Satellite News

NASA has signed a $36.9 million contract modification to space shuttle main engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne of Canoga Park, Calif., to provide continued shuttle main engine prelaunch and launch support from April 1 through July 31. The contract modification also provides two additional options that if exercised, would bring the potential contract a

Scientists recently completed a series of nighttime, ground-based testing of the German Receiver for Astronomy at Terahertz Frequencies, or GREAT, spectrometer in preparation for a series of astronomical science flights on the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy in April. With the SOFIA 747SP aircraft positioned on the ramp outside NASA’s Dryden Aircraft

NASA has selected five potential discoverers as the recipients of the 2011 Carl Sagan Postdoctoral Fellowships, named after the late astronomer. The Carl Sagan Fellowship takes a theme-based approach, in which fellows will focus on compelling scientific questions, such as "Are there Earth-like planets orbiting other stars?" Sagan once said, "Somewhere, something incr

NASA's Stardust spacecraft sent its last transmission to Earth at 4:33 p.m. PDT (7:33 p.m. EDT) Thursday, March 24, shortly after depleting fuel and ceasing operations. During a 12-year period, the venerable spacecraft collected and returned comet material to Earth and was reused after the end of its prime mission in 2006 to observe and study another comet during Feb

 At 33 minutes after 4 p.m. PDT today, NASA's Stardust spacecraft finished its last transmission to Earth. The transmission came on the heels of the venerable spacecraft's final rocket burn, which was designed to provide insight into how much fuel remained aboard after its encounter with comet Tempel 1 in February."Stardust has been teaching us about our

X-ray observations made by the Suzaku observatory provide the clearest picture to date of the size, mass and chemical content of a nearby cluster of galaxies. The study also provides the first direct evidence that million-degree gas clouds are tightly gathered in the cluster's outskirts. Suzaku is sponsored by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) with contr

Space Shuttle Commander Mark Kelly will not be available for media interviews that had been scheduled from 3 p.m.-5 p.m. CDT Thursday, March 24, at the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston. Kelly will participate in a previously scheduled news conference with his crew at 2 p.m. CDT Thursday to discuss their upcoming STS-134 shuttle mission to the International Sp

NASA's Stennis Space Center is moving ahead in supporting Orbital Sciences Corporation testing of Aerojet's AJ26 engines for commercial cargo flights to the International Space Station. Orbital plans to launch the first of eight scheduled unmanned cargo missions to the ISS in early 2012. Key steps already have been taken toward that goal as Orbital has successfully t

Hopes for reviving NASA Spirit Mars rover dimmed further with passage last week of the point at which the rover's locale received its maximum sunshine for the Martian year. The rover team has tried to contact Spirit for months with strategies based on the possibility that increasing energy availability might wake the rover from hibernation. The team has now switched

NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft successfully achieved orbit around Mercury at approximately 9 p.m. EDT Thursday. This marks the first time a spacecraft has accomplished this engineering and scientific milestone at our solar system's innermost planet. "This mission will continue to revolutionize our understanding of Mercury during the coming year," said NASA Administrato

The crew of STS-133 closed out space shuttle Discovery's roster of accomplishments with a virtually flawless 13-day flight to attach a new module to the International Space Station and help the residents there outfit the orbiting laboratory for continued research. Commander Steve Lindsey, Pilot Eric Boe and Mission Specialists Alvin Drew, Michael Barratt, Nicole Stot

After more than a dozen laps through the inner solar system, NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft will move into orbit around Mercury on March 17, 2011. The durable spacecraft--carrying seven science instruments and fortified against the blistering environs near the sun--will be the first to orbit the innermost planet. At 8:45 p.m. EDT, MESSENGER--having pointed its largest t

The March 11, magnitude 9.0 earthquake in Japan may have shortened the length of each Earth day and shifted its axis. But don't worry—you won't notice the difference.  Using a United States Geological Survey estimate for how the fault responsible for the earthquake slipped, research scientist Richard Gross of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif

Dr. James Garvin, chief scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, answers your questions about the 'supermoon' phenomenon. Question: What is the definition of a supermoon and why is it called that? 'Supermoon' is a situation when the moon is slightly closer to Earth in its orbit than on average, and this effect is most noticeable when it occurs at the same ti

NASA will unveil its new rocket integration facility at the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia during a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10 a.m. EDT on March 22. The Horizontal Integration Facility will support medium-class mission capabilities. The first customer to use the facility will be Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va., with its Taurus II launch vehicle.

Before space shuttle Discovery's STS-133 crew members departed NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for their home base at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, they gathered in Kennedy's TV Auditorium to briefly answer questions from the media. STS-133 Commander Steve Lindsey was first to say, "It was a great day to come back and land in Florida, we're happy to

NASA will preview the final space shuttle missions during media events on Wednesday, March 23, and Thursday, March 24, at the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston. On March 23, reporters are invited to a media availability with three of the four STS-135 crew members who will fly aboard Atlantis on the final shuttle flight in June. STS-135 Commander Chris Ferguson

NASA's space shuttle fleet began setting records with its first launch on April 12, 1981 and continues to set high marks of achievement and endurance. Starting with Columbia and continuing with Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour, the spacecraft has carried people into orbit repeatedly, launched, recovered and repaired satellites, conducted cutting-edge res

At 4:11 p.m. EST, hatches were closed between space shuttle Discovery and the International Space Station. The hatches between the two spacecraft were opened at 4:16 p.m. on February 26 and remained open for joint crew operations for a total of 7 days, 23 hours, and 55 minutes. Prior to hatch closure, the shuttle and station crews exchanged farewells. Discovery Comm

The Discovery crew’s sleep period begins at 7:23 p.m. EST, with a wakeup call scheduled for 3:23 a.m. Saturday. Highlights of Flight Day 9 will be replayed hourly on NASA Television during crew sleep beginning at 8 p.m. During the afternoon Friday, Mission Specialists Steve Bowen and Alvin Drew stowed tools they used outside on the spacewalks earlier this week. Mean

Both the Glory spacecraft and Taurus XL rocket are ready for launch tomorrow morning at 2:09:43 a.m. PST/5:09:43 a.m. EST. The weather forecast is 100 percent "go" with the possibility of some fog and a low ceiling not expected to be an issue. The call to stations for the launch team is 10:20 p.m. PST/1:20 a.m. EST. The liftoff from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Cali

Spacewalkers Steve Bowen and Alvin Drew completed a six-hour, 14-minute spacewalk at 4:56 p.m. EST. This was the final STS-133 spacewalk, the 244th by U.S. astronauts. It was the seventh for Bowen totaling 47 hours, 18 minutes and places him sixth on the all-time list. It was the second spacewalk for Drew, totaling 12 hours, 48 minutes. It was the 155th spacewal

NASA's Glory spacecraft is scheduled for launch on Friday, March 4. Technical issues with ground support equipment for the Taurus XL launch vehicle led to the scrub of the original Feb. 23 launch attempt. Those issues have been resolved. The liftoff from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California is targeted for 5:09:43 a.m. EST, in the middle of a 48-second launch wind