Articles tagged with Spacecraft
The IBEX spacecraft has created a new comprehensive sky map of our solar system, showcasing its location within the Milky Way galaxy. The map highlights the region that separates our heliosphere from interstellar space, with bright emissions not previously detected by Voyager spacecraft.
MESSENGER will zip within 142 miles of Mercury's surface, taking high-resolution color images and ultraviolet measurements. CU-Boulder's MASCS instrument aims to pinpoint iron on the planet's surface, which maintains its magnetic field.
The Deep Impact spacecraft and Moon Mineralogy Mapper have found clear evidence of water on the lunar surface, which forms and dissipates each day. The data suggests that hydrogen ions from the sun interact with oxygen-rich minerals in lunar soil to produce water molecules.
Engineers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center use a laser ranging system to track the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft as it orbits the moon. The system provides distance measurements accurate to four inches, improving map accuracy and navigation.
Scientists at Brown University have found evidence of water molecules on the moon's surface, with up to 1,000 parts-per-million in lunar soil. This discovery could provide a mechanism for water to reach permanently shadowed craters, opening new avenues for lunar research.
NASA researchers have discovered glycine, an amino acid used by living organisms to make proteins, in samples of comet Wild 2. The discovery supports the theory that some of life's ingredients formed in space and were delivered to Earth long ago.
The NASA-operated GOES-O satellite reached its geosynchronous orbit at 89.5 degrees west longitude on July 8, 2009, after a series of maneuvers to raise its perigee to approximately 22,300 miles above the Earth. The solar array was successfully deployed on July 9, and all spacecraft subsystems reported nominal performance.
LRO's LROC cameras have returned the first lunar images since reaching the moon on June 23, capturing cratered regions in the highlands south of Mare Nubium. The images, taken along the terminator line, show a rugged surface with subtle topography exaggeration.
The IBEX spacecraft has made the first observations of very fast hydrogen atoms coming from the moon, shedding light on the 'recycling' process undertaken by particles throughout the solar system and beyond. The neutral atoms can travel long distances before they are stripped of their electrons and become ions.
The MMS mission will investigate magnetic reconnection, a fundamental process that impacts technologies like communications and power grids. The four observatories will be deployed in a pyramid configuration to study the phenomenon near the boundary between Earth's magnetosphere and solar wind.
The Aerospace Corporation successfully tested the latest generation of high-efficiency solar cells on a 6.4kg nanosatellite, transmitting 17MB of data during its 110-day mission. The satellite's performance was characterized as successful, with improved communication links and valuable insights into solar cell degradation.
The CU-Boulder instrument, part of NASA's Hubble Servicing mission, will probe the universe's evolution from its perch on the Hubble Space Telescope. Scientists aim to reconstruct the physical conditions and evolution of the early universe by gathering information from ultraviolet light.
Researchers detected magnesium in Mercury's atmosphere during a MESSENGER flyby, surprising scientists with its distribution and abundance. The discovery is one clue to understanding the creation of the rocky planet closest to the sun.
Florida Institute of Technology professors Ming Zhang and Hamid Rassoul receive a $411,000 NASA grant to investigate the physics of particle transport in the distant heliosphere. The IBEX spacecraft mission will observe particles from beyond Pluto's orbit, providing insights into cosmic rays and future human space travel.
The Hypersonic Control Modeling and Simulation Tool (HyperCMST) will be used for control studies of planetary atmospheric entry and descent, aerodynamic orbital capture, and aerodynamic gravity assist. The tool allows engineers to model optimal control trajectories for hypersonic vehicles.
Scientists can now study coronal mass ejections in 3D, predicting their impact on Earth. This capability will improve forecasts for space weather disturbances and aurora displays.
Stereo will use a wide-field-of-view telescope to search for asteroids orbiting the region, which could be leftovers from a Mars-sized planet that formed billions of years ago. The mission aims to provide three-dimensional views of space weather and study its effects on Earth.
A Purdue University researcher is helping shape plans for a new experiment on the space shuttle Discovery, which will collect data to control deadly friction and heating. The experiment aims to design more efficient spacecraft and hypersonic aircraft.
Kepler will observe a broad region of the summer-time sky using a photometer to measure the brightness of stars. The mission aims to determine the number of Earth-like planets in the galaxy by watching for tiny flickers in starlight that could indicate a planet passing in front.
The GOES-O satellite has arrived at the Kennedy Space Center for final pre-launch testing, targeting a launch on April 28. The satellite will provide enhanced weather monitoring and forecast operations with improved image resolution and navigation accuracy.
A team of CU-Boulder students and professionals will operate the Kepler spacecraft from launch, monitoring onboard systems and uploading commands twice a week. The mission aims to identify small, rocky planets in habitable zones, fueling growing excitement among space scientists.
Researchers at the Center for Food and Environmental Systems for Human Exploration of Space successfully grew sweet potato cuttings in microgravity, showing that they can regenerate roots. The study found significant differences in root growth development between microgravity and ground-based conditions.
The Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) spacecraft is creating the first global maps of interactions between the solar wind and the interstellar medium. The maps are built using energetic neutral atom imaging and reveal the intricate pattern of this fascinating interaction.
The NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) successfully completed a comprehensive Mission Operations Readiness Review, assessing its operational readiness and progress to launch. The review determined that NPP's overall operations readiness is sound, with strengths and weaknesses identified but no major issues found.
Researchers have successfully shielded spacecraft from deadly space weather using a portable magnetosphere, making a manned mission to Mars more feasible. The technology uses knowledge gained from nuclear fusion research to scatter solar wind particles away from astronauts.
MESSENGER spacecraft will make its second flyby of Mercury on Oct. 6, providing a region unseen before by spacecraft and revealing details about the planet's atmosphere and surface. The mission aims to gather data and images from Mercury for about 90 minutes, including observations in the far ultraviolet portion of the light spectrum.
CU-Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics has been selected by NASA to lead the $485 million Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution mission. The MAVEN spacecraft will study Mars' upper atmosphere, solar wind, and ionosphere to determine its past climate and potential life.
The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has revealed the entire gamma-ray sky, discovering pulsars in our galaxy and powerful processes near supermassive black holes. The telescope's first all-sky image shows glowing gas, blinking pulsars, and a flaring galaxy billions of light-years away.
Researchers have developed a new temperature-regulating film that can be applied to micro-spacecraft, allowing them to withstand extreme heat and cold in space. This breakthrough technology has the potential to enable cheaper and more efficient satellite launches, opening up new applications for communications and defense.
Scientists have made direct measurements of the solar wind termination shock using Voyager 2 data, which could help understand how cosmic rays are produced. The observations reveal intense plasma wave turbulence and unexpected effects, sparking revisions to theories.
The Solar Probe mission will study the streams of charged particles emitted by the sun, exploring the processes that heat its corona and produce solar wind. The spacecraft will zip past the sun at speeds up to 125 miles per second, gathering data on magnetic fields, energy flow, and energetic particle formation.
Researchers from the University of Maryland and Max-Planck Institute found that Jupiter's outermost ring is extended beyond Thebe's orbit due to dust particles' electric charges interacting with the planet's magnetic field. This phenomenon affects any planet's rings, shedding light on planetary formation.
The powerful Ku Band antenna system attached to NASA's GLAST satellite enables high-rate data transmission to Earth through the Tracking and Data Relay Satellites. The antenna system includes a Ku antenna, pointing mechanism, and transmitters, and will play a crucial role in the observatory's scientific experiments.
Researchers will study how germs change when exposed to space, potentially leading to new strategies for prevention and treatment of diseases. The experiment aims to confirm earlier results on Salmonella's increased virulence in space.
Researchers at UCLA have solved a 40-year-old puzzle by identifying the source of intense radio waves in the Earth's upper atmosphere that control the dynamics of the Van Allen radiation belts. The chorus wave type is found to energize electrons and was initially thought unrelated to hiss.
Two groundbreaking technologies, a nano chemsensor unit (NCSU) and a variable emissivity film, have proven successful on NASA's MidSTAR-1 satellite. The NCSU can detect harmful chemicals and contaminants in space, while the film controls heat on spacecraft, reducing weight and power consumption.
MESSENGER's Wide Angle Camera captures high-resolution color views of Mercury, showcasing subtle variations indicative of different rock types and mineral compositions. The images provide valuable information for understanding Mercury's formation and evolution.
The MESSENGER spacecraft has captured high-resolution images of Mercury's surface, revealing detailed features such as the Vivaldi crater and ancient depressions. The images show craters as small as 1 kilometer in diameter, providing new insights into the planet's geology.
The MESSENGER spacecraft completed its first flyby of Mercury, collecting scientific data and imagery of the planet's surface. The mission will provide new insights into Mercury's previously unseen surface features.
The MESSENGER spacecraft will make its first flyby of Mercury on January 14, 2008, capturing images of large portions of the planet never seen before. The encounter will provide critical gravity assist needed to keep the spacecraft on track for its orbit insertion around Mercury.
Brown students and faculty will analyze data from MESSENGER spacecraft, exploring Mercury's surface composition, geological history, and magnetic field
Scientists at CU-Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics are leading a team that will make measurements of Mercury's surface and tenuous atmosphere using the MESSENGER spacecraft. The mission will provide new insights into the composition, formation, and evolution of Mercury.
A University of Minnesota physicist analyzed comet Wild-2 dust, finding it formed close to the infant sun and bombarded by intense radiation before being flung out. The discovery sheds light on the solar system's early stages and potential impact on Earth's atmosphere.
The Deep Impact spacecraft is using its flyby of Earth to calibrate its instruments for the EPOXI mission, which will study comet Hartley 2. The team made observations of the moon to test the spacecraft's pointing and commanding systems.
The EPOXI mission will use the Deep Impact spacecraft to search for Earth-sized planets around five stars and conduct an extended flyby of Comet Hartley 2, studying its surface and composition. This new mission aims to better understand how solar systems form and evolve.
New research suggests Saturn's rings have been present since the solar system was formed 4.5 billion years ago, with different ring features varying in age and material being continually recycled. The recycling process helps explain why the rings appear brighter than expected, despite ongoing pollution.
A NASA fleet of spacecraft has made significant discoveries about Northern Lights, revealing giant magnetic ropes and small explosions in the Earth's magnetic field. The THEMIS mission observed a rapidly developing substorm, confirming the existence of these structures and witnessing vivid auroras for over two hours.
The Voyager 2 spacecraft has detected a strong magnetic field in the interstellar region, distorting the bubble of outflowing gas from the sun. Additionally, the temperature was found to be ten times cooler than expected just outside the boundary, sparking new explanations.
Voyager 2 has entered the heliosheath, a vast region at the edge of our solar system where the solar wind meets interstellar space. The spacecraft's Plasma Science instrument provided direct measurements of the solar wind, revealing an unusual shock wave with lower temperatures than predicted.
The SECCHI team has obtained images of large waves of solar material sweeping past Earth, confirming the existence of previously known point measurements. The waves are associated with high-density regions that rotate with the Sun and are believed to form as high-speed wind from coronal holes runs into low-speed wind.
Researchers found heavy negative ions in Titan's upper atmosphere, which may form complex molecules essential for life. The discovery poses questions about atmospheric chemistry and aerosol formation, suggesting that these ions form in the upper atmosphere before reaching the surface.
Computer simulation predicts Voyager 2 will reach major milestone in space, crossing the 'termination shock' one more time in mid-2008. The spacecraft's expected crossing of the spherical shell marks a significant event in its journey into interstellar space.
A customized telemetry system has been successfully tested by Northrop Grumman Corporation, enabling the James Webb Space Telescope to communicate with Earth. The system, developed in collaboration with Raytheon Corporation, will be used for sending commands and collecting telemetry data.
The New Horizons spacecraft provided detailed observations of Jupiter's atmosphere, revealing new insights into cloud structure and composition. The mission also explored the planet's four largest moons, including Io, which showed over 20 geological changes since the last close-up look.
A team of Iowa State engineers has developed a sensor that can detect small vibrations caused by escaping air in spacecraft, allowing for faster leak detection. This technology, in partnership with Invocon Inc., aims to improve the safety and efficiency of NASA's space missions.
A recent NASA study used gene sequencing to detect a vast array of bacteria in clean rooms, including newly discovered species. The findings will aid in improving cleaning and sterilization methods to prevent false-positive results in detecting extraterrestrial life.
A new NASA mission will carry a suite of University of Colorado at Boulder experiments to the International Space Station, involving over 15,000 K-12 students from around the world. The experiments focus on plant growth, yeast cell genes, and crystal formations in space.
Researchers will make measurements of thick clouds and surface of Venus, comparing atmosphere with past data, using MASCS instrument. The mission also tests instrument performance before Mercury arrival and explores mineral composition, gas distribution, and water-ice at Mercury's poles.
Researchers mapped Saturn's rings using a 'CAT scan' method, confirming the presence of clumps and empty gaps. The discovery may help explain the origin and age of Saturn's rings.
Scientists observed large fluctuations in magnetic and electric field readings around each spacecraft, revealing variations in solar wind protons reflected by the shock. This discovery provides valuable insights into bow shocks around distant celestial objects, which can accelerate particles to extreme energies.