1. NASA

Category Archives: NASA

Prominence eruption, northwest of the Sun – NASA images of a solar flare (May 21, 2013) – Video Vax – Video

Posted on by


Prominence eruption, northwest of the Sun - NASA images of a solar flare (May 21, 2013) - Video Vax
Prominence eruption at the northwest of the Sun, May 21, 2013 around 22:00 UT. The CME (coronal mass ejection) is visible on the images of the SOHO spacecraf...

By: VIDEO VAX

Here is the original post:

Prominence eruption, northwest of the Sun - NASA images of a solar flare (May 21, 2013) - Video Vax - Video

Pizza printouts? NASA funds project to make space meals with 3-D printer

Posted on by

In a video made for Tested.com, chef Traci Des Jardins helps Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield spice up his meals on the International Space Station. Avoiding food boredom is one of the issues facing long-term spacefliers. Will 3-D-printed pizzas help?

By Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News

NASA won't be printing out pizzas on Mars anytime soon, but the space agency is paying out $125,000 to study the use of 3-D printing technology for food preparation in space.

"We will be building the components for a prototype" over the grant's six-month period, David Irwin, principal investigator for the project at Texas-based Systems and Materials Research Consultancy, told NBC News.

The ideas is to use a 3-D printer to turn generic mixes of starch, protein and fat into textured foodie-type elements, and then add flavorings with an inkjet device. The result? Theoretically, you could have a warm slice of crusty-type starch material topped with fake cheese, sauce and pepperoni.

SMRC's Irwin was reluctant to discuss the project in detail, in part because the contract with NASA for a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research grant had not yet been signed. But he was optimistic about the long-term prospect: "We're going to do great things," he said.

NASA spokesman David Steitz said the contract was finally signed on Wednesday. The project is part of the space agency's effort to widen the menu options for future space travelers when they head out to Mars or a near-Earth asteroid. Right now, astronauts are eating mostly pre-packaged, pre-processed, shelf-stable foods. But that won't work for a trip to the Red Planet.

"The current food system is not adequate in nutrition or acceptability through the five-year shelf life required for a mission to Mars, or other long-duration missions," Steitz said in an email.

Steitz stressed that the Phase I study is just one small step in what's likely to be a years-long effort to build a 3-D space food printer. "There's a lot between this and a pizza," he told NBC News.

Hello, 'Star Trek' 3-D printing technology could open the way toward the kinds of food synthesizers you've seen in 45-year-old episodes of "Star Trek." Basic unflavored ingredients could be kept in long-term storage up to 30 years, according to a report on the project published by Quartz. The 3-D printercould build up different blends of the basics with different textures. Food-specific flavorings could be sprayed onto the components of synthetic food. Thus, the same device could turn out pizzas on one day, and tacos on the next.

Continued here:

Pizza printouts? NASA funds project to make space meals with 3-D printer

NASA Hosts Google+ Hangout with Recently Returned Space Station Astronauts

Posted on by

NASA will host a Google+ Hangout with the three recently returned International Space Station astronauts from 3-4 p.m. EDT on Thursday, May 23.

This event will connect the agency's social media followers with NASA astronauts Kevin Ford and Tom Marshburn and Chris Hadfield of the Canadian Space Agency. The three are back home in Houston and undergoing rehabilitation after living and working aboard the laboratory orbiting 250 miles above Earth.

The Expedition 34 and 35 astronauts will answer questions and provide insights about life, scientific research, maintenance and spacewalks conducted during their stays on the outpost. Their life aboard the station in near-weightlessness requires different approaches to everyday activities such as eating, sleeping and exercising.

Google+ Hangouts allow as many as 10 people or groups to chat face-to-face, while thousands more can watch the conversation live on Google+ or YouTube. The hangout also will be carried live on NASA Television and the agency's website.

NASA's social media followers may submit questions on Google+ or Twitter in advance and during the event using the hashtag #askAstro. Before the hangout begins, NASA will open a thread on its Facebook page where questions may be posted. Unique and original questions are more likely to be selected.

The hangout can be viewed live on NASA's Google+ page or on the NASA Television YouTube channel. To join the hangout, and for updates and opportunities to participate in upcoming hangouts, visit the NASA's Google+ page at: http://www.google.com/+NASA

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

For more about the International Space Station, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/station

To follow Marshburn and Hadfield on Twitter, visit: http://www.twitter.com/AstroMarshburn and http://www.twitter.com/Cmdr_Hadfield

Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook.

Read more:

NASA Hosts Google+ Hangout with Recently Returned Space Station Astronauts

NASA investing in 3-D food printer for astronauts

Posted on by

By Irene Klotz

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - In a scene right out of Star Trek, a Texas company is developing a 3-D food printer for astronauts to create custom meals on the fly.

With support from NASA, the firm, Systems and Materials Research Corp of Austin, intends to design, build and test a food printer that can work in space.

"This project is to demonstrate we can create and change the nutrition of the food and be able to print it in a low-gravity environment," the company's research director and lead chemist, David Irvin, told Reuters.

Three-dimensional printers create solid objects by depositing droplets of material one layer at a time.

Systems and Materials intends to create nutritionally rich, aesthetically appealing and tasty synthetic food by combining powdered proteins, starches, fats and flavors with water or oil to produce a wide array of digital recipes.

All the ingredients are designed for extremely long shelf-lives, making them suitable for long stays in space.

"The 3-D printing system will provide hot and quick food in addition to personalized nutrition, flavor and taste," the company wrote in its proposal to NASA.

"The biggest advantage of 3-D printed food technology will be zero waste, which is essential in long-distance space missions," it added.

Ultimately, the company sees food printers as a way to help feed a world population that is estimated to reach 12 billion by the end of the century. The technology may also have implications for the military.

Read the original here:

NASA investing in 3-D food printer for astronauts

NASA's Asteroid Mission a Dead-End to Mars?

Posted on by

NASAs newly announced plan to capture an asteroid and re-position it around the moon for an astronaut visit sounds cool, but its a side-show on the road to Mars, scientists and long-time space mission managers told Congress.

To me, the connection between the asteroid retrieval mission, which involves proximity operations with a rock that would fit comfortably in this hearing room, I see no obvious connection between that and any of the technologies and capabilities required for Martian exploration, Cornell University planetary scientist Steve Squyres told the House Subcommittee on Space on Tuesday.

VIDEO: The Moon is so Damn Awesome

A better stepping-stone for human expeditions to Mars is the moon, argued Paul Spudis, senior scientist with the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston.

It has partial gravity like Mars. It has a dust environment that you have to learn to deal with. You can learn how to explore and how to get the most out of the missions, Spudis said.

NASA planned to follow the space shuttle and International Space Station programs with a return to the moon, but President Obama canceled the project, known as Constellation, in 2010 due to funding shortfalls.

NASA salvaged Constellations heavy-lift rocket and deep-space Orion capsule and set about crafting a more flexible exploration initiative that would first send astronauts to an asteroid and eventually to Mars.

NEWS: NASA to Hunt Down and Capture an Asteroid

President Obamas spending plan for NASA for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 requests $105 million to begin work on a revamped asteroid mission which combines a robotic precursor spacecraft to fetch a 23- to 33-foot diameter asteroid with a follow-on expedition by astronauts.

NASA has not yet said how much the asteroid-retrieval mission would cost, but expects it would be less than the $2.65 billion estimate made last year by the California Institute of Technologys Keck Institute for Space Studies.

See more here:

NASA's Asteroid Mission a Dead-End to Mars?

What Are Solar Flares and How is Their Strength Measured? | NASA Space Science – Video

Posted on by


What Are Solar Flares and How is Their Strength Measured? | NASA Space Science
Visit my website at http://www.junglejoel.com - what causes a solar flare, and how do scientists categorize their strength? Please rate and comment, thanks! ...

By: COCONUT SCIENCE LAB

Original post:

What Are Solar Flares and How is Their Strength Measured? | NASA Space Science - Video

NASA bets 3D-printed food can make you eat bugs

Posted on by

NASA is betting the 3D tech now printing custom plastic tschotske could be turned towards building burritos, pizza, and other delicious meals from unexpected sources, but will you bite?

There is a small but growing 3D maker community right here in the greater Boston area (I reported on a meetup earlier this month), but the local focus is mainly on designers and high-end hobbyists who dont mind spending $75 in goop for a $3 chess set, in exchange for tweaking the pawns to their hearts desire.

But many are still looking for the killer app that moves 3D printing from the realm of professionals to desktops everywhere. And now the folks who gave us astronaut ice cream think they might have found another edible endeavor worth pursuing.

Quartz has reported on the contract between NASA and Systems & Materials Research Corporation to build a prototype universal food synthesizer. Its a relatively small contract, particularly by NASA standards: Just six months and $125,000.

But what comes next could be very interesting: Anjan Contractor, the founder of Systems & Materials Research Corporation, told Quartz that he is already working on a 3D pizza printer which builds upon his earlier work of a chocolate printer:

But by mixing software and the culinary arts, there are a lot of other potential benefits down the road: Recipes designed to fit your dietary needs while tasting delicious, for example, or meals made to make some uncommon ingredients a little more palatable for local tastes.

For example, Quartz took at some research from a Dutch think tank that hypothesized ground up and remixed elements from algae, duckweed, grass, lupine seeds, beet leafs, and insects. As a connoisseur of crickets, mealworms, burritos, and pizza, all I can say is this future is very exciting.

Heres a video from the Dutch think tank, TNOResearch, that shows how the process works in a little more detail:

What do you think? Bugs for lunch? Is Snackster the next Napster? Let us know on Twitter at @HiveBoston, via email at Hive@Boston.com, and follow me on Twitter at@Morisy.

Read the original here:

NASA bets 3D-printed food can make you eat bugs

NASA awards grant for 3-D food printer; could it end world hunger?

Posted on by

Some 3-D printer food made from meal worms (TNO research)

Call it food for thought. Or perhaps thought for food: NASA has given a six-month grant to a company developing what could be the worlds first 3-D food printer. And the projects developer, reports Quartz, an online digital news site, believes the invention could be used to end world hunger.

Quartz explains that the printer is the brainchild of mechanical engineer Anjan Contractor. Being developed by Contractors company, Systems & Materials Research Corp., it will use proteins, carbohydrates and sugars to create edible food products.

Contractor says one of his primary motivations is a belief that food will become exponentially more expensive in the near future. The average consumer, he told Quartz, will need a more economically viable option.

Some alternative food source options that may be used with the printer include algae, duckweed, grass, lupine seeds, beet leaves and even insects, according to TNO Research, which is working with Contractor on the project.

I think, and many economists think, that current food systems cant supply 12 billion people sufficiently, said Contractor. So we eventually have to change our perception of what we see as food.

One of Contractors first prototypes will be a 3-D pizza printer, and he hopes to begin building it over the next couple of weeks. Contractor, reports Quartz, explained that it will print "a layer of dough, which is baked at the same time its printed, by a heated plate at the bottom of the printer. Then it lays down a tomato base, 'which is also stored in a powdered form, and then mixed with water and oil.'" Lastly comes the "protein layer."

Contractor also hopes that people will be able to share recipes via an open source coding system.

One of the major advantages of a 3-D printer is that it provides personalized nutrition, Contractor told Quartz. If youre male, female, someone is sickthey all have different dietary needs. If you can program your needs into a 3-D printer, it can print exactly the nutrients that person requires.

NASA is certainly a believer: The six-month grant comes to $125,000. The agency specifically interested in using the 3-D printer to feed astronauts on long space voyages.

See the original post:

NASA awards grant for 3-D food printer; could it end world hunger?


  1. NASA