Parting Moon Shoots from NASA #39;s GRAIL Mission
Likie: http://www.facebook.com This video of the moon was taken by the NASA GRAIL mission #39;s MoonKAM (Moon Knowledge Acquired by Middle School Students) camera aboard the Ebb spacecraft on Dec. 14, 2012. At the time the images were taken, the spacecraft was about 6 miles (10 kilometers) above the northern hemisphere of the moon #39;s far side, in the vicinity of the Jackson impact crater. This imagery was acquired as part of a final checkout of spacecraft equipment prior to its planned impact on a mountain near the moon #39;s north pole on Dec. 17. The first video clip, taken by the forward-facing camera head aboard the Ebb spacecraft, is made up of 931 individual frames. The second video clip was taken by the rearward-facing camera head. It is comprised of 1498 individual frames. The playback occurs at six times the rate of the spacecraft #39;s true orbital motion. Credit: NASA/ JPL-Caltech / MIT / SRS

By: SpaceLibrary

The rest is here:

Parting Moon Shoots from NASA's GRAIL Mission - Video

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA and industry partners on Wednesday touted progress they've made developing private spacecraft that could fly astronauts from Florida to the International Space Station by 2017.

Soon after the briefing at Kennedy Space Center, NASA's independent Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel released a report confirming progress while identifying several concerns with the agency's Commercial Crew Program.

"The ASAP is pleased to see that progress has been made with the CCP over the last year, but many challenges remain that will require resolution at the earliest possible time," the panel's 2012 annual report said.

NASA has committed about $1.5 billion to develop commercial crew systems since 2010, with most of that awarded last year to The Boeing Co., Sierra Nevada Corp. and SpaceX.

Those three companies hope to complete system designs in 2014 and could launch crews on test flights as soon as 2015 or 2016.

Among the safety panel's concerns is the possibility that NASA could ask its commercial partners to fly orbital test flights with their own crews before NASA astronauts board the new vehicles.

The optional tests, the report says, raise questions about who would certify their safety and whether NASA could be seen as "irresponsible in its sponsorship/facilitation or tacit acceptance of a high-risk activity."

NASA has told the panel it has no plan to exercise those flights.

Ed Mango, manager of the Kennedy-based commercial crew program, said Wednesday that the commercial crew program's goal was to develop and certify systems that could fly NASA crews to the space station and also enable commercial flights to other destinations.

As such, the agency wanted companies to say when they would be ready to put their own crews at risk.

Originally posted here:

NASA: Commercial-crew flights on track to start in 2017

Jan. 10, 2013 Advanced propulsion researchers at NASA are a step closer to solving the challenge of safely sending human explorers to Mars and other solar system destinations.

By using an innovative test facility at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., researchers are able to use non-nuclear materials to simulate nuclear thermal rocket fuels -- ones capable of propelling bold new exploration missions to the Red Planet and beyond.

The Nuclear Cryogenic Propulsion Stage team is tackling a three-year project to demonstrate the viability of nuclear propulsion system technologies. A nuclear rocket engine uses a nuclear reactor to heat hydrogen to very high temperatures, which expands through a nozzle to generate thrust. Nuclear rocket engines generate higher thrust and are more than twice as efficient as conventional chemical rocket engines.

The team recently used Marshall's Nuclear Thermal Rocket Element Environmental Simulator, or NTREES, to perform realistic, non-nuclear testing of various materials for nuclear thermal rocket fuel elements. In an actual reactor, the fuel elements would contain uranium, but no radioactive materials are used during the NTREES tests. Among the fuel options are a graphite composite and a "cermet" composite -- a blend of ceramics and metals. Both materials were investigated in previous NASA and U.S. Department of Energy research efforts.

Nuclear-powered rocket concepts are not new; the United States conducted studies and significant ground testing from 1955 to 1973 to determine the viability of nuclear propulsion systems, but ceased testing when plans for a crewed Mars mission were deferred.

The NTREES facility is designed to test fuel elements and materials in hot flowing hydrogen, reaching pressures up to 1,000 pounds per square inch and temperatures of nearly 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit -- conditions that simulate space-based nuclear propulsion systems to provide baseline data critical to the research team.

"This is vital testing, helping us reduce risks and costs associated with advanced propulsion technologies and ensuring excellent performance and results as we progress toward further system development and testing," said Mike Houts, project manager for nuclear systems at Marshall.

A first-generation nuclear cryogenic propulsion system could propel human explorers to Mars more efficiently than conventional spacecraft, reducing crews' exposure to harmful space radiation and other effects of long-term space missions. It could also transport heavy cargo and science payloads. Further development and use of a first-generation nuclear system could also provide the foundation for developing extremely advanced propulsion technologies and systems in the future -- ones that could take human crews even farther into the solar system.

Building on previous, successful research and using the NTREES facility, NASA can safely and thoroughly test simulated nuclear fuel elements of various sizes, providing important test data to support the design of a future Nuclear Cryogenic Propulsion Stage. A nuclear cryogenic upper stage -- its liquid-hydrogen propellant chilled to super-cold temperatures for launch -- would be designed to be safe during all mission phases and would not be started until the spacecraft had reached a safe orbit and was ready to begin its journey to a distant destination. Prior to startup in a safe orbit, the nuclear system would be cold, with no fission products generated from nuclear operations, and with radiation below significant levels.

"The information we gain using this test facility will permit engineers to design rugged, efficient fuel elements and nuclear propulsion systems," said NASA researcher Bill Emrich, who manages the NTREES facility at Marshall. "It's our hope that it will enable us to develop a reliable, cost-effective nuclear rocket engine in the not-too-distant future."

Link:

NASA researchers studying advanced nuclear rocket technologies

On July 12, 2011, spacewalking astronauts Mike Fossum and Ron Garan successfully transferred the Robotic Refueling Mission, or RRM, module from the Atlantis shuttle cargo bay to a temporary platform on the International Space Station's Dextre robot. (NASA)

In mid-January, NASA will take the next step in advancing robotic satellite-servicing technologies as it tests the Robotic Refueling Mission, or RRM aboard the International Space Station. The investigation may one day substantially impact the many satellites that deliver products Americans rely upon daily, such as weather reports, cell phones and television news.

During five days of operations, controllers from NASA and the Canadian Space Agency will use the space station's remotely operated Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator, or Dextre, robot to simulate robotic refueling in space. Operating a space-based robotic arm from the ground is a feat on its own, but NASA will do more than just robotics work as controllers remotely snip wires, unscrew caps and transfer simulated fuel. The team also will demonstrate tools, technologies and techniques that could one day make satellites in space greener, more robust and more capable of delivering essential services to people on Earth.

Why Fix or Refuel a Satellite?

"Every satellite has a lifespan and eventual retirement date, determined by the reliability of its components and how much fuel it can carry," explains Benjamin Reed, deputy project manager of NASA's Satellite Servicing Capabilities Office, or SSCO.

Repairing and refueling satellites already in place, Reed asserts, can be far less expensive than building and launching entirely new spacecraft, potentially saving millions, even billions of dollars and many years of work.

The RRM demonstration specifically tests what it would take to repair and refuel satellites traveling the busy space highway of geosynchronous Earth orbit, or GEO. Located about 22,000 miles above Earth, this orbital path is home to more than 400 satellites, many of which beam communications, television and weather data to customers worldwide.

By developing robotic capabilities to repair and refuel GEO satellites, NASA hopes to add precious years of functional life to satellites and expand options for operators who face unexpected emergencies, tougher economic demands and aging fleets. NASA also hopes that these new technologies will help boost the commercial satellite-servicing industry that is rapidly gaining momentum.

Besides aiding the GEO satellite community, a capability to fix and relocate "ailing" satellites also could help manage the growing orbital debris problem that threatens continued space operations, ultimately making space greener and more sustainable.

View post:

NASA's Robotic Refueling Demo Set to Jumpstart Expanded Capabilities in Space

Humans produce trash just about everywhere they go, including space, which will pose a problem for astronauts on long voyages to other planets. But scientists have found a way to transform this space detritus into something useful: a radiation shield.

Since flinging garbage out the door is not an option, engineers at NASA are testing how a novel on-board trash compactor could give new life to discarded water bottles, clothing scraps, duct tape and other waste on deep-space missions.

The space trash compactor is not like the giant one on the Death Star that nearly squashed Luke Skywalker and the gang in the first "Star Wars" film. This one is smaller, producing circular tiles of trash 8 inches (20 centimeters) wide and a half-inch (1.3 cm) from a single day's worth of garbage. The discs then could be stowed away, or even used for radiation shielding to protect a spacecrafts crew, NASA officials said.

"One of the ways these discs could be re-used is as a radiation shield because there's a lot of plastic packaging in the trash," Mary Hummerick, a Qinetiq North America microbiologist at Kennedy Space Center in Florida working on the project, said in a statement. "The idea is to make these tiles, and, if the plastic components are high enough, they could actually shield radiation."

Beyond low-Earth orbit, astronauts are bombarded with harmful cosmic rays, which can boost the risk of certain diseases like cancer and neurological damage. And the longer one spends in space, the greater the risk. The dangers radiation are especially of concern given NASAs plans for a manned mission to an asteroid by 2025, and then on to Mars by the mid 2030s the round trip to the Red Planet alone could take at least two years.

Trash tiles could, for example, bolster the space radiation shielding around the astronauts' sleeping quarters or perhaps a small area in the spacecraft that would be built up to serve as a storm shelter to protect crews from solar flare effects, NASA officials said.

Devised by engineers at NASAs Ames Research Center in California, the compactor heats the trash for 3.5 hours to between 300 and 350 degrees Fahrenheit (148 and 176 degrees Celsius), melting the garbage, but not incinerating it. The process reduces the trash by at least 10 times the original size and squeezes out water that could be recycled.

Hummerick said strips containing bacterial spores are being embedded in test tiles to see if the heating and compaction process is effective in killing bacteria. Her team at Kennedy is expecting to get back a new batch of compacted tiles from Ames soon and will next test if the discs remain sterile in long-term storage.

"They are achieving sterilization for the most part," Hummerick said. "What we don't know is, can a few possible surviving bacteria go inert and then grow back?"

NASA mission planners need to think about how to handle trash to make use of limited resources during long journeys and to prevent spacecraft from becoming filled with garbage. Trashed tossed out of a spaceship could potentially threaten to contaminate other worlds, and NASA policy dictates that such pollution should be avoided.

Continued here:

NASA Turns Astronaut Trash Into Space Radiation Shield

NASA announced today (Jan. 10) the upcoming launch of a new satellite, the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM), to monitor Earth's landscape and the changes to it.

The new satellite, scheduled to launch Feb. 11, will take the place of the Landsat 5 satellite, which is to be decommissioned in the coming months, the U.S. Geological Survey reported in December.

LDCM carries two new instruments, the Operational Land Imager and the Thermal Infrared Sensor. These will allow it to create better images than any previous Landsat mission and make it "more sensitive to changes in land surface over time," said Jim Irons, LDCM project scientist, during a news conference today.

The satellite is 19 feet (6 meters) long and weighs about 6,000 pounds (2,720 kilograms), making it the size of a large SUV, said Ken Schwer, LDCM project manager based at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., along with Irons. LDCM's size is relatively large for an Earth-observing satellite, Schwer said.

LDCM will orbit 438 miles (705 kilometers) over the Earth's surface, and follow the same track as Landsat 5, to pick up where the old satellite leaves off, Schwer said. [Amazing Astronaut Images of Earth]

The satellite has already been transported to the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, where it will be launched. Afterward, it will be renamed Landsat 8, and will be operated by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). It will circle the Earth about 14 times daily and return over each location on Earth every 16 days as its orbit moves over different latitudes, according to NASA.

The data the satellite collects will be free to the public and used for a variety of purposes. It will help monitor tropical deforestation, urban expansion, impacts of natural disasters and glacial melting, Irons said. As has been the case during the Landsat program's 40-year history, information collected will help make informed decisions regarding land use for urban areas and agriculture, and to help manage natural resources such as forests and fresh water, he said.

"I don't think it's hyperbole to suggest that all 7 billion of us will benefit from the LDCM," Irons said.

The LDCM will collect more and better data than the Landsat 5, but can only hope to last as long, scientists said. Landsat 5 is the longest-operating Earth-observing satellite mission in history, according to the USGS. Launched in 1984 with a three-year design life, it has been taking images and recording changes on the Earth's surface ever since. The satellite almost failed several times, but engineers brought it back to life. However, the recent failure of a gyroscope (which helps satellites maintain their orientation) left no option but to end the mission, the USGS said in its release.

"Any major event since 1984 that left a mark on this Earth larger than a football field was likely recorded by Landsat 5, whether it was a hurricane, a tsunami, a wildfire, deforestation or an oil spill," USGS Director Marcia McNutt said in the statement. "We look forward to a long and productive continuation of the Landsat program, but it is unlikely there will ever be another satellite that matches the outstanding longevity of Landsat 5."

Read the original:

NASA Announces Launch of New Earth-Observing Satellite