Space

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. 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 »

October 01, 2009 -- Berkeley, CA - BOSS, the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey, is the most ambitious attempt yet to map the expansion history of the Universe using the technique known as baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO). A part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III), BOSS achieved “first light” on the night of September 14-15, when it acquired data with an upgraded spectrographic system across the entire focal plane of the Sloan Foundation 2.5-meter telescope at Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico.    » 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 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 »

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif., July 1, 2009 -- An industry team led by The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] has received a contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for work on Phase 2 of the Fast Access Spacecraft Testbed (FAST) program. The $15.5 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract is currently funded to $13.8 million.

DARPA's FAST program aims to develop a new, ultra-lightweight High Power Generation System (HPGS) that can generate up to 175 kilowatts -- more power than is currently available to the International Space Station. When combined with electric propulsion, FAST will form the foundation for future self-deployed, high-mobility spacecraft to perform ultra-high-power communications, space radar, satellite transfer and servicing missions.    » 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 »

Stream Computing Provides Real-Time Analysis For New Insight into Effects on Earth

BERLIN - 03 Jun 2009: IBM (NYSE:IBM) and Uppsala University and the Swedish Institute of Space Physics announced today a major new Stream Computing project to analyze massive volumes of information in real time to better understand “space weather”. By using IBM InfoSphere Streams to analyze data from sensors that track high frequency radio waves, endless amounts of data can be captured and analyzed on the fly.

Over the next year, this project is expected to perform analytics on at least 6 gigabytes per second or 21,600 gigabytes per hour – the equivalent of all the Web pages on the Internet.    » 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 »

GREENBELT, MD (May 26, 2009) - Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley addressed members of the Maryland Space Business Roundtable today, an organization of aerospace-releases business and professional organizations designed to encourage the growth and development of space-related business in Maryland. During his address, Governor O’Malley outlined a strategic vision for expanding the space industry within Maryland.    » read more »

May 24, 2009 -- EDWARDS, Calif. -- Space shuttle Atlantis and its crew landed at 8:39 a.m. PDT Sunday at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., completing the final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. Atlantis' astronauts conducted five successful spacewalks during their STS-125 flight to enhance and extend the life of the orbiting observatory.

"This mission highlights what the challenges of spaceflight can bring out in human beings," said Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "This mission required the absolute best from the shuttle team, the Hubble science and repair teams, and the crew. The results are a tribute to the entire team and the years of preparation."    » read more »

May 11, 2009 -- CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Space shuttle Atlantis with its seven-member crew launched at 2:01 p.m. EDT Monday from NASA's Kennedy Space Center on the final Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission.

Atlantis' 11-day mission will include five spacewalks to refurbish Hubble with state-of-the-art science instruments designed to improve the telescope's discovery capabilities by up to 70 times while extending its lifetime through at least 2014.

Shortly before liftoff, Commander Scott Altman thanked the teams that helped make the launch possible.

"At last our launch has come along," said Altman. "...Getting to this point has been challenging, but the whole team, everyone, has pulled together to take us into space."    » read more »