Tag: NASA
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NASA Advances Nuclear Power Module for SR-1 Freedom Mars Mission
Space Reactor-1 Freedom was announced during NASA’s “Ignition” event and will demonstrate nuclear electric propulsion in deep space. Progress is now underway on the mission’s central element, the nuclear power module, with NASA and its partners mutually agreeing to contract actions to expedite development of the spacecraft. Sierra Lobo Inc. will provide the module’s closed…
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NASA’s Simulated Mars Crew Hits One Year in Houston Habitat, Exit Set for Oct. 31
For the past 365 days, the crew has operated as though they were on Mars, growing crops, managing limited resources, navigating communication delays, and conducting suited extravehicular activities on a simulated Martian surface. The crew entered the 1,700 square foot 3D-printed habitat on October 19, 2025. As the one-year mark approached, NASA science teams prepared…
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Powering Orbital Computing: From Watts to Megawatts
If chips are the bricks and data centers are the buildings, power is one of the essential utilities that makes them work. Computing ultimately comes down to watts: keeping a 700-watt GPU running in orbit requires an entire engineering system, from solar-array orientation and battery chemistry to bus voltage. Moving from watts to megawatts means…
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NASA’s Twin Venus Missions Regain Momentum, DAVINCI Moves Up a Year
The developments were announced last week at a meeting of the Venus Exploration Analysis Group, a gathering of scientists focused on the planet. None of the current progress was guaranteed. Budget cuts imperiled one US mission to Venus and delayed the other, then forced NASA to pull out of a partnership with Europe to supply…
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Griffin-1 Lunar Lander Clears Environmental Testing at NASA JPL
Griffin-1 is part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative within the Moon Base Program, which aims to establish humanity’s first lunar outpost. The lander is expected to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket and deliver more than 1,100 pounds, or 455 kilograms, of cargo to Nobile Crater near the lunar South Pole, a…
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Redwire Launches Final ROSA Wings to ISS, Capping Multi-Year Power Overhaul
The modernization program replaces the performance lost by the station’s original legacy solar panels, which have degraded over years of service. The new ROSA wings roll out over those original arrays, boosting the available power supply. Redwire, which describes itself as a leader in space infrastructure for the next-generation space economy, has characterized the campaign…
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Two Paths to Reliable Space Computing
One approach relies on BAE Systems’ RAD750 family: expensive radiation-hardened processors with a long record of service on deep-space missions. The other uses commercial processors backed by redundant computers and fault-tolerant software, as demonstrated by SpaceX. The question is not simply which technology is more advanced. These approaches reflect two different ways of paying for…
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NASA and Boeing Restore Two Starliner Missions, Set December Launch Window for Uncrewed Flight
The contract modification follows two years of joint work to address technical issues identified during the investigation of the 2024 Crew Flight Test. NASA and Boeing described the modification as reflecting a safety-first partnership and a continued commitment to Starliner as a long-term human spaceflight provider to the ISS and future low Earth orbit destinations.…
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NASA Releases Full Artemis 2 Science Data to Research Community
The release opens the mission’s findings to researchers following the lunar flight earlier this year. NASA framed the step as a transition point, handing the collected data to scientists for further study. NASA characterized the data release as a milestone in the mission’s lifecycle, marking the shift from flight operations to scientific analysis. The announcement…
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Why Does Voltage Drop Along a Wire but Current Doesn’t?
Related reading: How Do Engineers Choose Satellite Cables? In a DC power branch operating steadily, the voltage between the source’s positive and return terminals is 26 V. At the equipment’s positive and return input terminals, it is only 24.71 V. Where did the missing 1.29 V go? Check the current along this unbranched path, and…