NASA

Oct. 15, 2009 -- WASHINGTON -- NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer, or IBEX, spacecraft has made it possible for scientists to construct the first comprehensive sky map of our solar system and its location in the Milky Way galaxy. The new view will change the way researchers view and study the interaction between our galaxy and sun.

The sky map was produced with data that two detectors on the spacecraft collected during six months of observations. The detectors measured and counted particles scientists refer to as energetic neutral atoms.    » read more »

Arizona lawmaker also addresses solar energy at Sea Space Symposium

October 9, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords today cited the need for a “robust” NASA budget, saying space exploration can inspire and benefit the nation during difficult economic times.

Giffords, chairwoman of the House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics, told participants at the Sea Space Symposium that she was not surprised by concerns over NASA’s budget in the recently released summary report of the Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee. Next year’s proposed budget for the agency represents 0.52 percent of the entire federal budget, the lowest percentage in decades.    » read more »

October 8, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. - The only serving U.S. senator to have flown in space today called on President Obama to use $3 billion of unspent stimulus money to help prevent the continued shrinking of America’s space program.

Florida Democrat Bill Nelson delivered an impassioned speech on the Senate floor – coming just days before a special commission reviewing NASA and the nation’s space program is expected to deliver its final report to Obama. In so doing, he joined a delegation of Texas lawmakers who also are asking for stimulus money for NASA.    » read more »

Oct. 8, 2009 -- WASHINGTON -- NASA begins a series of flights Oct. 15 to study changes to Antarctica's sea ice, glaciers and ice sheets. The flights are part of Operation Ice Bridge, a six-year campaign that is the largest airborne survey ever made of ice at Earth's polar regions.

Researchers will work from NASA's DC-8, an airborne laboratory equipped with laser mapping instruments, ice-penetrating radar and gravity instruments. Data collected from the mission will help scientists better predict how changes to the massive Antarctic ice sheet will contribute to future sea level rise around the world.    » read more »

Oct. 7, 2009 -- PASADENA, Calif. -- Using updated information, NASA scientists have recalculated the path of a large asteroid. The refined path indicates a significantly reduced likelihood of a hazardous encounter with Earth in 2036.

The Apophis asteroid is approximately the size of two-and-a-half football fields. The new data were documented by near-Earth object scientists Steve Chesley and Paul Chodas at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. They will present their updated findings at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society's Division for Planetary Sciences in Puerto Rico on Oct. 8.    » read more »

NASA funding will launch research center for optical sciences

September 30, 2009 -- DOVER – Delaware Governor Jack Markell praised Delaware State University’s receipt of a $5 million grant from NASA that will allow the university to establish an Optical Sciences Center for Applied Research (OSCAR) on its campus.

The center will foster new NASA-related science and technology developments based on optical sciences and technology, enhance the aerospace science and technology workforce, and develop partnerships with industry, NASA research centers and other federal laboratories, and minority and non minority-serving colleges and universities.. Specific research areas include Planetary Science, Space Communications & Navigation, and Astrobiology.    » read more »

Sept. 17, 2009 -- GREENBELT, Md. -- NASA reported Thursday that its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, has successfully completed its testing and calibration phase and entered its mapping orbit of the moon. The spacecraft already has made significant progress toward creating the most detailed atlas of the moon's south pole to date. Scientists released preliminary images and data from LRO's seven instruments.

"The LRO mission already has begun to give us new data that will lead to a vastly improved atlas of the lunar south pole and advance our capability for human exploration and scientific benefit," said Richard Vondrak, LRO project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.    » read more »

Sept. 1, 2009 -- HOUSTON -- NASA has taken a major step toward building the next crew exploration vehicle by completing the Orion Project's preliminary design review, or PDR. Orion is being designed to carry astronauts to the International Space Station and other destinations.

The preliminary design review is one of a series of checkpoints that occurs in the design life cycle of a complex engineering project before hardware manufacturing can begin. As the review process progresses, details of the vehicle's design are assessed to ensure the overall system is safe and reliable for flight and meets all NASA mission requirements.    » read more »

August 31, 2009 -- CLEVELAND -- NASA's Glenn Research Center has awarded a one-year contract option to ASRC Aerospace Corporation of Greenbelt, Md., for engineering and scientific services. The option has a value that will not exceed $50 million.

The contract provides engineering and scientific support services to Glenn's Lewis Field and Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio. ASRC will provide on-site support services for technical, engineering and scientific tasks in the areas of aeronautics, microgravity science, space exploration, space power and propulsion, and related science and technology activities.    » read more »

August 29, 2009 -- CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Space shuttle Discovery, with its seven-member crew, launched at 11:59 p.m. EDT Friday from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The shuttle will deliver supplies, equipment and a new crew member to the International Space Station.

Inside the shuttle's cargo bay is the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module, a pressurized "moving van" that will be temporarily installed to the station. The module will deliver storage racks; materials and fluids science racks; a freezer to store research samples; a new sleeping compartment; an air purification system; and a treadmill named after comedian Stephen Colbert. The name "Colbert" received the most entries in NASA's online poll to name the station's Node 3. NASA named the node Tranquility.    » read more »

June 23 2009 -- GREENBELT, Md. -- After a four and a half day journey from the Earth, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, has successfully entered orbit around the moon. Engineers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., confirmed the spacecraft's lunar orbit insertion at 6:27 a.m. EDT Tuesday.

During transit to the moon, engineers performed a mid-course correction to get the spacecraft in the proper position to reach its lunar destination. Since the moon is always moving, the spacecraft shot for a target point ahead of the moon. When close to the moon, LRO used its rocket motor to slow down until the gravity of the moon caught the spacecraft in lunar orbit.    » read more »

June 3, 2009 -- CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA managers completed a review Wednesday of space shuttle Endeavour's readiness for flight and selected June 13 as the official launch date for the STS-127 mission to the International Space Station. Commander Mark Polansky and his six crewmates are scheduled to lift off at 7:17 a.m. EDT from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Endeavour's launch date was announced following a daylong Flight Readiness Review at Kennedy. During the meeting, top NASA and contractor managers assessed the risks associated with the mission and determined the shuttle's equipment, support systems and procedures are ready for flight.    » read more »

Contract Release : C09-024

May 28, 2009 -- WASHINGTON -- NASA has signed a $306 million modification to the current International Space Station contract with the Russian Federal Space Agency for crew transportation and related services in 2012 and 2013.

The firm-fixed price modification covers comprehensive Soyuz support, including all necessary training and preparation for launch, crew rescue, and landing of a long-duration mission for six individual station crew members.

Space station crew members will launch on four Soyuz vehicles: two in spring 2012 and two in fall 2012. Their landings are scheduled for fall 2012 and spring 2013, respectively. The contract modification also provides for crew post-flight rehabilitation, medical exams and services.    » read more »

May 27, 2009 -- WASHINGTON -- NASA's Mars Science Laboratory rover, scheduled for launch in 2011, has a new name thanks to a sixth-grade student from Kansas. Twelve-year-old Clara Ma from the Sunflower Elementary school in Lenexa submitted the winning entry, "Curiosity." As her prize, Ma wins a trip to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., where she will be invited to sign her name directly onto the rover as it is being assembled.

A NASA panel selected the name following a nationwide student contest that attracted more than 9,000 proposals via the Internet and mail. The panel primarily took into account the quality of submitted essays. Name suggestions from the Mars Science Laboratory project leaders and a non-binding public poll also were considered.    » read more »

May 27, 2009 -- CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At Kennedy Space Center today, Sen. Bill Nelson and Reps. Suzanne Kosmas and Bill Posey joined officials from Florida Power & Light Company and NASA to celebrate the groundbreaking of FPL’s Space Coast Next Generation Solar Energy Center.

The new solar photovoltaic power facility is the result of a unique public-private partnership between FPL and NASA and demonstrates both organizations’ commitment to bringing clean-energy solutions to the state.    » read more »