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Domain: nasa.gov
Stories and comments across the archive that link to nasa.gov.
Stories · 2,550
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Lunar Helium 3 Could Meet Earth's Energy Demands
starannihilator writes "Helium 3, rare on the earth but abundant on the moon, may prove to be a feasible energy source with NASA's Moon-Mars initiative. Despite the American Physical Society's Report that the initiative harms science, the moon may actually benefit humans because it contains 10 times more energy than all the fossil fuels on earth. Long hailed as a potential source of energy, and outlined in detail by the Artemis Project, helium 3 may solve earth's energy crisis without any radioactive byproducts. The only problem: the reactor technology for converting helium 3 to energy is still in its infancy. Read more about the Artemis Project's information about fusion power from the moon here." Reader muditgarg points out that India has just hosted a global conference on Moon exploration and utilization, and adds a link to this related story on KeralaNext. -
Swift Observatory Launched
IndigoSkies writes "NASA today successfully launched the Swift Observatory into Earth orbit for an intense two year study of GRBs (gamma-ray bursts) to determine whether there is a connection between them and the evolution of black holes. Unlike Earth-bound observatories, Swift will be able to detect GRBs occurring in real-time, and swiftly (hence the name) turn and focus on them within seconds -- before the burst fades forever from view. This should hopefully settle once and for all whether GRBs are in fact caused by black hole activity, or merely starships engaging their warp engines." -
NASA to Support Global Conservation Efforts
jackelfish writes "An agreement signed between The World Conservation Union and NASA will provide satellite imagery and advanced technologies to aid decision makers in predicting environmental outcomes. Not only will the NASA data be used to assess environmental issues, but can provide valuable information for mapping many of the world's protected areas." -
Apollo 12 at 35
neutron_p writes "Thirty-five years ago this week, the sedentary, fine-grained powder began to rise, billow and race off toward the horizon. Soon after - at 1:54:35 a.m. EST on Nov. 19, 1969 - the lunar module Intrepid landed, bringing two more humans to the surface of another world. Apollo 12 commander Pete Conrad and lunar module pilot Alan Bean would be on the Moon for more than 31 hours, with crewmate Dick Gordon orbiting above in the command module Yankee Clipper." -
Mach 10 X43A Flight Successful
Sector Bug writes "NASA's X43A research aircraft made its third and final flight today, firing its scramjet engine at Mach 10 (7,000 MPH) or close to it, setting a new record. " -
X-43A Mach 10 Mission Scrubbed For Today
An anonymous reader writes "NASA's third X-43A hypersonic research mission has been scrubbed for today due to technical glitches with X-43A instrumentation. When the issues were addressed, not enough time remained in the launch window." -
NASA Attempts to Break Record with Mach 10 Flight
starannihilator writes "Wired News is reporting that NASA is planning on using its new SCRAMJET to break the aircraft speed record (on Earth, anyway) at Mach 10 (7,000 mph or 10-times the speed of sound). Using the hypersonic X-43A, NASA hopes to break the record on Monday, November 15th." -
NASA Attempts to Break Record with Mach 10 Flight
starannihilator writes "Wired News is reporting that NASA is planning on using its new SCRAMJET to break the aircraft speed record (on Earth, anyway) at Mach 10 (7,000 mph or 10-times the speed of sound). Using the hypersonic X-43A, NASA hopes to break the record on Monday, November 15th." -
NASA Prize Competition Solicits Ideas and Partners
colonist writes "NASA's prize competition program, Centennial Challenges, is asking for proposals and partner organizations. NASA plans four categories: Flagship Challenges (space missions), Keystone Challenges (technologies), Alliance Challenges (run by partner organizations) and Quest Challenges (students and other groups). You can also submit ideas for prizes." -
NASA Prize Competition Solicits Ideas and Partners
colonist writes "NASA's prize competition program, Centennial Challenges, is asking for proposals and partner organizations. NASA plans four categories: Flagship Challenges (space missions), Keystone Challenges (technologies), Alliance Challenges (run by partner organizations) and Quest Challenges (students and other groups). You can also submit ideas for prizes." -
NASA Prize Competition Solicits Ideas and Partners
colonist writes "NASA's prize competition program, Centennial Challenges, is asking for proposals and partner organizations. NASA plans four categories: Flagship Challenges (space missions), Keystone Challenges (technologies), Alliance Challenges (run by partner organizations) and Quest Challenges (students and other groups). You can also submit ideas for prizes." -
Go on a Virtual Trip to Mars
Jaroslaw Zachwieja writes "The Druantia Virtual Trip to Mars Project has made access to MOLA data simplier than ever. The data is served as 16bit PNG files. A bash script and interpolation program is available to automate the retrieving process. Druantia project (still a little baby in need of developers) aims to allow anyone with decent graphic card and broadband internet connection to explore Mars and interact with other participants connected. The data served is the highest publicly available set with one pixel for approx. 460 meters and (uncompressed) takes 2GB of disk space. Meet you at Olympus Mons? :)" -
Evidence of Glaciers on Mars?
cyclop writes "Nature reports that the Mars Express mission has photographed evidence of ancient glaciers on Mars. It seems glaciers have sculpted valleys on the red planet, much like on Earth." Reader macguys writes "Space.com is reporting that the Mars Rover Opportunity has received an unexpected and unexplained power boost of between 2 and 5 percent. The NASA Rover site is so far silent on the boost." -
Time Lapse of Lunar Eclipse
MufasaZX writes "Start with a relatively rare occurrence, the complete lunar eclipse from last Wednesday. Next add the amazingly rare, a perfectly clear fog free night in San Francisco, as viewed from the cliffs overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge. Then I set up my trusty Sony MiniDV camcorder and wide angle lens on a tripod and proceeded to freeze my butt off for 2 hours. Dump the video into Premier, accelerate it 200x to just 37 seconds, and the resulting video is IMHO simply stunning. Until my web server gets crushed you can download it here, but after that please use your Gnutella client of choice and search for LunarEclipse-10-2004.wmv." -
NASA Retires Vomit Comet
Mr. Christmas Lights writes "NASA just retired the last of the KC-135 'vomit comets' which were used for reduced (and zero-g) gravity research by flying a parabolic trajectory for about 25 seconds of Zero-G. Two of these planes (originally Air Force aerial tankers) were used with the first one being retired in 2000. /. readers will be happy to know that among the various achievements was 'at least 285 gallons of vomit' .. although unknown how much when it was used for filming the Apollo 13 movie. NASA is replacing the KC-135's with a DC-9. There is some personal significance for me in that my father flew this airplane in the 1970's for the (real) Apollo astronauts ... he commented that maintaining the Zero-G profile was accomplished not by using the sensitive G-Meter, but by hanging a nut from a string in the cockpit ... if it drops, push forward, if it raises, pull back - simple but effective. There is a recent commercial offering in this area where for a measly $3,000, you can go for a ride in Gravity One ." -
NASA Retires Vomit Comet
Mr. Christmas Lights writes "NASA just retired the last of the KC-135 'vomit comets' which were used for reduced (and zero-g) gravity research by flying a parabolic trajectory for about 25 seconds of Zero-G. Two of these planes (originally Air Force aerial tankers) were used with the first one being retired in 2000. /. readers will be happy to know that among the various achievements was 'at least 285 gallons of vomit' .. although unknown how much when it was used for filming the Apollo 13 movie. NASA is replacing the KC-135's with a DC-9. There is some personal significance for me in that my father flew this airplane in the 1970's for the (real) Apollo astronauts ... he commented that maintaining the Zero-G profile was accomplished not by using the sensitive G-Meter, but by hanging a nut from a string in the cockpit ... if it drops, push forward, if it raises, pull back - simple but effective. There is a recent commercial offering in this area where for a measly $3,000, you can go for a ride in Gravity One ." -
NASA Retires Vomit Comet
Mr. Christmas Lights writes "NASA just retired the last of the KC-135 'vomit comets' which were used for reduced (and zero-g) gravity research by flying a parabolic trajectory for about 25 seconds of Zero-G. Two of these planes (originally Air Force aerial tankers) were used with the first one being retired in 2000. /. readers will be happy to know that among the various achievements was 'at least 285 gallons of vomit' .. although unknown how much when it was used for filming the Apollo 13 movie. NASA is replacing the KC-135's with a DC-9. There is some personal significance for me in that my father flew this airplane in the 1970's for the (real) Apollo astronauts ... he commented that maintaining the Zero-G profile was accomplished not by using the sensitive G-Meter, but by hanging a nut from a string in the cockpit ... if it drops, push forward, if it raises, pull back - simple but effective. There is a recent commercial offering in this area where for a measly $3,000, you can go for a ride in Gravity One ." -
Hibernating to Mars
neutron_p writes "Manned missions beyond the Moon are no longer wild dreams. NASA plans a manned mission to Mars before 2020. With automatic systems in control, astronauts would face the challenge of living in a confined space with not much to do for an extremely long period. 'Might as well sleep it off!' Studies initiated by ESA have gone one step further. Wouldn't it be nice if astronauts could hibernate! ESA biologists are conducting investigations into the physiological mechanisms that mammals use to hibernate." -
Titan's Smooth Surface Baffles Scientists
JazMuadDib writes "Scientists expected a few rough spots when their space drone snapped close-range images of Titan, Saturn's largest moon. Instead, the planetlike moon appears to have a bizarre, mysteriously smooth surface, and Tuesday's images have left them in a state of wonder. Read more at the Tucson Citizen." NASA's Cassini pages have a wide assortment of images and analysis. Cassini's data has already thrown scientists for loop. -
China to Launch Solar Telescope
Dirak writes "China plans to launch the world's largest and most advanced space solar telescope (SST) into 735-kilometre-high earth synchronous orbit in 2008. Japan and the United States are also jointly developing an SST, coded as SOLAR-B, now scheduled for launch in the September of 2005. But with a diameter of 0.5 metre, SOLAR-B has half capability in optical resolution than that of the Chinese-made solar telescope." -
SGI & NASA Build World's Fastest Supercomputer
GarethSwan writes "SGI and NASA have just rolled-out the new world number one fastest supercomputer. Its performance test (LINPACK) result of 42.7 teraflops easily outclasses the previous mark set by Japan's Earth Simulator of 35.86 teraflops AND that set by IBM's new BlueGene/L experiment of 36.01 teraflops. What's even more awesome is that each of the 20 512-processor systems run a single Linux image, AND Columbia was installed in only 15 weeks. Imagine having your own 20-machine cluster?" -
Cassini Probe Does Titan Flyby
EccentricAnomaly writes "Today, Cassini had its first close encounter with Titan around 8:30AM PDT. Data from the flyby will start coming down around 6:30PM PDT, and you can watch the pictures live on NASA TV. If you want higher resolution or just to stare at one picture for a while, the raw images will be put on the web right away, with pretty press images to follow the next day. And if you want to know about the observations planned for the flyby, you can read this PDF or watch this animation." -
Cassini Probe Does Titan Flyby
EccentricAnomaly writes "Today, Cassini had its first close encounter with Titan around 8:30AM PDT. Data from the flyby will start coming down around 6:30PM PDT, and you can watch the pictures live on NASA TV. If you want higher resolution or just to stare at one picture for a while, the raw images will be put on the web right away, with pretty press images to follow the next day. And if you want to know about the observations planned for the flyby, you can read this PDF or watch this animation." -
Cassini Probe Does Titan Flyby
EccentricAnomaly writes "Today, Cassini had its first close encounter with Titan around 8:30AM PDT. Data from the flyby will start coming down around 6:30PM PDT, and you can watch the pictures live on NASA TV. If you want higher resolution or just to stare at one picture for a while, the raw images will be put on the web right away, with pretty press images to follow the next day. And if you want to know about the observations planned for the flyby, you can read this PDF or watch this animation." -
Cassini Probe Does Titan Flyby
EccentricAnomaly writes "Today, Cassini had its first close encounter with Titan around 8:30AM PDT. Data from the flyby will start coming down around 6:30PM PDT, and you can watch the pictures live on NASA TV. If you want higher resolution or just to stare at one picture for a while, the raw images will be put on the web right away, with pretty press images to follow the next day. And if you want to know about the observations planned for the flyby, you can read this PDF or watch this animation." -
Titan's Alien Thunder
An anonymous reader writes "What is not being reported much about the fascinating Huygens descent to the surface of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, is its remarkable microphone. In the silence of space, the probe offers a platform for listening to alien thunder while watching the lightning strike on this alien world--the only moon with an atmosphere thicker than our terrestrial one. The probe detaches from Cassini on Christmas for its atmospheric entry on 14 January 2005. The landing target on Titan borders a bright-dark region thought to be an oil-rich shoreline. Huygens can float for a few hours while still broadcasting if it lands in a lake of oil." -
Titan's Alien Thunder
An anonymous reader writes "What is not being reported much about the fascinating Huygens descent to the surface of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, is its remarkable microphone. In the silence of space, the probe offers a platform for listening to alien thunder while watching the lightning strike on this alien world--the only moon with an atmosphere thicker than our terrestrial one. The probe detaches from Cassini on Christmas for its atmospheric entry on 14 January 2005. The landing target on Titan borders a bright-dark region thought to be an oil-rich shoreline. Huygens can float for a few hours while still broadcasting if it lands in a lake of oil." -
Brazil Successfully Launches Its First Rocket To Space
thatshortkid writes "The Washington Times is reporting on Brazil's first successful space launch. Since it is closer to the equator, the task of getting up to space is easier, meaning much more cargo room over fuel. Hello commercial launch market! With this development, along with China's expanding space program, India making moves to space, and our own homegrown (ok, still growing) private space industry, where does this put NASA? Does it take a load off of them to pursue bigger endeavors, or will NASA slowly decline in relevance?" -
Green Plants for Mars Mission
An anonymous reader writes "NASA doesn't keep back that they are going to send a human expedition to Mars in a couple of decades. One of the obstacles for the longstanding 35-million-mile voyage is a food production. NASA researchers have focused on 20 plant species that NASA believes could be grown during a flight to Mars and after landing on the fourth planet from the Sun. By far not all of them are suitable for space expedition." -
Tune in to Titan
Scarblac writes "In a little over four days, the Cassini spacecraft will finally do its first flyby of Titan, the first of 46 such flybys planned for the coming years. There will be a broadcast on NASA TV. Titan is one of the most interesting objects in the solar system, the only moon with a substantial atmosphere. A few months ago, Cassini was able to spot details of Titan's surface from far away. It should be able to improve on this dramatically - what will be discovered this time?" -
Tune in to Titan
Scarblac writes "In a little over four days, the Cassini spacecraft will finally do its first flyby of Titan, the first of 46 such flybys planned for the coming years. There will be a broadcast on NASA TV. Titan is one of the most interesting objects in the solar system, the only moon with a substantial atmosphere. A few months ago, Cassini was able to spot details of Titan's surface from far away. It should be able to improve on this dramatically - what will be discovered this time?" -
Tune in to Titan
Scarblac writes "In a little over four days, the Cassini spacecraft will finally do its first flyby of Titan, the first of 46 such flybys planned for the coming years. There will be a broadcast on NASA TV. Titan is one of the most interesting objects in the solar system, the only moon with a substantial atmosphere. A few months ago, Cassini was able to spot details of Titan's surface from far away. It should be able to improve on this dramatically - what will be discovered this time?" -
Turbulence in Saturn's Atmosphere
neutron_p writes "Today an image of turbulence in the atmosphere of Saturn has been unveiled. This image was taken with the NASA/ESA/ASI Cassini-Huygens spacecraft camera. This pattern is an example of a 'Kelvin-Helmholtz instability', which occurs when two fluids of different density flow past each other at different speeds. This phenomenon should be common on the gas-giant planets." -
Telerobotic Surgery A Reality
Moby Cock writes "Aquanauts on board NASA's NEEMO7 have successfully completed simulated gall bladder surgery with 'coaching' from a surgeon half a continent away. The story is covered at space.com and the Globe and Mail. The project is aimed at studying the feasiblity of dealing with medical emergencies in space on the ISS. "We have learned that it is possible, and quite safe, to telementor an untrained person through a complex medical task," said Dr. Mehran Anvari, one of the principal investigators from the McMaster University Centre for Minimal Access Surgery." -
Solar Minimum Coming Sooner Than Expected
bigjocker writes "According to this NASA story: "Something strange happened on the sun last week: all the sunspots vanished. This is a sign, say forecasters, that solar minimum is coming sooner than expected."" -
Telescope Will Have Images 10X Sharper Than Hubble
jangobongo writes "After a 20 year struggle, the University of Arizona's $120 million Large Binocular Telescope was dedicated last week. This unique telescope will have twin 8.4-meter (27.6 foot) mirrors that sit on a single mount. Using methods similar to a medical CAT scan, a technique of "tomographic" image reconstruction will be used to produce pictures 10 times sharper (example) than the Hubble Space Telescope for a fraction of its $2 billion dollar cost." -
Huygens Landing on Titan to be Tricky
neutron_p writes "On Jan. 14, 2005, Huygens probe will plow into the orange atmosphere of Saturn's moon, Titan. It will be flying blind through hydrocarbon haze and methane clouds to a surface that could consist of seven-kilometer-high ice mountains and liquid methane seas. Scientists hope that Huygens will survive the plunge. I hope too, especially after Genesis mission accident, although condition were much better." -
Help NASA Count Contrails
Bubblehead writes "NASA is looking for volunteers to count Contrails in the sky: "We're looking for special clouds called contrails. We want students, teachers and parents all over the world to report the number of contrails in the sky on October 14-15." Contrails are usually created by planes in the sky - here are a few examples." -
Help NASA Count Contrails
Bubblehead writes "NASA is looking for volunteers to count Contrails in the sky: "We're looking for special clouds called contrails. We want students, teachers and parents all over the world to report the number of contrails in the sky on October 14-15." Contrails are usually created by planes in the sky - here are a few examples." -
Satellite Loaded With AI For Self-Diagnosis
TheReckoning writes "NASA has loaded its E0-1 Satellite with Artificial Intelligence to diagnose on-board failures. The software 'works by comparing a computerized model of how the spacecraft's systems and software should perform against actual performance. If the spacecraft's behavior differs from the model, then the ... "reasoner" looks for the root cause of this difference and gives flight controllers several suggestions of what might have gone wrong.' Another NASA probe loaded with AI was Deep Space 1." -
NASA Quakesim Predicts 15 Out of 16 CA Quakes
Saint Aardvark writes "NASA's QuakeSim project has successfully predicted15 out of 16 of California's earthquakes with magnitude > 5, including 11 since the map was published in 2002. "So far, the technique has only missed one earthquake, a magnitude of 5.2, on June 15, 2004, under the ocean near San Clemente Island."" -
NASA Quakesim Predicts 15 Out of 16 CA Quakes
Saint Aardvark writes "NASA's QuakeSim project has successfully predicted15 out of 16 of California's earthquakes with magnitude > 5, including 11 since the map was published in 2002. "So far, the technique has only missed one earthquake, a magnitude of 5.2, on June 15, 2004, under the ocean near San Clemente Island."" -
Satellite Tip-Over Mishap Due to Missing Bolts
cradle writes "On September 6th, the $239 Million Dollar NOAA N-Prime Satellite toppled over and crashed to the floor of Lockheed Martin Space Systems' factory in Sunnyvale, CA, as it was being repositioned to replace an instrument. Today NASA released their report on the cause of the accident. It seems somebody forgot to check whether it was bolted down: '... during an operation that required repositioning (rotating) the TIROS NOAA N-PRIME spacecraft from a vertical to a horizontal position, the spacecraft slipped from the Turn-Over Cart (TOC) and fell to the floor. The spacecraft fell because the TIROS adapter plate to which it was mounted was not bolted to the TOC adapter plate with the required 24 bolts. The bolts were removed from the TOC by another project while the cart was in a common staging area, an activity which was not communicated to the NOAA project team.'" -
Satellite Tip-Over Mishap Due to Missing Bolts
cradle writes "On September 6th, the $239 Million Dollar NOAA N-Prime Satellite toppled over and crashed to the floor of Lockheed Martin Space Systems' factory in Sunnyvale, CA, as it was being repositioned to replace an instrument. Today NASA released their report on the cause of the accident. It seems somebody forgot to check whether it was bolted down: '... during an operation that required repositioning (rotating) the TIROS NOAA N-PRIME spacecraft from a vertical to a horizontal position, the spacecraft slipped from the Turn-Over Cart (TOC) and fell to the floor. The spacecraft fell because the TIROS adapter plate to which it was mounted was not bolted to the TOC adapter plate with the required 24 bolts. The bolts were removed from the TOC by another project while the cart was in a common staging area, an activity which was not communicated to the NOAA project team.'" -
NASA Wraps Up Genesis Recovery
linuxwrangler writes "NASA scientists are wrapping up the recovery of the Genesis Project. Eileen Stansbery of the Johnson Space Center, said the crash, 'will make the analysis difficult but not impossible...There is nothing that is a total loss,' which is truly good news. The JPL has some nice pictures and video of the recovered bits." -
NASA Wraps Up Genesis Recovery
linuxwrangler writes "NASA scientists are wrapping up the recovery of the Genesis Project. Eileen Stansbery of the Johnson Space Center, said the crash, 'will make the analysis difficult but not impossible...There is nothing that is a total loss,' which is truly good news. The JPL has some nice pictures and video of the recovered bits." -
Asteroid Fly-By Caught On Tape
starexplorer writes "SPACE.com is reporting that the Asteroid Toutatis flew over the neighborhood early this morning. The Asteroid is 2.9 miles long and 1.5 miles wide and was caught on video (Animated GIF here) by a team of educators. NASA also has a video capture." (This is the same asteroid recently promised.) -
X Prize Launch At Mojave Spaceport [updated: success!]
knovis writes "The Ansari X Prize is being attempted at this moment: 9:30am EST. Bert Rutan and Paul Allen's Scaled Composites is preparing to make the first of 2 launches necessary. For the uninitiated, the X-Prize is a $10M prize available to the first entirely privately funded organization that creates a vehicle that travels to 100km above the earth's surface (low earth orbit) twice within 2 weeks. IIRC, SpaceShipOne is planning 3 flights for that 2 week period, for safety. Best of luck to Private Spaceflight. Did anyone else notice that Virgin Galactic has just been launched?" Project Zen writes "MSNBC has an article about how the seats won't be filled with people but mementos of the crew." Several readers sent links to CNN's story on the flight, and space.com's continuing coverage, including by webcam; NASA TV also has an eye on the launch. (Watch this space for updates.) Update: 09/29 15:57 GMT by T : Disconnect writes "As reported all over, SpaceShipOne successfully flew its first X-Prize flight attempt. As of now (11:45:40EST) the officials have not cleared the flight as successful, but it's looking good." -
Making Tracks on Mars
An anonymous reader writes "In a remarkable series of orbital pictures, the Mars Global Surveyor's cameras have imaged the tracks of the Spirit rover on the surface. Individual debris pieces including the backshell and lander are visible with remarkable clarity using an innovative roll of the satellite." -
NASA Releases World Viewer
Klatoo55 writes "Nasa has released a comprehensive world viewing tool that allows you to zoom from planetary resolution down to where you can pick out individual streets. Really cool, but it needs a good internet connection and a decent graphics card. There's all sorts of interesting features, such as the ability to tilt your view for a flight-sim like experience and a data display feature that shows current natural disasters, political boundaries, weather patterns, and landmarks on the Earth's surface, all while providing a dynamic satellite's eye view of the planet."
