KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA., April 16, 2013 (CASIS PR) – The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), the nonprofit organization promoting and managing research on board the International Space Station (ISS) U.S. National Laboratory, showcased its new education website, “CASIS Academy,” over the weekend at the National Science Teachers Association conference in San Antonio, Texas.
AUTHOR
Doug Messier
Antares on the launch pad on Wallops Island. (Credit: Orbital Sciences Corporation)
By Douglas Messier
Parabolic Arc Managing Editor
With the first launch of Orbital Sciences Corporation’s Antares rocket set for this evening, I thought this would be a good opportunity to take a closer look about both the launch vehicle and the Cygnus freighter that will carry cargo to the International Space Station later this year.
Illustration of an asteroid retrieval spacecraft in the process of capturing a 7-m, 500-ton asteroid. (Image Credit: Rick Sternbach / KISS)
Here’s something interesting: the Keck Institute for Space Studies has continued work on the Asteroid Return Mission Study that it published last April. The report is the basis of a new NASA plan to return an asteroid near Earth and send a human crew to explore it.
Artist’s conception of the proposed SpaceX commercial launch facility near Brownsville, Texas.
The FAA’s draft environmental impact statement (EIS) on SpaceX proposed commercial launch facility near Brownsville, Texas, has found no significant impacts on health, safety or the environment, paving the way for the project to proceed.
Day 2 of the Planetary Defense Conference is in the books and, although the day lacked the excitement of an unexpected appearance of NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver, it had more than its fair share of drama. Rusty get smacked down. During a presentation on human expeditions to near-Earth asteroids, NASA official Paul Abell went through a whole list of precursor missions required before sending astronauts to one. During the […]
Orbital Sciences Corporation’s Antares rocket has been cleared for its maiden flight on Wednesday evening. The launch window opens at 5 p.m. EDT/2 p.m. PDT. NASA Television will begin at 4 p.m. EDT/1 p.m. PDT. The flight from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island in Virginia will test the company’s new rocket and also launch a mass simulator that will approximate Orbital’s Cygnus freighter, which is designed to carry […]
NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver addresses the Planetary Defense Conference in Flagstaff on April, 15, 2013. (Credit: Eric Dahlstrom)
By Douglas Messier
Parabolic Arc Managing Editor
NASA will partner with private organizations seeking to catalog and mine asteroids as the space agency undertakes an ambitious effort to retrieve one of these bodies and send astronauts to explore it, Deputy Administrator Lori Garver told planetary scientists on Monday.
“When Planetary Resources was founded a few month ago and following on that Deep Space Industries, I could not have been happier,” Garver said, referring to two asteroid mining companies announced last year. “It’s proving our focus of attention on areas where there is not just U.S. government interest.”
CCP Spotlight on Development Via NASA The NASA Partner Integration Team, called a PIT Crew, working with Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) to help develop the company’s Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft combination recently talked with SpaceX representatives about its spacecraft propulsion and parachute systems. Later this month, the PIT Crew will travel to McGregor, Texas, for a SuperDraco abort engine test. Plans call for eight SuperDracos to be built […]
Bellevue, Wash., April 16, 2013 (Planetary Resources PR) – Planetary Resources, Inc. announced today that Bechtel has joined their core group of investors and will be a collaborative partner in helping Planetary Resources achieve its long-term mission, which is to mine near-Earth asteroids for raw materials, ranging from elements used in rocket fuel to precious metals, through the development of innovative and cost-effective robotic exploration technologies. Currently, Planetary Resources has multiple contracts to develop miniaturized and responsive technologies with far-reaching applications to space assessment, accessibility and resource recovery.
Depending on where you are along the Eastern Seaboard of the U.S., you might be able to see the flight of our Antares rocket. The map above shows the projected degrees above the horizon (how high to look) and the path the rocket will fly so that you might be able to glimpse the Antares test flight. The best chance to see the flight extends from about Cape May, NJ […]