This week on The Space Show with David Livingston: 1. Monday, Nov. 11, 2013, 2-3:30 PM PST (5-6:30 PM EST, 4-5:30 PM CST): We welcome author ADAM JOHNSON to discuss his new book “2001: The Lost Science. The science and technology of the most influential films ever made.” See www.apogeeprime.com/prime/bookpages/9781926837192.html. 2. Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2013, 7-8:30 PM PST (10-11:30 PM EST, 9-10:30 PM CST): OPEN LINES. All calls welcome regarding […]
AUTHOR
Doug Messier
As reported here earlier, the $30 million Google Lunar X Prize has gone forward with a series of pre-flight milestone prizes in an effort to support teams that are competing to land a rover on the moon by the end of 2015. Alexandra Hall, senior director of the Google Lunar X Prize, explained the prizes and the rationale in an op-ed piece published on Space.com: The Milestone Prizes are for […]
The three panels or fairings encapsulating a stand-in for Orion’s service module successfully detach and fall into the Fairing Catch System during a test Nov. 6, 2013 at Lockheed Martin’s facility in Sunnyvale, Calif. (Credit: Lockheed Martin)
SUNNYVALE, Calif. (NASA PR) — The three massive panels protecting a test version of NASA’s Orion multipurpose crew vehicle successfully fell away from the spacecraft last Wednesday in a test of a system that will protect Orion during its first trip to space next year.
The panels, called fairings, encase Orion’s service module and shield it from the heat, wind and acoustics it will experience during the spacecraft’s climb into space. The service module, located directly below the crew capsule, will contain the in-space propulsion capability for orbital transfer, attitude control and high-altitude ascent aborts when Orion begins carrying humans in 2021. It also will generate and store power and provide thermal control, water and air for the astronauts. The service module will remain connected to the crew module until just before the capsule returns to Earth. During Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1), the spacecraft’s flight test next year, a test service module will be attached to the capsule.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (Brown University PR]) — NASA has tapped a team of Brown and MIT researchers to be part of its new Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI). The team will help to develop scientific goals and exploration strategies for the Moon, near-Earth asteroids, and the Martian moons Phobos and Deimos.
“These are the most accessible solar system targets for robotic and human exploration beyond Earth,” said Carle Pieters, professor of geological sciences and principal investigator for the Brown/MIT team. “They are diverse bodies that together may hold the key to understanding the formation and evolution of our solar system.”
Expedition 26 Commander Scott Kelly (left), is reunited with twin brother, Mark Kelly on March 17, 2011, following a flight to Ellington Field in Houston from Kustanay, Kazakhstan after 159 days in space, 157 days on the International Space Station. (Credit:
NASA)
by Andrea Dunn and Laurie Abadie
Human Research Program Engagement and Communications
What could twins tell us about the effects of spaceflight on humans? NASA hopes to find out. In a world as diverse as ours, it can be easy to forget that most humans are approximately 99.5 percent genetically identical. Identical, or “monozygotic,” twins are nearly 100 percent identical. What accounts for the differences we know exist? The remaining 0.5 percent of genetic real estate, which on the surface seems like a small amount, codes nearly all the characteristics that make us unique individual humans.
Video Caption: The finale of our World Space Week Series. Today is Jeremy Nickless Chairman of UKSEDS talking about Reaction engines, UKSEDS before describing Skylon the spaceplane.
The U.S. Navy awarded a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I contract to LaserMotive of Kent, Wash., for work on an advanced communications system for vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) vehicles.
The Navy also awarded SBIR contracts for similar work to: Dragonfly Pictures, Inc., of Essington, Penn.; and Robotic Research, LLC of Gaithersburg, Mary. All three abstracts are reproduced below.
Wind tunnel testing of an SLS scale model at Ames Research Center. (Credit:
NASA/ARC/Dominic Hart)
MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. (NASA PR) — Think about a time you’ve been a passenger in a car and stuck your hand out the window. As your speed increases, so do the vibrations in your hand. Trying to keep those fingers steady as the wind whips around them at 75 mph gets pretty tricky, right?
You’ve just had a quick lesson in unsteady aerodynamics, something engineers are researching and testing on a much larger scale and with supersonic speeds using wind tunnel technology. The wind tunnel tests, recently conducted at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., will be used to enhance the design and stability of the Space Launch System (SLS), NASA’s new heavy-lift launch vehicle.
A couple of other Virgin Galactic space tourism items this morning, including a TV show in India: The Indian version of upcoming American TV show Space Race will chronicle the struggle of 16 competitors vying for the coveted spot on the spacecraft. Interestingly, the rights to the show, created by LA-based TV producer Mark Burnett (of Survivor and The Apprentice fame), have been acquired by a Mumbai-based production house for […]
In this photo posted on Twitter by NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg, she undergoes a spinal ultrasound scan conducted by European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano. (Credit: NASA)
Highlights: Week of Oct. 28, 2013
John Love, Lead Increment Scientist
Expedition 37/38
Aboard the International Space Station, European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano completed session three of three for the Spinal Ultrasound investigation, including cervical and lumbosacral ultrasound scans. NASA astronaut Michael Hopkins performed one of three sessions, which also included a crew conference and taking of historical photos. Spinal Ultrasound uses ground and space-based studies to characterize spinal changes during and after spaceflight.