Tag: NEO
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Blue Origin Unveils NEO Hunter: A Hybrid Planetary Defense Concept
Blue Origin has unveiled a new mission concept called NEO Hunter, designed to protect Earth from potentially hazardous near-Earth objects (NEOs) by employing advanced deflection techniques. Developed in collaboration with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Caltech, the concept leverages the company’s versatile Blue Ring platform as its foundation. NEO Hunter adopts a hybrid approach…
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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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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…
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Long duration ISS crew to lay the foundations for BEO missions
NASA and Roscosmos have selected two of their best astronauts to spend a one year period on the International Space Station (ISS), providing vital data into how the human body copes with long duration space flight. The findings will help both agencies to prepare countermeasures to the effects crews may suffer from during long flights…
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NASA ESD set key Orion requirement based on Lunar missions
NASA’s new spaceship, the Orion crew capsule, will be able to actively host a crew for 21 days, a requirement designed to cover all exploration missions, but mainly those outlined in the Lunar sorties Design Reference Missions (DRM) – missions that will see the crew spend more time in Orion, compared to long duration missions…
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NEEMO 16 begins – Real NEA mission outline continues to be worked
The international crew of the NEEMO 16 (NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations) mission have begun their mission at the Aquarius underwater habitat in Key Largo, Florida. The 10 day mission will simulate Near Earth Asteroid (NEA) exploration procedures, although a real mission remains a notional and undefined target. NEEMO 16: NASA astronaut and former space…
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Asteroid mission planning continues as NEEMO 16 selects an international crew
NASA, ESA and JAXA astronauts will all be involved in the upcoming NEEMO 16 (NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations) mission. The asteroid training mission – set to take place near the Florida coastline in June – comes at a time NASA managers continue to refine their deep space plans. Missions To An Asteroid: The underwater training exercises are staged…
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Delving Deeper into NASA’s DSH configurations and support craft
With preliminary design work underway on the Deep Space Habitat (DSH) for future crewed exploration of the space beyond Low Earth Orbit, the configurations of the proposed craft, as well as its auxiliary support craft, are beginning to take shape as NASA eyes a multi-use approach for the aggregate vehicle that would be tasked with…