Posts Tagged ‘Mars’
NASA Authorization Act pushes for Moon and Mars priority
The House Science space subcommittee’s 2013 Authorization Act intends to refocus NASA’s exploration path towards prioritizing the goal of landing humans on both the Moon and Mars, according…
A return to the Moon would send NASA back to square one – Bolden
NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden has strongly ruled out missions to land on the Moon as part of NASA’s exploration roadmap, claiming any future political re-direction to return humans…
ESA and Roscosmos sign ExoMars deal following NASA refocus
The European Space Agency (ESA) and the Russian federal space agency, Roscosmos, have announced their partnership on the ExoMars programme. The deal will result in two major Mars…
NASA’s MAVEN completes assembly ahead of mission to Mars
Lockheed Martin engineers have completed the assembly of NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft, ahead of shipping to the Kennedy Space Center in August. MAVEN is…
Curiosity will help humans reach Mars
As NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) continues to impress during its mission on the Red Planet – marked by another milestone via the use of its drill for…
Boeing outlines technology for crewed Mars missions
With a focus on building the archetypal missions for NASA’s new Space Launch System rocket, the U.S.-based Boeing Corporation has outlined their view of what technologies can be…
Year in Review (Part I) – Mars exploration dominates a year of redefinition
The year 2012 was a year like none other for NASA, one dominated not by human spaceflight activities but by redefinition. That redefinition saw the prominent rise of…
NASA announce another Mars Rover mission to the Red Planet in 2020
NASA’s associate administrator for science, John Grunsfeld, has announced NASA’s forward path for robotic exploration of Mars, including the confirmation of a new Rover, to be launched in…
NASA interest in 2024 Mars Sample Return Mission using SLS and Orion
The Mars Program Planning Group (MPPG) have added meat to the bones of a proposal that would result in the Space Launch System (SLS), Orion and a Mars…
Dear Curiosity – In the event of Martian contact, please call the President
President Obama phoned the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) team on Monday, congratulating them on their amazing Entry, Landing and Descent (EDL) efforts that resulted in NASA’s Curiosity rover…
Curiosity makes HISTORIC landing at Gale Crater on Mars
History was made at 1:31am EDT (05:31 UTC) Monday on the fourth planet in this solar system as NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity descended to a picture-perfect…
NASA ESD set key Orion requirement based on Lunar missions
NASA’s new spaceship, the Orion crew capsule, will be able to actively host a crew for 21 days, a requirement designed to cover all exploration missions, but mainly…
SpaceX Dragon advancing the Launch Abort System to new heights
SpaceX are continuing to make progress with their NASA commercial crew contract, with the latest milestone involving the firing of their SuperDraco thruster engine, an integrated element of…
Opportunity’s eight years on Mars: A story of science and endurance
Eight years ago today (January 25, 2004), the Mars Exploration Rover -B (MER -B) slammed into the Martian atmosphere and executed a successful Entry, Descent, and Landing on…
SLS Exploration Roadmap evaluations provide clues for human Mars missions
As NASA managers continue to work through the evaluations into an exploration roadmap for the agency, the end goal of sending humans to Mars is starting to show…
SLS capability touted for Europa Lander capability, Enceladus sample return
As the Space Launch System (SLS) teams head into their first full year since the vehicle was finally announced, fascinating – albeit well into the future – Exploration…
Atlas V launches NASA’s MSL Rover ahead of journey to Mars
NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory has begun its mission to the Red Planet Saturday, with a launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. Liftoff from Space Launch…
Russian Zenit-2 launches Fobos-Grunt – Battle on to save mission
A Russian Zenit-2 launch vehicle lofted Russia’s Fobos-Grunt spacecraft into orbit – launching at 02:16 local time on Wednesday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome – ahead of its sample return mission to Phobos,…
The search for life on Mars – MOD involved in mission sims via PLRP
NASA’s Mission Operations Directorate (MOD) are continuing to expand their involvement in exploration training and simulation by working with the international Pavilion Lake Research Project (PLRP) team on…
Tech Demos: NASA preparing for full ISS utilization in post-Shuttle era
With the US Segment of the International Space Station (ISS) now complete, NASA managers are turning their attention away from the era of construction and maintenance of the station…
