A NASA spacecraft has captured a beautiful song "sung" by our own planet.The noise - which sounds similar to whale song - is called a "chorus", Craig Kletzing of the University of Iowa explained."This is one of the clearest examples...

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NASA captures Earth's 'song'

There appears to be support within NASA to position astronauts at an Earth-moon libration point to bolster the space agencys plans of pushing beyond low-Earth orbit with its Orion spacecraft design.

Anchoring hardware and a crew at the Earth-moon L2 "gateway" would offer many benefits, advocates say. One of them is building on multinational cooperation honed at the International Space Station (ISS).

Under review is use of Russian-supplied hardware at the L2 point, according to insiders contacted by SPACE.com. Surplus space shuttle gear and ISS-flight-ready spares are also in the mix.

Regarding the use of Russian space hardware, both the Multipurpose Laboratory Module and the Scientific-Power Module are new modules being developed in Russia. Both will add new capabilities to the ISS. A proposal on the table seeks to use a similar Russian-provided Scientific-Power Module in cislunar space as a base of operations for exploration missions. [Gallery: Visions of Deep-Space Station Missions]

NASA space planners have been sketching out an exploration strategy that would make use of the Lagrange points. For one, by exploring and working beyond the Earths radiation belts, more can be learned about space radiation protection. Additionally, the Lagrange points provide unique perspectives of the moon, sun and Earth. Sojourns to the Earth-moon L2 would take humans farther than they have ever been from Earth.

Done deal?

A recent Orlando Sentinel newspaper story kick-started the perception that NASA officials have picked a leading candidate for the agencys next major mission: creation of a "gateway spacecraft" parked at the Earth-moon libration point 2, also known as EML-2.

Indeed, NASA has spotlighted the fact that, as crewed missions extend farther from Earth and for longer periods of time, they will require new capabilities to enable safe and sustainable habitation and exploration.

As reported by SPACE.com earlier this year, a Feb. 3 memo from William Gerstenmaier, NASAs associate administrator for human exploration and operations, noted that a team would be formed to develop a cohesive plan for exploring the EML-2 spot in space.

Libration points, also known as Lagrangian points, are places in space where the combined gravitational pull of two large masses roughly balance each other out, allowing spacecraft to essentially "park" there.

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NASA Mulls Deep-Space Station on Moon's Far Side

irishtimes.com - Last Updated: Tuesday, October 2, 2012, 14:10

Nasa has released spectacular high definition video of a solar flare breaking away from the surface of the Sun.

The coronal mass ejection, captured by Nasas Solar Dynamics Observatory, shows a filament that had been hovering in the sun's atmosphere, the corona, erupting into space at nearly 1500 kilometres per second.

The eruption happened at 8.36pm (Irish time) on August 31st this year and was large enough to engulf the Earth many times over.

The associated coronal mass ejection passed by Earth on the night of Monday, September 3rd, connecting with Earth's magnetic environment, or magnetosphere, causing aurora to appear.

The video, shot in 1080p high definition, shows the filament from several different angles allowing viewers to observe how the solar flare behaved.

The Solar Dynamics Observatory is a Nasa mission tasked with understanding the Sun's influence on Earth and near-Earth space. The obervatory, which is observing the Sun over a five-year period, is part of a larger programme which aims to develop scientific understanding of the connected SunEarth system that directly affects life and society.

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Nasa captures solar eruption

28-09-2012 16:40 A NASA's Mars Curiosity rover team member gives an update on developments and status of the planetary exploration mission. The Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft delivered Curiosity to its target area on Mars at 1:31:45 am EDT on Aug. 6, which includes the 13.8 minutes needed for confirmation of the touchdown to be radioed to Earth at the speed of light. The rover will conduct a nearly two-year prime mission to investigate whether the Gale Crater region of Mars ever offered conditions favorable for microbial life. Curiosity carries 10 science instruments with a total mass 15 times as large as the science payloads on NASA's Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity. Some of the tools, such as a laser-firing instrument for checking rocks' elemental composition from a distance, are the first of their kind on Mars. Curiosity will use a drill and scoop, which are located at the end of its robotic arm, to gather soil and powdered samples of rock interiors, then sieve and parcel out these samples into the rover's analytical laboratory instruments.

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NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover Report #8 - Video

A group of engineers who previously worked at Apple and NASA created an $11,111 coffee maker that measures the liquid’s heat as it brews to maintain the “perfect” temperature. Blossom Coffee company is the brainchild of coffee fan, Jeremy Kuempel, and two colleagues. Kuempel is an MIT...

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Former Apple, NASA Engineers Make $11,111 Coffee Maker

Over the next few months, NASA will map out a strategy for returning bits of Martian rock and soil to Earth, so scientists can study them for signs of past Red Planet life.

That ambitious goal should drive the space agency's next steps at Mars, according to a report released Tuesday by the Mars Program Planning Group. The report also lays out several ways Mars sample-return can be accomplished over the next decade or two, and NASA is reviewing those options now.

The agency may reveal its chosen path in February, after the White House releases its federal budget request for fiscal year 2014, NASA officials said Tuesday. In the meantime, here's a brief rundown of the scenarios they're looking at.

Multiple launches All the major options proposed by the Mars planning group share three basic components in common: a sampling rover, a Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) for blasting the collected rock and soil off the Red Planet surface and a return orbiter, which will snag the samples in space and ferry them to Earth's neighborhood.

In one scenario, these three pieces are all launched separately, with a small "fetch" rover riding along with the MAV. As its name suggests, the fetch rover will carry Red Planet dirt from the sampling rover back to the MAV. [ 7 Biggest Mysteries of Mars ]

This strategy has the advantage of spreading costs and technical challenges across three missions which could each be at least two years apart, since Mars launch windows come about every 26 months according to the planning group report.

Another option is to consolidate into two launches. The sampling rover would ride alone, while another liftoff would carry the MAV, fetch rover and return orbiter.

In this case, the orbiter would likely have to be powered by solar electric propulsion (SEP), to cut down on weight. The amount of liquid propellant needed for a traditionally powered spacecraft would be quite heavy.

A single launch Alternatively, all the pieces needed for Mars sample-return could be lofted in a single shot, the report says.

In this case, the sampling rover would carry an integrated MAV with it, eliminating the need for a fetch rover. Again, the return orbiter would be an SEP craft, which creates thrust by accelerating electrically charged atoms or molecules.

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How NASA will bring home pieces of Mars

Now that he's returned to Earth from a five-month stay on the International Space Station, NASA astronaut Joe Acaba is still getting used to life on the ground.

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'Avengers' in Space: NASA Astronaut Recounts Movie Nights and Life in Orbit

A NASA rover's discovery of an ancient streambed on Mars is exciting, but it’s far from the first solid evidence that the Red Planet was once a warmer and wetter place.

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Mars Water Mystery: NASA Rover's Ancient Streambed Discovery Is the Latest Clue

Over the next few months, NASA will map out a strategy for returning bits of Martian rock and soil to Earth, so scientists can study them for signs of past Red Planet life.

That ambitious goal should drive the space agency's next steps at Mars, according to a report released Tuesday (Sept. 25) by the Mars Program Planning Group. The report also lays out several ways Mars sample-return can be accomplished over the next decade or two, and NASA is reviewing those options now.

The agency may reveal its chosen path in February, after the White House releases its federal budget request for fiscal year 2014, NASA officials said Tuesday. In the meantime, here's a brief rundown of the scenarios they're looking at.

Multiple launches

All the major options proposed by the Mars planning group share three basic components in common: a sampling rover, a Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) for blasting the collected rock and soil off the Red Planet surface and a return orbiter, which will snag the samples in space and ferry them to Earth's neighborhood.

In one scenario, these three pieces are all launched separately, with a small "fetch" rover riding along with the MAV. As its name suggests, the fetch rover will carry Red Planet dirt from the sampling rover back to the MAV. [7 Biggest Mysteries of Mars]

This strategy has the advantage of spreading costs and technical challenges across three missions -- which could each be at least two years apart, since Mars launch windows come about every 26 months -- according to the planning group report.

Another option is to consolidate into two launches. The sampling rover would ride alone, while another liftoff would carry the MAV, fetch rover and return orbiter.

In this case, the orbiter would likely have to be powered by solar electic propulsion (SEP), to cut down on weight. The amount of liquid propellant needed for a traditionally powered spacecraft would be quite heavy.

A single launch

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How NASA can bring home pieces of Mars

Over the next few months, NASA will map out a strategy for returning bits of Martian rock and soil to Earth, so scientists can study them for signs of past Red Planet life.

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Bringing Pieces of Mars to Earth: How NASA Will Do It

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Curiosity, 2012: NASA says that water shaped the rocks on the left, in a photograph taken by the Mars rover Curiosity. For comparison, the agency released an image of rocks from the Earth (right).

NASA

Curiosity 2012: A wider view of the outcrop of a former streambed shows bedrock that scientists believe was likely exposed by meteorites striking the surface of Mars.

NASA

Spirit, 2010: When NASA's Spirit rover got stuck in Martian sand, it proved to be a lucky break: The spinning wheel churned up soil that provided evidence of rocks formed in the presence of water.

NASA

Opportunity, 2004: Opportunity discovered tiny mineral spheres nicknamed blueberries poking out of rocks that were likely formed by water. Researchers using Opportunity's science instruments identified them as concretions rich in the mineral hematite, deposited by water saturating the bedrock.

NASA

Pathfinder, 1997: The first mission to land a rover on Mars, Pathfinder touched down in Ares Vallis, an ancient flood plain in the planet's northern hemisphere. Among the 2.3 billion bits of data sent back by the lander and its rover, Sojourner, were 15 chemical analyses of rocks and soil, which suggested Mars had once had liquid water and a thicker atmosphere.

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Streams Of Water Once Flowed On Mars; NASA Says Photos Prove It

Image Caption: Photo of the new purple CPL with the Global Hawk. Credit: NASA

Cutting-edge NASA technology has made this years NASA Hurricane mission a reality. NASA and other scientists are currently flying a suite of state-of-the-art, autonomously operated instruments that are gathering difficult-to-obtain measurements of wind speeds, precipitation, and cloud structures in and around tropical storms.

Making these measurements possible is the platform on which the instruments are flying, said Paul Newman, the deputy principal investigator of NASAs Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel (HS3), managed by NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. HS3 will use NASAs unmanned Global Hawks, which are capable of flying at altitudes greater than 60,000 feet with flight durations of up to 28 hours capabilities that increase the amount of data scientists can collect. Its a brand-new way to do science, Newman said.

The month-long HS3 mission, which began in early September, is actually a more robust follow-on to NASAs Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes (GRIP) experiment that scientists executed in 2010. Often referred to as GRIP on steroids, HS3 is currently deploying one instrument-laden Global Hawk from the NASA Wallops Flight Facility on Virginias Eastern Shore to look at the environment of tropical storms. In 2013 and 2014, a second Global Hawk will be added that will focus on getting detailed measurements of the inner core of hurricanes.

Without this new aircraft, developed originally for the U.S. Air Force to gather intelligence and surveillance data, the team says the mission wouldnt be possible.

The Global Hawks ability to fly for a much longer period of time than manned aircraft will allow it to obtain previously difficult-to-get data. Scientists hope to use that data to gain new insights into how tropical storms form, and more importantly, how they intensify into major Atlantic hurricanes information that forecasters need to make better storm predictions, save lives, and ultimately prevent costly coastal evacuations if a storm doesnt warrant them.

Because you can get to Africa from Wallops, well be able to study developing systems way out into the Atlantic, Newman explained. Normal planes, which can fly for no more than about 10 hours, often miss the points where storms intensify, added Gerry Heymsfield, a Goddard scientist who used NASA Research and Development funding to create one of the missions six instruments, the High-altitude Imaging Wind and Rain Airborne Profiler (HIWRAP). With the Global Hawks, we have a much higher chance of capturing these events. Furthermore, we can sit on targets for a long time.

Just as important as the aircraft are the new or enhanced instruments designed to gather critical wind, temperature, humidity, and aerosol measurements in the environment surrounding the storm and the rain and wind patterns occurring inside their inner cores, they added. The instruments bring it all together, Newman said. We didnt have these instruments 10 years ago.

The Global Hawk currently on deployment at Wallops is known as the environmental aircraft because it samples the environment in which hurricanes are embedded. It carries three instruments.

A Goddard-provided laser system called the Cloud Physics Lidar (CPL) is located in the nose. CPL measures cloud structures and aerosols, such as dust, sea salt particles, and smoke particles, by bouncing laser light off these elements. An infrared instrument called the Scanning High-resolution Interferometer Sounder (S-HIS), provided by the University of Wisconsin in Madison, sits in the belly of the aircraft. It measures the vertical profile of temperature and water vapor.

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NASA's Hurricane Mission A Reality Due To Cutting-Edge Technology

(SPACE.com) The next steps in NASA's Mars exploration strategy should build toward returning Martian rocks and dirt to Earth to search for signs of past life, a new report by the space agency's Red Planet planning group finds.

The report, released today (Sept. 25) by the Mars Program Planning Group (MPPG), lays out a series of options that NASA could employ to get pieces of the Red Planet in scientists' hands here on Earth. The space agency is now mulling those options and could announce its chosen path by early next year, when the White House releases its proposed budget for fiscal year 2014.

"The first public release of what plans, you know, we definitively have would not be until the president presents that budget to Congress in February of 2013," John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, told reporters today.

NASA put together the MPPG this past March to help restructure its Mars strategy in the wake of cuts to the space agency's robotic exploration program.

The MPPG was instructed to consider NASA's newly constrained fiscal situation and the priorities laid out by the U.S. National Research Council's Planetary Science Decadal Survey, which was released last year. President Barack Obama's directive that the agency get astronauts to the vicinity of Mars by the mid-2030s was another factor, NASA officials said.

The MPPG's focus on sample-return should thus come as no surprise. It was a top priority of the Decadal Survey, and sample-return could help spur and work in concert with NASA's plans for human exploration of Mars, Grunsfeld said. [7 Biggest Mysteries of Mars]

"Sample-return represents the best opportunity to find symmetry technologically between the programs," he said. "Sending a mission to go to Mars and return a sample looks a lot like sending a crew to Mars and returning them safely."

Humans could even be involved in the sample-return process, according to the MPPG report. Astronauts aboard NASA's Orion capsule, which is currently under development, could intercept the Martian sample in deep space, secure it in a contained environment, and bring it safely down to Earth.

"It is taking advantage of the human architecture, because we anticipate it will be there," Grunsfeld said. "And it potentially solves an issue of, when we return samples, somewhere we have to make sure that the samples are completely contained so there's no chance -- remote as it may be -- that there is something on Mars that could contaminate Earth."

Exactly when a Martian sample could come down to Earth remains up in the air. But NASA is considering launching the first enabling mission along this path in 2018, or perhaps 2020, Grunsfeld said. A complicating factor is that NASA has just $800 million or so to work with for the project through 2018.

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NASA's new goal: Returning samples from Mars

WASHINGTON Top NASA officials have picked a leading candidate for the agency's next major mission: construction of a new outpost that would send astronauts farther from Earth than at any time in history.

The so-called "gateway spacecraft" would hover in orbit on the far side of the moon, support a small astronaut crew and function as a staging area for future missions to the moon and Mars.

At 277,000 miles from Earth, the outpost would be far more remote than the current space station, which orbits a little more than 200 miles above Earth. The distance raises complex questions of how to protect astronauts from the radiation of deep space and rescue them if something goes wrong.

NASA Chief Charlie Bolden briefed the White House earlier this month on details of the proposal, but it's unclear whether it has the administration's support. Of critical importance is the price tag, which would certainly run into the billions of dollars.

Documents obtained by the Orlando Sentinel show that NASA wants to build a small outpost likely with parts left over from the $100 billion International Space Station at what's known as the Earth-Moon Lagrange Point 2, a spot about 38,000 miles from the moon and 277,000 miles from Earth.

At that location, the combined gravities of the Earth and moon reach equilibrium, making it possible to "stick" an outpost there with minimal power required to keep it in place.

To get there, NASA would use the massive rocket and space capsule that it is developing as a successor to the retired space shuttle. A first flight of that rocket is planned for 2017, and construction of the outpost would begin two years later, according to NASA planning documents.

Potential missions include the study of nearby asteroids or dispatching robotic trips to the moon that would gather moon rocks and bring them back to astronauts at the outpost. The outpost also would lay the groundwork for more-ambitious trips to Mars' moons and even Mars itself, about 140 million miles away on average.

Placing a "spacecraft at the Earth-Moon Lagrange point beyond the moon as a test area for human access to deep space is the best near-term option to develop required flight experience and mitigate risk," concluded the NASA report.

From NASA's perspective, the outpost solves several problems.

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NASA Wants To Send Astronauts Beyond The Moon

A NASA spacecraft has made the clearest record yet of choruses of noise in the Earth's magnetosphere.

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Sounds of 'Alien Birds' in Space Recorded by NASA Spacecraft

September 24, 2012

Computer-rendered image of NASA's crew access arm on its Mobile Launch tower. Credit: NASA/Boeing

Lawrence LeBlond for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

NASA engineers in Florida are coalescing traditional and new technologies to design a crew access arm on a mobile launcher at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) that will be used for the space agencys Orion spacecraft, reports Linda Herridge, correspondent for NASAs KSC.

Engineers with the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program at KSC are working diligently to design and develop the 60-foot hydraulic arm that will be similar to the one used during the Apollo missions. Kelli Maloney, a mechanical design engineer for the centers Engineering Directorate, said the arm will have two levels and incorporate hardware from both the Apollo and Space Shuttle programs.

Orion will be the most advanced manned spacecraft ever developed by NASA. It is being designed to be able to carry astronauts farther into space than any craft has ever done before. The Space Launch System (SLS) is also designed to be flexible for launching spacecraft for both crew and cargo missions, and will expand humans presence across the solar system. Orion is scheduled to make its first launch in 2017.

The crew access arm will include a new White Room on the upper level. This area will provide access to the Orion crew module and will contain a six-foot-long access platform, nicknamed the diving board, that will extend from Orion to the crew module. A lower-level walkway will provide access to two panels on the spacecrafts service module.

Engineers will use design technology from the inflatable dock seal on the space shuttles orbiter access arm, as well as storage cabinets and safety equipment from the shuttle-era White Room, according to Maloney.

Apollo-era hinges will be used to rotate the access arm out to the crew module, she added. These hinges will be retrofitted with new digital encoders to accurately obtain the arms position. This information will be fed back to the Program Logic Controllers in an electrical room on the Mobile Launcher tower in order to achieve precise control of arm position, Maloney said.

Its a challenge, because you have to think about every detail, Maloney added. Its very diverse.

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NASA Implementing New And Old Technologies For Crew Access Arm

The fifth science flight of NASA's Global Hawk (green line) concluded when the aircraft landed at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Va. on Sunday, Sept. 23 after flying over Tropical Storm Nadine in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean. The HS3 scientists changed the flight path (the original plan is in blue) during the GH flight to be able to overfly Nadine's center. Measurements from dropsondes found wind speeds greater than 60 knots at lower levels above the surface during that adjusted flight leg. Despite the large distance of Nadine from the U. S. East Coast, the Global Hawk was able to spend about 11 hours over the storm. The image shows the Global Hawk (red dot) returning to Wallops. Credit: NASA Wallops

Tropical Storm Nadine is turning around in two ways. When NASA's Global Hawk flew over the storm it learned that the storm was not transitioning into an extra-tropical storm. Now, NASA satellites see that Nadine is physically turning its direction, and heading back to the west-northwest and away from land.

The fifth science flight of NASA's Global Hawk concluded when the aircraft landed at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Va. on Sunday, Sept. 23 after flying over Tropical Storm Nadine in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean. The Hurricane and Severe Storms Sentinel (HS3) mission scientists changed the flight path during the Global Hawk flight to be able to overfly Nadine's center.

"Measurements from dropsondes found wind speeds greater than 60 knots at lower levels above the surface during that adjusted flight leg," said Scott Braun, HS3 Mission Principal Investigator from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. "Despite the large distance of Nadine from the U. S. East Coast, the Global Hawk was able to spend about 11 hours over the storm."

NASA's Aqua satellite passed over the eastern Atlantic Ocean on Sept. 24 at 03:23 UTC, and the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument captured an infrared image of Tropical Storm Nadine's cloud top temperatures. The infrared data indicated the strongest thunderstorms and heaviest rainfall were to the northeast of the center of circulation. Those cloud top temperatures exceeded -63 Fahrenheit (-52 Celsius). Wind shear from the southwest has pushed the bulk of clouds and showers to the northeast.

This infrared image was captured by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite. The image shows Tropical Storm Nadine struggling in the eastern Atlantic Ocean about 455 miles (735 km) south of the Azores Islands. The image was taken on Sept. 24 at 03:23 UTC. Purple areas indicate the strongest thunderstorms and heaviest rainfall. Credit: NASA JPL, Ed Olsen

The Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel (HS3) is a five-year mission specifically targeted to investigate the processes that underlie hurricane formation and intensity change in the Atlantic Ocean basin. HS3 is motivated by hypotheses related to the relative roles of the large-scale environment and storm-scale internal processes.

Provided by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

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NASA's Global Hawk and satellites see tropical storm Nadine turning around

Published: Sept. 24, 2012 at 7:29 PM

WASHINGTON, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- NASA has proposed a candidate for its next major mission, a "gateway" spacecraft on the far side of the moon as a staging base for moon and Mars missions.

The spacecraft would hover in orbit on the far side of the moon, support a small permanent crew and function as "stepping stone" for missions to the lunar surface and possible flights to Mars.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden briefed the White House earlier this month on details of the proposed "gateway," but it was unclear if any administration support for the mission was forthcoming, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The NASA outpost, which would probably utilize parts left over from the $100-billion International Space Station, would be located at a point known as the Earth-Moon Lagrange Point 2, a spot about 38,000 miles from the moon where the combined gravities of the Earth and moon are equal in strength, allowing an outpost to "stick" at that point with very little power needed to keep it in place.

The giant rocket and space capsule NASA is developing as a replacement for the retired space shuttles, scheduled for a first flight in 2017, would be the vehicle for delivering the "gateway" spacecraft, space agency documents show.

The price tag -- about which NASA has said nothing -- could be a stumbling block, as it's unlikely NASA in coming years will get any more than its current budget of $17.7 billion and could, in fact, face further cuts in the name of deficit reduction, the Times said.

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NASA sees 'gateway' for space missions

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida With an eye toward developing a commercial spaceport, Florida has asked NASA to transfer 150 acres of land north of the shuttle launch pads and the shuttle runway to Space Florida, the state's aerospace development agency.

"Florida believes that the properties identified in this request are excess to the needs of the U.S. government," Lieutenant Governor Jennifer Carroll, who is also chairwoman of Space Florida, wrote in letter to NASA chief Charles Bolden and Ray LaHood, secretary of Department of Transportation, which oversees commercial space transportation in the United States.

The letter, dated Sept. 20, was posted on the state's Sunburst public records website.

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A week earlier, Space Florida agreed to spend $2.3 million for environmental studies, land surveys, title searches, appraisals and other activities to lay the groundwork for Cape Canaveral Spaceport, a proposed state-owned commercial complex that would be licensed by the Federal Aviation Administration and operated like an airport.

"If we want to be satisfied with 10 to 12 government launches a year, I don't have to do anything," Space Florida president and chief executive Frank DiBello told Reuters.

But he said those launches would likely end when commercial sites elsewhere are able to offer affordable rates.

"What has existed for decades has been good, but the marketplace has been largely governmental. What commercial market there was, we have essentially lost overseas. I'm not only anxious to bring some of that back, but I'm anxious for the next-generation of providers, both the launch companies and the satellite owner-operators, to have Florida be the place where they seek to do business," DiBello said.

Similar commercial spaceports have been set up in New Mexico, where Virgin Galactic, an offshoot of Richard Branson's Virgin Group, plans to fly a fleet of suborbital passenger spaceships, as well as Alaska, Virginia and California.

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Florida wants NASA land for commercial spaceport

Top NASA officials have picked a leading candidate for the agency's next major mission: construction of an outpost that would send astronauts farther from Earth than they've ever been.

Called the gateway spacecraft, it would hover in orbit on the far side of the moon, support a small crew and function as a staging area for future missions to the moon and Mars.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden briefed the White House earlier this month on details of the proposal, but it was unclear whether the agency had the administration's support. Of critical importance is the cost, which would probably be billions, if not tens of billions, of dollars.

Documents obtained by the Orlando Sentinel show that NASA wants to build a small outpost likely with parts left over from the $100-billion International Space Station at what's known as the Earth-Moon Lagrange Point 2, a spot about 38,000 miles from the moon.

At that location, the combined gravities of the Earth and moon reach equilibrium, making it possible to "stick" an outpost there with minimal power required to keep it in place.

To get there, NASA would use the massive rocket and space capsule that it is developing as a successor to the retired space shuttle. A first flight of that rocket is planned for 2017, and construction of the outpost would begin two years later, according to NASA documents.

Potential missions include the study of nearby asteroids or robotic trips to the moon that would gather rocks and bring them back to the outpost. The outpost also would lay the groundwork for more-ambitious trips to Mars' moons and even Mars itself, about 140 million miles away on average.

Placing a "spacecraft at the Earth-Moon Lagrange point beyond the moon as a test area for human access to deep space is the best near-term option to develop required flight experience and mitigate risk," the NASA report concluded.

From NASA's perspective, the outpost would solve several problems.

It would give purpose to the Orion space capsule and the Space Launch System rocket, which are being developed at a cost of about $3 billion annually. It would involve NASA's international partners, as blueprints for the outpost suggest using a Russian-built module and components from Italy. And the outpost would represent a baby step toward NASA's larger goal: human footprints on Mars.

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NASA considers orbital outpost near moon as next big project