landing, Mars, Venus, Europa, landers, and general spacecraft design. Dr. Sengupta is a systems engineer & also doing some teaching at USC.
3. Friday, August 31, 2012, 9:30-11 AM PDT (11:30- 1 PM CDT, 12:30PM-2:00 PM EDT) : We welcome BAS LANSDORP of Mars One to the program. Mr. Lansdorp will be joining us from Europe. This program will be co-hosted with Dr. John Jurist on some of the technical, medical and human factors issues for long duration spaceflight and a humans to Mars mission. You can learn more about Mars One by visiting their website, http://mars-one.com/en.
4. Sunday, Sept. 2, 2012, 12-1:30 PM PDT (3-4:30 PM EDT, 2-3:30 PM CDT). We welcome DR. SCOTT HUBBARD to discuss his new book, “Exploring Mars.” Dr. Hubbard is a former NASA Ames Director, has been referred to by the press as the MARS CZAR, and is now a professor at Stanford University.
Video Caption: This is a full-resolution version of the NASA Curiosity rover descent to Mars, taken by the MARDI descent imager. As of August 20, all but a dozen 1600×1200 frames have been uploaded from the rover, and those missing were interpolated using thumbnail data. The result was applied a heavy noise reduction, color balance, and sharpening for best visibility.
The video plays at 15fps, or 3x realtime. The heat shield impacts in the lower left frame at 0:21, and is shown enlarged at the end of the video. Image source: http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw/?s=0&camera=MARDI
Fun fact: The first mission to Mars, Mariner 4 in 1965, returned a total of 634 kb of data, including 22 photos.
PITTSBURGH, PA, Aug 21, 2012 (Astrobotic PR) – Astrobotic today announced a NASA contract to develop technologies for exploring caves on the Moon, Mars, and beyond. Astrobotic was one of ten teams to be selected for Phase II awards from NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program.
Continue reading ‘Astrobotic Wins NASA Contract for Lunar and Martian Cave Exploration’
InSIGHT information from JPL’s website. To learn more, click here.
Mission Overview
InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) is a proposed NASA Discovery Program mission that will place a single geophysical lander on Mars to study its deep interior. But InSight is more than a Mars mission – it is a terrestrial planet explorer that will address one of the most fundamental issues of planetary and solar system science – understanding the processes that shaped the rocky planets of the inner solar system (including Earth) more than four billion years ago.
By using sophisticated geophysical instruments, InSight will delve deep beneath the surface of Mars, detecting the fingerprints of the processes of terrestrial planet formation, as well as measuring the planet’s “vital signs”: Its “pulse” (seismology), “temperature” (heat flow probe), and “reflexes” (precision tracking).
Continue reading ‘Meet InSIGHT: NASA’s Newest Planetary Mission’
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