A non-toxic, rosé-colored liquid could fuel the future in space and propel missions to the Moon or other worlds. NASA will test the fuel and compatible propulsion system in space for the first time with the Green Propellant Infusion Mission (GPIM), set to launch this month on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. The mission will demonstrate the exceptional features…
NASA to Open International Space Station to Tourists from 2020
NASA said Friday it will open up the International Space Station to business ventures including space tourism as it seeks to financially disengage from the orbiting research lab. Price tag? Tens of millions of dollars for a round trip ticket and $35,000 a night. “NASA is opening the International Space Station to commercial opportunities and…
Here’s Looking at You! Astrobee’s First Robot Completes Initial Hardware Checks in Space
NASA astronaut Anne McClain performs the first series of tests of an Astrobee robot, Bumble, during a hardware checkout. To her right is the docking station that was installed in the Kibo module on the International Space Station on Feb. 15. Bumble, and another robot named Honey, launched to the space station on Apr. 17, aboard Northrop…
NASA Taps 11 American Companies to Advance Human Lunar Landers
NASA has selected 11 companies to conduct studies and produce prototypes of human landers for its Artemis lunar exploration program. This effort will help put American astronauts — the first woman and next man — on the Moon’s south pole by 2024 and establish sustainable missions by 2028. “To accelerate our return to the Moon,…
10 Years Ago, Hubble’s Final Servicing Mission Made It Better Than Ever
Astronaut Mike Massimino floated next to the Hubble Space Telescope’s cylindrical body and began to remove the screws that fastened a handrail to one of the telescope’s instrument panels. The first three screws came out easily, but when he put his power tool to the final screw, the bit began to spin. He had stripped…
How Mission Control Used Robotics to Successfully Restore Full Power for the Space Station
Robotics ground controllers in NASA’s Mission Control Center at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston successfully replaced a failed Main Bus Switching Unit (MBSU) on the International Space Station with a spare using robotic operations on Thursday, May 2. The operation to replace the failed unit was conducted using the station’s Canadarm2 and Dextre,…
Beyond the Metal: Investigating Soft Robots at NASA Langley
Into the Spiderverse’s newest crew of villains include a brilliant scientist named Doctor Octopus who uses flexible robotic arms to commit her dastardly deeds. Her bionic arms can throw objects, aid her in moving quickly in fight scenes, and a host of other functions. While we can leave the evil geniuses to the movies, two genius…
University Research Institutes Study New Exploration Tech for NASA
Universities are helping NASA land American astronauts on the Moon by 2024 and establish a sustainable presence four years later. These partnerships come in all shapes and sizes to foster innovative research. NASA recently awarded a pair of Space Technology Research Institutes (STRIs) to advance smart habitat systems. Meanwhile, the agency’s two established research institutes show progress…
Next-Generation NASA Instrument Advanced to Study Atmospheres of Uranus and Neptune
Much has changed technologically since NASA’s Galileo mission dropped a probe into Jupiter’s atmosphere to investigate, among other things, the heat engine driving the gas giant’s atmospheric circulation. A NASA scientist and his team at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, are taking advantage of those advances to mature a smaller, more capable net flux…
Austin Langton Discusses Coolest Parts of Being a Robotics Engineer for NASA
Austin Langton, robotics engineer for the Exploration Research and Technology Programs at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, delves into the most exciting parts of his job and why developing new technology is vital for the space realm in a Q&A. Please explain your job in a single sentence. I conduct research and do technology development to…
NASA’s InSight Lander Captures Audio of First Likely ‘Quake’ on Mars
NASA’s Mars InSight lander has measured and recorded for the first time ever a likely “marsquake.” The faint seismic signal, detected by the lander’s Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS) instrument, was recorded on April 6, the lander’s 128th Martian day, or sol. This is the first recorded trembling that appears to have come from inside the…
Things Are Stacking up for NASA’s Mars 2020 Spacecraft
For the past few months, the clean room floor in High Bay 1 at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, has been covered in parts, components and test equipment for the Mars 2020 spacecraft, scheduled for launch toward the Red Planet in July of 2020. But over the past few weeks, some of these…
NASA ‘Nose’ Importance of Humans, Robots Exploring Together
NASA is sending humans forward to the Moon, this time to stay. Upcoming expeditions to the Moon will require making every moment of astronaut time outside the safety of the Gateway in orbit and lunar lander system on the surface count. Robotics will enable lunar crews to do more while minimizing their risk. NASA’s Satellite Servicing…
NASA Takes Advantage of Innovative 3D Printing Process for SLS Rocket
America’s powerful new deep space rocket, NASA’s Space Launch System, will face harsh conditions and extreme temperatures in flight when launching NASA’s Orion spacecraft and potential cargo to lunar orbit, and for that, it’ll need strong protection. Technicians and engineers have qualified 3D printing to aid in the application of the thermal protection system to the smaller, more…
NASA Invests in 18 Potentially Revolutionary Space Tech Concepts
Smart spacesuits and solar surfing may sound like the stuff of science fiction, but they are just two of the technology concepts NASA has selected for further research as part of the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program. The program will fund 18 studies to determine the feasibility of early-stage technologies that could go on to change…
NASA Selects Two New Space Tech Research Institutes for Smart Habitats
As exploration missions venture beyond low-Earth orbit and to the Moon — and eventually Mars — NASA must consider automated technologies to keep habitats operational even when they are not occupied by astronauts. To help achieve this, NASA has selected two new Space Technology Research Institutes (STRIs) to advance space habitat designs using resilient and…
Composite Overwrap 3D-Printed Rocket Thruster Endures Extreme Heat
It’s rocket science—one NASA project is revolutionizing how liquid rocket engines are made. Additive manufacturing, better known as 3D printing, combined with advanced composite technology could help rocket engines be lighter, cheaper and easier to make. Engineers at NASA tested a 2,400 lbf thrust 3D-printed copper rocket thrust chamber with composite overwrap to see if the…
Latest Updates from NASA on 3D-Printed Habitat Competition
The 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge is a competition to create sustainable shelters suitable for the Moon, Mars or beyond using resources available on-site in these locations. The multi-level 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge puts teams to the test in several areas of 3D-printing, including modeling software, material development and construction. In addition to aiding human space exploration, technologies…
SLS Engine Section Approaches Finish Line for First Flight
NASA and Boeing have completed the majority of outfitting for the core stage engine section for the first flight of the agency’s new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. The engine section, located at the bottom of the 212-foot-tall core stage, is one of the most complex parts of the rocket. Technicians at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans have…
NASA’s Mars 2020 Rover Is Put to the Test
In a little more than seven minutes in the early afternoon of Feb. 18, 2021, NASA’s Mars 2020 rover will execute about 27,000 actions and calculations as it speeds through the hazardous transition from the edge of space to Mars’ Jezero Crater. While that will be the first time the wheels of the 2,314-pound (1,050-kilogram)…
NASA Is with You When You Fly, Even on Mars
According to the 1958 law that established NASA, where the first “A” in NASA stands for aeronautics, the agency is charged with solving the problems of flight within the atmosphere. But the law doesn’t say which planet’s atmosphere. In that spirit, when the decision was made to add a small helicopter to the Mars 2020 rover mission to the Red…
Astronauts Assemble Tools to Test Space Tech
Technology drives exploration for future human missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond. For spacecraft to journey farther and live longer, we’ll need to store and transfer super-cold liquids used for fuel and life support systems in space. In December 2018, the Robotic Refueling Mission 3 (RRM3) launched to the International Space Station to do just that —…
InSight Is the Newest Mars Weather Service
No matter how cold your winter has been, it’s probably not as chilly as Mars. Check for yourself: Starting today, the public can get a daily weather report from NASA’s InSight lander. This public tool includes stats on temperature, wind and air pressure recorded by InSight. Sunday’s weather was typical for the lander’s location during late northern…
NASA to Advance Unique 3D Printed Sensor Technology
A NASA technologist is taking miniaturization to the extreme. Mahmooda Sultana won funding to advance a potentially revolutionary, nanomaterial-based detector platform. The technology is capable of sensing everything from minute concentrations of gases and vapor, atmospheric pressure and temperature, and then transmitting that data via a wireless antenna — all from the same self-contained platform…
NASA’s Record-Setting Opportunity Rover Mission on Mars Comes to End
One of the most successful and enduring feats of interplanetary exploration, NASA’s Opportunity rover mission is at an end after almost 15 years exploring the surface of Mars and helping lay the groundwork for NASA’s return to the Red Planet. The Opportunity rover stopped communicating with Earth when a severe Mars-wide dust stormblanketed its location in…