Tag: NEA
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NEEMO returns with two new underwater missions
Two new missions under the NEEMO (NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations) program have been announced, returning an international crew to an underwater base off the coast of Florida. The two summer missions – which follow a two year hiatus – will continue the work of training astronauts for potential deep space missions, including those to…
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SLS positioning for ARRM and Europa missions
Space Launch System (SLS) managers are conducting a feasibility study into the use of a 5.4 meter payload fairing, with a view to enabling the use of the HLV for the Asteroid Redirect Robotic Mission (ARRM) spacecraft – set to launch in 2019 – and even a robotic mission to Europa. The effort is part…
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ASAP claim NASA is employing indecision to allow for roadmap flexibility
Concerns have again been raised about NASA’s shaky exploration roadmap, with the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) claiming the Agency has elected to go down the “indecision-is-the-key-to-flexibility” path. Although only two missions have been manifested, the panel cited concerns about launching a crew into deep space on what would be the debut of Orion’s life support system.…
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Gaia arrives at its destination – Lagrange points hold future possibilities
Europe’s galactic survey spacecraft, Gaia, recently arrived at its deep space location, ahead of conducting its primary mission of observing one billion stars. Gaia is now in a location known as Lagrange point 2 (L2), one of a number of destinations of interest for a number of future spacecraft, from JWST through to the potential “Gateway”…
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NASA managers evaluate yearlong deep space asteroid mission
On track for their respective debuts, NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion feature front and center in one of NASA’s latest evaluations for a mission to a deep space near-Earth asteroid (NEA). The conceptual mission, set after SLS’ opening salvo of flights, would send a crew of four on a yearlong voyage to study…
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EM-1: NASA managers request ambitious changes to debut SLS/Orion mission
Just months after changing Exploration Mission -2 (EM-2) into an asteroid rendezvous mission, NASA managers have issued a Change Request to alter the debut flight of the Space Launch System (SLS) with Orion. The change would result in Orion being sent 70,000 km past the Moon on a 25 day flight. Exploration Roadmap: As SLS…
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NASA Authorization Act pushes for Moon and Mars priority
The House Science space subcommittee’s 2013 Authorization Act intends to refocus NASA’s exploration path towards prioritizing the goal of landing humans on both the Moon and Mars, according to draft document. Ahead of a hearing on Wednesday, the political direction also pours cold water on the realigned Exploration Mission -2 (EM-2) to explore a captured…
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A return to the Moon would send NASA back to square one – Bolden
NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden has strongly ruled out missions to land on the Moon as part of NASA’s exploration roadmap, claiming any future political re-direction to return humans to the lunar surface would send the Agency “back to square one”. Meanwhile, Northrop Grumman have completed their Lunar Lander Study on behalf of the Golden Spike…
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Captured Asteroid mission – Redefining EM-2 for the bold challenge
NASA administrator Charlie Bolden has officially announced an ambitious mission to send a crew to a captured asteroid as early as 2021. Mission planning is scheduled to begin in the summer, with the potential to redefine the 2021 Exploration Mission -2 (EM-2) flight, involving the Space Launch System (SLS) and the first crewed Orion spacecraft.…
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Asteroid close pass highlights need to investigate NEAs via NASA missions
Following 2012 DA14’s close pass to Earth on Friday, asteroids once again found their way into the general public’s consciousness. 2012 DA14 was not – as Hollywood movies like to depict – a giant planet killer, but it did highlight NASA’s interest in learning more about Near Earth Asteroids (NEA), which includes sending humans out…