Tag: NEA
-
Hera adds objectives to planetary defense test mission
An international planetary defense mission involving NASA and ESA will now include two CubeSats. APEX (Asteroid Prospection Explorer) and Juventas will ride with ESA’s Hera spacecraft, which is set to arrive at the Didymos binary asteroid system shortly after NASA’s DART (Double Asteroid Redirect Test) spacecraft has impacted the smaller of the two objects, Didymoon. Hera will arrive to take observations…
-
Atlas V begins OSIRIS-REx’s round trip to the asteroid Bennu
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft has began a seven-year round trip to the asteroid Bennu on Thursday, beginning its journey via a launch aboard the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V. Liftoff from SLC-41 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station was on time, at the start of a 115-minute window that opened at 19:05 local time…
-
NASA updates status and timetable of ambitious Asteroid Redirect Mission
NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations (HEO) standing committee has presented the NASA Advisory Council with a status update regarding the agency’s direction and execution of the upcoming Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM). Among the prominent updates include confirmation of new target launch dates and information on how NASA will handle partner payloads and the creation of…
-
NASA looks to test planetary defense options on ARM mission
When NASA’s Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) launches next decade, the flight will not only be tasked with bringing a piece of an asteroid to lunar orbit, but also with testing vital planetary defense options that could enable the deflection of a collision-hazardous asteroid away from Earth. Planetary defense necessity: The need to protect Earth from…
-
OSIRIS-REx enters environmental testing ahead of launch next year
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft has completed assembly operations at its Lockheed Martin construction site in Denver, Colorado. OSIRIS-REx, slated to become the first asteroid sample return mission for the U.S. space agency, is scheduled to launch in September 2016 on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL. OSIRIS-REx history:…
-
NEEMO 20 to build knowledge base on delayed deep space communications
An international effort to work on the challenges associated with deep space communications is continuing on the ground, in space and underwater – with the upcoming NEEMO 20 mission set to simulate the time-delays associated with sending and receiving commands between controllers on Earth and astronauts on Mars. NEEMO: The NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations…
-
Asteroid Redirect Mission to lay the technology foundations for deep space
In the face of political uncertainty and public apathy, NASA is beginning to push the case for the Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM). The points of the Agency’s latest overview portray a mission that will foster the development of numerous key technological advances, most of which will be required for human missions to deep space and the…
-
International effort to understand asteroids and protect Earth from their threat
Two robotic missions, aimed at gaining further understanding into the threat of asteroids, passed major milestones this week. NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft and ESA’s Asteroid Impact Mission (AIM) are set to travel deep into space to probe the space rocks that will also become the focus of human Beyond Earth Orbit (BEO) space exploration throughout the…
-
NASA evaluting modified Shuttle ACES for Asteroid EVA
NASA experts are evaluating the use of a modified version of the famous Space Shuttle launch and entry suit – or Advanced Crew Escape Suit (ACES) – for use not only during launch and re-entry for crews riding in Orion, but also for use on spacewalks (EVAs), such as during the proposed Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM)…
-
Orion’s crewed asteroid mission unlikely to occur prior to 2024
The proposed mission to send two astronauts to a captured asteroid near the Moon won’t occur until the middle of the next decade, according to an overview provided to NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP). Designated as Exploration Mission -2 (EM-2), it is likely alternative missions will be tasked to Orion and her Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, prior…