Browsing Archive: June, 2010
Posted by Prateek Tripathi on Monday, June 28, 2010,
 This future aircraft design concept for supersonic flight over land
comes from the team led by the Lockheed Martin Corporation. The team's
simulation shows possibility for achieving overland flight by
dramatically lowering the level of sonic booms through the use of an
"inverted-V" engine-under wing configuration. Other revolutionary
technologies help achieve range, payload and environmental goals. This
supersonic cruise concept is among the designs presented in April 2010
to the NASA A... Continue reading ...
Rachmaninoff on Mercury
Posted by Prateek Tripathi on Monday, June 28, 2010,
 The International Astronomical Union (IAU) recently approved the name
Rachmaninoff for an intriguing double-ring basin on Mercury. This basin,
first imaged in its entirety during MESSENGER's third Mercury flyby,
was quickly identified as a feature of high scientific interest, because
of its fresh appearance, its distinctively colored interior plains, and
the extensional troughs on its floor. The basin's name honors the
Russian composer, pianist and conductor, Sergei Rachmaninoff
(1873-1... Continue reading ...
NASA Day on the Hill
Posted by Prateek Tripathi on Monday, June 28, 2010,
 Exhibits highlight NASA's Earth and space science portfolio,
cutting-edge aeronautics research and technology development and
continued leadership in human space flight and exploration for NASA Day
on the Hill in the Rayburn Foyer, Rayburn House Office Building, on June
23, 2010.
Pictured is Scarab, a new generation lunar rover designed to assist
astronauts take rock and mineral samples and explore the lunar surface.
This lunar rover is being evaluated to demonstrate a combined drilling... Continue reading ...
A Matter of Perspective
Posted by Prateek Tripathi on Monday, June 28, 2010,
 The Seagull nebula, seen in this infrared mosaic from NASA's Wide-field
Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, draws its common name from it
resemblance to a gull in flight. But it depends on your point of view.
When the image is rotated 180 degrees it bears a passing resemblance to a
galloping lizard -- or perhaps a dragon or a dinosaur. The image spans
an area about seven times as wide as the full moon, and three times as
high (3.55 by 1.37 degrees), straddling the border between the
cons... Continue reading ...
A Light in the Sky
Posted by Prateek Tripathi on Monday, June 28, 2010,
 The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Hayabusa spacecraft streaked
across the sky like a saber of light through the clouds as it re-entered
Earth’s atmosphere over the Woomera Test Range in Australia. In
Kingoonya, the spacecraft’s re-entry was visible to the human eye
for only 15 seconds. Image Credit: NASA/Ed Schilling Continue reading ...
Light for the Ages
Posted by Prateek Tripathi on Monday, June 28, 2010,
 Today, our sun reaches its northernmost point in planet Earth's sky.
Called a solstice, the date traditionally marks a change of seasons --
from spring to summer in Earth's Northern Hemisphere and from fall to
winter in Earth's Southern Hemisphere. In this image from 2007, NASA's
Solar
TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO) satellites provided the first
three-dimensional images of the sun. STEREO, a two-year mission that
launched October 2006, provided a unique and revolutionary vie... Continue reading ...
NASA Demonstrates Tsunami Prediction System
Posted by Prateek Tripathi on Monday, June 21, 2010,
WASHINGTON
-- A NASA-led research team has successfully demonstrated for the first
time elements of a prototype tsunami prediction system that quickly and
accurately assesses large earthquakes and estimates the size of
resulting tsunamis. After the magnitude 8.8 Chilean
earthquake on Feb. 27, a team led by Y. Tony Song of NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., used real-time data from the
agency's Global Differential GPS (GDGPS) network to successfully
predict the size of ... Continue reading ...
Launching Into History
Posted by Prateek Tripathi on Monday, June 21, 2010,
 On June 18, 1983, a young physicist from California took her seat
aboard the space shuttle and launched into history. On that date, Sally
Ride became the first American woman in space as a mission specialist
on STS-7. In this image Ride monitors control panels from the pilot's
chair on the Flight Deck. Image Credit: NASA Continue reading ...
Expedition 24 Heads to the Station
Posted by Prateek Tripathi on Monday, June 21, 2010,
 The Soyuz TMA-19 rocket launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in
Kazakhstan on Wednesday, June 16, 2010, carrying Expedition 24 NASA
astronauts Shannon Walker and Douglas Wheelock, and Soyuz Commander
Fyodor Yurchikhin to the International Space Station. Their Soyuz
TMA-19 rocket launched at 3:35 a.m Kazakhstan time, or 5:35 p.m EDT.
Image Credit: NASA/Carla Cioffi Continue reading ...
Shooting for the Moon
Posted by Prateek Tripathi on Monday, June 21, 2010,
 This image from 1967 shows the S-II stage of the Saturn V rocket as it
was hoisted onto the A-2 test stand at the Mississippi Test Facility
(now the Stennis Space Center). This was the second stage of the
364-foot tall moon rocket, which was powered by five J-2 engines. Image
Credit: NASA Continue reading ...
Preparing for Liftoff
Posted by Prateek Tripathi on Monday, June 21, 2010,
 The Soyuz TMA-19 spacecraft is rolled out by train to the launch pad at
the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Sunday, June 13, 2010. The launch
of the Soyuz spacecraft with Expedition 24 astronauts Shannon Walker
and Doug Wheelock, and Russian Soyuz Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin is
scheduled for 5:35 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, June 15. Image Credit:
NASA/Carla Cioffi Continue reading ...
Blue Like Mars
Posted by Prateek Tripathi on Monday, June 14, 2010,
 This image shows the west-facing side of an impact crater in the
mid-latitudes of Mars' northern hemisphere. Like many mid-latitude
Martian craters, this one has gullies along its walls that are composed
of alcoves, channels and debris aprons. The origins of these gullies
have been the subject
of much debate; they could have been formed by flowing water, liquid
carbon dioxide or dry granular flows. Many of the other features
observed in and around this crater are indicative of an ice-rich
ter... Continue reading ...
Centaur's Rocket Engine
Posted by Prateek Tripathi on Monday, June 14, 2010,
 In this image, engineers test the RL-10 engine in NASA Lewis (now
Glenn) Research Center's Propulsion Systems Laboratory. Developed by
Pratt & Whitney, the engine was designed to power the Centaur
second-stage rocket. Centaur was responsible for sending the Surveyor
spacecraft on
its mission to land on the moon and to explore the surface in the early
stages of the Apollo Program. Image Credit: NASA Continue reading ...
Rhapsody in Black
Posted by Prateek Tripathi on Monday, June 14, 2010,
 This silhouette of Saturn was taken by the Cassini spacecraft on Feb.
13, 2010. Although the sun is eclipsed by Saturn in this dramatic
image, some sunlight scatters through the uppermost part of the
atmosphere to reach Cassini's cameras. This view looks toward the
northern, sunlit side of
the rings from just above the ringplane. Image Credit: NASA/JPL/Space
Science Institute Continue reading ...
NEW ENTRY IN SCHOOL
Posted by Prateek Tripathi on Thursday, June 10, 2010,
In :
Activity Talks
We are heading towards the re-opening of the school and I am also quite excited to tell you all more about space , big bang , ISS ,and the mega premier of the IMAX SPACE STATION DOCUMENTARY MOVIE. Continue reading ...
Preparing for the Shuttle Mission
Posted by Prateek Tripathi on Thursday, June 10, 2010,
 The NASA Railroad transported the last space shuttle solid rocket
booster segments over the Indian River on the 13-mile trip from the Jay
Jay Rail Yard in Titusville, Fla., to NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Six
cars transported the segments along the Florida East Coast
Railway, which began at the ATK solid rocket booster plant in
Promontory, Utah. The booster segments will be used for shuttle
Atlantis on what currently is planned as the "launch on need," or
potential rescue mission for the fina... Continue reading ...
Expedition 23 Returns to Earth
Posted by Prateek Tripathi on Thursday, June 10, 2010,
 The Soyuz TMA-17 spacecraft is seen as it lands with Expedition 23
Commander Oleg Kotov and Flight Engineers T.J. Creamer and Soichi
Noguchi near the town of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Wednesday, June 2,
2010. NASA Astronaut Creamer, Russian Cosmonaut Kotov and Japanese
Astronaut Noguchi are returning from six months onboard the
International Space Station where they served as members of the
Expedition 22 and 23 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls) Continue reading ...
ISS Transits the Sun
Posted by Prateek Tripathi on Wednesday, June 2, 2010,
 Thilo Kranz, a staff member at DLR, the German Space Agency, took
this image of the transit of the International Space Station ISS with
Space Shuttle Atlantis during the STS-132 mission. Kranz photographed
"the ISS as it passed across the solar disk in just 0.51 seconds ... At
this
time, preparations for undocking of space shuttle Atlantis during its
final mission, STS-132, were ongoing. You can see the still docked
shuttle in the 11 o'clock position. Also, you may recognise the solar
panels ... Continue reading ...
Homecoming for Atlantis
Posted by Prateek Tripathi on Wednesday, June 2, 2010,
 Space shuttle Atlantis' main gear touched down on Runway 33 at the
Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at
8:48 a.m. EDT, completing a 12-day mission to the International Space
Station. On board were Commander Ken Ham, pilot Tony Antonelli, Garrett
Reisman, Michael Good, Steve Bowen and Piers Sellers. The six-member
STS-132 crew carried the Russian-built Mini Research Module-1 to the
International Space Station. STS-132 is the last planned flight for
Atlantis. Im... Continue reading ...
Space Shuttle Atlantis Returns Home After Its Final Planned Mission
Posted by Prateek Tripathi on Wednesday, June 2, 2010,
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Space shuttle Atlantis and six astronauts ended
a 12-day journey of more than 4.8 million miles with an 8:48 a.m. EDT
landing Wednesday at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The third of five shuttle missions planned for 2010, this was the last
scheduled flight for Atlantis. The mission, designated STS-132,
delivered the Russian-built Mini Research Module-1 to the International
Space Station. Also known as Rassvet ("dawn" in Russian), the module
provides additi... Continue reading ...
The Blackness of Space
Posted by Prateek Tripathi on Wednesday, June 2, 2010,
 Spacewalker Michael Good, barely visible in his white spacesuit
against the station, participated in the STS-132 mission's third and
final spacewalk. During the six-hour, 46-minute spacewalk, Good and
fellow NASA astronaut Garrett Reisman completed the installation of the
final two new
batteries for the B side of the port 6 solar array. Image Credit: NASA
Continue reading ...
Stellar Shrapnel Shows Explosion Aftermath
Posted by Prateek Tripathi on Wednesday, June 2, 2010,

This beautiful composite image shows N49, the aftermath of a supernova
explosion in the Large Magellanic Cloud. A new long observation from
NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, shown in blue, reveals evidence for a
bullet-shaped object being blown out of debris field left over from an
exploded star.
In order to detect this bullet, a team of researchers led by
Sangwook Park of Penn State University used Chandra to observe N49 for
over 30 hours. This bullet can be seen in the bottom right hand... Continue reading ...
Atlantis' Booster Cameras Supply Stunning Views
Posted by Prateek Tripathi on Wednesday, June 2, 2010,
› View Now
Video recorded by cameras mounted on each of the twin solid rocket
boosters that helped propel space shuttle Atlantis into Earth orbit on
May 14 provide unique views of the launch.
(natural sound only)
› View Now Continue reading ...
NASA Holds Media Briefing On Results Of Black Hole Survey
Posted by Prateek Tripathi on Wednesday, June 2, 2010,
WASHINGTON
-- NASA will hold a media teleconference Wednesday, May 26, at 1 p.m.
EDT, to discuss new results from the Swift satellite's survey of active
black holes. Swift's hard X-ray survey detects supermassive
black holes in the hearts of nearby galaxies that are absorbing gas and
emitting energy. The survey has uncovered dozens of previously unknown
active black holes that were hidden from observations at other
wavelengths. These discoveries confirm theoretical ideas about how
... Continue reading ...
Another View
Posted by Prateek Tripathi on Wednesday, June 2, 2010,
Astronauts Michael Good (left) and Garrett Reisman look through the aft
flight deck windows of space shuttle Atlantis during the mission’s
third aspacewalk. During the spacewalk, Good and Reisman completed the
installation of the final two of the six new batteries for the B side
of the
port 6 solar array. In addition, the astronauts installed a backup
ammonia jumper cable between the port 4 and 5 trusses of the station
and transferred a power and data grapple fixture from the shuttle to
th... Continue reading ...
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