Tag: NASA
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Mars Sample Return mission is underway with Perseverance
The successful landing of the Perseverance rover on Mars on February 18 was not just the start of its surface mission but also the start of a multinational, decade-long effort to obtain pristine samples of Mars and return them to Earth for intensive study. The Mars Sample Return project is the most complex robotic planetary…
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Lasers on the moon? Nuclear rockets? NASA awards millions for way-out tech
Future spaceships could use nuclear thermal propulsion to get to Mars quickly. (Illustration via USNC-Tech) NASA’s latest crop of space technology grants will fund work on projects ranging from power-beaming lasers for lunar missions to high-temperature testing of components for nuclear-powered rockets. Those are just a couple of the 365 concepts attracting a total of…
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NASA, Boeing reviewing terabytes of SLS Core Stage data from full-duration Green Run static fire
NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) program, Core Stage prime contractor Boeing, and RS-25 prime contractor Aerojet Rocketdyne have completed the biggest test in the 10-year old program, firing the Artemis 1 flight stage for 500 seconds in the B-2 Test Stand at Stennis Space Center on March 18. The test was the highest hurdle for…
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Biden to nominate former Sen. Bill Nelson as NASA administrator
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION Sen. Bill Nelson speaks during a Senate hearing in 2012. Credit: NASA/Paul Alers Former Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, a longtime space advocate whose district included the Kennedy Space Center and who flew aboard the shuttle Columbia in 1986 as a congressional observer, is President Biden’s choice to serve…
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Next NASA chief will face big decisions on future moonshots (and Blue Origin’s role)
In a 2014 photo taken during his time as a U.S. senator, Bill Nelson (center) checks out a mockup of the Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft at Kennedy Space Center in Florida with former astronaut Chris Ferguson as his guide. (NASA Photo / Kim Shiflett) President Joe Biden’s choice to lead NASA — former U.S. Sen.…
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NASA looking to confirm certification objectives as SLS Core Stage completes second static fire
NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) program and Core Stage prime contractor Boeing conducted the second static firing of the new rocket stage and its four Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-25 engines. The primary goal in the repeat of the Green Run Hot-Fire test was to complete all ten of the design verification objectives (DVO); the abbreviated first…
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Perseverance rover records sounds of driving on Mars
NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover acquired this image using its onboard left Navigation Camera (Navcam) on March 7, the same day the rover’s microphone recorded the sounds of driving. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech NASA’s Perseverance rover has recorded the crunching, rattling sound of its six metallic wheels rolling across Mars. Perseverance carries the first microphones ever sent to…
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Hubble resumes science observations after software error
The Hubble Space Telescope in the payload bay of space shuttle Atlantis during the last servicing mission in May 2009. Credit: NASA NASA has partially restored the Hubble Space Telescope to science mode after a software error temporarily halted observations, but engineers continue studying a problem that kept the telescope’s aperture door from closing and…
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Garbage pallet jettisoned from space station will stay in orbit two-to-four years
A pallet loaded with disused batteries was jettisoned from the International Space Station’s robotic arm Thursday. Credit: NASA NASA ground controllers sent commands to the International Space Station on Thursday for release of a 2.9-ton cargo pallet loaded with old batteries, the most massive object ever jettisoned from the orbiting outpost. The garbage carrier is…
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NASA, Boeing approaching first major join of second SLS Core Stage
Operations for the first major join of the main elements of the second Space Launch System (SLS) Core Stage are expected to begin later in March as NASA and prime contractor Boeing work to deliver the stage in 2022 for the Artemis 2 launch. The three elements that compose the top half of the rocket,…