Engineers fine-tune new NASA space launch system
Researchers at the University of Georgia College of Engineering are helping NASA determine if a key rocket component can withstand the rigors of the next generation of space flight.
View ArticleAstronomy summer school radar observations shine new light on near-earth...
A team of scientists participating in a radio astronomy summer school had the unexpected opportunity to observe a recently discovered near-Earth asteroid as it zipped past our planet on July 7. The...
View ArticleCoral reefs become training ground for NASA
As a team of international astronauts splashes down for a 14-day training mission in FIU's Aquarius Reef Base, they will be advancing coral reef research at the same time.
View ArticleEarth flyby of 'space peanut' captured in new video
NASA scientists have used two giant, Earth-based radio telescopes to bounce radar signals off a passing asteroid and produce images of the peanut-shaped body as it approached close to Earth this past...
View ArticleLunar IceCube to take on big mission from small package
In what scientists say signals a paradigm shift in interplanetary science, NASA has selected a shoebox-size mission to search for water ice and other resources from above the surface of the moon.
View ArticleFirst bite of space-grown lettuce is 'awesome' (Update)
Astronauts living at the International Space Station took their first bites of space-grown lettuce on Monday, in what scientists described as another step toward enabling human missions to Mars.
View ArticleNASA selects proposals to build better batteries for space exploration
NASA's Game Changing Development (GCD) program has selected two proposals for Phase II awards targeted toward developing new energy storage technologies to replace the battery systems currently used by...
View ArticleNASA is laser-focused on deep space communication
Today's technology has all but eliminated time delays in telecommunication on Earth, but when they do occur they can be frustrating, especially when trying to communicate complex or time sensitive...
View ArticleBig Iron gets technology boost
ESA deploys 'big iron' to communicate with its deep-space missions: three 35 m-diameter dishes employing some of the world's most advanced tracking technology. And it's about to get a boost.
View ArticleNASA challenge seeks ways to use Mars' natural resources for astronauts
Living off the land is different when the land is 140 million miles away, so NASA is looking for innovative ideas to use in situ (in place) Martian resources to help establish a human presence on the...
View ArticleNASA unveils missing pieces in journey to Mars
NASA has outlined the many challenges that remain before humans can set foot on Mars, calling the problems "solvable" but setting no firm date for an astronaut mission to the Red Planet.
View ArticleHalloween asteroid a treat for radar astronomers
NASA scientists are tracking the upcoming Halloween flyby of asteroid 2015 TB145 with several optical observatories and the radar capabilities of the agency's Deep Space Network at Goldstone,...
View ArticleManeuver moves New Horizons spacecraft toward next potential target
NASA's New Horizons spacecraft has carried out the first in a series of four initial targeting maneuvers designed to send it toward 2014 MU69 – a small Kuiper Belt object about a billion miles beyond...
View ArticleNew Horizons continues toward potential Kuiper Belt target
NASA's New Horizons spacecraft has carried out the second in a series of four maneuvers propelling it toward an encounter with the ancient Kuiper Belt object 2014 MU69, a billion miles farther from the...
View ArticleCubeSats to an asteroid
The five CubeSat concepts to be studied to accompany ESA's proposed Asteroid Impact Mission into deep space have been selected.
View ArticleCubeSats in deep space
(Phys.org)—Tiny spacecraft have their ambitions of space exploration too. The small-sized satellites called CubeSats, made of box-shaped four-inch units, are successfully operating in the low Earth...
View ArticleThe hottest white dwarf in the Galaxy
Astronomers at the Universities of Tübingen and Potsdam have identified the hottest white dwarf ever discovered in our Galaxy. With a temperature of 250,000 degrees Celsius, this dying star at the...
View ArticleSaving NASA's STEREO-B—the 189-million-mile road to recovery
On Oct. 1, 2014, NASA mission operations lost communication with one of the two spacecraft of the Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory, or STEREO, mission, just as the spacecraft was about to...
View ArticleRadar images of a Christmas Eve asteroid—an early gift for astronomers
Asteroid 2003 SD220 safely flew past Earth on Dec. 24 at a distance of 6.8 million miles (11 million kilometers). Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, have generated...
View ArticleImage: Fish-eye view of Saturn's moon Titan
At first glance, this scene may look like a reptilian eye or a textured splash of orange paint, but it is actually a fish-eye view of Saturn's moon Titan. It was acquired at a height of about 5 km as...
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