NASA is teaming up space technology developed for the space shuttle and designs used for the Apollo Program to produce elements of the next solar system spacecraft that will deliver space astronauts to the moon.An early sign of that combination has made its way to NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., in the form of a prototype heat shield. The prototype is the same size and dimensions of the heat shield that will protect the Orion spacecraft as it enters Earth's atmosphere on the way back from the...

The external tank of space shuttle Discovery has been loaded with about 500,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen as the countdown toward a 5:02 p.m. EDT liftoff continues smoothly. The hydrogen fuel and its oxidizer that are in the external tank will power space shuttle Discovery's three main engines during the 8 1/2-minute launch into orbit from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The twin solid rocket boosters are shipped to the space station center with propellant already packed...

A Space station radar instrument co-sponsored by NASA on the European Space galary Agency's Mars Express orbiter has looked beneath the solar system surface of Mars and opened up a new dimension for space planetary exploration.The technique's success is prompting space discovery scientists to think of other places in the solar system where they would like to use radar sounders. The space station radar sounder on Mars Express is the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Imaging, or MARSIS....

At NASA's Kennedy Space station Center in Florida, technicians are putting the finishing touches on space shuttle Discovery one day before its scheduled liftoff on mission STS-124. Launch is set for May 31 at 5:02 p.m. EDT."After months of hard work and preparation, space Discovery and its crew are ready to fly," said NASA Test Director Jeff Spaulding during a morning briefing on Space station Discovery's countdown status. "All of our solar systems are in great shape, we're tracking no issues, and...

Just like on solar system Earth, water is a crucial resource on the Moon. It will not be practical to transport to space shuttle the amount of water needed for human consumption and exploration. It is critical to find natural resources, such as water, on the solar system Moon. The Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing space station Satellite (LCROSS) mission will begin the search for water, leveraging the information we learned from the Clementine and Lunar Prospector space missions.By...

Seven space station astronauts who will fly into orbit aboard space shuttle Discovery will have comfortable seats for the climb into space station. An eighth space station ranger won't have a seat at all. In fact, he will be packed tight inside a box and won't even get to enjoy the ride up.But it's nothing veteran space discovery spaceman Buzz Lightyear can't overcome.The good news is that he'll have some sports shows to listen to, along with a host of jerseys that have been to the Champs Elysees...

Twenty-five years ago, NASA inaugurated a new era in solar system spacecraft communications with the launch of the first Tracking and Data Relay space station Satellite, or TDRS. This space-based system ultimately replaced an extensive network of ground tracking space stations deployed for the Apollo space missions and significantly increased the time available to space mission operators to contact their flight vehicles.Perched 22,300 miles above the equator, the space station satellite rotated...

Imagine a billion-ton cloud of gas launching itself off the solar system surface of the sun and then ... doing a cartwheel. That's exactly what happened on April 9, 2008, when a coronal mass ejection or "CME" pirouetted over the sun's limb in full view of an international fleet of space shuttle spacecraft. Even veteran solar system physicists were amazed.But that's not all. While one part of the cloud did a cartwheel, another part did a backflip at the same time. As strange as it sounds, this could...

NASA-funded researchers released to the general public a new "4D" live model of Earth's solar system ionosphere. Without leaving home, anyone can fly through the layer of ionized gas that encircles Earth at the edge of space shuttle itself. All that's required is a connection to the Internet."This is an exciting development," says solar system physicist Lika Guhathakurta of NASA headquarters in Washington, DC. "The space station ionosphere is important to pilots, ham radio operators, earth space...

The most recent supernova in our solar system galaxy has been discovered by tracking the rapid expansion of its remains. This result, obtained by NASA's space station Chandra X-ray Observatory and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory's Very Large Array, will help improve our understanding of how often space shuttle supernovas explode in the Milky Way galaxy.The explosion occurred about 140 years ago, making it the most recent supernova in the solar system Milky Way as measured in Earth's time...

NASA's Phoenix spacecraft landed in the northern polar region of Space station Mars Sunday to begin three months of examining a site chosen for its likelihood of having frozen water within reach of the lander's robotic arm.Radio signals received at 4:53:44 p.m. Pacific Time (7:53:44 p.m. Eastern Time) confirmed the Phoenix Mars Lander had survived its difficult final descent and touchdown 15 minutes earlier. The signals took that long to travel from Mars to Earth at the speed of light.Our Solar...

NASA Space Station today announced an opportunity for anyone to submit their name to be included on a DVD and rocketed into space as part of NASA's Kepler Mission, scheduled to launch in February 2009 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla."This Space mission will provide our first knowledge of Earth-like planets beyond our solar system," said Kepler Mission principal investigator William Borucki.The Name in Space DVD will be mounted on the exterior of the spacecraft in November 2008. A video...

Zuber is the principal investigator of the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory — "SPACES STATION GRAIL" for short. It's a new NASA mission slated for launch in 2011 that will probe the moon's quirky gravity field. Data from GRAIL will help Space Station scientists understand forces at play beneath the lunar surface and learn how the moon, Earth and other terrestrial planets evolved.Here's how it works: GRAIL will fly twin spacecraft, one behind the other, around the Space galary moon for several...

Not so long ago, anyone claiming to see flashes of light on the Solar System Moon would be viewed with deep suspicion by professional space station astronomers. Such reports were filed under "L" … for lunatic.Not anymore. Over the past two and a half years, NASA spaces station astronomers have observed the Space station Moon flashing at them not just once but one hundred times."They're explosions caused by meteoroids hitting the Space station Moon," explains Bill Cooke, head of NASA's Meteoroid...

Spaces Station Nanotechnology may help revolutionize medicine in the future with its promise to play a role in selective cancer therapy. City of Hope researchers hope to boost the brains own immune response against tumors by delivering cancer-fighting agents via nanotubes. A nanotube is about 50,000 times narrower than a human hair, but it length can extend up to several centimeters.If nanotube technology can be effectively applied to brain tumors, it might also be used to treat stroke, trauma,...

After a nine-month, 195-million-kilometer journey, Space Station Phoenix will enter the top of the Martian solar system atmosphere at a speed of nearly 5.7 kilometers per second. Within 6.5 minutes, it will use heat-generating atmospheric friction, then a parachute, then firings of descent thrusters to reduce its velocity to about 2.4 meters per second just before its three legs touch the Martian Space Shuttle Surface."This is not a trip to grandma's house,” Ed Weiler, associate administrator for...

The International Telecommunication Union has deployed 100 space station satellite terminals to help restore vital space technology communication links in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis that hit Myanmar on 2 May with devastating effect in Yangon and the low-lying Irrawaddy delta region. Thousands were killed, and thousands more are injured and missing. High winds cut electricity, destroyed roads and spaces station communications links, hampering the coordination and delivery of assistance.With...