People, Businesses, Places & Events
Students ace ‘Hole-In-One’ contest at JPL
Students from 19 high school teams across Southern California, as well as NASA professionals, took part in a “Hole-in-One” contest in the Invention Challenge last month at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in Pasadena, Calif. The objective of the annual challenge was to create a device that could propel or move a golf ball into a …
Stephen Colbert presents honor from NASA to Voyager scientist
As if NASA’s Voyager mission didn’t have enough firsts in its 36-year journey, what with sending the first spacecraft to Uranus, Neptune and, most recently, interstellar space! Now, it has another first back here on Earth: on the December 3, 2013 episode of the Colbert Report, host Stephen Colbert floated across the stage in a …
Keeping an eye on launch-day weather
Before MAVEN can study the atmosphere of Mars, it had to not only overcome Earth’s gravity but also make it through Earth’s atmosphere. Central Florida’s sometimes volatile weather can make launching rockets difficult. Weather is responsible for more than a third of launch delays and nearly half of the scrubs. The meteorologists of the 45th …
Lynx spacecraft making big screen debut
There is a lot of excitement coming in the near future for the Lynx spacecraft and everyone involved in its development at XCOR Aerospace. In a partnership with Centerboro Productions, XCOR’s Lynx spacecraft is going to be making its acting debut in the upcoming Science Fiction/Action/Thriller 3D movie “Newcomers”, where a NASA astronaut becomes the last …
Bond’s Skylon to achieve dream of single-stage-to-orbit vehicle
In the UK’s Oxfordshire country-side, the legacy of British invention is being passed from Sir Frank Whittle to a new group of dedicated aerospace engineers and one man in particular; Alan Bond. The long held dream of UK spaceflight is coming closer to reality, and his dream could be a game-changer. Despite decades of lacklustre …
Space enthralls Abraham Benrubi
Abraham Rubin Hercules Benrubi is a beloved character actor who has been working in film and television for more than two decades. He is known by many names: Mose from “Open Range,” Jerry from “E.R.,” and Larry ‘The Kube’ Kubiac from “Parker Lewis Can’t Lose.” He is also the voice of Fidel Castro, Optimus Prime, …
Scott Carpenter: A tribute to a curious but ordinary superman
One of only two remaining Mercury Program Astronauts from the 60’s, Scott Carpenter, sadly passed beyond the veil on Thursday, October 10, 2013 following a stroke in September. He was 88 years of age. Carpenter was one of the earliest pioneers in the infancy of the Space Age. He was the second American to cross …
One year later: Endeavour still awing the people throughout Los Angeles
Controversy marked every step of Endeavour’s path to Los Angeles. From the beginning it was the old wrangling over which coast was the right coast – the ‘Left’ Coast or the East Coast? And did L.A. even deserve one of these precious birds? The answer to the questions posed all the way along became crystal …
United Launch Alliance celebrates 75th successful launch
An Atlas V rocket carrying the Advanced Extremely High Frequency-3 (AEHF-3) satellite for the United States Air Force lifted off from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida early in the morning of Sept. 18. It was United Launch Alliance’s ninth launch of an ambitious 12 mission schedule for the year. …
Lockheed Martin supplying advanced GPS, secure communication satellites
One half of the formula was Glenn L. Martin. Motivated by flight legend Orville Wright to bring his groundbreaking idea for a new aircraft design to life, he found a church and used it as a garage to build his creation. Destiny started brewing four months later, when brothers Allan and Malcolm Lockheed created Alco-Hydro …