Posted on July 18, 2014, at 11:26 am .
HOUSTON (NanoRacks PR) –Orbital Sciences’ Cygnus spacecraft successfully berthed to the International Space Station (ISS) Wednesday morning after launching Sunday afternoon from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility.
Onboard were 32 CubeSats and 10 internal payloads from NanoRacks’ customers holding dozens of research experiments onboard.
Orbital’s Cygnus was brought to orbit by a two-stage Antares rocket. Cygnus was carrying 1,664 kg of supplies, CubeSats, and research experiments for the Space Station. Cygnus will remain berthed at the ISS for about 30 days where station crew will unload the experiments and other hardware. This was Orbital Sciences’ third resupply mission to the ISS, including their Orb-D1 developmental milestone launch.
Continue reading ‘NanoRacks Sends Experiments to ISS’
Posted on July 13, 2014, at 10:25 am .
NASA’s Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient Experimental Satellites (SPHERES) equipped with a smartphone. (Credit: NASA/Ames)
MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. (NASA PR) — NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California, has launched a variety of experiments into space on Sunday aboard NASA’s second commercial cargo resupply flight of the Orbital Sciences Corporation Cygnus spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS).
These experiments include free-flying robots equipped with a smartphone and a small satellite with a de-orbiting device, called an “exo-brake.” They will arrive at the space station when Cygnus berths on Wednesday, July 16.
Continue reading ‘NASA Ames Launches Smartphone Upgrade and CubeSat Aboard Orbital Rocket’
Posted on June 26, 2014, at 2:06 pm .
Abstract: One of Ames’ long standing science interests has been to robotically drill deeply into Mars’ subsurface environment (2 meters, or more) to investigate the habitability of that zone for past or extant life. Large, capable Mars landers would ease the problem of landing and operating deep robotic drills. In 2010, an Ames scientist realized that the crew-carrying version of the SpaceX Dragon capsule would possess all the subsystems necessary to perform a soft landing on Earth, and raised the question of whether it could also soft land on Mars. If it could, it might be a candidate platform for a Discovery or Mars Scout class deep drilling mission, for example.
After approximately 3 years studying the engineering problem we have concluded that a minimally modified Dragon capsule (which we call the “Red Dragon”) could successfully perform an all-propulsive Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL). We present and discuss the analysis that supports this conclusion. At the upper limits of its capability, a Red Dragon could land approximately 2 metric tons of useful payload, or approximately twice the mass that the MSL Skycrane demonstrated with a useful volume 3 or 4 times as great. This combination of features led us to speculate that it might be possible to land enough mass and volume with a Red Dragon to enable a Mars Sample Return mission in which Mars Orbit Rendezvous is avoided, and the return vehicle comes directly back to Earth. This potentially lowers the risk and cost of a sample return mission. We conclude that such an Earth-Direct sample return architecture is feasible if the Earth Return Vehicle is constructed as a small spacecraft. Larry Lemke will present and discuss the analysis that supports this conclusion.
Posted on June 12, 2014, at 9:41 am .
As I reported here exclusively back on May 11, Google has been in talks with Virgin Galactic for acquisition of its LauncherOne satellite technology and an equity stake in Richard Branson’s space tourism company. Sky News reports:
The talks are likely to lead to a deal with two main elements, according to insiders.
The first will see Google inject hundreds of millions of dollars into a joint venture, with Virgin Galactic folding in the technology it has developed as part of its efforts to build the world’s first space tourism business.
The second component will involve Google spending roughly $30m (£17.8m) in return for a small stake in the Virgin Galactic holding company.
The terms of the alliance have not yet been finalised and could yet be altered before a deal is struck.
A person close to Google said, though, that its £17.8m investment could value Virgin Galactic at as much as £1.2bn, equating to a shareholding of approximately 1.5%.
Continue reading ‘Report: Google in Talks with Virgin Galactic on Equity Share, Satellite Launcher Deal’
Posted on June 6, 2014, at 8:16 am .
Titan submarine
WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — NASA has selected 12 proposals for study under Phase I of the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program, which aims to turn science fiction into fact through pioneering technology development.
The selected proposals cover a wide range of imaginative concepts, including:
- a submarine to explore the methane lakes of Titan;
- using neutrinos to perform measurements for the icy moons of the outer planets; and,
- a concept to safely capture a tumbling asteroid, space debris, and other applications.
Continue reading ‘NASA Selects 12 NIAC Phase I Projects for Funding’
Posted on May 19, 2014, at 2:56 pm .
The scale model of the Dream Chaser is readied for wind tunnel testing at high speeds that simulate the conditions it will encounter during its flight through the atmosphere returning from space. (Credit: NASA/David C. Bowen)
SPARKS, Nev., May 19, 2014 – Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) announces the successful completion of the latest milestone in its NASA Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) agreement. NASA awarded SNC full value of $20 million for the passage of CCiCap Milestone 8, Wind Tunnel Testing. To date, SNC has received over 80 percent of the total award value under the CCiCap agreement and is on track to complete the program later this year.
Continue reading ‘Sierra Nevada Corporation Completes Critical Wind Tunnel Tests’
Posted on April 13, 2014, at 2:58 pm .
The study’s lead author Aurélie Crabbé (left), Cheryl Nickerson (Principal Investigator and senior author on the study) and co-author Jennifer Barrila (right) of Arizona State University’s Biodesign Institute, Center for Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology. (Credit: Arizona State University/Anais Bon)
TEMPE, Ariz. (NASA PR) — You may not recognize it by name, but if you have ever had a child with a diaper rash, that child was likely a host to Candida albicans (C. albicans). This unwelcome “guest” can be hard to control, as it can potentially lead to serious illness in humans with weakened immune systems. During an investigation dubbed “Microbe,” using the unique microgravity environment aboard space shuttle Atlantis on an International Space Station mission, researchers at the Arizona State University (ASU) in Tempe gained a better understanding of these prevalent fungi. Their tendency to become more aggressive in microgravity helps scientists see what mechanisms control the behavior of these types of organisms, with the potential to develop ways to influence their behavior both in space and on Earth.
Continue reading ‘Fungi Research Conducted in Space’
Posted on April 2, 2014, at 4:43 pm .
EDWARDS, Calif. (NASA PR) — NASA’s Flight Opportunities Program has selected 13 space technology payloads for flights on commercial reusable launch vehicles, and a commercial parabolic aircraft. These flights provide cutting-edge technologies with a valuable platform to conduct tests, before they enter use in the harsh environment of space.
Continue reading ‘NASA Selects New Suborbital Technology Payloads, Total Tops 130′
Posted on March 30, 2014, at 9:11 pm .
Ubehebe Crater in Death Valley. (Credit: Douglas Messier)
Greetings from Furnace Creek in Death Valley, California — 190 feet under sea level.
I’ve been here since Friday evening for a very cool NASA event. MarsFest is an annual outreach event of NASA Ames, JPL and the National Park Service. It’s basically several days of field trips and lectures talking about Death Valley as an analog for Mars exploration.
On Saturday, we visited a couple of sites, including Bad Water where there are life forms similar to what might exist on Mars. Earlier today, we received a guided tour of Ubehebe Crater, a volcanic formation at the north end of the park that has features similar to Gale Crater on Mars which the Curiosity rover is exploring.
Salt flats at Bad Water in Death Valley. (Credit: Douglas Messier)
It’s been a very interesting and informative weekend. Death Valley is really spectacular, and it was greatly enhanced by having experts who work here on a regular basis explaining the features of it. I wish I had made it up here for the previous two MarsFests.
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