NASA is canceling all work on a new space telescope designed to seek out black holes and other cosmic mysteries through X-ray light due to soaring development costs, the space agency announced Thursday.

The mission, called Gravity and Extreme Magnetism Small Explorer (GEMS), was running significantly over budget, said Paul Hertz, director of NASA's Astrophysics Division, during a phone call to reporters Thursday.

"The GEMS project was initiated under a very well-defined cost cap," Hertz said. "As they approached their confirmation review, it was clear they would not be able to complete it within their cost cap. NASA made the very difficult decision not to confirm GEMS into the implementation phase."

The mission team had almost completed the design stage of the project and was nearing the point where hardware for the mission would begin to be built. No working instruments were yet constructed, Hertz said. [ NASA's 2013 Budget: What Will It Buy? ]

The project was selected as a "small explorer"-class mission, with a firm cost limit of $105 million, not including the price of launching the spacecraft. NASA recently commissioned an independent review of GEMS' budget, and found that the ultimate price tag for the spacecraft was likely to be 20 to 30 percent over budget.

Because of the cost overrun, NASA decided to pull the plug on GEMS last month. On Tuesday, the GEMS team, led by principal investigator Jean Swank of the agency's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., appealed the decision and submitted documents to show they had identified new areas of cost savings.

However, NASA was not swayed.

The space agency will now have to pay an estimated $13 million in close-out costs to cancel the mission, including contract cancelation fees to Orbital Sciences Corp. and other companies that were hired to built the spacecraft.

GEMS was to use three telescopes to capture the bent X-ray light from extremely dense objects such as black holes, neutron stars and stellar remnants. The mission would have launched no earlier than 2014 and lasted two years.

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NASA pulls the plug on X-ray telescope plan

Left: The NASA radar is used to make accurate volumetric measurements of precipitation including rainfall rate, particle size distributions, water contents and precipitation type. Credit: NASA Right: The Summer Tanager winters in Central and South America. Males are entirely red and females (shown here) are primarily a dull yellow. They eat bees and wasps. Credit: Kyle Horton

OYSTER, Va., June 7 (UPI) -- NASA says it is joining with The Nature Conservancy in a study of global rainfall and its effects on migratory bird habitats on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

The conservancy is providing access to NASA at the Virginia Coast Reserve near Oyster, Va., to place weather radar, rain gauges and other instruments that will support the agency's Global Precipitation Measurement mission.

In return, NASA will support migratory bird studies by The Nature Conservancy using the weather radar, the space agency said Thursday.

The GPM mission is an international network of satellites providing global space-based observations of rain and snow.

Its ground-based radar in Virginia offers a unique surveillance opportunity for improved bird identification and observation, Conservancy officials said.

"This five-year collaborative project with NASA will help the conservancy and our partners further identify what habitats migratory birds are utilizing for fall stopovers along the lower Delmarva Peninsula and the conservation status of these lands," conservancy scientists Barry Truitt said.

"This agreement builds on the conservancy's 40-plus years of research, restoration and protection on the Eastern Shore of Virginia."

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NASA to cooperate in Va. bird study

NASA is canceling work on a new space telescope that was running significantly over budget. The GEMS telescope was intended to study black holes and neutron stars.

NASA is canceling all work on a new space telescope designed to seek out black holes and other cosmic mysteries through X-ray light due to soaring development costs, the space agency announced today (June 7).

The mission, called Gravity and Extreme Magnetism Small Explorer (GEMS), was running significantly over budget, said Paul Hertz, director of NASA's Astrophysics Division, during a phone call to reporters today.

"TheGEMS projectwas initiated under a very well-defined cost cap," Hertz said. "As they approached their confirmation review, it was clear they would not be able to complete it within their cost cap. NASA made the very difficult decision not to confirm GEMS into the implementation phase."

The mission team had almost completed the design stage of the project and was nearing the point where hardware for the mission would begin to be built. No working instruments were yet constructed, Hertz said. [NASA's 2013 Budget: What Will It Buy?]

The project was selected as a "small explorer" class mission, with a firm cost limit of $105 million, not including the price of launching the spacecraft. NASA recently commissioned an independent review of GEMS' budget, and found that the ultimate price tag for the spacecraft was likely to be 20 to 30 percent over budget.

Because of the cost overrun, NASA decided to pull the plug on GEMS last month. On June 5, the GEMS team, led by principal investigator Jean Swank of the agency's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., appealed the decision and submitted documents to show they had identified new areas of cost savings.

However, NASA was not swayed.

The space agency will now have to pay an estimated $13 million in close-out costs to cancel the mission, including contract cancelation fees toOrbital Sciences Corp. and other companies that were hired to built the spacecraft.

GEMS was to use three telescopes to capture the bent X-ray light from extremely dense objects such as black holes, neutron stars and stellar remnants. The mission would have launched no earlier than 2014 and lasted two years.

Read more here:

Facing rising costs, NASA scraps X-ray space telescope mission (+video)

NASA is canceling work on a new space telescope that was running significantly over budget. The GEMS telescope was intended to study black holes and neutron stars.

NASA is canceling all work on a new space telescope designed to seek out black holes and other cosmic mysteries through X-ray light due to soaring development costs, the space agency announced today (June 7).

The mission, called Gravity and Extreme Magnetism Small Explorer (GEMS), was running significantly over budget, said Paul Hertz, director of NASA's Astrophysics Division, during a phone call to reporters today.

"TheGEMS projectwas initiated under a very well-defined cost cap," Hertz said. "As they approached their confirmation review, it was clear they would not be able to complete it within their cost cap. NASA made the very difficult decision not to confirm GEMS into the implementation phase."

The mission team had almost completed the design stage of the project and was nearing the point where hardware for the mission would begin to be built. No working instruments were yet constructed, Hertz said. [NASA's 2013 Budget: What Will It Buy?]

The project was selected as a "small explorer" class mission, with a firm cost limit of $105 million, not including the price of launching the spacecraft. NASA recently commissioned an independent review of GEMS' budget, and found that the ultimate price tag for the spacecraft was likely to be 20 to 30 percent over budget.

Because of the cost overrun, NASA decided to pull the plug on GEMS last month. On June 5, the GEMS team, led by principal investigator Jean Swank of the agency's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., appealed the decision and submitted documents to show they had identified new areas of cost savings.

However, NASA was not swayed.

The space agency will now have to pay an estimated $13 million in close-out costs to cancel the mission, including contract cancelation fees toOrbital Sciences Corp. and other companies that were hired to built the spacecraft.

GEMS was to use three telescopes to capture the bent X-ray light from extremely dense objects such as black holes, neutron stars and stellar remnants. The mission would have launched no earlier than 2014 and lasted two years.

Read the original:

Amid rising costs, NASA scraps X-ray space telescope mission (+video)

NASA is canceling work on a new space telescope that was running significantly over budget. The GEMS telescope was intended to study black holes and neutron stars.

NASA is canceling all work on a new space telescope designed to seek out black holes and other cosmic mysteries through X-ray light due to soaring development costs, the space agency announced today (June 7).

The mission, called Gravity and Extreme Magnetism Small Explorer (GEMS), was running significantly over budget, said Paul Hertz, director of NASA's Astrophysics Division, during a phone call to reporters today.

"TheGEMS projectwas initiated under a very well-defined cost cap," Hertz said. "As they approached their confirmation review, it was clear they would not be able to complete it within their cost cap. NASA made the very difficult decision not to confirm GEMS into the implementation phase."

The mission team had almost completed the design stage of the project and was nearing the point where hardware for the mission would begin to be built. No working instruments were yet constructed, Hertz said. [NASA's 2013 Budget: What Will It Buy?]

The project was selected as a "small explorer" class mission, with a firm cost limit of $105 million, not including the price of launching the spacecraft. NASA recently commissioned an independent review of GEMS' budget, and found that the ultimate price tag for the spacecraft was likely to be 20 to 30 percent over budget.

Because of the cost overrun, NASA decided to pull the plug on GEMS last month. On June 5, the GEMS team, led by principal investigator Jean Swank of the agency's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., appealed the decision and submitted documents to show they had identified new areas of cost savings.

However, NASA was not swayed.

The space agency will now have to pay an estimated $13 million in close-out costs to cancel the mission, including contract cancelation fees toOrbital Sciences Corp. and other companies that were hired to built the spacecraft.

GEMS was to use three telescopes to capture the bent X-ray light from extremely dense objects such as black holes, neutron stars and stellar remnants. The mission would have launched no earlier than 2014 and lasted two years.

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Amid rising costs, NASA scraps X-ray space telescope mission

NASA killed a new X-ray telescope mission on Thursday, two years before its planned launch.

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NASA kills X-ray telescope, blames project's cost

NASA is canceling all work on a new space telescope designed to seek out black holes and other cosmic mysteries through X-ray light due to soaring development costs, the space agency announced today (June 7).

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NASA Scraps X-Ray Space Telescope Mission Over Rising Costs

05-06-2012 13:25 The rank of Fellow is the highest recognition that the NASA Ames Research Center can bestow upon one of its own for a lifetime of intellectual accomplishments. The Fellows are an elite group of Ames people who have built a global reputation for excellence in their scientific and engineering research. The 2012 Ames Fellow Inductees include Dr. Louis J. Allamandola, Dr. Wayne R. Johnson, Dr. Baruch S. Blumberg and Dr. Hans Mark. Dr. Louis Allamandola is an internationally acclaimed scientist whose work revolutionized human understanding of materials in the universe. He has stood on the forefront as our understanding of the universe evolved from a hydrogen-dominated physicists' view in the early 1970s to the chemically rich and diverse molecular universe we know today. For more information about NASA Ames, please visit

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NASA Ames 2012 Fellow - Dr Louis. J. Allamandola - Video

05-06-2012 23:45 The 2012 event is showcased by NASA TV.

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NASA Solar Experts Discuss Venus Transit - Video

It appears that SpaceX's success with the Dragon spacecraft has won some much-needed space in the US House of Representatives. Congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA) announced Tuesday that his office reached a truce with NASA regarding the Commercial Crew program. Under the agreement, Wolf will lower his opposition to Commercial Crew and hopefully help NASA gain better funding.

Wolf chairs the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies, which controls NASA's budget. His subcommittee has consistently hit the Commercial Crew Development program (CCDev) with heavy cuts. NASA Administrator Bolden has stated that the cuts have delayed access to the Space Station by American vehicles by at least a year, with this year's cuts expected to delay American access again. In hearings, some of Wolf's subcommittee members have seemed intent on using the coming Space Launch System (SLS) to ferry astronauts to the Space Station, even though this service would come at a price that's about ten times higher.

In April, Wolf included language in the 2013 spending bill's accompanying report that stopped just short of requiring NASA to drop its Commercial Crew competition. Wolf wanted NASA to immediately downsize the program from the current four competitors to either a single "competitor" or a well-funded leader and a weakly funded follower. Commercial space backers have worried that the language would succeed in essentially discontinuing CCDev, given that similar tactics have been used in the Senate.

One fear was that new commercial space companies would be swept away and the job of ferrying astronauts would be given to Boeing, one of the two traditional contractors. The other usual contractor, Lockheed-Martin, is already signed on for NASA's Orion spacecraft. Because the US government is still the only major customer for ferrying humans to orbit, development of a more competitive space industry could be severely curtailed.

On the other hand, support for the newcomers in the commercial space industry has been growing. The topsy-turvy situation, in which Democrats support a new private space industry and Republicans fiercely oppose it, has been questioned on the Republican side, and the recent berthing of the first commercial space capsule with the International Space Station appears to have finally turned the tide. Several members of Wolf's subcommittee who were recalcitrant before the Dragon mission have since made positive announcements. With more tests and launches coming later in the year, Wolf appears to have cut a deal before sentiments shifted again.

Wolf's announcement suggests a compromise agreement wherein Wolf will basically back off of his report's language in return for NASA agreeing to chop CCDev down to two-and-a-half funded competitors (two full awards and one partial award) rather than four. Wolf would back a NASA budget that more closely matched the current Senate funding level, which is slightly more than what his committee recommended on the House side. More importantly, he would not push for language in the new law to require the downselect to a single launch provider.

Other requirements of the agreement, laid out in a letter from Wolf to Bolden, include the following:

All of this language is somewhat strange because NASA is already doing most of this. Because Congress chopped its 2013 budget request for CCDev again this year, it seemed likely that NASA would not be able to sustain four competitors anyway. The agency had also announced that it would be transitioning to FARS for general acquisitions, and it already collects financial information on the four competitors. And export controls already prevent shipping of any kind of rocket technology overseas. Accordingly, it doesn't seem like Wolf is really getting anything new.

Wolf's office also provided a link to a letter Administrator Bolden wrote in reply, thanking him for his trust. In the letter, Bolden stipulates that if Wolf wants American vehicles taking astronauts to the International Space Station sooner, the funding Wolf's committee cut from NASA's budget request needs to be restored.

That could actually happen. It's entirely possible that NASA's budget bill will be punted to next year because of the elections, and Congress will pass a continuing resolution instead. In a longshot scenario, additional money would be added to that bill if enough support is present in Congress to get it done. Whether or not the funding is restored, it does seem that SpaceX's victory is yielding some tangible political payoffs for NASA as well.

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NASA's Commercial Crew gains support in Congress

Synopsis - Jun 06, 2012

General Information

Solicitation Number: NNC12ZRB025L Posted Date: Jun 06, 2012 FedBizOpps Posted Date: Jun 06, 2012 Recovery and Reinvestment Act Action: No Original Response Date: Jul 20, 2012 Current Response Date: Jul 20, 2012 Classification Code: A -- Research and Development NAICS Code: 541711

Contracting Office Address

NASA/Glenn Research Center, 21000 Brookpark Road, Cleveland, OH 44135

Description

This notice is issued by the NASA/GRC to post a request for partners via the internet, and solicit responses from interested parties. This document is for information and planning purposes and to allow industry the opportunity to verify reasonableness and feasibility of the requirement, as well as promote competition.

This presolicitation synopsis is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government, nor will the Government pay for the information submitted in response. Respondents will not be notified of the results.

NASA Clause 1852.215-84, Ombudsman, is applicable. The Center Ombudsman for this acquisition can be found at http://prod.nais.nasa.gov/pub/pub_library/Omb.html .

The solicitation and any documents related to this procurement will be available over the Internet. These documents will reside on a World Wide Web (WWW) server, which may be accessed using a WWW browser application. The Internet site, or URL, for the NASA/GRC Business Opportunities home page is http://prod.nais.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/eps/bizops.cgi?gr=D&pin=22 It is the offeror's responsibility to monitor the Internet cite for the release of the solicitation and amendments (if any). Potential offerors will be responsible for downloading their own copy of the solicitation and amendments, if any.

The rest is here:

NASA GRC Solicitation: Seeking Partners for Science Investigations and Research Activities

Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) (pictured, left), chairman of the House Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations subcommittee, said Tuesday he had reached an agreement with NASA Administrator Charles Bolden (pictured, right) regarding the future of the commercial crew program.

Wolf said the country needs an exceptional program to return American astronauts to the moon, and ultimately beyond. Space, he said, is the ultimate high ground for a nation and will play an increasingly critical role in our national security and economic growth in the 21st Century.

"Given recent advances in space capabilities by foreign competitors, it is essential that the U.S. move quickly to restore its domestic crew access to the International Space Station (ISS) and focus on the successful completion of our unique exploration systems, including the Space Launch System and Orion crew vehicle," Wolf said in a statement. "During this current gap in U.S. access to both low earth orbit and beyond, it is imperative that NASA focus its limited resources on these critical human spaceflight missions.

"For these reasons, I have had serious concerns about NASAs management of the commercial crew program over the last two years. That is why I included language in the report accompanying the fiscal year 2013 Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations bill, H.R. 5326, to address these concerns and direct a new management paradigm for the program. I remain convinced that the approach outlined in the committees report is the most appropriate way forward for the program.

"However, in an effort to prevent any disruption in the development of crew vehicles to return U.S. astronauts to ISS as quickly as possible, I have reached an understanding with NASA Administrator Bolden in an exchange of letters that will allow the upcoming Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCAP) phase to proceed under a revised, more limited management roadmap and with an fiscal year 2013 funding level at or near the Senate Appropriations Committee-approved amount. As part of this understanding, NASA and the committee have affirmed that the primary objective of the commercial crew program is achieving the fastest, safest and most cost-effective means of domestic access to the ISS, not the creation of a commercial crew industry." Wolf said NASA agreed to reduce the number of awards anticipated to be made this summer from the 4 awards made under commercial crew development round 2 to not more than 2.5 (two full and one partial) CCiCAP awards. He said the change would reduce taxpayer exposure by "concentrating funds on those participants who are most likely to be chosen to eventually provide service to ISS."

NASA also has stated that, after the CCiCAP phase, future program funding will only come in the form of FAR-based certification and service contracts. Further, to help prevent a problematic logistical choke point at the beginning of the certification phase, NASA will also produce an important new procurement strategy for awarding these FAR-based contracts, which will be substantively complete prior to the awarding of CCiCAP funds. The Congressman said NASA assured him that it will carefully examine commercial crew participants financial health and viability before providing CCiCAP funds, and ensure the government's first right of refusal to acquire property developed under or acquired as part of the commercial crew program at a price that reflects the taxpayers existing investment in its development.

"Should any of NASAs plans and intentions change from what was agreed to in the exchange of letters, I will reevaluate the situation," Wolf said. "I will continue to follow up with NASA to monitor the implementation of these understandings in fiscal year 2012 both through committee actions and through appropriate outside oversight and to ensure that these principles are reflected in any final appropriations legislation for fiscal year 2013."

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (pictured), the senior Republican on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation and Ranking Member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science, praised the announcement made by Representative Wolf. I had previously called for NASA to down-select from four potential commercial providers to the top two firms. Todays announcement follows that prescription and is welcome news. This is an important turning point that should keep development of commercial crew capability on schedule and on budget, and assure that NASA will also have the financial and human resources it needs to move forward with developing heavy launch capabilities for deep space exploration. We should have two goals: To ensure full manned access to the space station that utilizes the investment made in that unique microgravity laboratory and to reach our nations next horizon in space exploration beyond low earth orbit. Both of these goals can be achieved if we invest taxpayer dollars wisely and take advantage of the years of invaluable experience developed within NASA."

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NASA, Congressman Agree On Future Of The Commercial Crew Program

HOUSTON -- NASA astronaut and commander for the 16th NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO), Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger, will be available for live satellite interviews while performing a simulated spacewalk under water. The interviews will take place between 8:45 and 9:45 a.m. EDT June 15. NASA will also host a media day June 21 in Key Largo, Fla.

NEEMO sends groups of NASA employees and contractors to live for 12 days, 63 feet below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean, in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Aquarius lab. The laboratory is located in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary in Key Largo. For NASA, Aquarius provides a convincing analog to space exploration, and NEEMO crew members experience some of the same tasks and challenges under water as they would in space.

This year's NEEMO expedition begins June 11 and will simulate a mission to an asteroid. The mission will focus on three areas -- communication delays, restraint and translation techniques and optimum crew size. Metcalf-Lindenburger will be joined by European Space Agency astronaut Timothy Peake; Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Kimiya Yui; and Steven W. Squyres, Goldwin Smith professor of astronomy at Cornell University and chairman of the NASA Advisory Council. Squyres also was a member of NEEMO 15.

Journalists are invited to a media day where they will have the opportunity to tour the Mobile Mission Control Center, interview scientists and engineers involved in the mission and take part in a remote news conference with the NEEMO crew members who will be aboard Aquarius. The NASA Live Interview Media Service (LIMS) satellite will be used for the underwater interviews. The NASA producer will provide confirmed clients with LIMS satellite parameters.

The interviews also will be simulcast on NASA Television, which can be viewed by those not participating.

To request a slot in the underwater interviews with Metcalf-Lindenburger or to participate in the media day activities, reporters must contact Brandi Dean at brandi.k.dean@nasa.gov by 5 p.m. CDT (6 p.m. EDT) on Wednesday, June 13.

The NEEMO mission is sponsored by NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems Program.

For more information about NEEMO and the crew, and links to follow the mission on Facebook and Twitter, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/neemo

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

Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook.

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NASA Sets Media Opportunities For NEEMO Undersea Mission

NASA’s collection of space telescopes just got a bit bigger thanks to an extraordinary gift from America's National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) intelligence agency. The space agency announced on Monday that the NRO has given it two surplus spy satellites that are more advanced than the Hubble Space Telescope. If the money can be found for a mission for the spy “birds” then NASA will not only ...

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NASA gets two Hubble-class telescopes from the military

05-06-2012 23:43 Pre-ingress coverage from NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC, of the last-in-a-lifetime event.

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NASA TV Hosts 2012 Venus Transit - Video

June 6, 2012 - NASA's Johnson Space Center has partnered with Houston Independent School District's Booker T. Washington High School to enable students in school's engineering magnet program to work on NASA projects associated with Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Directorate through HUNCH program. Students will learn about and study realistic problems related to NASA's spaceflight and research programs, and create hardware prototypes and simulated space hardware for NASA's review and use. NASA NASA Ames Reseach Center Moffett Field, CA, 94035 USA Press release date: May 23, 2012

HOUSTON, -- NASA's Johnson Space Center has partnered with the Houston Independent School District's Booker T. Washington High School to inspire the next generation of explorers through hands-on science and engineering projects.

The partnership will enable students in the school's engineering magnet program to work on NASA projects associated with the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) Directorate through the High School Students United with NASA to Create Hardware, or HUNCH, program.

Through the program, students will have the opportunity to learn about and study realistic problems related to NASA's spaceflight and research programs and to create hardware prototypes, simulated space hardware, research results or other solutions for NASA's review and use. Students are currently developing a high-altitude suborbital rocket that will fly a NASA-provided micro-camera. The project will help NASA demonstrate the first steps for economical exploration-focused observation missions above the majority of Earth's atmosphere. They also are working on an interface compatible with Robonaut 2 for a surface reflectance spectrometer as part of the Moon Mars Analog Mission Activities program. The spectrometer will help provide mineralogical content of rock samples.

"Working with the Booker T. Washington High School for Engineering Professions gives JSC and ARES the opportunity to help guide the development and test of prototype equipment the students have built for our science instruments. Having the next generation of engineers and scientists with real build experience gives us a very positive outlook for the future," said Eileen K. Stansbery, Director of the ARES Directorate at Johnson.

Washington High School educates a high percentage of economically disadvantaged students. Through NASA, magnet program students will be able to access a variety of tools and raw materials, and gain insight into the kinds of projects and pressures that career engineers and scientists may face.

HUNCH is an instructional partnership between NASA, high schools and intermediate/middle schools which benefits both NASA and students. NASA receives cost- effective hardware and soft goods that are fabricated by the students. The students receive hands-on experiences and, in some cases, NASA certification in the development of training hardware for the International Space Station crew members or ground support personnel.

For more information on HUNCH or other NASA education programs, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/education

NASA Johnson Space Center news releases and other information are available automatically by sending an Internet electronic mail message to listserv@listserver.jsc.nasa.gov. In the body of the message (not the subject line) users should type "subscribe hsfnews" (no quotes). This will add the email address that sent the subscribe message to the news release distribution list. The system will reply with a confirmation via E-mail of each subscription. Once you have subscribed you will receive future news releases via e-mail.

Web Site: http://www.nasa.gov

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NASA and Houston School Partner to Engage Future Explorers

The near-Earth asteroid Eros is seen from the NEAR spacecraft at a distance of 127 miles, March 3, 2000.

NASA / AP

Of all the things you don't give a hoot about, the weight of asteroid 1999 RQ36 would probably rank high. But suppose you knew that the giant space rock is predicted to have eight close and potentially deadly encounters with Earth from 2169 to 2199. Suppose you knew that calculating its exact weight and mass will help scientists better track its path, not to mention determine how bad the damage would be if we actually did get clobbered. Would you care then?

If so, be happy that investigators affiliated with NASA have indeed figured out how to take the measure 1999 RQ36 and have successfully calculated its more or less exact weight. That raises two questions: what exactly does an asteroid weigh and how in the world did the astronomers figure it out in the first place?

(PHOTOS: Views of the Asteroid Vesta)

Asteroid 1999 RQ36, which measures 1,800 ft. (560 m) across, is what's known as a near-Earth asteroid, one that, as its name suggests, does not stay safely within the massive river of rubble between Mars and Jupiter known as the asteroid belt. Rather, it follows an egg-shaped orbit around the sun swooping as close as 83 million miles (133 million km) to the solar fires and soaring as far as 126 million mi. (202 million km) away. That takes it directly across Earth's rounder, 93 million mi. (150 million km) orbit twice on each trip: once on the asteroid's way in and once on its way out. That, in turn, is more than enough to earn the rock a place in NASA's Near-Earth Objects Observation program better known as Spaceguard a sort of watch list that keeps a telescopic eye on any asteroid that poses even a theoretical threat to the planet.

The first step in determining the weight of 1999 RQ36 was determining its precise trajectory over time. The path an orbiting object follows will be partly determined by its mass and partly by the gravitational tug of any objects nearby. In the case of 1999 RQ36, those objects include the sun, moon, planets and other asteroids. Using data gathered in 2011 by the Aricebo Observatory in Puerto Rico as well as other observations conducted in 1999 and 2005 by the Goldstone Observatory in California's Mojave Desert, astronomer Steve Chesley of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena minutely tracked 1999 RQ36's orbit over the past 12 years. His next step was to tease out all of the gravitational effects to determine how the rock would be flying based on its mass alone. Once he did that, he found that the path of 1999 RQ36 deviated from what the mathematical model said it should be by a cumulative 100 mi. (160 km).

(VIDEO: Dawn's Virtual Flight Over Vesta)

In the vastness of space, 100 miles over 12 years is less than a rounding error it's practically nothing at all. But practically nothing is not absolutely nothing, and clearly something was nudging the asteroid. The likely explanation was a phenomenon known as the Yarkovsky effect the faint propulsive power produced when an object like an asteroid absorbs sunlight and re-emits it as heat. When Chelsey re-crunched his numbers, he found there was a Yarkovsky effect pushing the asteroid alright, but an almost surreally tiny one.

"At its peak," he says, "when the asteroid is nearest the sun, the Yarkovsky force on 1999 RQ36 is about half an ounce around the weight of three grapes."

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NASA weighs asteroid -- really

04-06-2012 10:12 The LASCO C3 coronograph on board the SOHO spacecraft has been watching the approach of Venus for its last solar transit until 2117. With coronagraphs, the Sun is being blocked by an occulting disk, seen here in blue, so that SOHO can observe the much fainter features in the Sun's corona. The actual size of the Sun is represented by the white disk. The transit of Venus begins tomorrow, June 5, at about 6pm Eastern Daylight Time, or about 10pm Universal Time. It will last approximately 6 hours. This video is public domain, and it is available to download at: Like our videos? Subscribe to NASA's Goddard Shorts HD podcast: Or find NASA Goddard Space Flight Center on Facebook: Or find us on Twitter:

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NASA | It's Coming... - Video

MATARANKA, Australia Live NASA coverage of Venus' rare transit of the sun has been interrupted -- by an Australian roadworker.

The bungling worker severed a fiber-optic cable, preventing scientists from streaming live footage to the NASA website from one of the world's best vantage points, in the Northern Territory.

The wire was damaged during roadworks about 10 miles south of Mataranka on Tuesday afternoon, cutting off internet and telephone services across the region.

A spokeswoman for telecommunications company Telstra told The Northern Territory News the cable would not be repaired until around 3:00pm local time Wednesday. Venus is expected to finish its transit at 2:03pm local time.

The next time the planet will be visible passing between earth and the sun with be in 2117.

The Aussie webcast was to have taken place from a school in Alice Springs -- one of only two locations outside the United States that was contributing to the live NASA broadcast of the event. Other feeds were believed to have made up for the Aussie disaster.

"They're transmitting to NASA because they are in the best position in the world to see it," Telstra spokeswoman Jane DeGault said of the interrupted Northern Territory webcast.

"They are understandably upset. Let's hope these services will be restored and some transmission can be sent to NASA."

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NASA coverage of Venus interrupted due to Australian roadworker's error

The Hubble Space Telescope. The new scopes are shorter, designed for peering down.

NASA announced some exciting news yesterday: apparently, the NationalReconnaissance Office, the agency that looks after the USs spy satellites, had a couple of Hubble-scale space telescopes lying around.

In a warehouse in upstate New York.

In bits and pieces, lacking the requisite solar panels and cameras to make them fully functional, but basically complete, all dressed up with nowhere to go.Why did the NRO have two unused space telescopes, when NASA is barely able to scrape two pennies together? Neither side will answer that question, citing classified information. Go ahead, use your imagination.

But an enterprising NRO official gave NASA a ring, and a little bureaucratic paper-pushing later, hey presto! NASA has two more space telescopes it had a few months ago. Right now,Chandra, Spitzer, and Hubble are in orbit, and the James Webb Space Telescope is supposed to launch in 2018, though its budget woes have been of epic proportions. These new telescopes are essentially satellites with mirrors the same width as Hubbles but a shorter focal length, so they can see a wider stretch of space, and they are likely to be repurposed as part of a mission to explore dark energy, as Julianne Dalcanton notes over at Cosmic Variance.

Its a little wince-inducing, though, to realize that NASA will be lucky if they can scrimp and save enough to get even one of these scopes up into orbit. We dont anticipate ever being rich enough to use both of them, but it sure would be fun to think about,said Paul Hertz, NASAs astrophysics division director, in a conference call on Monday (via Talking Points Memos IdeaLab).

Fun is one word for it; sad is another. But those reservations aside, we wish NASA best of luck and congratulations on this windfallits always exciting to see more resources being funneled towards observing space.

Image courtesy of NASA

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NASA Gets a Hand-Me-Down from Spy Agency: Two Space Telescopes | 80beats