Category: Space

Harris Corporation Helps Tallahassee Team Compete in the Florida Astronaut Challenge Finals

Trent Walker and Justin Golabek simulate the landing of a Space Shuttle at Kennedy Space Center as part of the Student Astronaut Challenge at the KSC Visitors Center Feb. 16. The students were part of a team from St. John Paul II Catholic High School in Tallahassee, Florida, which was sponsored by Harris Corporation. The team was among 15 finalists to take part in the high school division of the competition that promotes Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics education.

Rocket lifts off in Florida

A dragon space capsule bound for the International Space Station was atop the Space X Falcon 9 rocket as it climbed into the cloudy skies over central After the rocket gave the capsule enough ‘push’ to reach orbit, it separated then made a successful landing at the Cape. WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.

Does Enceladus Have An Ocean?

“Enceladus was so exciting that, instead of just three close flybys planned for our four-year primary mission, we added 20 more, including seven that went right through the geysers at the south pole,” said Linda Spilker, Cassini project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California. By following the trail of scientific breadcrumbs, Cassini eventually found that Enceladus harbors a global ocean of salty water under its icy crust, possibly with hydrothermal vents on its seafloor.

Antarctic sea ice reaches record low

There is currently less sea ice surrounding the Antarctic continent than at any point since reliable records began in 1979. “As of Tuesday, it looks like we hit a new record low in the satellite era,” Mark Serreze, the director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center, said.

SDSU grad named to U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame

Ellen Ochoa, a San Diego State University graduate who became the first Hispanic woman to travel in space and who rose to her current position as director of the NASA ‘s Johnson Space Center in Houston, has been elected to the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame. The 58 year-old Ochoa was honored for work that’s ranged from service aboard four shuttle flight and her stewardship of JSC, which has handled NASA’s manned space flight efforts since the early days of the American space program Ochoa spent much of her childhood in La Mesa, and graduated from El Cajon’s Grossmont High School in 1975.

NASA Astronauts At AF Survival School Highlights Capabilities, Needs

Four NASA astronauts trained with U.S. Air Force Survival School instructors in water survival and recovery Feb. 10, at the base fitness center pool at Fairchild Air Force Base in Washington state. The astronauts underwent the training in preparation for anticipated test flights of the new commercially made American rockets, the Boeing CST-100 Starliner and the SpaceX Dragon.

SLS Em-1 Flight May Be a Manned Mission

Acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot distributed a memo Wednesday asking the agency to look into what would be required to have astronauts fly on the first launch of the Space Launch System rocket currently under development. In the memo, Lightfoot says that in his interactions with President Trump and his administration, it is clear that NASA is a priority.

India scripts history, launches 104 satellites at one go

Indian Space Research Organisation successfully launch a record 104 satellites, including India’s earth observation satellite on-board PSLV-C37/Cartosat2 Series from the spaceport of Sriharikota on Wednesday. Photo – PTI Indian Space Research Organisation successfully launch a record 104 satellites, including India’s earth observation satellite on-board PSLV-C37/Cartosat2 Series from the spaceport of Sriharikota on Wednesday.

Modi congratulates ISRO for launch of 104 satellites

New Delhi, Feb 15 – Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday congratulated ISRO for the successful launch of 104 satellites at one go and said it was a proud moment for the nation. Congratulations to ISRO for the successful launch of PSLV-C37 and Cartosat satellite together with 103 nano satellites, Modi tweeted.

NASA bets big on private sector to put humans on Mars

NASA will continue tapping the private sector to fund space exploration efforts under President Trump , marking a continuation in policy that first began under former president Barack Obama . “Public-private partnerships are the future of space exploration,” Dava Newman, a former NASA deputy administrator who resigned before Trump took office, told CNBC on Monday.

Landsat 8 Images Show Rains Reviving Central Coast Reservoirs

Images captured by a satellite launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base four years ago show the dramatic difference in water levels for two Central Coast reservoirs due to recent rains. Lake Nacimiento is now at 86 percent full, while Lake San Antonio – virtually dry before – sits at 32 percent full, as of Friday, according to Monterey County Water Resources Agency.

Whistleblower Links NOAA Study to Climate Treaty Agendas

Former National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientist Dr. John Bates has gone on record that the organization knowingly released “unverified” global temperature data in violation of rules on scientific integrity which Bates had received a 2014 U.S. Department of Commerce Gold Medal for devising. Dr. Bates told the U.K.’s Daily Mail that a politically sensationalized 2015 NOAA “Karl study” published in the journal Science was blatantly intended to influence policy agendas favored by the Obama administration at the 2015 Paris climate conference.

NASA Captures Images of Asteroid that Resembles Dungeons and Dragons Dice

The 25 images of asteroid 2017 BQ6 that made a close approach towards Earth on February 6. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/GSSR The high-resolution radar images of asteroid 2017 BQ6 that safely flew passed Earth on February 6 have been processed and provide new insight into the size and structure of the cosmic object. The 25 composite images are generated using NASA’s 70-meter antenna at the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex in California and reveal an irregular, angular shape asteroid bearing a resemblance to role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons dice.

NASA Launch Pad 39A Reignites in Preparation for SpaceX Launch

NASA’s Launch Pad 39A was reignited by static fire during a pre-flight test on Sunday in preparation for a Feb. 18 launch of SpaceX Falcon 9. Built in the 1960s, the historic Launch Pad 39A is the same at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida was used to launch such historic missions as Apollo 11, the first moon landing in 1969, according to Collect Space . “First static fire test of Falcon 9 at historic launch complex 39A completed in advance of Dragon’s upcoming mission to the space station,” SpaceX wrote on Twitter.

NASA’s Balloon Program Returns to Wanaka, New Zealand

For a third consecutive year, NASA is returning to Wanaka, New Zealand, to launch a long-duration, heavy-lift super pressure balloon into one of the most dynamic and severe flight regimes inside the Earth’s atmosphere. After launch, planned for the late March/early April timeframe, the 18.8-million-cubic-foot SPB will ascend to an altitude of 110,000 feet where the stratospheric winds will propel it at speeds up to and exceeding 100 knots through the heating and cooling of the day-night cycle on a weeks-long journey around the southern hemisphere.

DARPA sued as competition to build space robots heats up

Orbital ATK, a Dulles-based aerospace manufacturer, is suing the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency over plans to award a Canadian firm a $15 million contract to build a fleet of space-faring robots capable of repairing government and commercial satellites. Satellites are often declared obsolete because of problems that could be fixed easily if the objects were accessible, and the satellites’ owners are saddled with the extra costs of sending replacements into orbit.

With eyes on Venus and Mars, ISRO attempts mega world record

Buried and hidden in the hundreds of pages of the new format electronic budget documents, is the first formal acknowledgement by the government about these two new bold inter-planetary sojourns to Earth’s immediate neighbours. This uplifting news comes ahead of the Indian Space Research Organisation attempting to undertake its mega launch where it will drop off into space not one, two or three but a full load of 104 satellites in space in a single mission.

Brightening views

Students don eclipse glasses to look directly at the sun on Saturday at Discovery Park. The UNT campus hosted 20 sixth-graders from Sanger ISD for its first NASA learning camp.

Waking climate change’s sleeping giant

A world-leading glaciologist visiting New Zealand says scientists are fast running out of time to fully understand dramatic changes under way in climate change’s sleeping giant: Antarctica. Professor Eric Rignot, based at the University of California, Irvine and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, will this week give a free talk in Wellington , outlining growing concerns scientists have about the frozen continent and pressing the urgent case for action on climate change today.

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Something absolutely mind-blowing happened on the International Space Station recently, and fortunately, video captured it all. Researchers on the ISS were able to catch the rare moment when blue lightning filled a storm cloud far below, and you can watch the video below.

Halley’s comet? Nope. New discovery is 100,000 times bigger

Astronomers in Germany have found a massive, comet-like object packed with the essentials of life: Water, nitrogen, upon a discovery that could hint at surviving planets debris from a massive object similar to a comet orbiting around a burnt-out sta Halley’s comet? Nope. New discovery is 100,000 times bigger Astronomers in Germany have found a massive, comet-like object packed with the essentials of life: Water, nitrogen, upon a discovery that could hint at surviving planets debris from a massive object similar to a comet orbiting around a burnt-out sta Check out this story on demingheadlight.com: http://usat.ly/2kujLin This artist’s concept shows a massive, comet-like object falling toward a white dwarf.