Tag: NASA
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From haven to hell: NASA climate models suggest Venus may have been habitable
A land-ocean pattern like the one shown in this artist’s conception was used in a climate model to show how storm clouds could have shielded ancient Venus from strong sunlight. (Credit: NASA) Today Venus is a hellish planet with a crushingly dense atmosphere of carbon dioxide, but billions of years ago, it could have had…
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Buildup of unusual launcher begins for NASA’s asteroid sample return mission
File photo of first Atlas 5-411 launch in 2006 with ASTRA 1KR satellite. Credit: Pat Corkery/Lockheed Martin CAPE CANAVERAL — It is a rocket like no other, a vehicle with a single solid-fuel booster mounted to its side, that will launch NASA’s OSIRIS-REx probe next month to bring back a sample of Asteroid Bennu. The…
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NASA books nuclear-certified Atlas 5 rocket for Mars 2020 rover launch
An Atlas 5-541 rocket, like this one, will launch the Mars 2020 rover. Credit: Pat Corkery/United Launch Alliance CAPE CANAVERAL — America’s next Mars rover, a $2.1 billion nuclear-powered vehicle to search for evidence that life once existed there, will be launched to the Red Planet in the summer of 2020 by a powerful Atlas…
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SpaceX Dragon cargo ship delivers DNA sequencer and new door to space station
SpaceX’s Dragon is firmly in the grip of the International Space Station’s robotic arm during the berthing operation. (Credit: NASA TV) Two days after its launch, SpaceX’s Dragon cargo capsule was pulled in for its hookup to the International Space Station today as the spacecraft soared 252 miles above the California-Oregon state line. Among the nearly…
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NASA seeks five concepts for 2022 Mars orbiter and gives go-ahead for 2020 rover
An artist’s conception shows NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter relaying data. (Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech) NASA says it’s selected five aerospace companies, including Boeing, to conduct concept studies for a Mars telecommunications orbiter that’s likely to launch in 2022. It’s also given the formal go-ahead for the final design of its long-planned 2020 Mars rover. In…
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NASA shows off Juno spacecraft’s first view of Jupiter and its moons from orbit
This view from JunoCam shows Jupiter at far left, with the moons Io, Europa and Ganymede in orbit from left to right. Click on the image for a larger version. (Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS) It’s not the closest close-up of Jupiter, but it’s the first view provided by NASA’s Juno probe…
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Delta 2 rocket being assembled at Vandenberg for penultimate launch
The step-by-step Delta 2 assembly process. Photos by NASA The next-to-last Delta 2 rocket is being stacked at its California launch site to take flight in January to put a civilian weather satellite into polar orbit. The first stage, interstage, nine strap-on boosters and second stage of the United Launch Alliance rocket are being pieced…
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Pokémon Go is no-go for space station, but astronauts can fight aliens with HoloLens
Pikachu may fly on a rainbow in space, but don’t expect to catch one on the International Space Station. (Credit: Pikachu via YouTube) Astronauts have zapped virtual aliens on the International Space Station, using Microsoft’s HoloLens mixed-reality headset. So how about Pokémon Go, the latest craze in mixed-reality smartphone gaming? No-go, says NASA. “It is not…
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Trio gets to space station after 2-day trip
An upgraded Soyuz spacecraft nears the International Space Station for docking. (Credit: NASA) The first craft in Russia’s upgraded fleet of Soyuz spaceships reached the International Space Station overnight, delivering a trio of U.S., Russian and Japanese spacefliers for their four-month tour of duty. NASA’s Kate Rubins, Russia’s Anatoly Ivanishin and Japan’s Takuya Onishi lifted off…
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Trio gets to space station after 2-day trip
An upgraded Soyuz spacecraft nears the International Space Station for docking. (Credit: NASA) The first craft in Russia’s upgraded fleet of Soyuz spaceships reached the International Space Station overnight, delivering a trio of U.S., Russian and Japanese spacefliers for their four-month tour of duty. NASA’s Kate Rubins, Russia’s Anatoly Ivanishin and Japan’s Takuya Onishi lifted off…