Tag Archives: space

NASA – Curiosity Lands on Mars

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NASA’s Curiosity rover has landed on Mars! Its descent-stage retrorockets fired, guiding it to the surface. Nylon cords lowered the rover to the ground in the “sky crane” maneuver. When the spacecraft sensed touchdown,…

via NASA – Curiosity Lands on Mars.

From: Curiosity’s Sky Crane Maneuver, Artist’s Concept

The sheer size of the Mars Science Laboratory rover (over one ton, or 900 kilograms) would preclude it from taking advantage of an airbag-assisted landing. Instead, the Mars Science Laboratory will use the sky crane touchdown system, which will be capable of delivering a much larger rover onto the surface. It will place the rover on its wheels, ready to begin its mission after thorough post-landing checkouts.

Up Close With the Space Shuttle Enterprise

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Up Close With the Space Shuttle Enterprise.

From: Up close with the Enterprise shuttle at the Intrepid Museum

This shuttle, OV-101, never made it to orbit but was used in-atmosphere for testing purposes. At one time it was considered for a retrofit — adding engines and a heatshield so that it would be able to make it to space and back — but NASA opted to build Challenger instead. So while it’s not exactly the crown jewel of US space flight history it’s still an impressive piece of work and something that it is extremely inspiring to be in the presence of.

Air Force space vehicle comes in for a landing

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6/16/2012 – WASHNGTON (AFNS) — The Air Force’s unmanned, reusable space plane landed in the early morning of June 16 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., a successful conclusion to a record-setting test-flight mission that began March 5 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.

The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle, one of two such vehicles, spent 469 days in orbit to conduct on-orbit experiments, primarily checkout of the vehicle itself.

via Air Force space vehicle comes in for a landing.

Congrats Air Force!

Secret mission accomplished: America’s secret space plane to land after a YEAR in orbit – and no one knows what it did up there

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The 29-foot, solar-powered craft had an original mission of 270 days.

The Air Force said the second mission was to further test the technology but the ultimate purpose has largely remained a mystery.

The vehicle’s systems program director, Lieutenant-colonel Tom McIntyre, told the Los Angeles Times in December: ‘We initially planned for a nine-month mission. Keeping the X-37 in orbit will provide us with additional experimentation opportunities and allow us to extract the maximum value out of the mission.’

via Secret mission accomplished: America’s secret space plane to land after a YEAR in orbit – and no one knows what it did up there | Mail Online.

It kind of looks like the space shuttle from the picture.

NASA gets two military spy telescopes for astronomy

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They have 2.4-meter (7.9 feet) mirrors, just like the Hubble. They also have an additional feature that the civilian space telescopes lack: A maneuverable secondary mirror that makes it possible to obtain more focused images. These telescopes will have 100 times the field of view of the Hubble, according to David Spergel, a Princeton astrophysicist and co-chair of the National Academies advisory panel on astronomy and astrophysics.

The surprise announcement Monday is a reminder that NASA isn’t the only space enterprise in the government — and isn’t even the best funded.

via NASA gets two military spy telescopes for astronomy – The Washington Post.

Space Exploration Technologies Corporation

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Timely access to space is an essential element of our commercial supply chain,” said Thierry Guillemin, Intelsat CTO. “As a global leader in the satellite sector, our support of successful new entrants to the commercial launch industry reduces risk in our business model. Intelsat has exacting technical standards and requirements for proven flight heritage for our satellite launches. We will work closely with SpaceX as the Falcon Heavy completes rigorous flight tests prior to our future launch requirements

via Space Exploration Technologies Corporation – Press.

SpaceX Dragon: Space station astronauts capture Dragon capsule, making history

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At 9:56 a.m. EDT, space station flight engineer Don Pettit reached out with a 58-foot robotic arm and grabbed the unmanned capsule, which was “free drifting” beneath the $100-billion station at 17,000 miles an hour, roughly 250 miles above northwest Australia.

via SpaceX Dragon: Space station astronauts capture Dragon capsule, making history – chicagotribune.com.

“Once again SpaceX has done it. They have become the first private company to successfully launch their own spacecraft and get it captured by the International Space Station’s robotic arm,” said NASA commentator Josh Byerly.

Russian satellite’s 121-megapixel image of Earth is most detailed yet

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There’s been a long history of NASA-provided “Blue Marble” images of Earth, but now we’re getting a different perspective thanks to photos taken by the Elektro-L No.1 Russian weather satellite. Unlike NASA’s pictures, this satellite produces 121-megapixel images that capture the Earth in one shot instead of a collection of pictures from multiple flybys stitched together. The result is the highest-resolution single picture of Earth yet. The image certainly looks different than what we’re used to seeing, and that’s because the sensor aboard the weather satellite combines data from three visible and one infrared wavelengths of light, a method that turns vegetation into the rust color that dominates the shot.

via Russian satellite’s 121-megapixel image of Earth is most detailed yet | The Verge.

Asteroid takeout—a one-billionaire mission to bring a 500-ton asteroid to Earth by 2025

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Visiting (and eventually mining) asteroids is viewed by space development advocates as an imperative stepping stone to making our way out into the solar system. One group of President Obama’s advisors, the Augustine Commission, counseled that a manned asteroid mission might bring the highest payoff per dollar spent in terms of science and essential skills for space exploration. A study was also commissioned to check the feasibility of bringing a small asteroid—on the order of 10,000kg—back to the International Space Station. It reported no showstoppers.

via Asteroid takeout—a one-billionaire mission to bring a 500-ton asteroid to Earth by 2025.

AFP: ‘Good chance’ for SpaceX April 30 launch to ISS: NASA

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The main goals of SpaceX’s flight include a fly-by of the ISS and a berthing operation in which the company’s reusable space craft, the Dragon, will approach the ISS and the crew aboard the orbiting outpost will use the ISS robotic arm to help it latch on.

The gumdrop-shaped Dragon capsule will carry 521 kilograms (1,148 pounds) of cargo for the space lab and will also aim to return a 660 kg (1,455 lb) load to Earth, said Michael Suffredini, International Space Station program manager.

via AFP: ‘Good chance’ for SpaceX April 30 launch to ISS: NASA.