July 29th, 2016
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Florida – A convergence of reality and science fiction took center stage here July 23 during a salute to the 47th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing and the 50th anniversary of the iconic Star Trek television show and follow-on franchise. An audience of some 250 people took part in the […]
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The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued two new reports on the overall status of NASA’s Space Launch System and the space agency’s next piloted program, Orion. What GAO found in summary is that the SLS has resolved some technical issues and matured its design since GAO’s July 2015 report, but […]
A NASA technical memorandum has taken a detailed look at the prospect of putting in place a sustainable colony of people on the Red Planet. Such a settlement can be safe, affordable, and nurture independence of residents on Mars from Earth. The document is titled Frontier In-Situ Resource Utilization for Enabling Sustained Human […]
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now in Sol 1412. Last weekend the rover made good progress, driving almost 223 feet (68 meters). Before the drive, Curiosity’s Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) and Mastcam were to observe bedrock targets “Jamba” and “Huambo” and the Right Mastcam was on tap to acquire a 3-image mosaic of a […]
Now in Sol 1409, NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover has focused its observations on a blocky deposit dubbed “Bimbe.” Other targets over the weekend that are under scrutiny with rover instruments are “Seeis”, “Seeheim”, “Wilhelmstal”, “Oranjemund” , “Funda” and “Zambezi”. Drive planned On Sol 1410, the rover’s Chemistry & Camera (ChemCam) has an observation of the […]
There are new developments in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, or SETI for short. In the SETI business, two game-changers are notable, explains Jill Tarter, Director, Center of SETI Research and the Bernard M. Oliver Chair for SETI. “I’ve spent my professional life searching for alien life. Over the span of my career, I’ve seen […]
New imagery has become available of NASA’s Mars Curiosity, busily at work on the Red Planet. The rover is now in Sol 1406. The rover landed in Mars’ Gale Crater in August 2012. NASA recently approved an additional two-year extension, beginning Oct. 1, 2016, for the Mars Science Laboratory Project, which developed and […]
Four decades ago, NASA’s Viking Mars program scored nail-biting, back-to-back successes by becoming the first U.S. robotic missions to land safe and sound on the Red Planet and return images of the Martian landscape. It was a momentous moment in time. Like today’s robotic explorers, but decades ago, Viking scientists packed up their troubles, cares […]
More details have been issued by the U.S. Air Force on a Space Mission Force or SMF. The objective is to prepare and present space forces as a ready force capable of operating in a “contested, degraded and operationally-limited environment.” According to the Air Force in a press statement, the SMF “will be the […]
NASA’s Curiosity rover on Mars is now in Sol 1402 activities, a weekend plan of duties ahead defined at “hefty.” According to Lauren Edgar, a research geologist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona, “we knew it would be a big plan going into the weekend.” The plan jelled as it was […]
