New vehicles pave way for exploration
Why is NASA’s Commercial Crew Program to develop private human transport ships to low Earth orbit important? That’s the question I posed to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden when we met for an exclusive interview at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. The Commercial Crew Program (CCP) is the critical enabler “for establishing a viable …
NASA testing ‘flying saucer’ over Hawaii today
Mission managers are proceeding with preparations for a launch attempt this morning (Saturday, June 28) of a high-altitude balloon carrying the Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) test vehicle to the edge of space. The test flight is being conducted from the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii. At present, weather conditions are favorable as the balloon …
NASA launches Earth science challenges for general public
NASA is launching two challenges to give the public an opportunity to create innovative ways to use data from the agency’s Earth science satellites. The challenges will use the Open NASA Earth Exchange. OpenNEX is a data, supercomputing and knowledge platform where users can share modeling and analysis codes, scientific results, knowledge and expertise to …
Astronomers find a new type of planet: The ‘mega-Earth’
Astronomers announced today that they have discovered a new type of planet – a rocky world weighing 17 times as much as Earth. Theorists believed such a world couldn’t form because anything so hefty would grab hydrogen gas as it grew and become a Jupiter-like gas giant. This planet, though, is all solids and much …
Brian Greene and the challenges of physics
Have you ever stared up at the night sky contemplating how the universe works? Have your thoughts ever drifted off into the realm of the infinite? Theoretical physicist Brian Greene not only ponders these questions, but his research into String Theory could one day prove successful in answering them. Greene is an author, professor, creator …
Cassini at Saturn: A decade exploring the ringed system
Cassini: Amazing images and even more amazing science The Cassini orbiter has been in orbit around Saturn since June 2004. Launched aboard a Titan IVB rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on October 15, 1997, it was originally dubbed Cassini-Huygens as the Huygens probe was carried along with Cassini to the Saturnian system. The …