Interview with Vivian and Jonathan at NASA Ames Science Night featuring LADEE launch – Video

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Interview with Vivian and Jonathan at NASA Ames Science Night featuring LADEE launch
Vivian and Jonathan enjoyed the evening at NASA Ames Science Night featuring LADEE launch. I did this interview with them as the event was coming to a close....

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Interview with Vivian and Jonathan at NASA Ames Science Night featuring LADEE launch - Video

Interview with Dr. Yvonne Pendleton at NASA Ames Science Night featuring LADEE launch – Video

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Interview with Dr. Yvonne Pendleton at NASA Ames Science Night featuring LADEE launch
Interview with Yvonne Pendleton, Ph.D., is Director of the Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (previously Lunar Science Institute) at NASA A...

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Interview with Dr. Yvonne Pendleton at NASA Ames Science Night featuring LADEE launch - Video

NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft 'spinning out of control'

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NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft lost contact with Earth, is "spinning out of control" and could lose power.

Computer rendering of the Deep Impact space probe. (Credit: NASA/JPL)

NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft is "spinning out of control."

The craft is most famous for launching a projectile into the Comet Tempel 1 in 2005, but its mission was extended and renamed Epoxi to continue observation of other comets as well as stars with exoplanets.

Deep Impact lost contact with Earth sometime between August 11 and 14. Engineers determined a software-communications glitch reset the crafts computer, but attempts to put the craft in safe mode have been unsuccessful.

Epoxi principal investigator Michael AHearn of the University of Maryland explained that Deep Impact is now spinning out of control, and engineers are working on commands that could make the craft operational.

This will be difficult without knowing the craft's orientation in space, and whether to direct their signals to Deep Impact's high-gain or low-gain antenna.

Because the craft is solar-powered, the orientation of its solar panels toward or away from the sun mean a difference between a few days or a few months of battery life. Once the craft's batteries die, there is no turning it back on, AHearn says.

As a result of the glitch, Deep Impact was unable to transmit images it was scheduled to take in August of the comet ISON.

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NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft 'spinning out of control'

NASA explorer to moon, Illinois grad on space station mission

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CHICAGO (Associated Press) -

NASA's newest robotic explorer rocketed into space late Friday in an unprecedented moonshot from Virginia that dazzled sky watchers along the East Coast.

But the LADEE spacecraft quickly ran into equipment trouble, and while NASA assured everyone early Saturday that the lunar probe was safe and on a perfect track for the moon, officials acknowledged the problem needs to be resolved in the next two to three weeks.

S. Peter Worden, director of NASA's Ames Research Center in California, which developed the spacecraft, told reporters he's confident everything will be working properly in the next few days.

LADEE's reaction wheels were turned on to orient and stabilize the spacecraft, which was spinning too fast after it separated from the final rocket stage, Worden said. But the computer automatically shut the wheels down, apparently because of excess current. He speculated the wheels may have been running a little fast.

Worden stressed there is no rush to "get these bugs ironed out."

The LADEE spacecraft, which is charged with studying the lunar atmosphere and dust, soared aboard an unmanned Minotaur rocket a little before midnight from Virginia's Eastern Shore.

"Godspeed on your journey to the moon, LADEE," Launch Control said. Flight controllers applauded and exchanged high-fives following the successful launch. "We are headed to the moon!" NASA said in a tweet.

It was a change of venue for NASA, which normally launches moon missions from Cape Canaveral, Fla. But it provided a rare light show along the East Coast for those blessed with clear skies.

NASA urged sky watchers to share their launch pictures through the website Flickr, and the photos and sighting reports quickly poured in from New York City, Boston, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, New Jersey, Rhode Island, eastern Pennsylvania and Virginia, among other places.

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NASA explorer to moon, Illinois grad on space station mission

What is Nanotechnology? – Sci Guide (Ep 36) w/ Mark Champkins – Head Squeeze – Video

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What is Nanotechnology? - Sci Guide (Ep 36) w/ Mark Champkins - Head Squeeze
Discover the incredible applications for nanotechnology with Mark Champkins in this Science Guide Headsqueeze video. Basically nanotechnology is engineering ...

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What is Nanotechnology? - Sci Guide (Ep 36) w/ Mark Champkins - Head Squeeze - Video