• Space shuttle Discovery “in great shape;” no foam concerns

    Updated: 2011-02-25 22:06:18
    NASA officials in Houston are reporting no problems with the Space Shuttle Discovery which launched from Kennedy Space Center yesterday and they expect all to go well toward a docking with the International Space Station shortly after noon eastern time Saturday. Astronauts in Discovery are currently conducting an inspection, using  onboard cameras and sensors. More inspection will [...]

  • Great photos from space shuttle Discovery launch

    Updated: 2011-02-25 02:31:15
    Orlando Sentinel photographer Red Huber’s remote shots are in. You can check them out in our photo gallery. Huber likes this particular angle, since you can see the orbiter’s tail clearly as it takes off from launch pad 39-A at Kennedy Space Center at 4:53 p.m. on Feb. 24, 2010. Click here to see more.

  • 39 missions, 39 patches for space shuttle Discovery

    Updated: 2011-02-25 01:11:07
    For each mission, there is a memorable mission patch, and the backstory to the STS-133 mission patch is pretty interesting. The design is based on sketches by the late artist Robert McCall, a conceptual artists famous for work on Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” and also work on “Star Trek: The Motion Picture.” His work has [...]

  • STS-133’s final moments before launch

    Updated: 2011-02-24 23:51:08
    Everything seemed to be clear to go for space shuttle Discovery’s 4:50 p.m. launch Thursday, Feb. 24, 2011. But during the nine-minute holding period, 15 minutes before the countdown resumed, an issue arose. A computer glitch nearly scrubbed the launch. Countdown began on time but was halted at the five-minute mark. Luckily, the glitch [...]

  • Video of today’s successful launch of space shuttle Discovery

    Updated: 2011-02-24 23:37:35
    You can view replays of the launch of space shuttle Discovery on STS-133 from Kennedy Space Center. The mission barely got the green light at the end of the launch window, liftoff off at 4:53:24, about three minutes later than what NASA originally had hope for.  

  • 360-degree panorama view of space shuttle Discovery final launch

    Updated: 2011-02-24 23:22:45
    Tom Burton captured this panoramic shot of STS-133 launching on space shuttle Discovery’s final mission from Kennedy Space Center on Feb. 24, 2011. Check it out. A little bit of trivia. In the front, in the suit jacket, that’s Bill Nye the Science Guy. He hung out at the Sentinel building after his interview with CNN, who [...]

  • Extreme Worlds: The Moon’s Inner Core Revealed

    Updated: 2011-02-23 00:27:48
    Everyone knows that Earth's Moon is cold, dead chunk of rock, right? Hold on there, Sparky, not so fast! While it's true that it was once thought that the moon was an inert, lifeless ball, scientists have known since the days of the Apollo astronauts that there's much more going on inside our moon than meets the eye.

  • Slice of History: Cesium-Lithium Test System

    Updated: 2011-02-18 09:40:35
    By Julie Cooper Each month in “Slice of History” we’ll be featuring a historical photo from the JPL Archives. See more historical photos and explore the JPL Archives at https://beacon.jpl.nasa.gov/. Cesium-Lithium Test System — Photograph Number 383-5651Ac As early as 1961, JPL’s Propulsion Division was working on a new type of power system for future spacecraft that would [...]

  • RAGE game by id Software (takes place after Apophis Impact)

    Updated: 2011-02-18 01:02:00
    : This area will cover relevant news of the threat to the planet from Near Earth Objects NEOs including concepts and designs for mitigation . Time for site updates is donated by SpaceWorks Commercial in Washington , D.C . USA to the author . All opinions are those of the . author 17 February 2011 RAGE game by id Software takes place after Apophis Impact The new first person shooter game , RAGE by id Software has an interesting back story , from Wikipedia The game is set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland created by an asteroid impact , based on the real life asteroid Apophis which is on track to pass near Earth in 2036. In Rage's story , the asteroid hits , and the few pockets of survivors are forced to start a new . civilization From the RAGE game site August 23, 2037 : Apophis 99942 strikes

  • JPL News Release: "NASA Releases Images of Man-Made Crater on Comet"

    Updated: 2011-02-16 02:22:00
    : : This area will cover relevant news of the threat to the planet from Near Earth Objects NEOs including concepts and designs for mitigation . Time for site updates is donated by SpaceWorks Commercial in Washington , D.C . USA to the author . All opinions are those of the . author 15 February 2011 JPL News Release : NASA Releases Images of Man-Made Crater on Comet Tempel 1 Impact Site . This pair of images shows the before-and-after comparison of the part of comet Tempel 1 that was hit by the impactor from NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft . The left-hand image is a composite made from images obtained by Deep Impact in July 2005. The right-hand image shows arrows identifying the rim of the crater caused by the impactor . The crater is estimated to be 150 meters 500 feet in diameter . This

  • Out of This World? The Mars Climate Change Mystery

    Updated: 2011-02-16 00:15:46
    By Erik Conway, writing for My Big Fat Planet Mars has been a grand scientific mystery ever since the first modern images were beamed back from the Mariner 4 spacecraft in 1965. Those snapshots showed a moon-like, cratered surface — not what we expected. Scientists had assumed that Mars would have an Earth-like atmosphere, composed mainly [...]

  • Association of Space Explorers (ASE) NEO Statements at Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space Scientific and Technical Subcommittee Forty-eighth session

    Updated: 2011-02-15 17:17:00
    : This area will cover relevant news of the threat to the planet from Near Earth Objects NEOs including concepts and designs for mitigation . Time for site updates is donated by SpaceWorks Commercial in Washington , D.C . USA to the author . All opinions are those of the . author 15 February 2011 Association of Space Explorers ASE NEO Statements at Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space Scientific and Technical Subcommittee Forty-eighth session The Association of Space Explorers ASE had a separate presentation and statement from the recent UN COPUOS meeting in February 2011. A selected highlighted portion from their overall statement presented by Dr . Thomas Jones follows . ASE respectfully calls on the COPUOS and the international community , especially its member states’ space

  • UN CONPUOS: Interim report of the Action Team on Near-Earth Objects (2010-2011)

    Updated: 2011-02-15 17:12:00
    : : This area will cover relevant news of the threat to the planet from Near Earth Objects NEOs including concepts and designs for mitigation . Time for site updates is donated by SpaceWorks Commercial in Washington , D.C . USA to the author . All opinions are those of the . author 15 February 2011 UN CONPUOS : Interim report of the Action Team on Near-Earth Objects 2010-2011 The latest report from the UN COPUOS Action Team on Near Earth Objects has updates on global asteroid detection efforts as well as series of draft recommendations for near Earth object threat mitigation functions . It is noted that many of these draft recommendations are similar to the recommendations the Association of Space Explorers ASE have developed . The ASE has a separate presentation and statement from the

  • Selected Papers from Upcoming 42nd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (7-11 March, 2011)

    Updated: 2011-02-15 16:04:00
    : , This area will cover relevant news of the threat to the planet from Near Earth Objects NEOs including concepts and designs for mitigation . Time for site updates is donated by SpaceWorks Commercial in Washington , D.C . USA to the author . All opinions are those of the . author 15 February 2011 Selected Papers from Upcoming 42nd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 7-11 March , 2011 Sample of interesting papers from upcoming 42nd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference to be held in Texas on March 7–11, 2011. Many papers on asteroids and only a selection are provided here with short abstracts Los Alamos RAGE Hydrocode Simulations of Effective Mitigation of Porous PHO Objects 1145 Weaver R . P . Plesko C . S . Dearholt W . . R We use the RAGE hydrocode to simulate surface subsurface

  • JPL News Release: Comet Hunter's First Images on the Ground

    Updated: 2011-02-15 16:00:00
    : : This area will cover relevant news of the threat to the planet from Near Earth Objects NEOs including concepts and designs for mitigation . Time for site updates is donated by SpaceWorks Commercial in Washington , D.C . USA to the author . All opinions are those of the . author 15 February 2011 JPL News Release : Comet Hunter's First Images on the Ground NASA's Stardust-NExT mission transmitted the first image it took during its approach to comet Tempel 1 at 8:35 p.m . PST 11:35 p.m . EST on Feb . 14, 2011, from a distance of approximately 2,462 kilometers 1,530 miles The comet was first visited by NASA's Deep Impact mission in 2005. Image credit : NASA JPL-Caltech Cornell Link : JPL News Release Comet Hunter's First Images on the Ground Posted by A.C . Charania at 11:00 Newer Post

  • NASA FY2012 Budget and NEO Program (Increase from About US$6 M to US$20M)

    Updated: 2011-02-14 18:59:00
    : This area will cover relevant news of the threat to the planet from Near Earth Objects NEOs including concepts and designs for mitigation . Time for site updates is donated by SpaceWorks Commercial in Washington , D.C . USA to the author . All opinions are those of the . author 14 February 2011 NASA FY2012 Budget and NEO Program Increase from About US$6 M to US$20M The recent NASA FY2012 Budget request from President Obama has been released . Some quick highlights related to NEOs . It looks as if the Near Earth Object Observations NEOO program will have its budget increased from US$5.8M in FY2010 and similar amount in FY2011 due to the Continuing Resolution to approximatively a little over US$20M in FY2012. From the recent budget release from : NASA Near Earth Object Observations NEOO

  • Update from JPL on Stardust-NExT

    Updated: 2011-02-14 18:58:00
    : This area will cover relevant news of the threat to the planet from Near Earth Objects NEOs including concepts and designs for mitigation . Time for site updates is donated by SpaceWorks Commercial in Washington , D.C . USA to the author . All opinions are those of the . author 14 February 2011 Update from JPL on Stardust-NExT This composite image was taken by NASA's Stardust spacecraft 42 hours before its encounter with comet Tempel 1. It is the last image by the spacecraft's navigation camera before its encounter in the evening hours of Feb . 14, 2011. The image is a composite of four , five-second exposures . Image credit : NASA JPL-Caltech Cornell From the news release As of today , Feb . 14, at 9:21 a.m . PST 12:21 p.m . EST NASA's Stardust-NExT mission spacecraft is within a

  • 07 July 2010 or 07 July 2011 Meeting between Russia and the European Union on Joint Asteroid Mission?

    Updated: 2011-02-14 17:09:00
    : This area will cover relevant news of the threat to the planet from Near Earth Objects NEOs including concepts and designs for mitigation . Time for site updates is donated by SpaceWorks Commercial in Washington , D.C . USA to the author . All opinions are those of the . author 14 February 2011 07 July 2010 or 07 July 2011 Meeting between Russia and the European Union on Joint Asteroid Mission Recent articles have indicated that there will be a meeting on July 7, 2011 between Russia and the European Union on a potential joint mission to Apophis However articles from 2010 indicate that a similar meeting was held on July 7, 2010. Are the recent set of articles on the 2011 meeting referring instead to the 2010 . meeting Selections from an article below that talks about a 2011 meeting . As

  • Press Release: Planetary Society Weighs in on NASA Budget

    Updated: 2011-02-14 08:00:00
    On the Planetary Society web site: Planetary Society Weighs in on NASA Budget

  • Video: Date with a Comet 2011: NASA's Stardust NExT mission and flyby of comet Tempel 1 (Encounter: 14 Feb. 2011, 8:58 PM Earth Received Time PST)

    Updated: 2011-02-14 05:26:00
    Date with a Comet 2011: NASA's Stardust NExT mission and flyby of comet Tempel 1 (Encounter: 14 Feb. 2011, 8:58 PM Earth Received Time PST)Link: YouTube Video ("Date with a Comet Video)

  • Stardust-NExT Update (Sunday Feb 13, E-1 day)

    Updated: 2011-02-14 05:22:00
    : This area will cover relevant news of the threat to the planet from Near Earth Objects NEOs including concepts and designs for mitigation . Time for site updates is donated by SpaceWorks Commercial in Washington , D.C . USA to the author . All opinions are those of the . author 14 February 2011 Stardust-NExT Update Sunday Feb 13, E-1 day Comet 9P Tempel 1 Source : JPL Small-Body Database Browser From JPL on the Stardust-NExT mission encounter on 14-15 February 2011 with Comet 9P Tempel 1. . The overnight activities taken by the flight team went very well , and the final OpNavs taken at E-42 hours were successfully acquired and downlinked . The navigation solutions were finished this morning , and they show that the predicted delivery is within the green zone’ of the delivery chart . The

  • SETI Institute Talk: "Near-Earth Asteroid Danger/Opportunity - David Morrison"

    Updated: 2011-02-13 20:38:00
    Link: YouTube Video ("Near-Earth Asteroid Danger/Opportunity - David Morrison (SETI Talks)")

  • SETI Institute Talk: "Hayabusa Reentry - Peter Jenniskens"

    Updated: 2011-02-13 20:37:00
    Link: YouTube Video ("Hayabusa Reentry - Peter Jenniskens")

  • SETI Institute Talk: "Radar videos of asteroids - Ellen Howell"

    Updated: 2011-02-13 20:36:00
    Link: YouTube Video ("Radar videos of asteroids - Ellen Howell (SETI Talks)")

  • SpaceWatch in Action: Video on Kitt Peak National Observatory Tracking of new NEOs (Near Earth Objects)

    Updated: 2011-02-13 20:25:00
    Link: YouTube Video ("Keeping Earth Safe from Asteroids & Comets")

  • Video Introduction: International Symposium on Asteroid Mitigation and Exploration (Texas A&M on April 4-6, 2011)

    Updated: 2011-02-13 20:15:00
    A short video by Dr. Hyland explaining the summary of the International Symposium on Asteroid Mitigation and Exploration (ISAME) to be held at Texas A&M on April 4-6, 2011.Link: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZhP-cGx6HY"YouTube Video ("International Symposium on Asteroid Mitigation and Exploration")

  • FoxNews On Apophis 2036 Impact Issue with Russians

    Updated: 2011-02-13 20:15:00
    Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.comLink: Foxnews Video ("Scientists Spar Over 2036 Asteroid Apocalypse")

  • Video: "The Universe: End of the Earth"

    Updated: 2011-02-13 20:09:00
    : : : This area will cover relevant news of the threat to the planet from Near Earth Objects NEOs including concepts and designs for mitigation . Time for site updates is donated by SpaceWorks Commercial in Washington , D.C . USA to the author . All opinions are those of the . author 13 February 2011 Video : The Universe : End of the Earth Link : YouTube Video The Universe : End of the Earth Part 1 Link : YouTube Video The Universe : End of the Earth Part 2 Link : YouTube Video The Universe : End of the Earth Part 3 Posted by A.C . Charania at 15:09 Newer Post Older Post Home Note : Any opinions expressed on the blog are solely those of the author . The site is not sponsored by , nor does it represent the opinions of , any organization , corporation , or other . entity Document Library

  • Paper: NEOs as stepping stones to Mars and main-belt asteroids (Gregory Matloff Paper in March-April 2011 Acta Astronautica)

    Updated: 2011-02-12 04:14:00
    : : This area will cover relevant news of the threat to the planet from Near Earth Objects NEOs including concepts and designs for mitigation . Time for site updates is donated by SpaceWorks Commercial in Washington , D.C . USA to the author . All opinions are those of the . author 11 February 2011 Paper : NEOs as stepping stones to Mars and main-belt asteroids Gregory Matloff Paper in March-April 2011 Acta Astronautica NEOs as stepping stones to Mars and main-belt asteroids Acta Astronautica Volume 68, Issues 5-6, March-April 2011, Pages 599-602 Special Issue : Aosta 2009 Symposium Gregory L . Matloff and Monika Wilga Physics Department , New York City College of Technology CUNY , 300 Jay Street , Brooklyn , NY 11201, USA Abstract Human interplanetary missions are constrained by the

  • Asteroid 2011 CQ1 and close Earth Approach

    Updated: 2011-02-12 04:04:00
    : This area will cover relevant news of the threat to the planet from Near Earth Objects NEOs including concepts and designs for mitigation . Time for site updates is donated by SpaceWorks Commercial in Washington , D.C . USA to the author . All opinions are those of the . author 11 February 2011 Asteroid 2011 CQ1 and close Earth Approach The newly discovered object , officially designated 2011 CQ1, is shown in this image from Tzec Maun Observatory in New Mexico . G . Sostero E . Guido Remanzacco Observatory Trajectory of Asteroid 2011 CQ1 February 4, 2011, Source : NASA JPL From Don Yeomans and Paul Chodas at JPL Asteroid 2011 CQ1 was discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey on February 4 and made a record close Earth approach 14 hours later on February 4 at 19:39 UT 14:39 EST It passed to

  • New Release: "NASA Hosting Events for Valentine's Night Comet Encounter"

    Updated: 2011-02-12 03:47:00
    : : This area will cover relevant news of the threat to the planet from Near Earth Objects NEOs including concepts and designs for mitigation . Time for site updates is donated by SpaceWorks Commercial in Washington , D.C . USA to the author . All opinions are those of the . author 11 February 2011 New Release : NASA Hosting Events for Valentine's Night Comet Encounter Stardust-NExt . Artist concept of NASA's Stardust-NExT mission , which will fly by comet Tempel 1 on Feb . 14, 2011. Image credit : NASA JPL-Caltech LMSS From the JPLS news release also available , another more general news release on the Stardust-NExT mission NASA will host several live activities for the Stardust-NExT mission's close encounter with comet Tempel 1. The closest approach is expected at approximately 8:37 p.m

  • JPL News Release: "NASA's NEOWISE Completes Scan for Asteroids and Comets"

    Updated: 2011-02-12 03:45:00
    : : This area will cover relevant news of the threat to the planet from Near Earth Objects NEOs including concepts and designs for mitigation . Time for site updates is donated by SpaceWorks Commercial in Washington , D.C . USA to the author . All opinions are those of the . author 11 February 2011 JPL News Release : NASA's NEOWISE Completes Scan for Asteroids and Comets Comets WISE A Family Portrait . Image Credit : NASA JPL-Caltech UCLA From the JPL news release also available is the image description NASA's NEOWISE mission has completed its survey of small bodies , asteroids and comets , in our solar system . The mission's discoveries of previously unknown objects include 20 comets , more than 33,000 asteroids in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter , and 134 near-Earth objects NEOs

  • News: Kepler Discoveries Suggest a Galaxy Rich in Life

    Updated: 2011-02-03 08:00:00
    Kepler Discoveries Suggest a Galaxy Rich in Life (from Planetary News)

  • The Onion (Fake): "Republicans Vote To Repeal Obama-Backed Bill That Would Destroy Asteroid Headed For Earth"

    Updated: 2011-02-02 18:42:00
    : This area will cover relevant news of the threat to the planet from Near Earth Objects NEOs including concepts and designs for mitigation . Time for site updates is donated by SpaceWorks Commercial in Washington , D.C . USA to the author . All opinions are those of the . author 02 February 2011 The Onion Fake Republicans Vote To Repeal Obama-Backed Bill That Would Destroy Asteroid Headed For Earth From The Onion a fake new story WASHINGTON—In a strong rebuke of President Obama and his domestic agenda , all 242 House Republicans voted Wednesday to repeal the Asteroid Destruction and American Preservation Act , which was signed into law last year to destroy the immense asteroid currently hurtling toward . Earth The 440 billion legislation , which would send a dozen high-thrust plasma

  • Rocks and Stars with Amy: This Year I Saw the Universe

    Updated: 2011-02-01 22:27:57
    By Amy Mainzer With WISE, I roamed the skies — seeing everything from the closest asteroids to the most distant galaxies. When I was a kid, maybe 6 or 7, I remember reading the encyclopedia about Andromeda, Mars and Jupiter. After that, I spent a lot of my free time (and a fair amount of gym [...]

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