Tag: NASA
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Cygnus cargo craft heads for space station with 3-D printer and more cool gizmos
United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 rocket lifts off, sending Orbital ATK’s Cygnus cargo capsule into space from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. (Credit: NASA) Orbital ATK’s commercial Cygnus cargo capsule was lofted into orbit tonight atop an Atlas 5 rocket, carrying an upgraded 3-D printer, a gecko-type gripper, a fire-starting experiment and tons of…
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Dwarf planet Ceres’ mystery bright spots get their close-up from Dawn probe
The bright central spots near the center of Occator Crater are shown in enhanced color in this view from NASA’s Dawn spacecraft. Such views can be used to highlight subtle color differences on Ceres’ surface. The view combines high-resolution images of Occator from February with lower-resolution color data acquired in September 2015. (Credit: NASA /…
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NASA to set ‘biggest man-made fire ever in space’ in effort to improve mission safety
We’ve seen enough scary scenes in movies to know that fire aboard a spacecraft looks like a bad idea. But now NASA is developing an experiment in which it will intentionally start a fire aboard a vessel to better understand how fire behaves in space. The Spacecraft Fire Experiment, or Saffire, will be conducted aboard a Cygnus…
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Astronaut Scott Kelly announces retirement from NASA, just days after return from year in space
NASA astronaut Scott Kelly takes a selfie from the International Space Station during his year in orbit. (Credit: Scott Kelly / NASA) Godspeed, Scott Kelly. Ten days after finishing up nearly a year in space, the veteran of four spaceflights announced today that he would retire from NASA on April 1. But he also promised…
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Thumbs up! Astronaut Scott Kelly returns to Earth after year in space
NASA astronaut Scott Kelly flashes two thumbs-up signs after his return to Earth from the International Space Station. (Credit: NASA) Capping off a year in space, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly breathed earthly air for the first time in 340 days today after a successful, safe trip from the International Space Station to the steppes of Kazakhstan.…
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NASA astronaut Scott Kelly: I could spend another year in space, but I’m ready to come home
NASA astronaut Scott Kelly answers questions from the International Space Station. (Credit: NASA) NASA astronaut Scott Kelly is getting ready to come home after spending a longer stretch in orbit than any other American in history, but he says he could stay in space for double that time. “I could go another 100 days. I could go…
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Ape … in … space! Watch Scott Kelly’s primo prank on International Space Station
NASA astronaut Scott Kelly floats through the International Space Station in a gorilla suit. (Credit: NASA) Leave it to Scott Kelly, NASA’s record-holder for longest continuous time spent in space, to go big and go home: While winding down nearly a year in orbit, he donned an ape suit to terrorize a crewmate on the…
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Apollo 10’s moon music mystery revisited
Apollo 10’s Gene Cernan, Tom Stafford and John Young sit for their official portrait. (Credit: NASA) Where did the weird, outer-spacey music that Apollo 10’s astronauts heard on the far side of the moon come from? The case was solved decades ago. Or was it??? “NASA’s Unexplained Files,” airing on the Science Channel, leaves the mystery hanging…
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18,300 applicants face 1-in-2,000 chance of being picked for astronaut job at NASA
NASA astronaut Scott Kelly snaps a selfie during a spacewalk at the International Space Station. (Credit: NASA) You think it’s hard to get into Harvard? Try making an impression when you’re among the record-high group of 18,300 people who applied to be an astronaut. NASA says that tally is three times as high as the number who…
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NASA packs a big vision for space exploration into smaller $19 billion budget
NASA is developing a heavy-lift rocket known as the Space Launch System, shown in this artist’s conception. Spending in the category that includes the SLS and the Orion deep-space capsule would be trimmed in the budget proposed for the next fiscal year. (Credit: NASA) Christmas has come and gone, and so has a bump in…