Watch: Media Briefing – The Science of Juno’s Mission to Jupiter “During a news briefing from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California the science team involved with the Juno mission to Jupiter talked about the scientific goals of the mission. This Fourth of July, the solar-powered Juno spacecraft will arrive at our solar system’s most massive planet after an almost five-year journey. Once in Jupiter’s orbit, the spacecraft will […]
“Asteroid Day is a growing global movement, supported by international organizations, experts in planetary science, astronauts and citizens around the world to increase awareness, education and support of programs for greater detection, knowledge of the composition, mapping and deflection of dangerous asteroids. ASTEROID DAY is held each year on JUNE 30, the anniversary of the largest asteroid impact of Earth in recent history, 1908 Tunguska event in Siberia, which devastated […]
Russia’s Plan To Spin Off a New Space Station From the ISS, Popular Mechanics “According to RKK Energia, the prime Russian contractor on the ISS, the new outpost would begin with the separation of the Nauka from the rest of the old station in mid-2020s. By that time, Nauka should have two even newer modules in tow. One would be the so-called Node Module, a tinker-toy-like component that could connect […]
NASA’s Response to SpaceX’s June 2015 Launch Failure: Impacts on Commercial Resupply of the International Space Station, NASA OIG “… The most significant item lost during the SPX-7 mission was the first of two Docking Adapters necessary to support upcoming commercial crew missions. Although NASA had planned to have two Adapters installed on the Station before the first commercial crew demonstration mission scheduled for May 2017, it is now likely […]
Keith’s note: The next time you hear the space and planetary science communities complaining about budget cuts consider what their NASA mission PIs are paid at SwRI (2014 IRS Form, Part VII) [Juno] Scott J Bolton $345,145 + 51,887 [New Horizons] Sol A Stern $370,522 + 52,435 SwRI is not at all shy about telling you how much money they earn – indeed they put this on their press releases. […]
Keith’s note: Brooke Owens has left the planet. Ad Astra. A memorial service for Brooke Owens will be held at Clear Creek Community Church, in League City, TX, at 10:00am on Saturday July 9th. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Brooke’s name to one of the three following organizations: Friends Thru The Fight (FTTF), a local non-profit which supports breast cancer patients through their treatment and were […]
Brexit Does Not Mean the UK Will Leave the European Space Agency, Right?, Inverse “The resources and partnerships that UK-based companies rely on are now hanging in the balance as the vote moves forward. However, a UK exit from the EU should not affect the country’s involvement with ESA. The ESA and EU are two separate entities with different goals and member states.” ‘Brexit’ leaves lingering questions about involvement in […]
Keith’s note: This TV commercial is titled “Astronaut lachaar, khatam hua aachar”. You have to watch the entire thing to figure out what it is selling. Its hilarious.
Keith’s note: While NASA pours money into its goofy R5 robot that cannot walk unless it is on a hoist, controlled by a human, and is always broken, Boston Dynamics continues to make astonishing progress on autonomous robots. Imagine if you had something like this on Mars as part of a sample return mission. It would allow access to places that rovers cannot go and has dexterity unmatched by anything […]
Keith’s note: NASA is holding a Viking 40th Anniversary Symposium at NASA LaRC on 19 & 20 July. This event has quite a line up of speakers for something that ought to resonate with #JourneyToMars (their poster even uses the hashtag). So … when are NASA LaRC or NASA HQ going to tell people about this? There is nothing online at NASA LaRC, on the NASA HQ Journey To Mars […]