1. NASA

Category Archives: NASA

GWU/NASA ARC Micro-Cathode Arc Thruster PhoneSat Experiment (Track 1) 1 Ch. Thruster Operation – Video

Posted on by


GWU/NASA ARC Micro-Cathode Arc Thruster PhoneSat Experiment (Track 1) 1 Ch. Thruster Operation
Single Channel Micro-Cathode Arc Thruster control unit operation. Micro-Cathode Arc Thruster PhoneSat Experiment - June 14, 2013 Ph.D project research for Dr...

By: Samudra Haque

See more here:

GWU/NASA ARC Micro-Cathode Arc Thruster PhoneSat Experiment (Track 1) 1 Ch. Thruster Operation - Video

NASA Administrator Tours Facility Where New Deep Space Rocket is Being Built

Posted on by

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden Monday visited the agency's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans to see the progress being made on the Space Launch System (SLS), the most powerful rocket ever built that will take American astronauts into deep space, first to an asteroid beyond the Moon and eventually on to Mars.

Bolden, who was joined by Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana, toured construction of Michoud's advanced welding facility, the Vertical Assembly Center. There, 27.5-foot diameter cylinders, domes, rings and other elements will be brought together to form the fuel tanks and core stage of SLS, which is targeted for its first flight test in 2017. When completed in March, the Vertical Assembly Center will be home to one of the largest welding tools of its kind.

Three of four major robotic welding tools already are installed at Michoud, where SLS's core stage prime contractor, the Boeing Co. of Chicago, is leading a team producing test articles for the rocket. Michoud's advanced manufacturing facilities and workforce also built Orion's structure for its prime contractor, Lockheed Martin Corp. of Bethesda, Md.

"American astronauts are living and working in space aboard the International Space Station, preparing for deeper space exploration and the SLS is the rocket that will take them there," Bolden said during the tour. "We're making tremendous progress on SLS, and I salute the team at Michoud for making sure the United States continues to lead the world in exploration."

Bolden also took time during his tour to place a call to the International Space Station mission control at NASA's Johnson Space Center. He congratulated the flight team there, the International Space Station (ISS) crew and the Orbital Sciences team in Dulles, Va., on the successful installation of Orbital's Cygnus cargo spacecraft to the station Sunday.

"The United States no longer has to rely on others to get cargo and science experiments to the International Space Station," said Bolden following the call. "Thanks to the bold commercial space plan we've been pursuing, we now have two American companies to resupply station, launching once again from U.S. soil. My hat's off to the Orbital and NASA teams who worked so hard over the weekend to successfully capture and berth the Cygnus spacecraft to the ISS."

For more than 50 years, Michoud has built large-scale space systems for NASA, including stages of the Saturn V moon rockets and external tanks for the space shuttles. Michoud has more than 43 acres of advanced manufacturing space under one roof.

"The Space Launch System is becoming a reality thanks to the unique workforce and tools at Michoud and NASA facilities across the country," said SLS Program Manager Todd May, who joined Bolden on the tour. "We're on schedule and looking forward to SLS's first launch."

During his visit, Bolden, a former astronaut, donned part of a spacesuit to make a plaster cast of his boot print to commemorate Michoud's historic role in space exploration. Bolden traveled to orbit four times aboard space shuttles between 1986 and 1994, commanding two of the missions and piloting two others. His flights included deployment of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and the first joint U.S.-Russian shuttle mission, which featured a cosmonaut as a member of his crew.

See the rest here:

NASA Administrator Tours Facility Where New Deep Space Rocket is Being Built

NASA Chief Scientist Ellen Stofan Available to Media at Johnson Space Center

Posted on by

NASA Chief Scientist Ellen Stofan will be available to meet with local media at 4 p.m. CST Wednesday, Jan. 15, at the Johnson Space Center, Houston.

Stofan will discuss the effects of NASA Earth and space science research on the JSC community and how this research is a critical element in the agency's long-term science and exploration roadmap. This roadmap includes maximizing the International Space Station as a platform for groundbreaking Earth and space science research; plans to identify, redirect and send human explorers to an asteroid; optimize future deep space exploration vehicles to carry spacecraft to the outer solar system in half the time; and eventually to place the first human footsteps on Mars.

Media interested in attending should contact William Jeffs in JSC's Office of Communications and Public Affairs at 281-483-5111 or william.p.jeffs@nasa.gov no later than 5 p.m. Jan. 14.

A planetary scientist, Stofan became NASA's chief scientist in August 2013. As principal science advisor to the NASA administrator, she is responsible for maximizing a scientific portfolio that literally spans the universe. Her own research has covered the geology of Earth, Venus, Mars and Titan.

For additional information about Stofan, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/offices/ocs/stofan_bio.html

For information about NASA and agency programs, visit:

Home Page

Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook.

View post:

NASA Chief Scientist Ellen Stofan Available to Media at Johnson Space Center

NASA Kennedy, Florida Institute of Technology, MIT Experiment Among NASA Cargo on Space Station

Posted on by

An experiment designed by NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Florida Institute of Technology, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is among the cargo that arrived at the International Space Station Sunday on the Orbital-1 cargo resupply mission.

The experiment, entitled "SPHERES-Slosh," is part of the SPHERES-Slosh payload.

This experiment seeks to examine how liquids move around inside containers in microgravity. This investigation will allow middle-school and high-school students to control the Synchronized Position Hold Engage Reorient Experimental Satellites (SPHERES) as part of a planned outreach program to continue to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers.

Orbital-1 is NASA's first contracted resupply mission to the space station by U.S. company Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va. Orbital's Cygnus spacecraft launched atop the company's Antares rocket from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in eastern Virginia on Jan. 9. Expedition 38 crew members captured the Orbital-1 Cygnus using the space station's robotic arm at 6:08 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 12.

Orbital developed its Antares and Cygnus with NASA and successfully completed a test mission to the space station in September, enabling the first of eight planned contract resupply flights by the company. The capsule is scheduled to remain attached to the station through mid-January. It then will return for a destructive re-entry in Earth's atmosphere.

The International Space Station is a convergence of science, technology and human innovation that demonstrates new technologies and makes research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. The space station has had continuous human occupation since November 2000. In that time, it has been visited by more than 200 people and a variety of international and commercial spacecraft. The space station remains the springboard to NASA's next great leap in exploration, including future missions to an asteroid and Mars.

For more information about the Orbital-1 mission and the International Space Station, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/station

Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook.

View post:

NASA Kennedy, Florida Institute of Technology, MIT Experiment Among NASA Cargo on Space Station

TAT’S MIN News January 10, 2014 Nasa spacecraft spots ‘potentially hazardous’ new asteroid – Video

Posted on by


TAT #39;S MIN News January 10, 2014 Nasa spacecraft spots #39;potentially hazardous #39; new asteroid
Nasa spacecraft spots #39;potentially hazardous #39; new asteroid ! REALLY AGAIN ? http://www.tatoott1009.com/2014/01/10/nasa-spacecraft-spots-potentially-hazardous...

By: tatoott1009

Read more from the original source:

TAT'S MIN News January 10, 2014 Nasa spacecraft spots 'potentially hazardous' new asteroid - Video

Recently reactivated NASA spacecraft spots its first new asteroid

Posted on by

Jan. 13, 2014 NASA's Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) spacecraft has spotted a never-before-seen asteroid -- its first such discovery since coming out of hibernation last year.

NEOWISE originally was called the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), which had made the most comprehensive survey to date of asteroids and comets. The spacecraft was shut down in 2011 after its primary mission was completed. But in September 2013, it was reactivated, renamed and given a new mission, which is to assist NASA's efforts to identify the population of potentially hazardous near-Earth objects (NEOs). NEOWISE also can assist in characterizing previously detected asteroids that could be considered potential targets for future exploration missions.

NEOWISE's first discovery of its renewed mission came on Dec. 29 -- a near-Earth asteroid designated 2013 YP139. The mission's sophisticated software picked out the moving object against a background of stationary stars. As NEOWISE circled Earth scanning the sky, it observed the asteroid several times over half a day before the object moved beyond its view. Researchers at the University of Arizona used the Spacewatch telescope at the Kitt Peak National Observatory southwest of Tucson to confirm the discovery. Peter Birtwhistle, an amateur astronomer at the Great Shefford Observatory in West Berkshire, England, also contributed follow-up observations. NASA expects 2013 YP139 will be the first of hundreds of asteroid discoveries for NEOWISE.

"We are delighted to get back to finding and characterizing asteroids and comets, especially those that come into Earth's neighborhood," said Amy Mainzer, the mission's principal investigator from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "With our infrared sensors that detect heat, we can learn about their sizes and reflectiveness."

2013 YP139 is about 27 million miles (43 million kilometers) from Earth. Based on its infrared brightness, scientists estimate it to be roughly 0.4 miles (650 meters) in diameter and extremely dark, like a piece of coal. The asteroid circles the sun in an elliptical orbit tilted to the plane of our solar system and is classified as potentially hazardous. It is possible for its orbit to bring it as close as 300,000 miles from Earth, a little more than the distance to the moon. However, it will not come that close within the next century.

WISE discovered more than 34,000 asteroids and characterized 158,000 throughout the solar system during its prime mission in 2010 and early 2011. Its reactivation in September followed 31 months in hibernation.

NEOWISE will continue to detect asteroids and comets. The observations will be automatically sent to the clearinghouse for solar system bodies, the Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Mass., for comparison against the known catalog of solar system objects and to determine orbit if the object is not known. A community of professional and amateur astronomers will provide follow-up observations, establishing firm orbits for the previously unseen objects.

Infrared sensors, similar to the cameras on NEOWISE, are a powerful tool for discovering, cataloging and understanding the asteroid population. Some of the objects about which NEOWISE will be collecting data could become candidates for NASA's announced asteroid initiative, which will be the first mission to identify, capture and relocate an asteroid for astronauts to explore. The initiative represents an unprecedented technological feat that will lead to new scientific discoveries and technological capabilities that will help protect our home planet and achieve the goal of sending humans to an asteroid by 2025.

More here:

Recently reactivated NASA spacecraft spots its first new asteroid

Nasa looking for ‘taxi firm’ to replace Russian rockets

Posted on by

Charles Bolden, Nasa's head, has been pushing the case for the US to regain the ability to send crew to the station from American soil.

Last year he warned congress that continuing spending cuts could leave America dependent on the Russians.

It had been hoped that the US could develop a domestic capability by next year, but Congress halved the budget put forward for the programme by the Obama administration.

Last week he appeared to have won his battle when the White House announced the extension of the Space Station's life until 2024.

"Launching American astronauts to the space station from US soil has also been a top priority of the Obama Administration, and we're making great strides toward certifying private companies to transport our astronauts into orbit," the White House said.

"With the first commercial crew flight scheduled for 2017, some had questioned the value of a commercial crew investment that would have lasted only three years.

"Extending ISS to 2024, with a concomitant increased number of flights, will drive down the per-flight cost and make this investment even more attractive."

Nasa is in talks with four companies over the crew contract: Boeing, Sierra Nevada, Blue Origin run by Jeff Bezos of Amazon and SpaceX.

The companies have until May to complete the initial designs for the taxis which must be capable of reaching an altitude of 230 miles and remaining in orbit for three days.

"Nasa is looking for a contract with a company like SpaceX,'' explained Jonathan McDowell, a scientist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

See the original post:

Nasa looking for 'taxi firm' to replace Russian rockets

NASA’s Kepler provides insights on enigmatic planets

Posted on by

Jan. 13, 2014 More than three-quarters of the planet candidates discovered by NASA's Kepler spacecraft have sizes ranging from that of Earth to that of Neptune, which is nearly four times as big as Earth. Such planets dominate the galactic census but are not represented in our own solar system. Astronomers don't know how they form or if they are made of rock, water or gas.

The Kepler team today reports on four years of ground-based follow-up observations targeting Kepler's exoplanet systems at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Washington. These observations confirm the numerous Kepler discoveries are indeed planets and yield mass measurements of these enigmatic worlds that vary between Earth and Neptune in size.

Included in the findings are five new rocky planets ranging in size from 10 to 80 percent larger than Earth. Two of the new rocky worlds, dubbed Kepler-99b and Kepler-406b, are both 40 percent larger in size than Earth and have a density similar to lead. The planets orbit their host stars in less than five and three days respectively, making these worlds too hot for life as we know it.

A major component of these follow-up observations was Doppler measurements of the planets' host stars. The team measured the reflex wobble of the host star, caused by the gravitational tug on the star exerted by the orbiting planet. That measured wobble reveals the mass of the planet: the higher the mass of the planet, the greater the gravitational tug on the star and hence the greater the wobble.

"This marvelous avalanche of information about the mini-Neptune planets is telling us about their core-envelope structure, not unlike a peach with its pit and fruit," said Geoff Marcy, professor of astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley, who led the summary analysis of the high-precision Doppler study. "We now face daunting questions about how these enigmas formed and why our solar system is devoid of the most populous residents in the galaxy."

Using one of the world's largest ground-based telescopes at the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii, scientists confirmed 41 of the exoplanets discovered by Kepler and determined the masses of 16. With the mass and diameter in hand, scientists could immediately determine the density of the planets, characterizing them as rocky or gaseous, or mixtures of the two.

The density measurements dictate the possible chemical composition of these strange, but ubiquitous planets. The density measurements suggest that the planets smaller than Neptune -- or mini-Neptunes -- have a rocky core but the proportions of hydrogen, helium and hydrogen-rich molecules in the envelope surrounding that core vary dramatically, with some having no envelope at all.

The ground-based observation research validates 38 new planets, six of which are non-transiting planets only seen in the Doppler data. The paper detailing the research is published in the Astrophysical Journal today.

A complementary technique used to determine mass, and in turn density of a planet, is by measuring the transit timing variations (TTV). Much like the gravitational force of a planet on its star, neighboring planets can tug on one another, causing one planet to accelerate and another planet to decelerate along its orbit.

Ji-Wei Xie of the University of Toronto used TTV to validate 15 pairs of Kepler planets ranging from Earth-sized to a little larger than Neptune. Xie measured masses of the 30 planets, thereby adding to the compendium of planetary characteristics for this new class of planets. The result also was published in the Astrophysical Journal in Dec. 2013.

Follow this link:

NASA's Kepler provides insights on enigmatic planets


  1. NASA