PASADENA, CA – A sequence of radar images of asteroid 1998 QE2 was obtained on the evening of May 29, 2013, by NASA scientists using the 230-foot (70-meter) Deep Space Network antenna at Goldstone, Calif., when the asteroid was about 3.75 million miles (6 million kilometers) from Earth, which is 15.6 lunar distances. The radar […]
Cassini Finds Hints of Activity at Saturn Moon Dione
PASADENA, CA – From a distance, most of the Saturnian moon Dione resembles a bland cueball. Thanks to close-up images of a 500-mile-long (800-kilometer-long) mountain on the moon from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, scientists have found more evidence for the idea that Dione was likely active in the past. It could still be active now. “A […]
NASA’s WISE Mission Finds Lost Asteroid Family Members
WASHINGTON, DC – Data from NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) have led to a new and improved family tree for asteroids in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter. Astronomers used millions of infrared snapshots from the asteroid-hunting portion of the WISE all-sky survey, called NEOWISE, to identify 28 new asteroid families. The snapshots […]
Teams Prepare For NASA $1.5 Million Robot Challenge
WASHINGTON, DC – Eleven teams from across the country and around the globe are preparing to compete for $1.5 million during NASA’s 2013 Sample Return Robot Challenge, June 5-7 at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Worcester, Mass.
ISS Expedition 36 Grows To Six Following Same-day Soyuz Launch And Docking
NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg, Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin and ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano successfully blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 4:31 p.m. EDT, Tuesday, May 28, riding the Soyuz TM-09M spacecraft. Just six hours later, they joined their Expedition 36 crewmates when the hatches between their capsule and the International Space Station […]
On Eve Of Demolition, SLC-17’s Twin Pads Bridge Space Age At Cape Canaveral
The twin launch gantries that mark Space Launch Complex 17 bridge the Space Age from the early days when small rockets achieving modest successes made headlines to the modern era of large boosters regularly lofting probes and satellites into precise orbits with little fanfare. In a time of gigantic launch servicing structures, control rooms and […]
Delta IV Returns To Flight With Successful Launch Of WGS-5 Spacecraft
CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – The Delta IV EELV returned to flight today after experiencing upper state problems on its last mission. The rocket successfully launched the fifth Air Force Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS-5) from Space Launch Complex-37, with liftoff occurring at 8:27 p.m. EDT and separation of WGS-5 40 minutes later. Notably, the launch took […]
Students And The Public Invited To Participate In Solar Sail Mission
The invention of the CubeSat standard by the California Polytechnic State University ushered in a revolution in the utilization and exploration of space by both governmental and civilian users. With a total volume as small as a 1,000 cubic centimeters, cubesats have enabled relatively economical space access for industrial, academic and private organizations that previously […]
Atlas V’s First GPS Launch Is A Success
Thundering into cloudless blue skies, a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket successfully completed its first mission to deploy a Global Positioning System satellite for the Unuted States Air Force. Roaring off the launch pad exactly on time at 5:38 p.m. EDT, Atlas completed its mission three and a half hours later when it deployed […]
ISS Expedition 35 Ends With Successful Landing Of Three Crewmembers In Kazahkstan
Three members of the International Space Station Expedition 35 crew undocked from the orbiting laboratory and returned safely to Earth Monday, May 13, wrapping up a mission lasting almost five months. The departure marks the beginning of Expedition 36.