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Engineers and safety specialists from NASA and Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) gathered in Morro Bay, Calif., in late December to demonstrate how the company's Dragon spacecraft's parachute system would function in the event of an emergency on the launch pad or during ascent. The test was part of an optional milestone under NASA's Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) initiative and approved by the agency in August. Through the Commercial Crew Program, SpaceX is one of NASA's commercial partners working to develop a new generation of U.S. spacecraft and rockets capable of transporting humans to and from low-Earth orbit from American soil. NASA intends to use such commercial systems to fly U.S. astronauts to and from the International Space Station. The 12,000-pound test craft was lifted 8,000 feet above sea level by an Erickson Sky Crane helicopter and flown over the Pacific Ocean. Following Dragon's release, two drogue parachutes were released from the top of the spacecraft to slow its decent, before the three main parachutes deployed. The craft splashed down and was quickly recovered by the Sky Crane and carried back to shore. Image credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett #dragon #spacex #parachutes #spacecapsule #spacecraft #ocean #droptest #test #nasa #commercialcrew; -
Congratulations to the Morpheus Lander team on yesterday's free flight test. The 57-second test began at 1:15 p.m. EST on Thursday with the Morpheus lander launching from the ground over a flame trench and ascending approximately 187 feet, nearly doubling the target ascent velocity from the last test. Morpheus then flew forward, covering about 154 feet in 20 seconds before descending and landing on a dedicated pad inside the automated landing and hazard avoidance technology (ALHAT) hazard field. Morpheus landed within 11 inches of its target. Project Morpheus tests NASA's automated landing and hazard avoidance technology and an engine that runs on liquid oxygen and methane, or "green" propellants. These new capabilities could be used in future efforts to deliver cargo to planetary surfaces. Morpheus and ALHAT are examples of the partnerships that exist within the agency since seven of the 10 NASA centers have contributed time, energy and resources to both. Image credit: NASA #morpheus #lander #planet #planetary #nasa #space; -
NASA Center Renamed in Honor of Neil A. Armstrong - President Barack Obama has signed HR 667, the congressional resolution that redesignates NASA's Hugh L. Dryden Flight Research Center as the Neil A. Armstrong Flight Research Center, into law. Armstrong was a naval aviator from 1949 to 1952. During the Korean War he flew 78 combat missions. In 1955 he joined the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), NASA's predecessor, as a research pilot at Lewis Laboratory in Cleveland. He later transferred to NACA's High Speed Flight Research Station at Edwards AFB, Calif., later named NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center. As a research project test pilot over the course of seven years at the center from 1955 through 1962, he was in the forefront of the development of many high-speed aircraft. This photograph shows Neil Armstrong next to the X-15 rocket-powered aircraft after a research flight. He was one of only 12 pilots to fly the hypersonic X-15 as well as the first of 12 men to later walk on the moon. In all, he flew more than 200 different types of aircraft. Image Credit: NASA #nasa #armstrong #apollo #space #memorial #dryden #honor #name #edwards #x15 #moon; -
A wildfire started and spread quickly in the foothills northeast of Los Angeles on Jan. 16, 2014. The plume of smoke blanketed much of the metropolitan area and prompted air quality warnings across the region. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites captured these images of the Colby fire in Angeles National Forest just before (top) and just after noon on January 16. The morning image is clearer because the scene was centered under the satellite, while the afternoon image is fuzzy because the satellite was observing from an angle. According to InciWeb, the fire started around 6 a.m. Pacific Time on January 16 near the Glendora Mountain Road and the Colby Truck Trail in Glendora, California. As of 3 p.m. local time, nearly 500 firefighters were working the fire, which had destroyed 1,700 acres and at least two homes. CREDIT: NASA image courtesy LANCE/EOSDIS MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC. Caption by Michael Carlowicz #nasa #earth #fire #wildfire #modis #terra #aqua #smoke #satellite #firefighter; -
NASA is inviting people around the world to submit their names to be etched on a microchip aboard a spacecraft headed to the asteroid Bennu in 2016. The "Messages to Bennu!" microchip will travel to the asteroid aboard the agency's Origins-Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft. The robotic mission will spend more than two years at the 1,760-foot (500-meter)-wide asteroid. The spacecraft will collect a sample of Bennu's surface and return it to Earth in a sample return capsule. Those wishing to participate in "Messages to Bennu!" should submit their name online no later than Sept. 30 at: http://planetary.org/bennu Image credit: NASA/Goddard/Chris Meaney #bennu #asteroid #asteroid #asteroidbennu #osirisrex #nasa #space #spacecraft #name #sendyournametospace;
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At Work in the Destiny Laboratory of the International Space Station - NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins, Expedition 38 flight engineer, performs in-flight maintenance on combustion research hardware in the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station in this image taken on Dec. 30, 2013. Hopkins replaced a Multi-user Droplet Combustion Apparatus (MDCA) fuel reservoir inside the Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR). The Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR) includes an optics bench, combustion chamber, fuel and oxidizer control, and five different cameras for performing combustion experiments in microgravity. Image Credit: NASA #nasa #space #iss #spacestation #science #earth #exp38; -
Vigorous mixing in the air above large cracks in Arctic sea ice that expose seawater to cold polar air pumps atmospheric mercury down to the surface, finds a NASA field campaign. This process can lead to more of the toxic pollutant entering the food chain, where it can negatively affect the health of fish and animals who eat them, including humans. Scientists measured increased concentrations of mercury near ground level after sea ice off the coast of Barrow, Alaska, cracked, creating open seawater channels called leads. The researchers were in the Arctic for the NASA-led Bromine, Ozone, and Mercury Experiment (BROMEX) in 2012. The mercury-pumping reaction takes place because open water in a lead is much warmer than the air above it, according to study lead author Chris Moore of the Desert Research Institute, Reno, Nev in a paper reporting the discovery published in Nature on Jan. 15. Because of that temperature difference, the air above the lead churns like the air above a boiling pot. Almost all of the mercury in the Arctic atmosphere is transported there in gaseous form from sources in areas farther south. Scientists have long known that mercury in the air near ground level undergoes complex chemical reactions that deposit the element on the surface. Once the mercury is completely removed from the air, these reactions stop. However, this newly discovered mixing triggered by leads in the sea ice forces down additional mercury to restart and sustain the reactions. Image Credit: University of Hamburg, Germany #ice #nasa #flights #arctic #seaice #mercury #earth #pole #alaska #bromex; -
Spitzer's Orion - Few cosmic vistas excite the imagination like the Orion Nebula, an immense stellar nursery some 1,500 light-years away. This stunning false-color view spans about 40 light-years across the region, constructed using infrared data from the Spitzer Space Telescope. Compared to its visual wavelength appearance, the brightest portion of the nebula is likewise centered on Orion's young, massive, hot stars, known as the Trapezium Cluster. But the infrared image also detects the nebula's many protostars, still in the process of formation, seen here in red hues. In fact, red spots along the dark dusty filament to the left of the bright cluster include the protostar cataloged as HOPS 68, recently found to have crystals of the silicate mineral olivine within its protostellar envelope. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech #nasa #space #science #spitzer #nebula #orion #telescope #star #dust #infrared; -
Aboard the International Space Station, astronaut Rick Mastracchio tweeted this image from @AstroRM. His post read, "We captured the Orbital Cygnus 1 two days ago. Here I am with the business end of the robotic arm." The space station crew Sunday used a robotic arm to capture and attach the Cygnus supply spacecraft, which carried dozens of new science experiments from across the country and the world to the orbiting laboratory. The arrival capped the first successful contracted cargo delivery by Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va., for NASA. CREDIT: NASA #nasa #space #iss #orb1 #cygnus #antares #spacestation #orbitalscience #orbital; -
Space Weather - A giant cloud of solar material called a coronal mass ejection escapes the sun in this Jan. 14 image from the ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory. Scientists use this kind of picture, called a coronagraph, in which the sun is obscured, to better see the sun's atmosphere, the corona. Credit: ESA/NASA/SOHO #nasa #sun #space #science #solar #esa #atmosphere;
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Tracking and Data Relay Satellite Prepared For Launch - Inside the Astrotech payload processing facility in Titusville, Fla., NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, or TDRS-L, spacecraft has been encapsulated in its payload fairing. It is being lifted by crane for mounting on a transporter for its trip to Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The TDRS-L satellite will be a part of the second of three next-generation spacecraft designed to ensure vital operational continuity for the NASA Space Network. TDRS-L is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral's Space Launch Complex 41 atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at 9:05 p.m. EST on Jan. 23, 2014, the start of a 30-minute launch window. The current Tracking and Data Relay Satellite system consists of eight in-orbit satellites distributed to provide near continuous information relay contact with orbiting spacecraft ranging from the International Space Station and Hubble Space Telescope to the array of scientific observatories. Image Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett #nasa #space #tdrs #launch #ula #iss #hst #hubble #satellite; -
SLS Avionics System Sees the (First) Light - The modern avionics system that will guide the most powerful rocket ever built saw the light -- the "first light," that is. Hardware, software and operating systems for NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) recently were integrated and powered up for an inaugural run -- referred to as "first light." When completed, SLS will be capable of powering humans and potential science payloads to deep space. It has the greatest capacity of any launch system ever built, minimizing cost and risk of deep space journeys. The Integrated Avionics Test Facilities team provided and installed the structure and simulation capability to model the environments the vehicle will experience during launch. With the avionics hardware units arranged in flight configuration on the structure and with the flight software, the facility will replicate what will actually fly the rocket. From left, Wayne Arrington, Gerald Clayton and Ryan MacKrell, all of The Boeing Company, work on setting up the avionics system in flight configuration in the Systems Integration and Test Facility at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. Image Credit: Boeing #nasa #space #engineering #msfc #sls #rocket #launch #boeing #firstlight; -
Frozen Lake Sharpe, South Dakota - The Missouri River rises in the Rocky Mountains of western Montana, and flows generally to the southeast for 3,767 kilometers (2,341 miles) to its confluence with the Mississippi River north of St. Louis, Missouri. It is the longest river in North America. The river does not follow a straight southeasterly course along this distance, but includes many meander bends such as the one in this astronaut photograph from the International Space Station. This particular bend is occupied by Lake Sharpe, an approximately 130 kilometer (80 mile) long reservoir formed behind the Big Bend Dam on the Missouri River near Lower Brule, South Dakota. The lake surface is frozen and covered with snow, presenting a uniform white appearance. As meander bends develop, they tend to assume a distinctive U shape. Over time, the river channel can continue to cut into the ends of the “U,” eventually bringing them so close together that the river then cuts across the gap to achieve a shorter flow path and cut off the meander bend. When this happens and the meander ceases to be part of the active river channel, it may become an oxbow lake. The distance across the narrow neck of land (image lower right) associated with this meander is approximately 1 kilometer (0.62 miles). However, the river flow is controlled by the Big Bend Dam downstream, so the natural process of meander cutoff has been significantly slowed. The image was taken by the space station’s Expedition 38 crew. It has been cropped and enhanced to improve contrast, and lens artifacts have been removed. Image Credit: NASA #nasa #iss #exp38 #science #earth #space #missouririver #southdakota #lake #dam; -
Astronauts aboard the International Space Station Sunday used a robotic arm to capture and attach the Cygnus supply spacecraft, which carried dozens of new science experiments from across the country and the world to the orbiting laboratory. The arrival capped the first successful contracted cargo delivery by Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va., for NASA. Astronaut Mike Hopkins of NASA grappled the spacecraft at 6:08 a.m. EST and Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency attached Cygnus to the space station's Harmony Node at 8:05 a.m.The Expedition 38 crew members aboard the station will begin unloading the 2,780 pounds (1,261 kilograms) of supplies aboard Cygnus following hatch opening which is currently on the crew’s timeline for Monday. The cargo is comprised of vital science experiments, crew provisions, spare parts and other hardware. This includes 23 student-designed science experiments. One newly arrived investigation will study the decreased effectiveness of antibiotics during spaceflight. Another will examine how different fuel samples burn in microgravity, which could inform future design for spacecraft materials. Orbital's Cygnus was launched on the company's Antares rocket Thursday from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Pad 0A at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Cygnus will remain attached to Harmony until a planned unberthing in February sends the spacecraft toward a destructive re-entry in Earth's atmosphere. Image credit: NASA #cygnus #orb1 #antares #iss #spacestation #earthorbit #orbital #orbitalsciences #resupply; -
Back in November, the team behind NASA's James Webb Space Telescope engineering test unit move a primary mirror segment in a protective case, returning it to the cleanroom at NASA Goddard after undergoing some tests at our new Calibration, Integration, and Alignment Facility. The James Webb Space Telescope will be a large infrared telescope with a 6.5-meter primary mirror. The project is working to a 2018 launch date. The Webb will be the premier observatory of the next decade, serving thousands of astronomers worldwide. It will study every phase in the history of our Universe, ranging from the first luminous glows after the Big Bang, to the formation of solar systems capable of supporting life on planets like Earth, to the evolution of our own Solar System. Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn #jwst #webbtelescope #webb #nasa #space #telescope #universe #engineering #hardware;
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