You are browsing the archive for NASA.
7 October 2009
To the Moon! Zoom, Bang!
As I write this, there is a NASA spacecraft on an unstoppable collision course with the moon. Early on Friday morning it will impact a crater near the moon’s south pole at 9000 km/hr, causing an explosion that will excavate 350 tons of lunar rocks, blasting them up into space and leaving a 66 foot-wide crater. Of course, this is all intentional. The LCROSS mission will use the upper stage …
6 October 2009
Mars Science Laboratory Instruments: MARDI
Next up in my series of posts about the instruments on MSL is the Mars Descent Imager (MARDI). Once again, this camera is made by MSSS just like MastCam and MAHLI, and it shows. Like the other two, MARDI is a color camera, and it shoots high-def 1600×1200 pixel images. MARDI is special because it points straight down, and it can take pictures at 4.5 frames per second. That means …
24 September 2009
Water on the Moon
In case you haven’t heard yet, there is quite the buzz building about three separate results that indicate that there is water on the lunar surface. There isn’t much: moon rocks returned by Apollo are pretty darn dry, but it’s still an exciting result, and it means that future missions might be able to extract water for drinking and rocket fuel. I was especially surprised to hear that the water …
8 September 2009
Augustine Commission Summary Report Posted
I’ve posted before about the “Augustine Commission” – a panel of aerospace experts assembled to assess the status of NASA’s human spaceflight program. Well, today they released a 12 page summary of their findings. The full report is still in the works, but this 12 page summary is the short and sweet version. I strongly encourage you to take a few minutes and read the summary, but if you don’t …
30 August 2009
Fire near JPL
Apologies for the silence on the blog lately. I’ve been trying to get caught up with work since I got back from the north woods of Michigan last sunday. However, I thought I should take a minute and mention the forest fires in LA that are threatening JPL . People on the MER team have been sending occasional updates and photos over the last few days as the fires inch …
31 July 2009
Reasons for Human Space Exploration
I posted my nine reasons for human space exploration a while back, but with all the discussion of human spaceflight lately, my friend Joe Shoer, “quantum mechanic and rocket scientist extraordinaire,” decided to do the same and posted his top five reasons for sending humans to space. His are quite a bit more detailed and well-written than mine. Here’s a teaser, but you should take a look at the full …
30 July 2009
Thoughts on the Augustine Comission's Public Meetings
For the past three days, the “Augustine Commission” has been holding public meetings as part of their study of the future of NASA’s human spaceflight program. They still have a few weeks before their final report is due on the President’s desk, but the public meetings have been a great view into the current status of NASA and where the committee’s thoughts are pointing. Here is my attempt to act …
25 July 2009
Public Engagement in Space: The Power of Story
In my post yesterday about the future of NASA, I paraphrased a philosophy for public engagement with NASA that centers around telling a story. Today I scanned in the packet of information that first introduced me to this idea. You can download it here. The packet is a report put together by Bob Rogers for a NASA group planning a Mars Sample Return mission, back in 1998. Bob Rogers is …
24 July 2009
The Future of NASA
Earlier this week I mentioned that there is an ongoing evaluation of the future of human spaceflight at NASA. The so-called “Augustine commission” has been tasked to: “conduct an independent review of ongoing U.S. human space flight plans and programs, as well as alternatives, to ensure the Nation is pursuing the best trajectory for the future of human space flight – one that is safe, innovative, affordable, and sustainable. The …
20 July 2009
NASA Then and Now
Forty years ago today, the world watched as Apollo 11 landed on the surface of the moon. All day today, I have been reading accounts from people who witnessed the landing. They have almost unanimously expressed the awe and wonder of seeing human being set foot upon the surface of another world. But another common thread is that of disappointment. The Apollo program achieved great things in its time, but …
