Archive for September, 2011

Protecting Apollo sites from future visiting vehicles under NASA evaluation

Tuesday, September 6th, 2011

As NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) produced the sharpest images ever taken from space of the Apollo 12, 14 and 17 landing sites, NASA managers are working on internal plans to protect the “heritage sites” from potential damage from future visiting spacecraft – such as the Google Lunar X PRIZE (GLXP) vehicles – listing a [...]

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Voyager 1′s great escape: The search for interstellar space

Monday, September 5th, 2011

Like its sister probe Voyager 2, the Voyager 1 spacecraft has been an instrumental force in our continued push to gain a better understanding of our solar system. From its encounters with Jupiter and Saturn, to its ongoing mission to explore the outer boundaries of the solar system, Voyager 1 stands as the farthest man-made [...]

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Canada’s Dextre Completes Marathon Week of Robotics Ops on ISS

Sunday, September 4th, 2011

Canada’s Special Purpose Dextrous Manipulator (SPDM), more commonly known as “Dextre” or the “Canada Hand”, has completed a week of highly successful and highly complex robotics operations on the International Space Station (ISS). The never-before-completed operations have raised the bar for fine dextrous robotics on ISS, and ushered in a new era of human-robotic partnership [...]

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Twin GRAIL satellites ready for NASA lunar launch

Saturday, September 3rd, 2011

With less than one week to go before the launch of the twin GRAIL lunar satellites from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL, NASA has completed the pre-launch flight readiness reviews for both GRAIL and the veteran Delta II rocket which will propel the spacecrafts into their cruise to Earth’s only natural satellite.

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Cull of Shuttle skillset threatens efficiency and safety risks – DeCastro

Thursday, September 1st, 2011

As the Space Shuttle Program (SSP) officially ended this week – closing out 30 years of achievements and advancements in human space travel – United Space Alliance (USA) Vice President and SSP manager Howard DeCastro noted his pride in the strong finish to the program, whilst adding he fears there may be a price to [...]

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