NASA Planning Mission To 40 Meter Wide Asteroid: related news

NASA Planning Mission To 40-Meter-Wide Asteroid

FudRucker points out a story from The Guardian about NASA's plans to visit 2000SG344, an asteroid 40 meters wide and weighing roughly 71 million kilograms. The manned mission would take three to six months, and it would make use of the Orion spacecraft, which will be replacing to retiring space shuttle fleet. "A report seen by the Guardian notes that by sending astronauts on a three-month journey to the hurtling asteroid, scientists believe they would learn more about the psychological effects of long-term missions and the risks of working in deep space, and it would allow astronauts to test kits to convert subsurface ice into drinking water, breathable oxygen and even hydrogen to top up rocket fuel. All of which would be invaluable before embarking on a two-year expedition to Mars.

Lockheed Martin and NASA Ames Team Selected to Design New Solar Mission

PALO ALTO, Calif., June 3 /PRNewswire/ -- The Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, and a national and international team of co-investigators have been selected by NASA to undertake a $750 thousand six-month study to design a new NASA Small Explorer Mission called the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS). In the recent announcement, NASA selected six missions for study. Two of them will eventually be chosen to move forward to development, with each mission capped at $105 million.

NASA plans to land on asteroid

Nasa scientists are planning one of the space agency’s most daring missions yet: to land on a 40 metre-wide asteroid travelling at 28,000 mph.

NASA plans to land on asteroid

Nasa scientists are planning one of the space agency’s most daring missions yet: to land on a 40 metre-wide asteroid travelling at 28,000 mph.

Nasa plans manned mission to asteroid

Nasa is preparing a three-month manned mission to an asteroid that is scheduled to pass close to Earth in 2030.

Nasa plans manned mission to asteroid

Nasa is preparing a three-month manned mission to an asteroid that is scheduled to pass close to Earth in 2030.

NASA's Educational Game Proposal Deadline Extended

NASA MMO Team writes "Due to the additional time required to respond to the number of questions that were raised during the NASA Massively Multiplayer Online Educational Game RFP Briefing held on April 21, 2008 in Baltimore, MD, we have decided to extend the RFP Proposal response date to Monday, July 21, 2008 at 12:00 midnight EDT. ... Please contact the NASA Learning Technologies Project Office at mmo@nasa.gov with any additional questions." (NASA has set up a site with additional information on the NASA MMO Education Game project, too.)

NASA Considers Manned Mission To Asteroid

Usually it happens the other way around... but this time NASA is taking some cues from Hollywood on a possible future mission to an asteroid. Luckily, this one isn't on a collision course with Earth.

NASA Launches Satellite To Monitor Oceans

On Friday, NASA launched the Ocean Surface Topography Mission/Jason 2 satellite into orbit to begin a detailed study of ocean currents, sea-surface height, and surface topology. Scientists hope to use the data gathered by Jason 2 in order to better understand weather patterns and global warming. Further details about the mission objectives (PDF) are also available. Quoting NASA's press release: "Combining ocean current and heat storage data is key to understanding global climate variations. OSTM/Jason 2's expected lifetime of at least three years will extend into the next decade the continuous record of these data started in 1992 by NASA and the French space agency Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales, or CNES, with the TOPEX/Poseidon mission.

NASA Targets GLAST Launch for June 7

Contact: Katherine Trinidad of NASA Headquarters, Washington, +1- 202-358-3749, katherine.trinidad@nasa.gov; George H. Diller of NASA Kennedy Space Center, Fla., +1-321-867-2468, george.h.diller@nasa.gov; Rob Gutro of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., +1-301-286-4044, robert.j.gutro@nasa.gov

Send Your Name to the Moon on NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter

Lro_trailer NASA is taking names to send to the moon on a microchip on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, slatted to launch this fall. LRO, built at NASA Goddard in Maryland, is set to be NASA's first major mission as America returns to the moon. NASA links to a website with the press release and a 30-second video of two young guys in an office. 20 bonus points for attempting to use humor (keep it up NASA) and reach out to an 18+ audience. It may not be their best work, but we'll take anything at this point. (Hint: next time get someone else to do the soundtrack.) The person who dared to get this through should still be commended. Now do more.

Cassini's Primary Mission Ends, Two-Year Extension Begins

wooferhound points out recent news that the Cassini probe has completed its original four-year mission and is beginning a two-year extended mission, which was authorized earlier this year. Cassini's first mission brought us a treasure trove of information about Saturn and its various moons. The new mission will target two of those moons in particular for further study: Titan and Enceladus. Quoting: "The spacecraft is extremely healthy and carries 12 instruments powered by three radioisotope thermoelectric generators. Data from Cassini's nominal and extended missions could lay the groundwork for possible future missions to Saturn, Titan or Enceladus. [The two moons] are primary targets in the two-year extended mission, dubbed the Cassini Equinox Mission.

Nasa planning landing on 40m-wide asteroid

GUARDIAN NEWS SERVICE: US eyes 2000SG344 for Armageddon-type mission - Rock seen as stepping stone to deep space.

NASA, NIA Announce NASA Education Television Partnership

SAN JOSE, Calif., May 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA Deputy Administrator Shana Dale announced Wednesday the launch of NASA Education TV (NASA eTV), a partnership with the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA) to produce new educational television programs for distribution on NASA Television and the Internet.

Boeing Seeks Mission Support Systems Talent for NASA Work

The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] is seeking talented mission operations specialists with current NASA experience in the Houston area in support of its bid for NASA's Facilities Development and Operations Contract (FDOC). Current Mission Support Operations Contract employees are encouraged to submit a contact form at active.boeing.com/defense-space/space/fdoc/ to receive information on an open house scheduled for May 17.

Current live video of the Phoenix NASA mission

imageSpacevidcast.com is broadcasting live coverage (view below) of the Phoenix NASA mission right now. You can read all about the Phoenix mission here at NASA’s website.

NASA's Kepler Telescope Set to Use 3PAR in the Search for Distant Earth-Like Planets

3PAR INC ("PAR-N") - NASA's Kepler Telescope Set to Use 3PAR in the Search for Distant - Earth-Like Planets 3PAR, the leading global provider of utility storage, announced that NASA Ames Research Center has chosen 3PAR Utility Storage for a mission that will send the Kepler Space Telescope into orbit around the Sun to find planets in solar systems outside our own. Set to launch in February of 2009, the mission will use 3PAR Utility Storage to store digital images taken with the powerful telescope and its camera. NASA Ames chose the resilient 3PAR storage system to meet its strict cost and performance requirements while maintaining massive scalability and avoiding the need for a full-time, dedicated storage expert. "Even rocket launches have budget constraints," said Chris Middour, Deputy Manager for the Kepler Operations Science Center an

NASA Does a U-Turn, Opens To Private Industry

mattnyc99 writes "Popular Mechanics is reporting that NASA — faced with the looming retirement of the space shuttle, and planning for longer missions like the one to Mars we've been discussing — is looking to free up its budget and depend a lot more on private space startups to carry key payloads into orbit in the next few years. For an agency so steeped in bureaucracy, it seems like everyone from NASA chief Mike Griffin to contracted officials to the key players in this in-depth podcast roundtable is finally acknowledging that commercial rocketeering (space tourists aside) is a more efficient a means of getting back into space for NASA. Quoting: 'Because of a new focus for NASA's strategic investments — not to mention incentives like the Ansari X Prize, which spurred the space-tourism business, and the Google Lunar X Prize, which c

Nasa plans landing on 280,000mph asteroid travelling towards the Earth

Nasa is planning to land spacemen on an asteroid that is travelling at 28,000mph towards the earth, it emerged today.

Groundbreaking Solar Mission Faces Chilly Death

iamlucky13 writes "Over 17 years ago, the Ulysses spacecraft was launched aboard the space shuttle Discovery for a unique NASA/ESA mission. While nearly all other probes travel along our solar system's ecliptic plane, Ulysses used a Jupiter gravity assist to swing 80 degrees out of plane, carrying it over the sun's poles for an unprecedented view. During a mission that lasted four times longer than planned, it has flown through the tails of several comets, helped pinpoint distant gamma-ray bursts, and provided data on the sun and its heliosphere from the better part of two solar cycles. Unfortunately, the natural reduction of power from its radioisotope thermal generator means it is now unable to even keep its attitude control fuel from freezing, and NASA has decided to formally conclude the mission on July 1.

NASA Phoenix Mission Ready For Mars Landing

Several readers relayed the press release from JPL about the upcoming landing of NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander on May 25. It's going to set down in the north polar regions and look for indications of whether conditions have even been favorable for microbial life. "Phoenix will enter the top of the Martian atmosphere at almost 21,000 kilometers per hour... In seven minutes, the spacecraft must complete a challenging sequence of events to slow to about 8 kilometers per hour... before its three legs reach the ground. Confirmation of the landing could come as early as 7:53 p.m. EDT. 'This is not a trip to grandma's house. Putting a spacecraft safely on Mars is hard and risky,' said Ed Weiler, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate.

NASA to Discuss Phoenix Mission Upcoming Mars Landing

Contact: Dwayne Brown, Headquarters, Washington, +1-202-358- 1726, dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov, or Guy Webster, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., +1-818-354-5011, guy.webster@jpl.nasa.gov, both of NASA

Phoenix Mars Lander: How to Hunt for Martian IceNavigating By X-Ray PulsarAmbitious NASA Probe to Fly Through Sun's FringeNASA Team Studies Pollutants' Effect on Arctic Climate ChangeHow NASA's Phoenix Will Land on MarsAstrium Seeks 24.5 Million Euro

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has a scoop on the end of its Robotic Arm. A motor-driven rasp can be lowered at an angle through a small opening in the bottom of the scoop to aid in gathering shavings of hard-frozen material. In this image, Lori Shiraishi, an engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, inspects the scoop while the spacecraft was being assembled and tested before its Aug. 4, 2007, launch. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Lockheed Martin

How NASA Will Bring the Phoenix Mars Mission To the Web

lgmac brings us a story about how NASA will bring information from the Phoenix Mars lander to the internet in the coming days. CIO Magazine speaks with JPL's chief knowledge architect and others about how they'll provide massive amounts of data from the lander to suit the needs of an audience ranging from professors to 8-year-olds. We've been discussing the Phoenix mission for quite a while now. The landing is on schedule for Sunday at roughly 5PM PDT. "'In previous missions, a system like this didn't exist and people were sharing images via external drives,' Bitter says. Some of the images are put up immediately and captioned, or sent to museum audiences, while others are made part of huge mosaic pictures that display the majesty of what the NASA spacecraft encounters, she says.

Aerojet Propulsion Propels NASA's GLAST Mission

company, announced today that its engine helped propel NASA's Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) mission. The mission will allow astronomers to study extreme environments of the universe that generate significant amounts of gamma-ray radiation. Other objectives include the discovery of the mysteries behind powerful gamma-ray bursts, the composition of dark matter and a search for signs of new laws of physics.

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