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Category Archives: NASA

Video: NASA’s Van Allen probes find an impenetrable barrier in space around Earth – Video

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Video: NASA #39;s Van Allen probes find an impenetrable barrier in space around Earth
Two donuts of seething radiation that surround Earth, called the Van Allen radiation belts, have been found to contain a nearly impenetrable barrier that prevents the fastest, most ener Two...

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Video: NASA's Van Allen probes find an impenetrable barrier in space around Earth - Video

NASA Orion

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By Amanda Barnett, CNN

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

(CNN) -- It looks like a throwback to the Apollo era, but NASA's new spaceship is roomier and designed to go far beyond the moon -- to an asteroid and eventually Mars.

Orion is scheduled to lift off on its first test flight at 7:05 a.m. ET Thursday from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The launch window will be open for two hours and 39 minutes.

Orion will climb to an altitude of 3,600 miles (15 times higher than the International Space Station) and orbit Earth twice during the four and a half hour test run, NASA says. The spaceship will splash down in the Pacific Ocean about 600 miles off the coast of Baja California. Two U.S. Navy ships, the USS Anchorage and the USNS Salvor, will help NASA recover the capsule.

Orion is wrapped in protective panels before being moved to the launch pad on November 10.

Apollo 11 crew members Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin wait to be picked by a helicopter on July 24, 1969. The fourth man in the raft is a U.S. Navy swimmer.

This first flight won't carry any astronauts, but it will move NASA closer to getting back in the crewed spaceflight business. The U.S. has had to pay Russia's space agency to launch astronauts to the space station since the space shuttle program ended in 2011.

Orion's crew module is designed to carry four people on a 21-day mission. But it could support six astronauts for shorter missions. By comparison, the Apollo capsules held three astronauts and were out in space for about six to 12 days.

Orion will be launched on a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket, the largest rocket available. NASA is building its own launch system for Orion.

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NASA Orion

NASA spaceship ready for test flight

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By Amanda Barnett, CNN

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

(CNN) -- It looks like a throwback to the Apollo era, but NASA's new spaceship is roomier and designed to go far beyond the moon -- to an asteroid and eventually Mars.

Orion is scheduled to lift off on its first test flight at 7:05 a.m. ET Thursday from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The launch window will be open for two hours and 39 minutes.

Orion will climb to an altitude of 3,600 miles (15 times higher than the International Space Station) and orbit Earth twice during the four and a half hour test run, NASA says. The spaceship will splash down in the Pacific Ocean about 600 miles off the coast of Baja California. Two U.S. Navy ships, the USS Anchorage and the USNS Salvor, will help NASA recover the capsule.

Orion is wrapped in protective panels before being moved to the launch pad on November 10.

Apollo 11 crew members Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin wait to be picked by a helicopter on July 24, 1969. The fourth man in the raft is a U.S. Navy swimmer.

This first flight won't carry any astronauts, but it will move NASA closer to getting back in the crewed spaceflight business. The U.S. has had to pay Russia's space agency to launch astronauts to the space station since the space shuttle program ended in 2011.

Orion's crew module is designed to carry four people on a 21-day mission. But it could support six astronauts for shorter missions. By comparison, the Apollo capsules held three astronauts and were out in space for about six to 12 days.

Orion will be launched on a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket, the largest rocket available. NASA is building its own launch system for Orion.

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NASA spaceship ready for test flight

Nasa gives go-ahead for Orion capsule that could take man to Mars to blast off on Thursday

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Nasa's Orion spacecraft is designed to carry astronauts to an asteroid andeventuallyto Mars Will be launched for first time on Thursday from Cape Canaveral AirForce Station in Florida Engineers are now preparing Orion to launch atop a United Launch Alliance Delta 4 Heavy rocket Pointed tip of the capsule is known as the Launch Abort System and can take astronaut's to safety The fairing - or casing - which aims to stream line the launch, will be jettisoned during Orion's ride into space Unmanned test flight will take place on December 4th and will take around four hours

By Ellie Zolfagharifard and Mark Prigg for MailOnline

Published: 16:09 EST, 1 December 2014 | Updated: 16:23 EST, 1 December 2014

The radical Orion spacecraft, designed to carry astronauts into deep space, has been given to go-ahead to launch for the first time on Thursday.

The launch has been overshadowed by two space disasters - the Antares rocket explosion and the tragic failure of Virgin Galactic's SpaceShip Two.

However, Nasa hopes the launch could reinvigorate the space programme.

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Ready to go!Engineers are now preparing Orion to launch on top of 180ft tall (55 metres) United Launch Alliance Delta 4 Heavy rockets in an unmanned test flight on December 4th.

Weather conditions remain good for Thursday's Orion test flight, forecasters say.

The latest predictions show there is a 60 percent chance of favorable weather for the 7:05 a.m. launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

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Nasa gives go-ahead for Orion capsule that could take man to Mars to blast off on Thursday

NASA Glenn Has Role In Flight Test of New Orion Spacecraft

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As an integral part of the Orion team that spans multiple NASA centers and industry partners across the United States, the engineers at NASAs Glenn Research Center in Cleveland have been busily working to ensure the success of Orions first launch on December 4 at 7:05 a.m.

The Orion flight test is an uncrewed mission designed to see how Orion performs in and returns from a deep space journey. Launching atop the United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket, Orion will orbit the Earth twice and reenter the atmosphere at a speed of 20,000 miles per hour, faster than any current spacecraft. During the 4.5 hour test, Orion will travel to an altitude of 3,600 miles and be exposed to temperatures of 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit twice as hot as molten lava during reentry. Orion will then deploy a series of parachutes to slow the rate of descent before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.

Glenns expertise has been instrumental in the design and development of many of Orions systems including structures, mechanisms, pyrotechnics, propulsion, thermal protection, materials, power and avionics. Early in the development of Orion, Glenn conducted wind tunnel testing to validate the aerodynamics of the launch abort system. Glenn directly contributed to Orions electrical power system and power distribution capability; the crew and service module structure; the crew module thermal protection system; and many of the spacecraft mechanisms including those for fairing separation, the umbilical, and the crew and service module retention and release.

We are excited to see the launch of Orions first flight and look forward to the results to determine how they validate the work weve done here at Glenn, said NASA Glenn Director Jim Free.

The first flight will demonstrate the spacecrafts capabilities and provide critical test data on the performance of the flight systems to validate their designs. Orions flight test is the first step in NASAs bold mission to design and build a spacecraft capable of transporting humans to deep space. NASA is committed to human spaceflight beyond low-Earth orbit and the continued development of its next generation spacecraft, Orion. Orion will be used to reach destinations throughout the solar system, including an asteroid and Mars. No other spacecraft in the world has this capability.

For more information Glenn, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn

For more information on Orion and its first flight test, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/orion

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NASA Glenn Has Role In Flight Test of New Orion Spacecraft

NASA has 3D printed an object in space for the first time

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WASHINGTON, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- NASA has officially 3D printed an object in space for the first time, on board the International Space Station.

The printer was delivered at the end of September, with help from SpaceX, and it was tested for the first time this week. The object they decided to make is a small placard that says "Made in space, NASA."

NASA astronaut Barry "Butch" Wilmore created the test object.

"This first print is the initial step toward providing an on-demand machine shop capability away from Earth," said Niki Werkheiser, project manager for the International Space Station 3-D Printer at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. "The space station is the only laboratory where we can fully test this technology in space."

The printer was made by a California company named Made in Space, which spent a large portion of two years learning how to 3D print an object without the aid of gravity.

The test found that the part adhesion was stronger than they had predicted, and they intend to study how printing differs in low gravity. NASA will have the printed pieces sent back to Earth for further investigation.

2014 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

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NASA has 3D printed an object in space for the first time

‘Former Nasa employee’ claims she saw suited men on Mars in 19791 – Video

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#39;Former Nasa employee #39; claims she saw suited men on Mars in 19791
#39;I saw men walking on Mars in 1979 #39;: #39;Former Nasa employee #39; claims there was a secret manned mission to the red planet Woman, named #39;Jackie #39;, called in to US radio station, Coast to Coast AM...

By: Paul Gilbert

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'Former Nasa employee' claims she saw suited men on Mars in 19791 - Video

NASA Launching Orion Capsule Test Flight Thursday: Watch Live

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NASA is set to launch the first test flight of its deep-space Orion capsule this week, and you can watch activities leading up to the Thursday (Dec. 4) launch live online.

The Orion capsule built for NASA by Lockheed Martin is designed to eventually take humans deeper into space than they've ever gone before. Thursday's unmanned test will help engineers learn more about how Orion's key systems operate in the harsh space environment. Starting Tuesday (Dec. 2), NASA will air various media and public events in the run-up to Orion's launch. You can watch the NASA TV Orion events live on Space.com.

"During its 4.5-hour trip, Orion will orbit Earth twice and travel to an altitude of 3,600 miles into space," NASA officials said in a statement. "The flight is designed to test many of the elements that pose the greatest risk to astronauts and will provide critical data needed to improve Orions design and reduce risks to future mission crews."

Orion is expected to launch to space atop a United Launch Alliance Delta 4 Heavy rocket from Florida at 7:05 a.m. EST (1205 GMT) for the test flight (also called Exploration Flight Test-1). But on Tuesday, NASA officials will host a press conference about what this Orion flight and future tests could mean for Mars exploration.

NASA officials will also host two pre-launch news conferences one on Tuesday, the other on Wednesday (Dec. 3) to discuss the test flight. Officials will also brief the media after the test ends later in the day on Thursday.

For this test flight, Orion will make two orbits of Earth, with the second lap taking the capsule 15 times farther from the planet than the International Space Station. Officials have attached more than 1,000 sensors to the spacecraft to monitor its systems during flight.

Orion will also beam down images from its cameras as it is flying through space. NASA will use the information gathered during the test flight to make improvements to the spacecraft before humans set foot onboard.

Learn more about Orion and get a full schedule of events directly through NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/news/orion_flight_test_1_briefings_events.html#.VHX7llfF_NW

Follow Miriam Kramer @mirikramer. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.

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NASA Launching Orion Capsule Test Flight Thursday: Watch Live

NASA's Orion spacecraft will launch Dec. 4 on EFT-1 into deep space

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In July 1969, America watched with rapt attention as Neil Armstrong placed the first human footprints on the moon. This perfect "one small step" set an entire generation of dreamers, explorers and risk-takers on a trajectory to the stars.

Since that time, the American space program has been burdened by budget cuts and since retiring the space shuttle in 2011 dependence on foreign entities such as Russia to get our astronauts to space.

But that's rapidly changing, and the Colorado-centric NASA Orion mission set to launch Thursday and venture further into space than any NASA spacecraft built for humans in more than 40 years is leading the charge.

(Denver Post)

"The Orion program ... is a great example of Colorado's center stage in the space industry," said Jay Lindell, aerospace industry champion with the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade. "We are a leader in the nation in aerospace employment, technology development, and our Colorado industry supported by superb universities leads the way with the Orion program."

Space-related jobs

Colorado has the top number of aerospace workers, per capita, of any state in the nation, according to the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation. Projects such as Orion contribute greatly to Colorado's economy, which boasts about 170,000 aerospace-related jobs and more than 400 aerospace-related companies, according to EDC data.

Orion's prime contractor is Littleton-based Lockheed Martin Space Systems. The spacecraft and heat shield were designed and built at Space Systems' Waterton Canyon campus.

About 1,000 employees throughout several of Space Systems' locations have fingerprints on some aspect of the Orion project, with just under 800 of them in Littleton, company spokeswoman Allison Rakes said.

But the Colorado connection doesn't end there. Orion, which is set to launch on Exploration Flight Test-1, or EFT-1, on Thursday morning from Cape Canaveral, Fla., will take a 17-minute ride into orbit on the world's most powerful rocket the Centennial-based United Launch Alliance-made Delta IV Heavy.

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NASA's Orion spacecraft will launch Dec. 4 on EFT-1 into deep space

Human on Mars, Is It True? Ex-NASA Employee Claimed for the Existence – Video

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Human on Mars, Is It True? Ex-NASA Employee Claimed for the Existence
NASA #39;s (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) former employee Jackie claims that she saw two humans on the planet Mars in 1979. She allegedly said that she saw two humans in spacesuit.

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Human on Mars, Is It True? Ex-NASA Employee Claimed for the Existence - Video

NASA Releases Narrated Animation of MMS Launch and Deploy …

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NASA Releases Narrated Animation of MMS Launch and Deploy

[image-50]

In March of 2015, an unprecedented NASA mission will launch to study a process so mysterious that no one has ever directly measured in space. To create the first-ever 3-dimensional maps of this process, a process called magnetic reconnection, which occurs all over the universe, the Magnetospheric Multiscale, or MMS, mission uses four separate spacecraft equipped with ultra high speed instruments.

Launching four satellites into space simultaneously is a complicated process. In addition, each spacecraft has several booms that will unfold and extend in space once on orbit. A launch and deployment with so many moving parts is meticulously planned.

Watch the video to get a sneak preview of how MMS will make this journey: The four spacecraft are housed in a single rocket on their trip into space. One by one, each ejects out, before moving into a giant pyramid-shaped configuration. Next each spacecraft deploys its booms.

Once in orbit, MMS will fly through regions near Earth where this little-understood process of magnetic reconnection occurs. Magnetic reconnection happens in thin layers just miles thick, but can tap into enough power at times to create gigantic explosions many times the size of Earth.

Reconnection happens when magnetic field lines explosively realign and release massive bursts of energy, while hurling particles out at nearly the speed of light in all directions. Magnetic reconnection powers eruptions on the sun and closer to home it triggers the flow of material and energy from interplanetary space into near-Earth space. The MMS orbit will carry the four spacecraft through reconnection regions near Earth, using this nearby natural laboratory to better understand how reconnection occurs everywhere in space.

For more information about MMS, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/mms

A narrated animation of how NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale, or MMS, mission which consists of four separate spacecraft -- will launch into space.

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NASA Releases Narrated Animation of MMS Launch and Deploy ...

NASA To Tackle Climate Questions From Africa To Arctic

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Sat, Nov 29, 2014

Five new NASA airborne field campaigns will take to the skies starting in 2015 to investigate how long-range air pollution, warming ocean waters, and fires in Africa affect our climate. NASA says these studies into several incompletely understood Earth system processes were competitively-selected as part of NASAs Earth Venture-class projects. Each project is funded at a total cost of no more than $30 million over five years. This funding includes initial development, field campaigns and analysis of data.

This is NASAs second series of Earth Venture suborbital investigations -- regularly solicited, quick-turnaround projects recommended by the National Research Council in 2007. The first series of five projects was selected in 2010.

"These new investigations address a variety of key scientific questions critical to advancing our understanding of how Earth works," said Jack Kaye, associate director for research in NASA's Earth Science Division in Washington. These innovative airborne experiments will let us probe inside processes and locations in unprecedented detail that complements what we can do with our fleet of Earth-observing satellites.

The five selected Earth Venture investigations are:

Seven NASA centers, 25 educational institutions, three U.S. government agencies and two industry partners are involved in these Earth Venture projects. The five investigations were selected from 33 proposals.

Earth Venture investigations are part of NASA's Earth System Science Pathfinder program managed at Langley for NASAs Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The missions in this program provide an innovative approach to address Earth science research with periodic windows of opportunity to accommodate new scientific priorities.

NASA monitors Earth's vital signs from land, sea, air and space with a fleet of satellites and ambitious airborne and surface-based observation campaigns. With this information and computer analysis tools, NASA studies Earth's interconnected systems to better see how our planet is changing. The agency shares this unique knowledge with the global community and works with institutions in the United States and around the world that contribute to understanding and protecting our home planet.

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NASA To Tackle Climate Questions From Africa To Arctic


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