Category Archives: NASA

Tuesday / 16 April 2013

Posted on by

RESOLVE: Ambitious Mission On Tight Budget / Timeline

RESOLVE0413

With US$250M Budget Cap 2017 RESOLVE Mission Needs To Achieve Ambitious Goals Within Challenging Timeline; Unable To Afford Nuclear Power, Solar-Powered RESOLVE Will Be Limited To 5 Active Days On Lunar Pole To Accomplish Mission Goals: Search For Hydrogen, Drill 1 Meter, Analyze Sample, Heat To Extract Liquid Water, Demonstrate How Oxygen Can Be Pulled From Regolith & Mixed With Hydrogen To Produce Water, Help Determine Origin Of Lunar Water

Image Credit: NASA

Weekend Edition / Fri-Mon 12-15 April 2013

Posted on by

USA Congress Advocating Moon Base

PoseyMoon0413

US Rep Bill Posey (R-FL) Reintroduces 2011 Bill Called RE-Asserting American Leadership (REAL) In Space Act Which Tasks NASA To Send Astronauts To Moon By 2022 With Goal Of Establishing Long-Term Settlement; Bill Co-Sponsored By 8 Other Republican & Democrat House Members; Proponents Claim That Clear / Attainable Lunar Goal Will Give Renewed Direction To NASA, Allow For Testing Of Technologies To Master Extraterrestrial Surface Operations

Image Credit: NASA, poseyhouse.gov

Friday / 12 April 2013

Posted on by

Bigelow-NASA Agreement To Build Moon Base

Bigelow-NASA

Bigelow Aerospace Lunar Base Project Expected To Receive NASA Contract / Funding To “Extend & Sustain Human Activities Across The Solar System;” 3 BA-330 Inflatable Habitats With Propulsion Tanks & Power Units Would Be Joined In Space & Piloted To Moon Surface, Offer 990m3 Of Room, House Up To 18 Astronauts; Robert Bigelow Confident Habitats Could Accommodate Uneven Surface, Says Moon Great Practice For Mars & Beyond

Image Credit: Bigelow, Samuel Coniglio

Wednesday / 10 April 2013

Posted on by

NASA Lunar Science Forum Goes Virtual

July13Plans0413

No ‘In-Person’ Component For LSF2013 Due To Government Travel Restrictions; Presentations Will Be Delivered Via Adobe Connect, Allowing For 500 Combined International & Domestic Logins; Format Change Influencing Other Related Events Such As ILOA 2013 Silicon Valley Board Meeting Now Reset For 24 July — 44th Anniversary Of Apollo 11 Mission End, Eve Of NewSpace 2013 Conference

Image Credit: NASA, Space Frontier Foundation, NASA

Tuesday / 9 April 2013

Posted on by

Astrobotic Advancing Autonomous Landing Systems

AstroboticSensors0413

Series Of Tests Underway In Astrobotic Contract With NASA To Demonstrate Autonomous Landing System For Moon / Asteroids / Planets; Astrobotic Successfully Flew Sensor Package On Uncrewed Helicopter Operated By Pilot On Ground; Next Step Is To Land Helicopter Autonomously – Without GPS, Then Test System On Astrobotic Griffin Lander; Landing Sensor Uses 2 Cameras, Inertial Measurement Unit, & Scanning Laser

Image Credit: Astrobotic Technology, Inc.

Tuesday / 2 April 2013

Posted on by

Asteroid To The Moon

AsteroidTowing0413

Human Asteroid Landing Mission Proposed By USA President Obama May Take Place In Lunar Orbit; NASA Expected To Request US$100M In Next Budget To Begin Preparations For 10-Year (~2015-2025) US$2.65B-Robotic Mission To Capture 7-m Diameter, 500,000-kg Asteroid & Tow It To High Lunar Orbit; Spacecraft Would Employ Ion Thrusters, Deploy Massive Inflatable Bag To Envelop Asteroid

Image Credit: NASA

Friday / 29 March 2013

Posted on by

India-USA Aim For Moon, Mars Together

ISRO-NASA

Joint Moon, Mars, Deep Space Missions & Increased Commercial Space Cooperation Agreement Reached By India Ambassador Nirupama Rao & NASA Administrator Bolden; NASA Joins ISRO For Oct 2013 Mangalyaan Mars Mission; Will Continue To Discuss Planetary Science, Policy Issues, New Opportunities For Collaboration; Annual Science & Tech Endowment Fund ~US$2-3M & National Defense Authorization Act Expected To Expedite Space Tech Trade, Promote Innovations

Image Credit: ISRO, NASA, theindiaexpert.com

Thursday / 28 March 2013

Posted on by

Morpheus Rising Again

MorpheusRising0313

Morpheus / ALHAT Team Building New Morpheus 1.5B & 1.5C Vehicles For Static Hot Fire & Dynamic Tethered Tests This Spring At NASA JSC, Project Will Then Return To Free-Flight Testing At KSC This Summer; Morpheus Had 26 Successful Test Flights Before Aug 2012 Crash Caused By Vibration Breaking Connection Of Navigation Instruments; New Craft Design Will Protect Against Shaking; Project Goal To Develop Craft Capable Of Autonomous Moon Landing

Image Credit: NASA

Wednesday / 27 March 2013

Posted on by

Moon & Vesta Commonalities Reveal Solar System History

LED Moon & Vesta

Scientists From NLSI Discover That Same Projectiles That Hit Moon 4B Years Ago Also Hit Vesta & Other Large Asteroids; Data Linked From Apollo Moon Rocks, Howardite / Eucrite / Diogenite (HED) Meteorites On Earth, Dawn Spacecraft Vesta Images & Computer Models; Supports Theory / Provides Details About Start & Duration Of Lunar Cataclysm – Jupiter / Saturn Were Repositioned Causing Destabilized Asteroid Belt & Solar System Wide Bombardment

Image Credit: NASA/GSFC/ASU/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA

Tuesday / 26 March 2013

Posted on by

L2 Space News Providing Unprecedented Resource

L2SpaceNews0313

With Over 5,000Gb Of Documentation, Graphics, Information, Photos & Video Found Nowhere Else On The Internet, L2 Is Revolutionizing Spaceflight News; With 9 Main Sections & Over 200 Specific Topic Areas Site Contains Information On Future Space Plans, Current News & History Of Spaceflight; Currently Featuring Article Detailing Golden Spike Company Plans / Moon Landing Site Considerations 

Image Credit: spaceflight.com, Golden Spike Co.