NASA approves SpaceX launch; space station flight set to start Saturday

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NASA declared on Tuesday that "everyone is `go"' for a Hawthorne rocket developer's upcoming launch to the International Space Station.

The thumbs-up came after NASA completed an additional so-called Flight Readiness Review.

Space Exploration Technologies Corp., known as SpaceX, hopes to launch its Dragon spacecraft on Saturday to become the first commercial enterprise to dock with the space station.

The launch has been delayed several times, most recently because of software problems.

"The teams reported all remaining work had been completed and everyone is `go' for launch," NASA said in a statement.

The space agency's review focused on SpaceX's recent software changes as well as "the closeout of additional paperwork."

SpaceX plans its own launch readiness review on Thursday.

The rocket company is scheduled to launch Dragon on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 1:55 a.m PDT from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.

SpaceX has a great deal riding on the mission, which will demonstrate whether NASA can use private companies to supply the space station. SpaceX is operating under a $1.5 billion NASA contract.

SpaceX also is equipping another version of Dragon to accommodate humans in hopes of providing astronaut transport services to the space station.

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NASA approves SpaceX launch; space station flight set to start Saturday

Next manned space launch safely takes flight to orbit

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A Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying one of the world's most experienced space fliers, a rookie cosmonaut and a NASA shuttle veteran blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan late Monday U.S. time, climbing away through a cloudless blue sky to kick off a two-day voyage to the International Space Station.

The Russian Soyuz TMA-04M spacecraft rumbled to life on time at 11:01:23 p.m EDT (GMT-4; 09:01:23 a.m. local time Tuesday), roughly the moment Earth's rotation carried the Site 1 launch pad into the plane of the space station's orbit.

"Everything's OK on board, we feel good," commander Gennady Padalka radioed as the rocket arced away to the East.

Padalka, who logged 586 days in orbit during a long-duration flight aboard the Russian Mir lab complex and two aboard the International Space Station, monitored the automated ascent from the central seat of the Soyuz TMA-04M's cramped command module. He was flanked on the left by Russian flight engineer Sergei Revin, a space rookie acting as co-pilot, and on the right by NASA educator-astronaut Joseph Acaba, veteran of a 2009 flight aboard the shuttle Discovery.

Acaba said before launch that he was looking forward to his first ride aboard a Soyuz spacecraft, adding that he was confident the Russian launcher would provide a safe ride following a string of recent problems with other Russian launchers and spacecraft.

"We should never fool ourselves that going into space is an easy thing and that it's without risk," he said in an interview. "(But) the Soyuz has been one of the most reliable vehicles we've had to take us into space. So I feel really good about riding on one, I feel comfortable with the analysis that was done. ... And I'm also very fortunate to fly with one of the most experienced cosmonauts on the planet. (Padalka is) very well trained and if we do experience any kind of problem, I feel confident as a crew that we'll be able to get back safely."

As he expected, the eight-minute 45-second climb to space went smoothly and Acaba and his crewmates appeared relaxed and in good spirits in live television shots from inside the cramped command module. Moments after separation from the Soyuz rocket's upper stage, the capsule's solar panels and antennas unfolded and Russian flight controllers said the vehicle was in good shape as it set off after the space station.

"Congratulations on the successful launch," a Russian flight controller radioed.

"Thank you very much," Padalka replied.

"Everything looks OK here on the ground, telemetry looks good. The ascent was nominal, so enjoy your work. We'll wish you best of luck."

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Next manned space launch safely takes flight to orbit

Testing for Dream Chaser Space System completed

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NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., successfully completed wind tunnel testing for Sierra Nevada Corp. (SNC) Space Systems of Louisville, Colo. The test will provide aerodynamic data that will aid in the design of the new Dream Chaser Space System.

During tests at Marshalls wind tunnel facility, a scale model of SNC's Dream Chaser orbital crew vehicle was mounted on a scale model of the United Launch Alliances Atlas V launch vehicle. Over 400 data runs were performed at subsonic, transonic and supersonic speeds to study the effects of how air moves past the model. Nine full-stack configurations were tested over a Mach range of .4, or 304 miles per hour at sea level, to Mach 5, or 3,800 miles per hour at sea level, at various launch vehicle roll angles.

The data generated from this test series, coupled with data from computational fluid dynamics studies, will define the aerodynamic characteristics of the Dream Chaser - Atlas V launch stack during the ascent phase of flight. Obtaining this data will enable higher-fidelity loads analysis, better definition of launch vehicle performance, and will aid in further refining Dream Chasers trajectory design for orbital vehicle launches.

Were glad Marshall could support SNC in completing these wind tunnel tests quickly and affordably and early in the design phase, said Teresa Vanhooser, manager of the Flight Programs and Partnerships Office at Marshall. Our trisonic wind tunnel and engineering staff helps partners understand the aerodynamic integrity and stability of spacecraft and launch vehicles, like the Dream Chaser, over a variety of wind speeds and phases of flight.

Mark Sirangelo, corporate vice president and head of SNC's Space Systems, said: "The Dream Chaser Program is grateful for the opportunity to leverage the experience, expertise, and resources of Marshall, made possible by the unique government-commercial partnership created through NASA's Commercial Crew Development Program. Sierra Nevada Corporation looks forward to expanding our successful relationship with Marshall, as well as creating new business opportunities in the Huntsville area."

Marshall's Aerodynamic Research Facilitys 14-inch trisonic wind tunnel is an intermittent, blow-down tunnel that operates from high-pressure storage to either vacuum or atmospheric exhaust. The facility is capable of conducting tests in the subsonic, transonic and supersonic mach ranges using its two interchangeable test sections. Subsonic Mach numbers are below Mach 1, the speed of sound, or 760 miles per hour at sea level, while transonic speeds approach and are slightly above Mach 1. The facility can achieve a maximum supersonic Mach number of 5, or five times the speed of sound.

SNC is currently one of the NASA Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) partners awarded funding under a Space Act Agreement to mature their Dream Chaser orbital crew transportation system. NASAs CCDev effort is being led by NASAs Kennedy Space Center and supported by NASA technical experts across the agency, including the Marshall Center for a variety of technical areas.

The effort to define the aerodynamic characteristics of the Dream Chaser Space System is being conducted under a reimbursable Space Act Agreement funded by SNC and executed with the support of aerodynamicists and wind tunnel experts from the Marshall Center and United Launch Alliance.

Provided by JPL/NASA (news : web)

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Testing for Dream Chaser Space System completed

Space Industry Veteran (Re)Entering The Commercial Space Race

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Image: ATK

The Utah company that built the solid rocket boosters for the now retired space shuttle program announced plans to enter the next phase of American space flight with its own private launch system. Alliant Techsystems, or ATK as it is better known, says it plans to build a complete rocket and spacecraft package to transport astronauts and cargo to and from low earth orbit. The announcement adds another potential company aiming for NASA contracts as pressure from lawmakers and former astronauts is pushing to trim the selection to a single option.

The new launch system from ATK will use its Liberty rocket which was submitted as part of the NASAs current Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program, but was not selected. Instead programs from SpaceX and Sierra Nevada Corporation are participating in this round of CCDev funding and testing.

Liberty will be the name of the new program, and this time it will include a capsule spacecraft, launch abort system and the rocket itself. ATK plans to begin flight testing in 2014 and is aiming for a crew flight in 2015.

The spacecraft for the Liberty launch system is a seven seat, composite capsule that originated as a research project to see if composites could serve as an alternative to the aluminum materials NASA was using to develop the Orion spacecraft. Orion is a capsule being built by Lockheed Martin for NASA missions beyond low earth orbit, namely asteroids and eventually Mars. ATK says the composite spacecraft will land in the water and will be reusable up to 10 times.

The composite capsule being developed for ATK's Liberty rocket. Photo: ATK

The the first stage of the Liberty rocket is powered by a solid fuel motor similar to those ATK built as the solid rocket boosters for the space shuttle. The new solid rocket includes a five segment motor that was initially designed to serve to launch the now defunct, Constellation spacecraft to the moon. The new Liberty rocket will use the Ariane 5 liquid fueled rocket as the second stage to boost the composite capsule into orbit. The Ariane 5 is built by the European company Astrium, and is a workhorse of the European Space Agencys launch program.

The solid rocket first stage and liquid rocket second stage puts the Liberty at 300 feet tall. The towering height is more than 110 feet taller than both the space shuttle on the launch pad or SpaceXs Falcon 9.

Like the other companies developing new launch systems, contracts from NASA arent the only thing ATK is looking at with its new launch system. The company also wants to use its Liberty system for satellite launches as well as for space tourism in the future.

A diagram showing the combination of the solid rocket booster from the space shuttle and the European Ariane 5 used to make the very tall Liberty rocket. Image:ATK

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Space Industry Veteran (Re)Entering The Commercial Space Race

U.S., Russian crew blast off for space station

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KOROLYOV, Russia (Reuters) - A Soyuz spaceship carrying two Russians and one American astronaut blasted off for the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday after more than a month's delay over a problem with the hull of the Russian-built capsule. NASA astronaut Joseph Acaba, veteran cosmonaut Gennady Padalka and Sergei Revin, who is departing on his maiden space flight, launched in clear ...

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U.S., Russian crew blast off for space station

A new frontier for space travel

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For the last half-century, space flight has been the domain of the world's superpowers.

All that is set to change as soon as Saturday when SpaceX, the private rocket company in Hawthorne, will attempt to launch a spaceship with cargo into orbit and three days later dock it with the International Space Station.

If successful, the mission could mean a major shift in the way the U.S. government handles space exploration. Instead of keeping space travel a closely guarded government function, NASA has already begun hiring privately funded start-up companies for spacecraft development and is moving toward eventually outsourcing NASA space missions.

PHOTOS: A private spaceship launch

The upcoming launch is "the first step in the handoff" to private industry, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said. "Everybody realizes the importance of this mission," he said. "Nobody will be rooting against SpaceX."

But if the mission fails, it could trigger serious doubts about NASA's decision to hand these responsibilities to a fledgling private space industry. Doubters have already begun to raise questions. Some former astronauts, members of Congress and space experts say the current plan to subcontract space missions is foolhardy. They say the plan is risky and that outer space is no place to roll the dice on unproven companies.

On launch day, it falls to SpaceX and its 40-year-old billionaire founder, Elon Musk, to prove they're prepared.

With SpaceX engineers at the controls in Hawthorne, a towering rocket will blast off from a launch pad about 2,600 miles away in Cape Canaveral, Fla., and lift a gumdrop-shaped space capsule with a half-ton of food, water and other supplies up to the crew aboard the orbiting space station.

But delivering cargo isn't the key mission the space station is well-provisioned. The main purpose is to demonstrate that the space capsule can rendezvous with the $100-billion orbiting outpost and link up with the space station's onboard computers. If all goes well, the crew aboard the space station will snag the spacecraft with a robotic arm and lead it in for docking. Weeks later it will be released and sent back to Earth.

"We're ready to take that next step," Musk said. "It's been a long road to this point."

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A new frontier for space travel

Kevin Spacey heads to South Africa for movie project premiere

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The American Beauty star last year (11) announced he was giving budding moviemakers from the U.S., South Africa, and Russia the chance to direct him in a short film.

He drew up a list of contenders and then chose one winner from each country, who were then given the chance to shoot their movie with Spacey in the lead role.

The actor has travelled to South Africa to attend the red carpet premiere of one of the films - South African Alan Shelley's A Spirit of a Denture - and he's adamant the project has inspired him to continue searching for talented filmmakers in far-flung lands.

Spacey told reporters in Johannesburg, "There is no doubt that as you start to look around the world, you start to look at the Asia-Pacific region, you start to look at what's happening here, you look at what's happening in European cinema, there's a lot going on.

"I like the idea of going to as many places as possible and (enjoying) as many experiences as you can."

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Kevin Spacey heads to South Africa for movie project premiere

Frankel heads Lockinge confirmations

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Updated: Monday, 14 May 2012 19:14 Frankel and Excelebration cross swords for a fourth time in the Lockinge Stakes

Frankel is the star name among nine confirmations for the JLT Lockinge Stakes at Newbury on Saturday.

Unbeaten in nine starts to date, Henry Cecil's colt is the world's highest rated racehorse and while he suffered an injury scare early last month, he is all set to make his eagerly anticipated four-year-old debut this weekend.

He is set to be joined by his stablemate, regular work companion and half-brother Bullet Train.

Frankel's biggest danger appears to hail from Aidan O'Brien's Ballydoyle yard.

Excelebration chased home Frankel three times when trained by Marco Botti last year, winning his other three starts.

He made a fine start for his new trainer when winning last month's Gladness Stakes at the Curragh.

O'Brien said: "He's fine. He's a very relaxed horse and good enough to compete.

"Marco Botti did a great job with him, but he's a year older and has strengthened up.

"It will be interesting taking on Frankel and if you know his achilles heel, I wish you'd let me know!"

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Frankel heads Lockinge confirmations

On Soccer: Red Bulls rise to top of Eastern Conference with help from trio of young American defenders

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As the injuries began to pile up for the Red Bulls, forcing coach Hans Backe to field a young, inexperienced back line for at least a month, heres what even the most optimistic fan had to be thinking:

Theyre on an elevator to the Eastern Conference basement.

Then, 22 minutes into their April 28 game against the New England Revolution at Red Bull Arena, leading scorer Thierry Henry went down with a hamstring strain and the less-than-sunny assessment had to be updated.

Make that an express elevator to the Eastern Conference basement.

Fast forward to today, with the Red Bulls sitting in first place following a four-game winning streak, and it would be easy to start an explanation with Well, a strange thing happened ...

But why would it be such a strange thing?

Americans know how to play defense. We grow up playing defense in all sports, not just soccer, and the phrase defense wins championships is constantly pounded into our heads.

Heres something else. We can play goalkeeper, too, as the honor roll of Tony Meola, Kasey Keller, Brad Friedel and Tim Howard over the past two decades can attest. So the fact that Ryan Meara, a New York kid who played at Fordham, can come into Major League Soccer and play well as a rookie shouldnt surprise anyone.

Ireland sure noticed. They wanted Meara to join their Under-21 team for European U-21 qualifying, but the Red Bulls blocked the call-up.

But back to the defense.

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Greece Heads Toward New Elections

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Attempts to form a government in Greece collapsed on Tuesday, jolting financial markets at the prospect that leftists opposed to the terms of an EU bailout could sweep to victory in a June election and tip the euro zone deeper into crisis.

The turmoil in Athens sent shock waves around other troubled members of the 17-nation European single currency area. The euro slipped below $1.28, world stocks slid and Spanish and Italian bond yields rose above the danger level of 6 percent as investors scurried for shelter in safe haven German Bunds.

The tremors from Greece, compounding worries about Spain's debt-laden banking system, ended any honeymoon for new French President Francois Hollande, thrusting the growing risks to the euro zone to the top of the agenda for his first ever meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin the same evening.

The leaders of the Franco-German alliance that sits at the heart of the single currency project said after their talks that both wanted Greece to remain in the euro zone and were ready to work to promote ideas for economic growth that could help achieve that - though differences remain over what can be done.

After a meeting at which both stressed a commitment to the political ideal of the euro, despite coming from opposing sides of Europe's left-right party divide, Hollande told a news conference: "I hope that we can say to the Greeks that Europe is ready to add measures to help growth and support economic activity so that there is a return to growth in Greece."

"On growth, the method that we agreed is putting all ideas and all proposals on the table and seeing what legal means exist to put them into effect," added the French leader, who landed in Berlin late after lightning struck his presidential jet.

Earlier, in his inaugural address, the Socialist president called for a European pact to revive growth and temper the conservative Merkel's preference for Europe-wide austerity, seeking to change the direction of euro zone economic policy.

"I will propose to our partners a pact that will tie the necessary reduction of our public debt to the indispensable stimulation of our economies," Hollande declared, saying Europe needed "projects, solidarity and growth".

GREEK CRISIS

In Athens, President Karolos Papoulias abandoned efforts to broker a compromise on a cabinet of technocrats to steer the country away from bankruptcy, nine days after an inconclusive general election. A caretaker government will now be formed pending a new vote probably in mid-June.

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Greece Heads Toward New Elections

Beckett takes Red Sox from Fenway to Bushwood

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Five straight wins.

Jon Lester throws a complete game.

Still, no respect.

Just ask any Red Sox fan today "How are you doing?" You might likely get this answer, even with the team still in last place: "I'm all right, don't nobody worry about me."

With that tune in our heads, birthday boy Josh Beckett (he's 32) had a 4:05 p.m. tee time at Fenway Park Tuesday. Snobs. Slobs. Golf. Dysfunction. Beckett, who was dealing Tuesday with nine strikeouts and seven shutout innings, almost single-handedly turned Fenway Park into Bushwood. So here's a look at the 2012 Red Sox through some of the classic scenes from the original "Caddyshack."

Rodney Dangerfield got "no respect." Beckett has not earned any respect. But they both put family first. Sort of. And each have some questionable doctors. We begin with Beckett (portrayed by the legendary Al Czervik) showing little patience or concern while John Henry (Judge Smails) takes his time trying to set up the perfect tee shot.

Things aren't much better on the course. Beckett continues to cause one distraction after another, whether he's getting shelled by the Indians, whining about his 18 days off, not caring, tormenting Henry. Meanwhile, Henry's caddy, the young, idealistic and impressionable Ben Cherington (Danny Noonan) watches helplessly. "The man is a menace," exclaims an exasperated Henry.

How true.

After that ill-fated outing, Beckett sits down with his agents and members of Red Sox management over dinner to discuss his sore lat:

Unsatisfied with the assistance offered by Henry, Cherington talks shop and seeks life guidance from the slick and smooth Larry Lucchino (played by Ty Webb), as he carries the bag for the Red Sox president.

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Beckett takes Red Sox from Fenway to Bushwood

Red-cockaded woodpecker gets care and protection in Alabama (with video and gallery)

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At 7 days old, the trio of red-cockaded woodpecker chicks -- blind and writhing about in the palm of the biologist's hand -- looked impossibly fragile.

But U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Eric Spadgenske worked quickly and carefully Monday morning, fixing color-coded bracelets of pink and yellow on the spindly legs of this next generation of the endangered species.

"There they are with all their new jewelry," Spadgenske said, showing them off before tucking them back into a coffee can and ascending the ladder to return them to the nest 22 feet up a skinny longleaf pine on an island on Lake Mitchell.

The banding expedition is part of long-term effort by Alabama Power, in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, to preserve the critically endangered population of about 30 birds that make their home near the reservoir on land owned by the power company, a private individual, the state Forever Wild program and John Hancock Timber Resource Group.

Nationwide, there might be 16,000 red-cockaded woodpeckers stretched across 11 southeastern states.

Intensive efforts to preserve the cluster of colonies on Lake Mitchell were launched in the aftermath of a 2004 tornado that swept through the area toppling several of the nesting trees. Spadgenske, who heads the Service's Partners for Fish and Wildlife in the state, helped devise a recovery program that included installing dozens of artificial nests. It has since come to include a regular regime of prescribed burns to maintain the habitat, as well as frequent monitoring.

While Alabama Power is required to make efforts to preserve endangered species as a condition of its license to operate Mitchell Dam, Spadgenske gave the company credit for going beyond the minimum requirement.

"They've done a tremendous job. This is phenomenal habitat," he said. "The efforts of the power company have really saved this population."

Among the earliest species added to the endangered species list, the woodpecker's decline tracks very closely with the disappearance of the tree where it prefers to make its home: the longleaf pine, Alabama's state tree that once dominated from the coastal plain to the edges of the Appalachians. The red-cockaded is just one of 29 threatened or endangered species imperiled by the virtual disappearance of the longleaf dominated ecosystem that once covered an estimated 90 million acres. After being cut for its valuable, rot-resistant timber, most long-leaf forests were replanted with faster growing species like the loblolly pine. Longleaf was also adapted to and dependent on frequent wildfires, which are now for the most part controlled.

In those rare places where a mature canopy of mature longleaf survives and fire still burns, the forest floor is park-like savanna, where more than 600 different species of plant can occur: a host of native warm season grasses and legumes that provide ideal habitat for wild turkey, bobwhite quail, white-tailed deer and fox.

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Red-cockaded woodpecker gets care and protection in Alabama (with video and gallery)

Red Sox Look to Build Momentum Against Mariners: Fan Preview

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The 15-19 Boston Red Sox are coming off their first series win at home since their first home series of the year as they welcome the 16-20 Seattle Mariners to Fenway Park. The Red Sox and Mariners will play a short two-game series on May 14 and 15 before Boston heads out on an eight-game road trip.

Boston's lineup is enjoying a boost from its AAA reinforcements. Will Middlebrooks and Daniel Nava combined for ten hits and eight RBI in Boston's 3-1 series against the Cleveland Indians. Also swinging a red hot bat, Dustin Pedroia rides a 14-game hitting streak into the series. The Mariners are dependent on strong pitching for success. They have the second lowest team on-base percentage in the majors and they score only 3.75 runs per game, but they boast a 3.87 team ERA. Second year third baseman Kyle Seager enters the series as Seattle's hottest hitter with a .325 average and 25 total bases in 11 May games. He is hitting .295 with a .804 OPS on the season.

Pitching matchups:

Jon Lester (4.29 ERA, 28/18 K/BB) vs Jason Vargas (2.79 ERA, 38/13 K/BB)

The Red Sox are still waiting for Jon Lester to find his form. His last start against the Kansas City Royals was plagued by adventures in outfield defense, but he didn't exactly compensate well. Slow starts are not uncommon for Lester who has a lifetime 3.99 ERA in April and May compared to a 3.57 mark overall. Vargas, the lone lefty in the Mariners' rotation, has enjoyed an excellent start to the season. Through 51.2 innings, he has the lowest ERA and walk rate of his career. He has allowed two or fewer runs in six of his eight starts.

Josh Beckett (5.97 ERA, 26/11 K/BB) vs Blake Beavan (4.32 ERA, 14/4 K/BB)

Beckett's return to the rotation against the Cleveland Indians was a complete disaster as both his command and velocity were nonexistent. Overall, both his four and two-seam fastballs are clocking in 1.5 mph lower than they did in 2011. His strikeout rate of 6.8 per nine innings is lower than that of any previous year in his career. 21 starts into his MLB career, Beavan has established himself as a strike-thrower. He has only 19 walks in 130.1 innings of work, but he gives up a ton of flyballs and struggles to miss bats. He has a groundball-to-flyball ratio of just 0.52 with a 3.78 strikeout rate.

Sources:

Boston Red Sox, Seattle Mariners, Yahoo! Sports

Baseball-Reference.com

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Red Sox Look to Build Momentum Against Mariners: Fan Preview

NASA’s Dawn spacecraft unlocks secrets of giant asteroid

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After becoming the first probe to enter orbit around an object in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter in July 2011, NASAs Dawn spacecraft has spent the last 10 months orbiting said object - the giant asteroid Vesta. During that period it has captured more than 20,000 images of Vesta and a multitude of data from different wavelengths of radiation. What it reveals is an asteroid that in many ways shares more in common with a small planet or Earths moon than it does with another asteroid.

With a mean diameter of around 326 miles (525 km), Vesta is one of the largest asteroids in the Solar System and the second most massive after Ceres. Formed in a similar way to the terrestrial planets and Earths moon, Vesta boasts a geologic complexity that scientists attribute to a process that separated it into a crust, mantle and iron core with a radius of around 68 miles (110 km) some 4.56 billion years ago.

"Vesta has been recording the history of the solar system from the beginning," said Christopher T. Russell, a professor in UCLA's Department of Earth and Space Sciences and the Dawn mission's principal investigator. "We are going back to the beginning of the solar system - more than 4.5 billion years ago. We're going back further than ever before on the surface of a body."

Deep gashes in Vestas surface observed by Dawn reveal a pattern of minerals that NASA says may suggest the asteroid was once molten inside and had a subsurface magma ocean, which occurs when a body undergoes almost complete melting and leads to layered building blocks that can form planets. Vestas iron core would have formed during this molten period at the dawn of the Solar System.

Data collected by Dawn also reveal that Vesta is the source of a distinct group of meteorites found on Earth. These meteorites, with signatures of an iron- and magnesium-rich mineral known as pyroxene, account for about six percent of all meteorites falling to Earth, making Vesta one of the largest single sources of Earths meteorites. Dawns mission also marks the first time a spacecraft has visited the source of samples after they were identified on Earth.

Vesta has also been found to have a topography that is quite steep and varied, and includes large mountains formed by a major impact on the asteroids surface the largest of which is more than twice the size of Mount Everest. While scientists had thought that, outside the south polar region, Vestas surface may be flat like the moon, some of the craters outside this region formed on very steep slopes and have nearly identical sides, with landslides often occurring.

NASA scientists were also surprised to discover that Vestas central peak in the Rheasilvia basin in the southern hemisphere is much higher and wider, relative to its crater size, than the central peaks of craters on bodies like our moon.

There are also similarities with other low-gravity worlds, such as Saturns small icy moons, and the light and dark markings on its surface dont match the predictable patterns seen on Earths moon. While Vestas surface contains bright spots of various sizes, there are also some areas that are dark as coal, with the light and dark markings forming intricate patterns that suggest the dominance of impact processes in creating mixed layers in Vestas regolith.

"We know a lot about the moon and we're only coming up to speed now on Vesta," said Vishnu Reddy, a framing camera team member at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Germany and the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks. "Comparing the two gives us two storylines for how these fraternal twins evolved in the early solar system."

Dawn will continue to examine Vesta until it departs the asteroid on August 26 headed for a 2015 study date with Ceres, the Solar Systems largest asteroid and only dwarf planet in the inner solar system.

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NASA’s Dawn spacecraft unlocks secrets of giant asteroid

NASA Challenges Public To Build Apps Using Planetary Data System

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With all of its satellites, telescopes, gizmos and gadgets, NASA collects thousands of data points every month. But what if NASA could present that all of that data in a clean, fun and useful way to the public?

The NASA Tournament Labhopes to find an answer to this question in its latest series of competitions that challenge students, teachers, game designers and interested civilians to build mobile or web-based applications using any of the more than 100 terabytes of information in the NASA planetary data system.

The space agency hopes that by encouraging the public at large to create interesting apps, it might be able to develop something that a coder from the agency would have never thought of. NASA has assembled a judging panel of prestigious scientists, researchers and an astronaut to declare winners of each competition.

Most competition winners will earn $7,000 and other prizes. The final round of the competition, called "the penultimate contest" by the agency, will award winners with $10,000. "The bar is higher here and judges will be looking for applications that showcase entirely new ways of thinking about PDS data," says NASA of the final competition.

The next major day of competition is May 16, when two different projects will take place. The first competition is open to 13- to 18-year-old members of NNS. It challenges these members to build "the ultimate app." The second competition is a challenge to teachers and asks competitors to "develop and submit fabulous apps for leveraging PDS data in an educational setting." More details about the challenges can be seen on the official PDS Challenge page.

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"[The] approach, often termed 'crowd sourcing' or 'broadcast search,' lessens the effects of uncertainty in software development by searching for a problem's solution through multiple, parallel paths," said NASA in a written statement about the Tournament Lab. "Instead of relying on one individual or team, the researcher can access many, independent ideas, which increases the chances of a successful solution."

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Might NASA be Forced to Kill the Commercial Space Race?

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It looks like the commercial space race might be over before it's even really begun.

Last week, Congress approved a spending bill that demands NASA immediately choose one company for the commercial crew program, and this week they will be voting on it. Killing the private competition is meant to save money and speed up development, but more likely it will be devastating to NASA's already stretched budget.

ANALYSIS: Money: The Next Human Spaceflight Incentive?

Currently, NASA is providing subsidies to companies vying to develop a viable manned launch system. There are a lot of interesting and promising commercial programs under development right now. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos Blue Origin project is working on a launch vehicle, Sierra Nevada is working on the Dream Chaser orbital vehicle, ATK just announced its intention to add a spacecraft to its Liberty rocket, SpaceX has its Falcon 9 and Dragon, and Orbital Sciences has its Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft.

SpaceX and Orbital Sciences are the front runners, both planning flights to the ISS this year to demonstrate their capabilities. SpaceX is scheduled to launch this coming Saturday. But these missions are unmanned cargo flights; manned mission aren't expected until 2017. So why stop the competition before NASA has a viable commercial crew system?

The short answer is money.

Commercial crew projects fall under the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program that was started in 2006 with the goal of easing the transition out of the shuttle era by having private companies take over the low Earth orbital launches allowing NASA to focus on its loftier goals of deep space manned missions on Saturn V-type powerful rockets. There's no money for the COTS program in NASA's 2013 budget. The bill will remove continued COTS costs and streamline the commercial launch effort by giving one company more money to develop its system faster.

ANALYSIS: NASA Deputy Administrator Faces the Tough Questions

The problem with the short answer is that it's short sighted. The layered approach with multiple companies vying for the contract to build a new space transportation system is exactly what NASA needs right now. The competition has yielded creativity and innovation. The rockets and spacecraft these companies have come up with has cost NASA millions instead of billions since the agency isn't alone in footing the bill, and there are clearly viable systems on the horizon.

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Might NASA be Forced to Kill the Commercial Space Race?