Category: Space

Space junk is a growing problem — 200,000 pieces and counting — and as the amount of earth’s orbital debris increases, so does the chance some satellite will be involved in a cosmic collision. As this would cause much gnashing of teeth and woe for the affected terrestrial parties, some researchers from NASA’s Ames Research Center have pitched the idea of removing said junk with a laser — once again proving that everything’s better with lasers. The idea is to use a 5kW ray, like the one we’ve got at the Starfire Optical Range, to slow our galactic garbage enough to burn it up in earth’s atmosphere. Current estimates say such a laser could eliminate ten pieces of junk a day, promising us a future of neat and tidy skies.

In lasers we trust: NASA researches 5kW galactic trash disposal system originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Mar 2011 01:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Plasma propulsion may very well be our ticket to visit those little green men on Mars, which is why NASA is becoming besties with Ad Astra, makers of the VASIMR VX-200 plasma rocket. After successful terrestrial testing, the next step is to try out a VF-200 flight model in space — and a new agreement gives NASA engineers access to VASIMR while letting Ad Astra leverage NASA’s spacecraft expertise to get it into orbit. The plasma rocket was assumed to be destined for use on the International Space Station because it requires far less fuel than conventional boosters — making it better suited than the propellant-hungry thrusters keeping the station in orbit today — and can take advantage of the ISS’s considerable electrical power (250kW) to fully test VASIMR’s 200kW output. Plasma rockets produce sustained thrust, as opposed to the quick bursts of its chemical cousin, which makes it the preferred means of propulsion for space travel as well. NASA hasn’t fully committed to either use — but if Marvin and his fellow Red Planet denizens know what’s good for them, they’ll be watching VASIMR’s development with great interest.

NASA and Ad Astra team up to test VASIMR plasma rocket in space originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 11 Mar 2011 18:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A cloud of ionized gas floats over the surface of the sun, in this mind-blowing photo by Alan Friedman. Using a filter that only records a narrow wavelength of light emitted by hydrogen, Friedman captured the sun’s texture… and eruption. More »

A cloud of ionized gas floats over the surface of the sun, in this mind-blowing photo by Alan Friedman. Using a filter that only records a narrow wavelength of light emitted by hydrogen, Friedman captured the sun’s texture… and eruption. More »

The news got a bit overlooked among the hubbub of Discovery’s final flight and the first humanoid robot sent into space, but the recently completed shuttle mission also marked another significant milestone: it delivered the final room to the International Space Station. While there are still some additional components to be added, the new room dubbed the “Permanent Multipurpose Module” is NASA’s final contribution to the actual assembly of the station and, according to the agency, it means that it has “essentially completed” all that it had planned. The two remaining shuttle missions will just be carrying supplies and spare parts, along with a little $1.5 billion experiment called the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, which will be used to search for fun stuff like antimatter galaxies and dark matter.

NASA says International Space Station is now ‘essentially’ complete originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Mar 2011 19:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As space shuttle Discovery prepares to return home from its final mission to space, let’s take a look back at the STS-133 mission, an historic “last” for the program’s most-traveled shuttle. More »

Back in 2009, the Japanese Space Agency JAXA announced moon hole deep enough to contain a small human base. Now, the Indian Space Research Organization has discovered a “giant underground chamber” near the Moon’s equator, in the Oceanus Procellarum area. More »

Today, Discovery reached for the stars for the last time in history. The launch almost got canceled because of a last-minute computer display problem, but the engineers saved the day a couple of seconds before the launch window deadline. Here’s the video of the launch. More »

Already missing the soon to be shelved Space Shuttle? You might not have to, with private contractor United Space Alliance considering a $1.5 billion a year proposal to take the fleet private. More »

Truth be told, it probably does take a rocket scientist to truly understand the scope of what NASA is currently investigating, but the gist of it isn’t hard to grok. America’s premiere space agency is purportedly examining the possibility of using beamed energy propulsion to launch spacecraft into orbit, and while we’ve seen objects lofted by mere beams before, using a laser to leave the atmosphere is a whole ‘nother ballgame. The reasons are fairly obvious: a laser-based propulsion system would effectively nix the chance of an explosive chemical reaction taking place at launch, and it would “make possible a reusable single-stage rocket that has two to five times more payload space than conventional rockets, which would cut the cost of sending payloads into low-Earth orbit.” We’re told that the study should be concluded by March, but only heaven knows how long it’ll be before we see any of this black magic used to launch rockets. Sadly, we can’t expect any Moon missions to rely on lasers for at least 50 or so years, but we’re guessing that timeline could be shortened dramatically if Sir Richard Branson were to get involved.

[Image courtesy of Jordin Kare]

NASA considering beamed energy propulsion for space launches originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Jan 2011 00:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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