The OSIRIS-REx Laser Altimeter will create 3-D maps of asteroid Bennu to help the mission team select a sample collection site. To source
Tag Archives | space
SpaceX Preparing for Launch of 'Significantly Improved' Falcon 9
SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk, speaking at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union Dec. 15, said the upcoming Falcon 9 was “significantly improved” over previous versions of the vehicle.Credit: AGU webcast WASHINGTON — SpaceX is gearing up for both the first launch of its Falcon 9 rocket since a June launch failure and the […]
Launch replay
Replay of the launch transmission of Soyuz carrying Galileo satellites 11 and 12 on 17 December at 11:51 GMT from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana To source
NASA Receives $19.3 Billion in Final 2016 Spending Bill
The omnibus spending bill released by Congressional appropriators Dec. 16 will give NASA an increase of $750 million over its original request for fiscal year 2016. WASHINGTON — The final version of a fiscal year 2016 spending bill will provide NASA with nearly $19.3 billion, funding most agency programs at or above the administration’s original […]
Incredible New Photos Reveal Pluto's Pits and Other Terrain
A new colorized image of Pluto, built from photos taken by the New Horizons spacecraft during its July flyby, depicts a strip 50 miles (80 kilometers) wide split between the dwarf planet’s al-Idrisi mountains and the flat Sputnik Planum.Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI Pluto’s complex geology just got a little less mysterious thanks to two incredible new photos […]
'Star Wars' Tech: 8 Sci-Fi Inventions and Their Real-Life Counterparts
A long time ago in a studio far, far away, filmmaker George Lucas created one of the seminal works of science fiction: the “Star Wars” movie series. Nearly 40 years later, the ideas introduced by the films are still staples of the genre, and with the theatrical premiere of the latest installment, “Star Wars: The […]
Galileo lifts off
Replay of liftoff of Soyuz carrying Galileo satellites 11 and 12, at 11:51 GMT, from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana To source
ESA confirms James Webb telescope Ariane launch
The next great space observatory took a step closer this week when ESA signed the contract with Arianespace that will see the James Webb Space Telescope launched on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou in October 2018. To source
Stratolaunch Backer Says It Remains Committed to Transforming Space Launch
Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, right, confers with airplane designer Burt Rutan during the 2011 unveiling of the Stratolaunch concept.Credit: SpaceNews WASHINGTON — Paul Allen’s Vulcan Aerospace is taking issue with reports that its Stratolaunch project is in jeopardy because of a market shift towards smaller satellites that don’t require the massive mothership the company is building for an […]
Euclid dark Universe mission ready to take shape
Euclid, ESA’s dark Universe mission, has passed its preliminary design review, providing confidence that the spacecraft and its payload can be built. It’s time to start ‘cutting metal’. To source
Spaceplanes Vs. Reusable Rockets – Which Will Win?
This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Live Science’s Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Launching satellites, spacecraft and people into space is expensive because we only use our launch vehicles once . After delivering their payloads into orbit, our rockets either burn up in the atmosphere or crash […]
Do the Robot! NASA's Valkyrie Gets Down in New Video
Maybe it’s time to rethink the stiff, mechanical movements of the popular “robot” dance: A new NASA video features the agency’s humanoid R5 robot breaking it down on the dance floor to an epic techno beat. Although the robot, also known as Valkyrie, isn’t as graceful as a prima ballerina or as quick on its […]
Move Over, R2-D2! NASA Already Has Plenty of Robots in Space
NASA’s Robonaut is just one of many real world robots that help astronauts in space.Credit: NASA Robots in space aren’t limited to science fiction: NASA has a long list of robotic technologies currently operating in orbit and benefiting humans, even though astronauts don’t yet have anything like a trusty R2-D2 bleeping comments and questions. The […]