Exploring The Frontier Of Space
NASA has selected 12 proposals for study under Phase I of the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program, which aims to turn science fiction into fact through pioneering technology development. Seedling investments may provide the breakthrough technologies needed to support NASA’s plans for exploration beyond low-Earth orbit, into deep space and to Mars, as outlined […]
NASA and the National Space Grant Foundation have selected five universities to design systems, concepts and technologies to enhance capabilities for deep space missions for the 2015 Exploration Habitat (X-Hab) Academic Innovation Challenge. The selections are the first milestone in a yearlong design and development effort for these five projects. Throughout the 2014-2015 academic year, […]
With just six months until its first trip to space, NASA’s Orion spacecraft continues taking shape at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Engineers began stacking the crew module on top of the completed service module Monday, the first step in moving the three primary Orion elements – crew module, service module and launch […]
Orbital Sciences Corporation announced that it has updated its Antares launch schedule for the Orb-2 mission to a date no earlier than (NET) July 1, 2014. Orb-2 is the second of eight cargo resupply missions to the International Space Station under the company’s Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA. The new launch schedule reflects […]
NASA successfully beamed a high-definition video 260 miles from the International Space Station to Earth Thursday using a new laser communications instrument. Transmission of “Hello, World!” as a video message was the first 175-megabit communication for the Optical Payload for Lasercomm Science (OPALS), a technology demonstration that allows NASA to test methods for communication with […]
With two companies now providing commercial cargo launch services for the International Space Station, NASA is issuing its final report on the now-complete Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program that laid the groundwork for those flights. The report, titled “Commercial Orbital Transportation Services, A New Era in Spaceflight” (NASA/SP-2014-617), documents the work of NASA’s Commercial […]
Lockheed Martin technicians and engineers attach the heat shield to the Orion crew module inside the Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Photo credit: NASA/Daniel Casper NASA and Lockheed Martin engineers have installed the largest heat shield ever constructed on the crew module of the agency’s Orion spacecraft. […]
UPDATE: Due to weather conditions, there will be no launch of the LDSD test vehicle June 4 or 5. Other potential launch dates include June 7, 9, 11 and 14. The decision to move forward with another launch attempt of the LDSD test is made the day before each launch opportunity date. NASA’s flying saucer-shaped […]
With just a bit of Hollywood-esque flash, SpaceX unveiled the long-awaited passenger-carrying version of their Dragon spacecraft Thursday during a ceremony at the company’s headquarters in Hawthorne, CA. In front of a gathering of media, employees and invited guests, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk lifted the curtain on the upgraded capsule known as Dragon Version 2, […]
While the battle between SpaceX and United Launch Alliance continues over the future of the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program, ULA extended its streak ofi successful missions with the launch today of an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral. Carrying a payload for the National Reconnaissance Office, the Atlas blasted off from Space Launch Complex-41 […]