Students from universities and community colleges across the nation recently participated in third annual Swarmathon. The robotic programming competition took place at NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Visitor Complex April 17-19. Their developments may lead to technology that could help astronauts find needed resources while exploring the Moon or Mars. In her welcoming remarks, Deputy Center…
TDRS-M to Continue Vital Communications Link to Space
In spaceflight, communication is crucial. Whether it’s the International Space Station linking to the Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston or interstellar images being transmitted to Earth by the Hubble Space Telescope, the vital link is NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) system. The latest addition to join this system…
SAGE III to Look Back at Earth’s Atmospheric ‘Sunscreen’
On the upcoming SpaceX CRS-10 resupply mission to the International Space Station, a Dragon spacecraft will deliver the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) III instrument to further study ozone in the atmosphere. Liftoff of Dragon atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket currently is planned for no earlier than Feb. 8 at 1:55 p.m. EST…
Pioneering Space Requires Living Off the Land in the Solar System
As NASA continues preparing for the Journey to Mars, the technology now in development is expanding beyond the spacecraft and propulsion systems needed to get there. NASA scientists and engineers also are developing systems to harness abundant resources available in the solar system to support these pioneering missions. The practice is called in-situ resource utilization, or ISRU.…
Thornton Leads Upgrade of Ground Special Power for Orion
When Michael Thornton was growing up in the small south Florida city of Clewiston, he never dreamed of working in America’s space program. Today, he not only is helping NASA prepare for the Journey to Mars, he recently was selected as the agency’s Kennedy Space Center Employee of the Year. As software lead for the…
Shepard’s Mercury Flight was First Step on the Long Journey to Mars
According to an ancient Chinese proverb, “A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” NASA is preparing for a journey to Mars, a planet that is 49 million miles from Earth. That journey began 55 years ago with a single, 116-mile “step” into space on May 5, 1961. Amid a backdrop…
Kennedy Now Firmly Established as a 21st Century Spaceport
NASA Engineer Helps Preserve Legacy of Tuskegee Airmen
During a week this past summer, a group of underwater explorers embarked on a mission to preserve part of America’s heritage. According to team member and NASA engineer Erik Denson, it was a “mission of a lifetime.” On Veterans Day, Nov. 11, Americans will pause to honor those who have served in the nation’s military…
Students Developing Robotic Gardening Technology
For more than a half-century, NASA has made the stuff of science fiction into reality. Researchers are continuing that tradition by designing robots to work in a deep-space habitat, tending gardens and growing food for astronaut explorers. It sounds like a concept from Star Wars, but a team of graduate students from the University of…