Video Caption: The Peregrine Hybrid Sounding Rocket motor underwent a developmental ground test at NASA Ames Research Center on November 12, 2013. This revolutionary approach uses a paraffin-based fuel and nitrous oxide as the oxidizer, which offers many potential advantages over existing rocket propulsion systems. Stable and highly efficient combustion was achieved. The motor is being developed jointly by NASA Ames, Stanford University and SPG Inc.
Tag: NASA Ames
Artist conception of student-built TJ3Sat in orbit. (Credit: Orbital Sciences Corporation)
WALLOPS ISLAND, Virg. (NASA & OSC PRs) — The United States Air Force Minotaur I rocket scheduled for launch on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. from Virginia will carry a record number of satellites — 29 — into orbit. The rocket will launch a defense test spacecraft and 28 small CubeSats, including the first satellite designed and built by high school students and PhoneSat 2.4, a second generation smartphone mission.
The Air Force’s Operationally Responsive Space Office’s ORS-3 mission will demonstrate and validate launch and range improvements for NASA and the military. These include automated trajectory targeting, range-safety planning and flight termination systems. The launch also will be part of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) certification process for the Minotaur rocket. The FAA has licensing authority over American commercial rockets.
The Minotaur’s primary payload is the Space Test Program Satellite-3 (STPSat-3), an Air Force technology-demonstration mission. Thirteen small cubesats aboard are being provided through NASA’s Cubesat Launch Initiative.
Wind tunnel testing of an SLS scale model at Ames Research Center. (Credit:
NASA/ARC/Dominic Hart)
MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. (NASA PR) – Think about a time you’ve been a passenger in a car and stuck your hand out the window. As your speed increases, so do the vibrations in your hand. Trying to keep those fingers steady as the wind whips around them at 75 mph gets pretty tricky, right?
You’ve just had a quick lesson in unsteady aerodynamics, something engineers are researching and testing on a much larger scale and with supersonic speeds using wind tunnel technology. The wind tunnel tests, recently conducted at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., will be used to enhance the design and stability of the Space Launch System (SLS), NASA’s new heavy-lift launch vehicle.
Continue reading ‘Wind Tunnel Testing Used to Understand the Unsteady Side of SLS Aerodynamics’
ATLANTA, GA, October 28, 2013 (TVA PR) – Terminal Velocity Aerospace, LLC (TVA) has signed a Space Act Agreement with NASA Ames Research Center to collaborate on evaluation, testing, and technology transfer of newly-developed thermal protection system (TPS) materials.
Continue reading ‘Terminal Velocity Aerospace Signs Deal With NASA Ames’
Moffett Federal Airfield lease area.
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIF. SEPTEMBER 24, 2013 (SVSC PR) – A historic piece of real estate, NASA Ames Moffett Field’s 1,000+ acre airfield, 3 iconic hangars, including the famous hangar one and a professional golf course are up for a development bid this October. Two previous NASA scientists, Dr. Sean Casey and Dr. Peri Pappadopoulos, Co-Founders of Silicon Valley Space Center, plan to win it!
Continue reading ‘Silicon Valley Space Center to Bid on Moffett Field Development’
A P3 Navy aircraft with Hangar One at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. (Copyright 2008: Douglas Messier)
Google’s founders, Sergei Brin and Larry Page, have saved millions of dollars in fuel costs and property taxes through a lease deal with NASA Ames that allows them to house their private aircraft at Moffett Field, according to an investigation by NBC Bay Area.
Nearly $8 million worth of jet fuel that sold for as little as $1.68 a gallon was put into a fleet of seven different airplanes and two helicopters that are kept on taxpayer-owned land at NASA’s Ames Research Center at Moffett Field. The same jet fuel sells for two to four-and-a-half times that amount, up to $8.05 a gallon, at fixed-base operators at nearby airports in the Bay Area.
Continue reading ‘Google Founders Saved Millions With NASA Ames Lease Deal’
WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — NASA has selected six technology proposals for continued study under the agency’s Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program.
The proposals selected for Phase 2 of the 2013 NIAC Program address a range of visionary concepts including photonic laser thrusters, extreme sample return, and innovative spherical robots designed for planetary exploration. NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate based the selections on their potential to transform future aerospace missions, introduce new capabilities, or significantly improve current approaches to building and operating aerospace systems.
Continue reading ‘NASA Selects 2013 NIAC Concepts for Continued Study’
RepRap v.2 ‘Mendel’ open-source FDM 3D printer. Credit: CharlesC
PISCES — the Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems — is looking to develop 3-D printing capability for use on the moon under a new cooperative agreement with NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC), according to Executive Director Rob Kelso.
Kelso said PISCES is seeking to develop printing technology that can make use of the island’s lava rock, which is similar to rock on the moon and Mars.
Continue reading ‘PISCES Looks to Print Space Tools from Hawaii’s Lava Rocks’
I was out at the Friends of Amateur Rocketry (FAR) range in the Mojave Desert on Saturday. Garvey Spacecraft Corporation launched its Prospector 18D rocket with four CubeSats built by teams in California and Florida. The goal was to test two of the CubeSats in high-altitude launch conditions before they are sent into orbit late next year aboard a Falcon 9 rocket.
Continue reading ‘Fun at FAR — An Experimental CubeSat Launch Photo Essay’
PALO ALTO, CA (Anna Eshoo PR) — Following a meeting with Congresswoman Anna G. Eshoo (D-Palo Alto), GSA, NASA, and the White House at the Capitol on Tuesday, February 26, the General Services Administration will issue a Notice of Intent regarding Hangar One and Moffett Federal Airfield, which reflects the following:
1. Moffett Federal Airfield will NOT be excessed. It will remain a restricted Federal Airfield and NASA will remain its custodian.
2. The Notice of Intent outlines a competitive bid process and the Request for Proposal (RFP) will be released this spring seeking a qualified lessee to provide for the rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of historic Hangar One. Continue reading ‘New Plan Announced to Save Hangar One at NASA Ames’
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