16 hours ago

NASA / ESA / J. Lotz & M. Mountain,STScI

These are NASA Hubble Space Telescope natural-color images of four target galaxy clusters that are part of an ambitious new observing program called The Frontier Fields.

Three NASA space telescopes are teaming up to give astronomers their best-ever looks at some of the most distant objects in the universe.

The space agency's Hubble, Spitzer and Chandra space telescopes will collectively observe six huge galaxy clusters over the next three years as part of a project called The Frontier Fields. Working together, the trio should be able to spot galaxies that existed just a few hundred million years after the Big Bang created our universe 13.8 billion years ago, NASA officials said.

"The Frontier Fields program is exactly what NASA's Great Observatories were designed to do: working together to unravel the mysteries of the universe," NASA science chief John Grunsfeld said in a statement. "Each observatory collects images using different wavelengths of light, with the result that we get a much deeper understanding of the underlying physics of these celestial objects." [Cosmic View! Latest Hubble Space Telescope Photos]

The Hubble Space Telescope observes in visible, near-infrared and near-ultraviolet wavelengths. Spitzer is optimized to view in the infrared, while Chandra sees best in X-ray light.

The Frontier Fields project will take advantage of a phenomenon called gravitational lensing, in which the gravitational field of a massive foreground object bends and brightens the light from a more distant object, acting like a lens.

In this case, the six huge galaxy clusters starting with Abell 2744, which is also known as Pandora's Cluster will be the lenses, and the magnified objects will be extremely dim and far-flung galaxies, some of which have likely never been observed before, researchers said.

"The idea is to use nature's natural telescopes in combination with the great observatories to look much deeper than before and find the most distant and faint galaxies we can possibly see," Jennifer Lotz, a principal investigator with the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, said in a statement.

See more here:

NASA telescopes to peer deeper into universe than ever before

NASA will host a live Google+ Hangout news conference on Tuesday, Oct. 29 at 3 p.m. EDT about Operation IceBridge's upcoming airborne field campaign in Antarctica.

This is the first year IceBridge will operate directly from Antarctica, flying from McMurdo Station starting in mid-November instead of from southern Chile. This change will allow IceBridge researchers to survey parts of Antarctica previously unavailable to them since the mission began in 2009.

IceBridge is a multi-year NASA science mission to study ice conditions at both poles. The mission's survey flights gather data on changes in ice elevation and thickness and measure the shape of bedrock and water cavities beneath ice using a suite of scientific instruments. The mission provides critical measurements that bridge the gap between observations supplied by NASA's Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite, or ICESat, and the upcoming ICESat-2.

Panelists for this briefing are:

-- Michael Studinger, IceBridge project scientist, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

-- Christy Hansen, IceBridge project manager, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

-- Chad Naughton, project manager, National Science Foundation's U.S. Antarctic Program, Centennial, Colo.

The Hangout will be broadcast on NASA Goddard's Google+ and YouTube pages and carried live on NASA Television and the agency's website. Journalists can submit questions via comments on these pages or on Twitter using the hashtag #IceBridge.

To join the Hangout, visit:http://go.nasa.gov/HjmQOk

For NASA TV downlink, schedule and streaming video information, visit:http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv

Read the original:

Media Invited to NASA Google+ Hangout Briefing on Antarctic Ice Campaign

NASA is pooling the power of three major space telescopes to unravel some of the biggest mysteries of the universe.

The space agency announced Thursday that its Hubble, Spitzer and Chandra telescopes are teaming up to look deeper into the universe than ever before. Together the telescopes should be able to find and study galaxies that are as much as 100 times fainter than what any of the telescopes can see on their own.

Scientists are hopeful that the project will enable them to find galaxies that existed when the universe was only a few hundred million years old. That would be a young age for the universe, which is considered to be about 13.8 billion years old.

Under the collaborative effort dubbed The Frontier Fields, astronomers will study six massive galaxy clusters over the course of the next three years. The astronomers will focus not only on what is inside the clusters but also what is beyond them.

Using what's known as gravitational lensing, scientists will use the gravitational fields around these massive star groupings to brighten and magnify even more distant galaxies so they can be studied for the first time.

"We want to understand when and how the first stars and galaxies formed in the universe, and each great observatory gives us a different piece of the puzzle," said Peter Capak, the Spitzer principal investigator for the Frontier Fields program. " Hubble tells you which galaxies to look at and how many stars are being born in those systems. Spitzer tells you how old the galaxy is and how many stars have formed."

The Chandra X-ray Observatory will image the clusters as X-ray wavelengths to help calculate their mass, measure their gravitational lensing power, and identify background galaxies that have supermassive black holes, according to the space agency.

"The Frontier Fields program is exactly what NASA's great observatories were designed to do; working together to unravel the mysteries of the universe" said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. "Each observatory collects images using different wavelengths of light with the result that we get a much deeper understanding of the underlying physics of these celestial objects."

The first galaxy cluster to be studied is known as Abell 2744 or Pandora's Cluster.

This article, NASA uses telescopes to hunt ancient galaxies, was originally published at Computerworld.com.

Continue reading here:

NASA uses telescopes to hunt ancient galaxies

ALIEN TV Comet Ison very Latest Hubble NASA Findings pics and world News report Oct 2013
VERY LATEST Hubble NASA Comet Ison pics world events News Info from Alien Tv with a touch of humour and best info a short news update for subscribers. Import...

By: Pete WDHCo

See the original post here:

ALIEN TV Comet Ison very Latest Hubble NASA Findings pics and world News report Oct 2013 - Video

Announcing the NEW This Week @ NASA / Promo 1
New promotional video teases a whole new look and style for This Week at NASA. Desktop ... Laptop ... Bus Stop ... with the new This Week At NASA, you #39;ve got...

By: NASAtelevision

Follow this link:

Announcing the NEW This Week @ NASA / Promo 1 - Video

The technologies NASA develops don't just blast off into space. They also improve our lives here on Earth. Life-saving search-and-rescue tools, implantable medical devices, advances in commercial aircraft safety and efficiency, increased accuracy in weather forecasting, even the miniature cameras in our cell phones. For over fifty years, NASA has transferred its cutting-edge aerospace technologies to the private sector, helping create new commercial products, improve existing products, and boost the competitiveness of the U.S. economy.

Now NASA has joined forces with the product development startup Marblar (www.marblar.com) for a pilot program allowing the public to crowdsource product ideas for forty of NASA's patents. This initiative will allow Marblar's online community to use a portion of NASA's diverse portfolio of patented technologies as the basis of new product ideas.

Starting today, 14 NASA technologies will be available on Marblar. Over the next four weeks, 26 additional patents will be posted on the website. Anyone can submit ideas and contribute to other submitted ideas over the next year. Commercial partners will study the ideas for potential new products and services, with contributors to successful ideas sharing in their ownership.

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center Technology Transfer Office will lead the pilot program. "We are excited about partnering with Marblar to reach new audiences. By using crowdsourcing as a way to generate new assessments of NASA technologies, we hope to work with the global community to identify transformative commercial products," said Terry Taylor, Manager of the MSFC Technology Transfer Office.

"Crowdsourcing has allowed NASA to tap into more than the usual suspects to get ideas and solutions that address an assortment of NASA needs," said Jenn Gustetic, NASA's Prizes and Challenges Program Executive. "Reaching out to innovators in a variety of fields through online crowdsourcing may provide a 21st century way for NASA to expand the reach of its technology portfolio for commercialization and use right here on Earth"

Marblar is a platform that curates patented science from the world's top research labs, and allows anyone to submit new product ideas based upon these technologies. The technologies NASA will be making available to the platform range from advanced satellite optics, to micro-sensors, to materials, devices, and manufacturing techniques developed for the shuttle program. These technologies represent a handful of the over 1000 patented technologies and 400 software codes and analysis tools NASA has available for transfer to the public.

"By engaging a global community towards re-imagining NASA's patents, along with the half-billion dollars worth of patents from other institutions world-wide available on Marblar, we're aiming to create a pivot point and redefine product development for the 21st century," said Daniel Perez, Marblar CEO.

NASA's Technology Transfer Program, managed by the Office of the Chief Technologist at NASA Headquarters, ensures that technologies developed for missions in exploration and discovery are broadly available to the public. To view the entire NASA patent portfolio, visit: technology.nasa.gov.

Contribute your ideas at: http://www.marblar.com/nasa.

Excerpt from:

NASA Engages the Public to Discover New Uses for Out-of-this-World Technologies

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden visited Stennis Space Center in Mississippi Wednesday to welcome employees back to work after the U.S. government shutdown and thank them for their ongoing commitment to the nation's space program.

Bolden held separate meetings with Stennis and NASA Shared Services Center (NSSC) employees. At Stennis, he also toured the B-2 Test Stand, which is being prepared to test the core stage of NASA's new Space Launch System (SLS). NASA is building the SLS to carry humans deeper into space than ever before.

"Stennis continues to demonstrate that the road to space goes through Mississippi," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said. "I applaud the center's continued work to help bring about a new era of exploration through its commercial partnerships and the ongoing essential work it does for us in testing new propulsion systems. I also salute the personnel of the NASA Shared Services Center, housed at Stennis, for the superb contingency support they provided the agency during the recent government shutdown. It's my pleasure to visit the Stennis and NSSC workforces and thank them for holding the fort during the shutdown and ensuring our forward progress."

Stennis employees returned to work Oct. 17 following a 16-day furlough. Their focus quickly returned to efforts critical to the future of American space exploration.

"It always is an honor to host the NASA administrator," Stennis Director Rick Gilbrech said. "We deeply appreciate his affirmation of our team and its support of NASA's deep-space and commercial spaceflight initiatives and pledge ourselves to ongoing excellence in all those efforts."

"We have always understood the work provided by the NASA Shared Services Center is crucial to the agency's mission," said NSSC Executive Director Michael Smith. "However, situations like the recent furlough shed a spotlight on the hard work and dedication of NSSC employees who stop at nothing to get the job done, even under strenuous circumstances."

Bolden's visit came the day a new commercial engine test agreement for Stennis was announced. Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant announced the Mississippi Development Authority has entered into agreement with Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) to provide initial testing of the company's Raptor methane rocket engines at Stennis. Testing is expected to begin in early 2014.

Along with this new commercial testing, Stennis is continuing to test Aerojet Rocketdyne AJ26 rocket engines for Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va., which has partnered with NASA to provide commercial cargo flights to the International Space Station. Orbital's maiden flight to the space station launched from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia Sept. 18. Orbital's Antares rocket was powered by a pair of AJ26 engines -- E9 and E12 -- tested at Stennis May 3, 2012 and Jan. 18, respectively.

Orbital's Cygnus capsule connected to the space station Sept. 30. It detached from the space station successfully Tuesday after completing delivery of its cargo. Orbital has a contract through NASA's Commercial Resupply Services initiative to launch eight cargo missions to the space station.

Other companies also have tested their propulsion systems at Stennis. Blue Origin has conducted testing at the center's E-1 Test Stand. Stennis also has leased the B-1 Test Stand to Aerojet Rocketdyne for testing of its RS-68 engine. The RS-68 in a Delta IV heavy-lift rocket will power the first flight test of NASA's Orion multipurpose crew vehicle in 2014.

Read more here:

NASA Administrator Visits Stennis to Commend Employee Efforts

Buildings On Mercury Close Up, In NASA Archive, Oct 17, 2013, UFO Sighting News.
I was searching for structures when I found this amazing photo which seems to have dozens for structures in it. I used my iphone 5s to re-digitalize it. This...

By: Scott Waring

Originally posted here:

Buildings On Mercury Close Up, In NASA Archive, Oct 17, 2013, UFO Sighting News. - Video

NASA #39;s Lori Garver Farewell
NASA #39;s Lori Garver Farewell.

By: okrajoe

Excerpt from:

NASA's Lori Garver Farewell - Video

Announcing the NEW This Week @ NASA / Promo 3
New promotional video teases a whole new look and style for This Week at NASA. You #39;ve got time for the new This Week At NASA, daily on NASA Television or at ...

By: NASAtelevision

Follow this link:

Announcing the NEW This Week @ NASA / Promo 3 - Video

October 23, 2013

Image Credit: NASA

[ Watch the Video: NASA Sets Data Transmissions Record To The Moon ]

Michael Harper for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

NASAs new laser communication system has become the first ever to send data to the moon without two-way radios. The space agency used the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) mission as the platform for this demonstration, transmitting data over 239,000 miles between the Earth and Moon at 622 megabits per second (mbps), setting a new record in transfer speeds.

NASA named the project the Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration (LLCD) and say they need to switch from radio to accommodate the larger data packets being sent to and from space. LLCD is designed to send up to six times more data than previous two-way communications while consuming 25 percent less power. Eventually NASA hopes the laser will be capable of streaming high-definition video into outer space just as its streamed here on Earth. As it stands LLCD is capable of sending error-free data uploads at a speed of only 20 Mbps.

LLCD was initiated as an experiment aboard the 100-day unmanned LADEE mission to the moon. In addition to testing laser communications, LADEE will also explore the moons atmosphere and attempt to determine if lunar dust caused the glow seen by Apollo astronauts.

LLCD is the first step on our roadmap toward building the next generation of space communication capability, said Badri Younes, NASAs deputy associate administrator for Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN).

We are encouraged by the results of the demonstration to this point, and we are confident we are on the right path to introduce this new capability into operational service soon.

The LLCD was developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technologys (MIT) Lincoln Laboratory and aims to be the future of all NASA communications going forward. According to NASA, the latest demonstration only tested the feasibility of this type of communication for short durations. Up next is another demonstration to check the long-duration capabilities with the Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD).

Go here to see the original:

NASA Uses Laser To Communicate With The Moon

NASA has awarded a bridge contract to AS and D Inc. of Greenbelt, Md., for continued multidisciplinary engineering and technical services until a follow-on contract is awarded at the agency's Goddard Space Flight Center, also in Greenbelt.

Known as Multidisciplinary Engineering and Technical Services II Bridge (METS 2 Bridge), this is a cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite delivery-indefinite quantity contract with an ordering value ranging from a minimum of $5 million to a maximum of $90 million and a period of performance extending from Oct. 22 through April 30, 2015. There is one $20 million option for a one-year extension through Sept. 30, 2015.

AS and D Inc. will continue its systems engineering support for several operating divisions in Goddard's Applied Engineering and Technology Directorate, including mechanical systems; software management; instrument systems and technology; electrical engineering; and mission engineering and systems analysis. This support includes the formulation, design, development, flight and non-flight fabrication, integration, test, verification, and operation of components, subsystems, systems, science instruments, and complete spacecraft for multiple projects.

Task orders issued under the METS 2 Bridge contract provide critical support to a wide range of NASA programs and projects including the James Webb Space Telescope; the Magnetosphere Multiscale mission; the Global Precipitation Measurement mission; Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites; the Ice, Cloud, Land Elevation Satellite II/Atlas mission; and the Mars Atmosphere Volatile Evolution mission.

For information about NASA and agency programs, visit: http://www.nasa.gov .

Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook.

Read the original post:

NASA Awards Bridge Contract for Multidisciplinary Engineering and Technical Services

Washington | Updated 10/23/2013 1:34:38 PM IST

NASA's gen-next laser communication system has made history using a pulsed laser beam to transmit data over the 384,633 kilometres between the Moon and Earth.

The data transmission was accomplished at a record-breaking download rate of 622 megabits per second (Mbps) - six times faster than radio communications from the Moon.

Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration (LLCD) is NASA's first system for two-way communication using a laser instead of radio waves.

It has also demonstrated an error-free data upload rate of 20 Mbps transmitted from the primary ground station in New Mexico to the spacecraft currently orbiting the Moon.

"LLCD is the first step on our roadmap toward building the next generation of space communication capability," said Badri Younes, NASA's deputy associate administrator for space communications and navigation (SCaN) in Washington.

"We are encouraged by the results of the demonstration to this point, and we are confident we are on the right path to introduce this new capability into operational service soon," Younes said in a statement.

Since NASA first ventured into space, it has relied on radio frequency (RF) communication. However, RF is reaching its limit as demand for more data capacity continues to increase.

The development and deployment of laser communications will enable NASA to extend communication capabilities such as increased image resolution and 3-D video transmission from deep space.

LLCD is a short-duration experiment and the precursor to NASA's long-duration demonstration, the Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD).

Read more:

NASA's laser communication system transmits data from Moon

NASA wants to offload cargo runs to the space station to private companies so it can focus more on exploration. Orbital Sciences' Cygnus cargo ship just finished its first mission.

The second of two commercial spacecraft NASA has tapped to resupply the International Space Station wrapped up its qualifying run to the orbiting outpost successfully on Tuesday. It now is headed for incineration when it reenters Earth's atmosphere on Wednesday.

Subscribe Today to the Monitor

Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of The Christian Science Monitor Weekly Digital Edition

Astronauts aboard the space station used the station's robotic arm to gently move Orbital Sciences Corporation's Cygnus cargo craft away from the station, releasing it at 7:31 Eastern Daylight Time on Tuesday.

It was a wipe-the-brow moment for NASA. For eight years, the agency has worked to outsource cargo-hauling duties to the space station in anticipation of retiring the space shuttles in 2011. The agency was tasked with refocusing its human-spaceflight program on exploration beyond low-Earth orbit.

While the space agency and Congress are still sorting out those next steps, NASA is claiming success for its work to stimulate the emergence of companies that own and operate their own rockets and cargo craft.

We are delighted to now have two American companies able to resupply the station, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden Jr. said in a statement Tuesday, referring to Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) in addition to Orbital Sciences. Orbital's success today is helping make NASA's future exploration to farther destinations possible.

Orbital Sciences, based in Dulles, Va., launched Cygnus atop the company's Antares rocket Sept. 18. The launch took place at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, on the grounds of NASA's Wallops Island Flight Facility on the Virgina coast. The craft was to have docked with the space station four days later. But a software glitch prevented an initial attempt at a rendezvous.

Software engineers fixed the problem. But the delay prompted mission controllers to hold off on a second rendezvous attempt until an incoming Russian Soyuz spacecraft could deliver three crew members to the station. The Soyuz craft arrived on Sept. 25. Cygnus docked four days later, carrying some 1,300 pounds of food, clothes, and experiments designed by elementary, middle-school, and high-school students.

See more here:

Success of Cygnus cargo craft takes NASA step closer to new future (+video)

NASA has set a new record for communication in space, beaming information to and from a probe named LADEE that is currently flying around the moon 380,000 kilometers away.

Aboard LADEE is the Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration (LLCD), which achieved super-fast download speeds of 622 megabits per second (Mbps) and an upload rate of 20 Mbps. In comparison, the internet at WIREDs office in San Francisco gets download rates of 75 Mbps and uploads at 50 Mbps. NASAs typical communications with the moon are about five times slower than what LLCD provided.

Until now, NASA has used radio waves to communicate with its spacecraft out in the solar system. As a probe gets farther away, you need more power to transmit a signal. Earth-based receiving dishes have to be bigger, too, so that NASAs most-distant probe, Voyager 1, relies on a 70-meter antenna to be heard. LLCD relies on three ground-based terminals at telescopes in New Mexico, California, and Spain to communicate.

The agency is currently interested in creating better laser-based communication relays. With a concentrated beam of light, a spacecraft could send data at much faster rates that could carry higher resolution images and transmit 3-D videos from deep space. Of course, the method is challenging because it requires very high precision. If the skinny laser beam doesnt exactly hit its target over a ridiculously far distance, it will lead to dropped calls and no communication. LLCD also has a slower transmission rate when the moon is on the horizon and the signal has to travel through a greater amount of interfering atmosphere than when it is directly overhead.

LLCD is actually a precursor to a larger and even more capable project, the Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD), which will further test the technology and is expected to launch in 2017. One day, such communication systems could be part of a fast interplanetary internet that will beam data around the solar system.

Adam is a Wired Science staff writer. He lives in Oakland, Ca near a lake and enjoys space, physics, and other sciency things.

Read more by Adam Mann

Follow @adamspacemann on Twitter.

More:

NASA Shoots Lasers at the Moon to Create Insanely Fast Internet

MAVEN Shipping to NASA Kennedy
Lockheed Martin shipped NASA #39;s MAVEN spacecraft to the Kennedy Space Center, Fla. on Friday, Aug. 2. The 1784-pound spacecraft was shipped on a U.S. Air For...

By: LockheedMartinVideos

Visit link:

MAVEN Shipping to NASA Kennedy - Video

Actress Sandra Bullock Talks About Big Hair in Space | NASA Science HD Video
Visit my website at http://www.junglejoel.com - movie actress Sandra Bullock and NASA astronaut Cady Coleman talk about hair in a microgravity environment. P...

By: CoconutScienceLab

Excerpt from:

Actress Sandra Bullock Talks About Big Hair in Space | NASA Science HD Video - Video

NASA EDGE: Mission X 2013
It has been an excellent year to Train Like an Astronaut, and NASA EDGE joined the Mission X Team during their end of the year activities at ESTEC in the Net...

By: NASA EDGE

See the original post:

NASA EDGE: Mission X 2013 - Video

NASA Centennial Challenge Robotics
SAMPLE RETURN ROBOT CHALLENGE -- MSFC. @NASA_Technology. Eleven robotics teams from the US, Canada and Estonia competed for a possible $1.5 million in prize money during the second NASA Centennia...

By: okrajoe

Go here to read the rest:

NASA Centennial Challenge Robotics - Video

Please support our site by enabling javascript to view ads.

NASA has reversed a ban on six Chinese scientists from a space conference in California next month after prominent US astronomers threatened a boycott.

The US space agency has called the ban a mistake, saying officials misinterpreted a security law in barring the scientists from its Kepler Science Conference in November.

More from GlobalPost: NASA ban on Chinese scientists sparks boycott

A NASA committee has now written to the six to change course.

"We have since been able to clarify the intent of the referenced legislation and are pleased to inform you that this decision has been reversed and your paperwork is being reviewed for clearance," China's official Xinhua news agency quoted the letter as saying.

"We hope you will be able to join us," it added.

Xinhua said the space agency changed course after its initial decision caused an uproar among some US scientists.

Geoff Marcy, an astronomy professor at the University of California, Berkeley, wrote in an email to the organizers: "The meeting is about planets located trillions of miles away, with no national security implications."

More from GlobalPost: China vs. US: The new Space Race?

See original here:

NASA reverses course on Chinese scientists ban