‘Mighty Eagle’ Lander Completes 2 Successful Untethered Tests At NASA Marshall Space Flight Center; 3-Legged Lander Hovered At Altitude Of 10m, Identified Its Landing Site 6.5m Away, Moved Sideways & Descended Safely; Flight Lasted 32 Seconds; Fuelled Mainly By Pure Hydrogen Peroxide, 315kg Lander Is Test-Bed Vehicle That Could Land On Moon Or Asteroids; Additional Tests Expected In Sep
Image Credit: NASA
Armadillo Aerospace / NASA JSC Confirm Development Of New Morpheus Test Vehicle, To Be Ready For 1st Tethered Tests By Early 2013; Engineers Continue To Gather Data, Learn From Recent Crash; Utilizing “Lean” Development Approach To Quickly Build, Test & Redesign Hardware To Achieve Many Cycles Before Building Flight Unit; Project Has Cost About US$7M Over Last 2.5 Years
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James Fincannon & NASA Glenn Research Center Engineers Provide Evidence That USA Flags Persevering In Harsh Lunar Environment; By Combining LROC Images Of Each Apollo Site Taken At Same Orientation But With Different Sun Angles, Team Produced Video To Show Movement Of Shadow Caused By Flags; All Flags Except Apollo 11 Still Standing
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Sally Ride: 26 May 1951 – 23 July 2012
Respectful / Honorable Achievements Extend Beyond Her Being The First American Woman In Space (On 18 June 1983) & Her Efforts To Inspire Women To Consider Careers In Science; Ride Was Also Current PI For GRAIL MoonKAM Initiative, ‘Outpost On Moon’ (With Crew Of 30 By 2010) Was 1 Of 4 Main Initiatives In The 1987 ‘Ride Report’
Speaking At Lunar Science Forum, NASA Planetary Sciences Division Director Jim Green Says Science & Human Exploration Sectors Will Get Closer As Exploration Moves Out From Earth Orbit; Rechartered Lunar Science Institute Will Have ‘Flexible Path’ Focus On Moon, Mars, NEOs; Human Spaceflight Architecture Team Outlines Importance Of Cis-Lunar Space In Future Global Space Exploration
Image Credit: NASA
Moon South Pole, With Water Ice In Permanently Shadowed Craters / Peaks Of Eternal Light, Is Likely Destination For Future Human Exploration / Settlement As Indicated By Spacecraft Impactors That Have Targeted The Area: USA Lunar Prospector 31 Jul 1999, India Chandrayaan-1 Moon Impact Probe 14 Nov 2008, USA LCROSS 9 Oct 2009
Image Credit: NASA, ISRO
5th Annual Lunar Science Forum Begins Today At NASA Ames Research Center, California (17-19 July); Plenary Session 1 Opens With Overview Of 3 USA Missions / 5 Spacecraft Currently In Moon Orbit; Maria Zuber: 1st Science Results From GRAIL; Jasper Halekas: 1st Results From ARTEMIS; Mark Robinson: Exploring The Moon With LROC; Greg Delory To Provide Status Update Of NET 2013 LADEE Mission
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First Test Flight Of Orion / MPCV In 2014 To Cislunar Space, Return To Earth At Speed 80% Of Lunar Return; NASA Managers Considering Using Recycled ISS Module As Way-Station At Earth-Moon Lagrange Point Or Lunar Orbit; Lockheed Martin Space Systems VP John Karas Says Cislunar Space Operations With No Landings Provide “Affordable Step-Wise Push To Mars”, Tele-Operating Lunar Robots From L2 Base Effective Analog For Deimos-Mars Operations
Image Credit: NASA, Space News
ESA / NASA Collaborating On Project To Confirm Effectiveness Of Laser Communication From Moon To Earth & Back; New Optical Terminal Flying On LADEE (NET 2013) Will Transmit Over 600MB / Second To 3 Ground Stations By Beam Of Infrared Light At 1550nm Wavelength; Optical Laser Communication Could Reduce Mass Of On-Board Receiving / Transmitting Equipment & Provide Significantly Faster Data Rates Than Traditional Radio Frequencies
Image Credit: NASA
‘Exploration Gateway / Platform’ Concept Emerging As Preferred Direction For NASA Human Architecture Team; Plan Involves Launch Of Several International Modules For Construction At ISS Using Existing Hardware & Launch Vehicles, Transported To EML2 By 25-40kW Solar Electric Propulsion Vehicle; Provides Immediate Deep Space Destination For Astronauts, Excellent Way-Station For Moon, Rest Of Solar System
Image Credit: NASA