NASA has announced a new "Centennial Challenge," in which teams from the public compete to create new space-age technology, and this one is the biggest yet. "Cube Quest," as NASA calls it, tasks participants with developing ways to put tiny CubeSats small, cube-shaped satellites to work in lunar orbit and beyond. Some $1.5 million will be split among the teams that best demonstrate deep-space CubeSat communication and durability, while $3 million is for those that achieve stable, safe orbit around the moon. Teams wouldn't have to make their own rockets four preliminary qualifying tournaments will award $500,000 and payload space on a future spacecraft launch. Dozens of Centennial Challenge events have taken place since 2005, exploring everything from new astronaut gear to automated rover systems. "Prize competitions like this engage the general public and directly contribute to NASA's goals while serving as a tool for open innovation," said Michael Gazarik, associate administrator for NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate. Dates for the contest are not yet announced, but don't expect any launches for at least a year or two while teams design and test their satellites.

First published November 25 2014, 1:26 PM

See the original post here:

NASA Pledges $5 Million in Prizes for 'Cube Quest'

An incredible, reprocessed picture of Jupiter's moon Europa shows the mysterious natural satellite's amazing colors as they have never been seen before.

Theoriginal photos of Europawere collected by the Galileo spacecraft, which explored Jupiter and its moons from orbit in the 1990s. NASA officials reprocessed Galileo's data using modern imaging techniques that improved on an enhanced-color view ofEuropa the agency created in 2001. The new photo, released on Nov. 21, shows the largest proportion of Europa's surface at the highest images resolution, NASA officials said.

NASA released the picture as the agency pushes forward with plans to explore Europa in the coming decades, based on the theory that there is water lurking underneath the moon's icy shell. That water could host life, under the right conditions, scientists have said. [Europa: Jupiter's Icy Moon Explained (Infographic)]

"The story of life on Earth may have begun in our oceans, and that's because of course if we've learned anything about life on Earth, it's that where you find the liquid water, you generally find life," Kevin Hand, an astrobiologist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said in anew video about Europa.

Europa, Hand said, is a "game-changer" for life-seeking missions because the moon's main source of energy is from Jupiter not the sun. As the moon orbits the massive gas giant, the immense gravity from Jupiter causes Europa to flex.

Calculations of tidal flexing make it possible for moons and planets to host liquid water even if they are far from a star's traditional "Goldilocks zone," the area surrounding a star where heat and energy allow water to remain liquid on a planet.

That flexing not only creates energy, but can grind the water of the moon against rocks. These interactions could potentially create the energy necessary for life, providing that the building blocks such as amino acids are available, scientists have said.

"Hidden beneath Europa's icy surface is perhaps the most promising place in our solar system beyond Earth to look for present-day environments that are suitable for life," NASA officials wrote in a statement. "The Galileo mission found strong evidence that a subsurface ocean of salty water is in contact with a rocky seafloor. The cycling of material between the ocean and ice shell could potentially provide sources of chemical energy that could sustain simple life forms."

Among NASA's proposed missions to Jupiter's icy moon is theEuropa Clipper, a mission pegged to cost about $2 billion. It would orbit Jupiter and get more information about Europa's ocean in a series of flybys. If funded, the mission would launch to space around 2025.

Follow Elizabeth Howell@howellspace.Follow us@Spacedotcom,FacebookandGoogle+. Original article onSpace.com.

Read more:

NASA reveals spectacular image of Jupiter's moon Europa (+video)

UFO November 2014 - NASA Cryptids in Outer Space - Could Cryptids live in Outer Space pt 3
https://www.cryptidresearch.com/ UFO November 2014 - Could cryptids live in outer space? NASA has caught some amazing UFOs, Alien like creatures, among many other anomalies on tape during...

By: Cryptid Research

Here is the original post:

UFO November 2014 - NASA Cryptids in Outer Space - Could Cryptids live in Outer Space pt 3 - Video

The Moon - NASA is lying about EVERYTHING Pt 4 of MANY
Must watch: vibrant colors https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop persist_app=1 v=cKPD_5P6JdM Bill Bryson https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCG6tFpUGHqAtrmgMZVWZF1A Crow777 ...

By: Henning Kemner

Read the original:

The Moon - NASA is lying about EVERYTHING Pt 4 of MANY - Video

Comet 67P Anomalies Alien Creatures Objects In Motion And Humanoids Found In NASA/ESA Images
Some incredible alien creatures, objects in motion, humanoids and structures have been found In NASA/ESA Images of Comet 67P. As we explore the NASA/ESA images of Comet 67P we will see ...

By: UniversalTrek

Read more from the original source:

Comet 67P Anomalies Alien Creatures Objects In Motion And Humanoids Found In NASA/ESA Images - Video

Expedition 42/43 Launches to the ISS
Expedition 42/43 Soyuz Commander Anton Shkaplerov of the Russian Federal Space Agency, NASA Flight Engineer Terry Virts and Flight Engineer Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space ...

By: NASA

Link:

Expedition 42/43 Launches to the ISS - Video

Soyuz spacecraft brings new crew to ISS | NASA, Russia, SciTech, Space, USA
"Russian Soyuz TMA-14M Spacecraft SUCCESSFULLY Docked with the ISS" November 24, 2014 A Russian Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft has successfully docked at the International Space Station ...

By: WestEndNews

Go here to read the rest:

Soyuz spacecraft brings new crew to ISS | NASA, Russia, SciTech, Space, USA - Video

Orion #39;s Heat Shield - 3D Animation Movie - NASA Video
3d Animation movie about Orion #39;s heat shield: it has to endure temperatures near 4000 degrees Fahrenheit in its December flight test. Engineer Molly White explains how it works in this video...

By: Canale25

See more here:

Orion's Heat Shield - 3D Animation Movie - NASA Video - Video

Launch of C-Rex at Andya Space Center (NASA)
The C-REX mission In parallell with the CAPER mission, NASA is also preparing the C-REX (Cusp-Region Experiment) mission (NASA nr. 52.001 UE). The PI for this Experiment is Dr. Mark Conde of...

By: Thor Andre Markussen

Originally posted here:

Launch of C-Rex at Andya Space Center (NASA) - Video

NASA Is Researching Asteroid Mining
The Fortean Slip Science Minute 62 NASA is researching asteroid mining and has contracted two companies to make this a reality. Source: ...

By: Fortean Slip

See the article here:

NASA Is Researching Asteroid Mining - Video

Zanzibar Health Air Quality - NASA DEVELOP Fall 2014 @ International Research Institute
This project identified various environmental factors that allow for the presence of malaria in Zanzibar. To accomplish this, the ISERV camera system aboard the International Space Station...

By: NASA DEVELOP National Program

Continue reading here:

Zanzibar Health & Air Quality - NASA DEVELOP Fall 2014 @ International Research Institute - Video

A reprocessed picture shows off the amazing colors of Europa, a mysterious ice-covered moon of Jupiter, as they have never been seen before.

The original observations were collected by the Galileo spacecraft, which explored Jupiter and its moons from orbit in the 1990s. NASA officials reprocessed Galileo's data using modern imaging techniques that improved on an enhanced-color view of Europa the agency created in 2001.

The new photo, released on Nov. 21, shows the largest proportion of Europa's surface at the highest image resolution, NASA said.

NASA released the picture as the agency pushes forward with plans to explore Europa in the coming decades, based on the theory that there is water lurking underneath the moon's icy shell. That water could host life under the right conditions, scientists say. [Infographic: Europa Explained]

"The story of life on Earth may have begun in our oceans, and that's because of course if we've learned anything about life on Earth, it's that where you find the liquid water, you generally find life," Kevin Hand, an astrobiologist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said in a new video about Europa.

Hand said Europa is a "game-changer" for life-seeking missions because the moon's main source of energy is from Jupiter, not the sun. As the moon orbits the massive gas giant, the immense gravity from Jupiter causes Europa to flex. The friction from such flexing could make it possible for moons and planets to host liquid water even if they are far from a star's traditional habitable zone.

"Hidden beneath Europa's icy surface is perhaps the most promising place in our solar system beyond Earth to look for present-day environments that are suitable for life," NASA said in a statement.

Among NASA's proposed missions to Jupiter's icy moon is the Europa Clipper, a mission pegged to cost about $2 billion. It would orbit Jupiter and get more information about Europa's ocean in a series of flybys. If funded, the mission would launch sometime around 2025.

This is a condensed version of a report from Space.com. Read the full report. Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter. Follow Space.com on Twitter, Facebook and Google+.

First published November 24 2014, 2:57 PM

More here:

'Game-Changer': NASA Reveals Amazing View of Jupiter Moon

WASHINGTON, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- NASA has contracted with two private space firms to prepare for and ultimately execute missions to land on and mine asteroids for valuable resources. The contracts, forged between NASA and both Deep Space Industries and Planetary Resources, are further evidence of a the kinds of new and interesting partnerships as space exploration increasingly becomes the domain of private industry.

Both companies have been forging plans to launch asteroid-landing probes for months-long stints on near Earth objects -- with the aim of extracting valuable resources. Although such expeditions could theoretically return to Earth with valuable minerals, the financial viability of the concept relies on the prospects of supplying other space missions with an extracted assets. That's where NASA comes in.

With a spate of deep space missions planned in the coming century, NASA would be able to save time and money by supplying some of those missions (including International Space Station expeditions) with vital resources mined from asteroids -- water, silicate, carbonaceous minerals and more.

"Deep Space brings commercial insight to NASA's asteroid planning, because our business is based on supplying what commercial customers in Earth orbit need to operate, as well as serving NASA's needs for its moon and Mars exploration," Deep Space CEO Daniel Faber said in a press release earlier this year. "The fuel, water, and metals that we will harvest and process will be sold into both markets, making available industrial quantities of material for expanding space applications and services."

The fuel it takes to rocket out of the grasp of Earth's gravity makes launching anything -- much less a massive cargo ship -- exceptionally expensive. By contrast, asteroids have minuscule centers of gravity, making coming and going from them much less fuel (and cost) intensive.

"Right now it costs $17 million per ton to get anything up to geosynchronous orbit," David Gump, vice chairman of Deep Space, told The Boston Globe. "If we can beat whatever that price is in 2022, we'll have a big market."

"Asteroids hold the resources necessary to enable a sustainable, even indefinite presence in space -- for science, commerce and continued prosperity here on Earth," Chris Lewicki, president and chief engineer of Planetary Resources, echoed in a statement released by NASA last week.

As part of Planetary Resources' ongoing cooperation with NASA's asteroid exploration efforts, the company will help sort through the near Earth object-finding algorithms being submitted by citizen scientists as part of the agency's Asteroid Data Hunter challenge.

"By harnessing the public's interest in space and asteroid detection, we can more quickly identify the potential threats, as well as the opportunities," Lewicki added.

Following in the wake of European Space Agency's history-making comet landing, NASA will attempt to land its own spacecraft, the OSIRIS-Rex, on an asteroid named Bennu in September 2016.

Read more from the original source:

NASA contracts two firms to work on asteroid mining

An incredible, reprocessed picture of Jupiter's moon Europa shows the mysterious natural satellite's amazing colors as they have never been seen before.

Theoriginal photos of Europawere collected by the Galileo spacecraft, which explored Jupiter and its moons from orbit in the 1990s. NASA officials reprocessed Galileo's data using modern imaging techniques that improved on an enhanced-color view ofEuropa the agency created in 2001. The new photo, released on Nov. 21, shows the largest proportion of Europa's surface at the highest images resolution, NASA officials said.

NASA released the picture as the agency pushes forward with plans to explore Europa in the coming decades, based on the theory that there is water lurking underneath the moon's icy shell. That water could host life, under the right conditions, scientists have said. [Europa: Jupiter's Icy Moon Explained (Infographic)]

"The story of life on Earth may have begun in our oceans, and that's because of course if we've learned anything about life on Earth, it's that where you find the liquid water, you generally find life," Kevin Hand, an astrobiologist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said in anew video about Europa.

Europa, Hand said, is a "game-changer" for life-seeking missions because the moon's main source of energy is from Jupiter not the sun. As the moon orbits the massive gas giant, the immense gravity from Jupiter causes Europa to flex.

Calculations of tidal flexing make it possible for moons and planets to host liquid water even if they are far from a star's traditional "Goldilocks zone," the area surrounding a star where heat and energy allow water to remain liquid on a planet.

That flexing not only creates energy, but can grind the water of the moon against rocks. These interactions could potentially create the energy necessary for life, providing that the building blocks such as amino acids are available, scientists have said.

"Hidden beneath Europa's icy surface is perhaps the most promising place in our solar system beyond Earth to look for present-day environments that are suitable for life," NASA officials wrote in a statement. "The Galileo mission found strong evidence that a subsurface ocean of salty water is in contact with a rocky seafloor. The cycling of material between the ocean and ice shell could potentially provide sources of chemical energy that could sustain simple life forms."

Among NASA's proposed missions to Jupiter's icy moon is theEuropa Clipper, a mission pegged to cost about $2 billion. It would orbit Jupiter and get more information about Europa's ocean in a series of flybys. If funded, the mission would launch to space around 2025.

Follow Elizabeth Howell@howellspace.Follow us@Spacedotcom,FacebookandGoogle+. Original article onSpace.com.

Read more here:

NASA reveals spectacular image of Jupiter's moon Europa

Registration now is open for NASA's Cube Quest Challenge, the agencys first in-space competition that offers the agencys largest-ever prize purse.

Competitors have a shot at a share of $5 million in prize money and an opportunity to participate in space exploration and technology development, to include a chance at flying their very own CubeSat to the moon and beyond as secondary payload on the first integrated flight of NASA's Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.

"NASA's Cube Quest Challenge will engage teams in the development of the new technologies that will advance the state of the art of CubeSats and demonstrate their capabilities as viable deep space explorers," said Michael Gazarik, associate administrator for NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Prize competitions like this engage the general public and directly contribute to NASA's goals while serving as a tool for open innovation."

Challenge objectives include designing, building and delivering flight-qualified, small satellites capable of advanced operations near and beyond the moon. The challenge and prize purse are divided into three major areas:

- Ground Tournaments: $500,000 in the four qualifying ground tournaments to determine who will have the ability to fly on the first SLS flight;

- Lunar Derby: $1.5 million for demonstrating communication and CubeSat durability at a distance greater than almost 2.5 million miles (4,000,000 km), 10 times the distance from the Earth to the moon; and

- Deep Space Derby: $3 million for demonstrating the ability to place a CubeSat in a stable lunar orbit and demonstrate communication and durability near the moon.

The Cube Quest Challenge seeks to develop and test subsystems necessary to perform deep space exploration using small spacecraft. Advancements in small spacecraft capabilities will provide benefits to future missions and also may enable entirely new mission scenarios, including future investigations of near-Earth asteroids.

"Cube Quest is an important competition for the agency as well as the commercial space sector," said Eric Eberly, deputy program manager for Centennial Challenges at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. "If we can produce capabilities usually associated with larger spacecraft in the much smaller platform of CubeSats, a dramatic improvement in the affordability of space missions will result, greatly increasing science and research possibilities."

Follow this link:

NASA Opens Cube Quest Challenge for Largest-Ever Prize of $5 Million

Just as George Lucas re-released his classic Star Wars trilogy in digitally remastered versions for a new audience, NASA has re-released a remastered view of one of their own space classics.

Since its original publication in 2001, the famous Galileo spacecraft observation of the cracked surface of the frozen Jupiter moon Europa has graced countless book covers and ignited the worlds imagination as to what lies inside the small worlds sub-surface ocean.

ANALYSIS: NASA Calls for Europa Mission Ideas

But the original observation, which is actually a mosaic of separate observations captured by the NASA spacecraft in the late 1990s, had its colors strongly enhanced to expose surface details that wouldnt otherwise be seen. Now, using modern processing techniques, NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., has recreated the alien landscape, closely approximating how the human eye would see it.

See the remastered version and compare it with NASA's original Galileo observations.

Space imaging enthusiasts have produced their own versions of the view using the publicly available data, but NASA has not previously issued its own rendition using near-natural color, writes the JPL news release.

NEWS: Possible Europa Tectonics Could be Boon for Alien Life

Europas trademark reddish cracks break up the predominantly water ice crust. As can be seen in this new view of Europa, the moons north and south poles (on the left and right) are significantly bluer than the equatorial regions. Planetary scientists believe that this difference in hue is down to varying ice crystal sizes.

The ruddy regions are stained with chemicals that scientists are keen to understand as they represent a tectonic history of the moon where the sub-surface ocean is interacting with the icy crusts surface. A better understanding of the icy dynamics could shed new light on the habitable potential of Europa and moons like it.

ANALYSIS: Cubesats May Hitchhike on Mission to Europa

Continued here:

NASA Releases 'Remastered' View of Enigmatic Europa

NASA has released a video depicting the initial deployment of an undertaking designed to study a phenomenon known as magnetic reconnection. The launch of the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission will see four identical spacecraft deployed from a single Atlas V rocket, set to lift off from cape Canaveral, Florida, no earlier than March next year.

Magnetic reconnection is a plasma-based phenomenon that is believed to take place throughout the known universe, occurring when two or more magnetic field lines cross, releasing a gigantic burst of energy that had previously been stored in a planetary body's magnetic field. The result of this process is the explosive release of charged particles and large-scale matter flows that are thought to be the cause of massive solar eruptions, as well as the trigger for the stunning aurora observable around the Northern and Southern poles of our planet.

The MMS mission hopes to shed light on the phenomenon via a constellation of satellites operating in low-Earth orbit. These satellites will periodically cross through two known magnetic reconnection regions, gathering data via super-fast scientific instruments. Prior to launch, the four satellites are stacked one on top of another in the fairings of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket a tested and proven method of satellite delivery boasting a 100 percent mission success rate.

Upon achieving orbit, the upper-stage fairings separate, allowing the spacecraft to deploy sequentially, positioning themselves to form a giant pyramid, or tetrahedron, at which point the probes will extend a series of booms containing scientific equipment. This formation should allow the spacecraft to gather information on the 3D structure of the phenomenon with a level of detail unattainable by previous missions.

NASA graphic illustrating Earth's magnetosphere the two grey boxes indicate known magnetic reconnection regions (Image: NASA)

Each of the four identical MMS spacecraft boasts a compliment of 25 sensors comprising 11 instruments. Power is provided to the equipment via solar panels that cover each of the spacecraft's eight sides. The plethora of Instruments aboard the probes are separated into three sub-categories or "suites."

The Hot Plasma Suite uses Fast Plasma Investigation and Hot Plasma Composition Analyzer instruments to observe the characteristics of plasma during the magnetic reconnection, whilst the Energetic Particles Detector Suite keeps track of the high energy particles spewed out by the phenomenon. Finally, the spacecraft's Fields Suite will observe the behavior of electric and magnetic fields and waves over the course of an incident.

By utilizing such a wide range of scientific equipment in a constellation of four spacecraft, the mission should be prepared to document and analyze a magnetic connection event in all its forms, whether it be isolated, or spanning a vast region of space. Whilst such a mission may at first glance appear to be blue sky science, NASA believes that insights offered by the MMS mission could aid in the creation of clean energy solutions such as fusion energy reactors, the development of which has thus far been hampered by interference caused by magnetic reconnection.

The video below, courtesy of NASA, outlines the launch and initial deployment of the four MMS spacecraft.

Source: NASA

See the original post:

NASA deploys four spacecraft to study magnetic reconnection

The first flight test of Orion, NASAs next-generation spacecraft that will send astronauts to an asteroid and onward to Mars, is scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 4. NASA will host a series of news conferences and flight test commentary on NASA Television, as well as media events at the agencys Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Orion will launch, uncrewed, on a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket at 7:05 a.m. EST from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) in Florida. The window for launch is two hours 39 minutes.

NASA TV launch commentary of the flight, designated Exploration Flight Test-1, begins at 4:30 a.m. and will continue through splashdown in the Pacific Ocean approximately 600 miles southwest of San Diego.

During its 4.5 hour trip, Orion will orbit Earth twice and travel to an altitude of 3,600 miles into space. 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.

Media events for the flight begin two days before launch.

Tuesday, Dec. 2

Wednesday, Dec. 3

A post-flight test briefing on NASA TV also will be held approximately two hours after splashdown on Dec. 4.

Media events will take place at Kennedy and CCAFS. The deadlines for media to register to attend in person have passed. All registered media must present two forms of legal, government-issued identification to access Kennedy for launch events. One form must be a photo ID, such as a passport or driver's license. Media credentials will be accepted for access to mission activities at Kennedy. For more information about media accreditation, contact Jennifer Horner at 321-867-6598.

View post:

NASA Sets Prelaunch Activities, Television Coverage for Orion Flight Test

Europa: Ocean World
Scientists believe there is an ocean hidden beneath the surface of Jupiter #39;s moon Europa. NASA-JPL astrobiologist Kevin Hand explains why scientists are so excited about the potential of this...

By: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Visit link:

Europa: Ocean World - Video

Extreme Shrimp May Hold Clues to Alien Life
This extreme oasis of life deep in the Caribbean Sea may hold clues to life on other planetary bodies, including Jupiter #39;s moon Europa. Related news release: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?...

By: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Originally posted here:

Extreme Shrimp May Hold Clues to Alien Life - Video