Al writes "NASA recently finished testing a miniature nuclear reactor that would provide power for an astronaut base on the Moon or Mars. The reactor combines a small fission system with a Stirling engine to make a ’safe, reliable, and efficient’ way to produce electricity. The system being tested at NASA’s Glenn Research Center can produce 2.3 kilowatts and could be ready for launch by 2020, NASA officials say. The reactor ought to provide much more power than solar panels but could prove controversial with the public concerned about launching a nuclear power source and placing it on the Moon or another planet."
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NASA Developing Nuclear Reactor For Moon and Mars
August 17th, 2009NASA’s Cashflow Problem Puts Moon Trip In Doubt
August 17th, 2009krou writes "According to the Guardian, the Augustine panel is going to declare that there is simply no money to go back to the moon, and the next-generation Ares I rocket is likely to be scrapped unless there is more funding. The $81B Constellation Program’s long-term goal of putting a human on Mars is almost certainly not going to be possible by the middle of the century. The options outlined by the panel for the future of NASA ‘are to extend the working life of the aging space shuttle fleet beyond next year’s scheduled retirement until 2015, while developing a cheaper transport to the moon; pressing ahead with Constellation as quickly as existing funding allows; or creating a new, larger rocket that would allow exploration of the solar system while bypassing the moon.’ All of this means that NASA won’t be back on the moon before the end of the next decade as hoped, ‘or even leaving lower Earth orbit for at least another two decades.’ Another result of the monetary black hole is that they don’t have the ‘$300m to expand a network of telescopes and meet the government’s target of identifying, by 2020, at least 90% of the giant space rocks that pose a threat to Earth.’"
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NASA Launches New Technology: An Inflatable Heat Shield
August 17th, 2009A successful NASA flight test Monday demonstrated how a spacecraft returning to Earth can use an inflatable heat shield to slow and protect itself as it enters the atmosphere at hypersonic speeds.
NASA Breaking News
NASA Sets Briefing about Shuttle Discovery’s Readiness to Launch
August 17th, 2009NASA managers will hold a news conference on Tuesday, Aug. 18, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to discuss the status of the next space shuttle launch.
NASA Breaking News
NASA Completes Assembly of Ares I-X Test Rocket
August 17th, 2009For the first time in more than a quarter-century a new space vehicle stands ready in NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Vehicle Assembly Building.
NASA Breaking News
NASA and ATK Set New Date for Full-Scale Ares I Motor Test
August 17th, 2009NASA and Alliant Techsystems Inc., or ATK, will conduct the first full-scale, full-duration test of the new first-stage solid rocket motor for the Ares I rocket at 1 p.m. MDT, on Thursday, Aug. 27
NASA Breaking News
‘Big Wave’ Theory Offers Alternative to Dark Energy
August 17th, 2009Mathematicians have proposed an alternative explanation for the accelerating expansion of the universe that does not rely on the mystifying idea of dark energy.
From Space.com
New Video – NASA’s Vision: How to Live Off-World
August 17th, 2009NASA explains what we learn about the human body and exploration by conducting missions to the ISS. Credit: NASA
From Space.com
What’s the Biggest Known Planet?
August 17th, 2009Pluto debate aside, scientists have found similar confusion regarding planetary definitions at the big end of the scale.
From Space.com
Comparing Craters on Earth and the Moon
August 17th, 2009Learn why the moon is so pockmarked compared to the Earth.
From Space.com
Targeted Launch of STS-133 or STS-134 shuttle mission
August 14th, 2009When: Thu Jul 29, 2010
Event Status: confirmed
Targeted Launch of STS-133 or STS-134 shuttle mission
August 14th, 2009When: Thu Sep 16, 2010
Event Status: confirmed
WISE Launch
August 14th, 2009When: Thu Dec 10, 2009
Event Status: confirmed
Glory Launch
August 14th, 2009When: Thu Apr 1, 2010
Event Status: confirmed
Launch of Discovery on STS-131
August 14th, 2009When: Thu Mar 18, 2010 5:08pm to Fri Mar 19, 2010 4am
UTC
Event Status: confirmed
Launch of Atlantis on STS-132
August 14th, 2009When: Fri May 14, 2010 7:05pm to Sat May 15, 2010 4am
UTC
Event Status: confirmed
Targeted Launch of Ares I-X Test Flight
August 14th, 2009When: Sat Oct 31, 2009
Event Status: confirmed
SDO United Launch Alliance Atlas V
August 14th, 2009When: Fri Dec 4, 2009
Event Status: confirmed
Launch of WISE
August 14th, 2009When: Sun Nov 1, 2009
Event Status: confirmed
NASA To Text Message Interplanetary Cousins
August 14th, 2009An anonymous reader writes "Inhabitants of the planet Gliese 581d will need a radio receiver and the ability to interpret binary code if they are to understand a series of text messages to be sent from Australia. Hello from Earth will collect the messages over the next 12 days and transmit them to the closest Earth-like planet that has the potential to harbor life. All the messages will be collected and exported as a text file and sent to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, where it will be encoded into binary code, packaged and tested before transmission."
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