September 07, 2010

Opportunity Studies Interesting Rocks Pasadena CA (JPL) Sep 07, 2010 - Opportunity finished her campaign to examine an exposed outcrop of rock that was of interest to the science team. On Sol 2342 (Aug. 26, 2010), the rover's robotic arm (Instrument Deployment Device, IDD) collected a single microscopic imager (MI) image of the target, "Laya Beach" and a MI mosaic of the target, "Cervera Shoal." On the next sol, the moessbauer (MB) spectrometer was plac ... more

Next Mars Rover Stretches Robotic Arm Pasadena CA (JPL) Sep 06, 2010 - Curiosity, the Mars Science Laboratory rover that will be on Mars two years from now, has been flexing the robotic arm that spacecraft workers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory attached to the rover body in August 2010. The arm will be crucial for putting samples of soil or powdered rock into analytical instruments inside the rover. A camera and spectrometer to be installed at the ... more

NASA readies probe for up-close study of sun's corona Washington (AFP) Sept 4, 2010 - NASA said it is developing a car-sized satellite that by "no later than 2018" will plunge into the sun's outer atmosphere for an up-close study of its super-hot corona, solar wind and lethal radiation. The ambitious project, first recommended at the dawn of the space age in 1958, will help "characterize and forecast the radiation environment in which future space explorers will work and live ... more

Canadian to command space station in 2013 Ottawa (AFP) Sept 2, 2010 - Astronaut Chris Hadfield in 2013 will become the first Canadian to command the International Space Station (ISS), the Canadian Space Agency announced Thursday. Hadfield, 51, will rocket on his third trip into space aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft in December 2012 and assume command of the station during the second part of a six-month mission. Over the first four months, as an ISS fligh ... more

Arizona Stands In For The Moon And Mars Mesa AZ (SPX) Sep 02, 2010 - For two weeks every year, NASA's Desert Research and Technology Studies group (Desert RATS) conducts state-of-the-art technology development tests in the Arizona desert at Black Point Lava Flow in anticipation of future human and robotic exploration. Teams of engineers and geologists from several NASA laboratories and a variety of private and academic partners are participating in this year's te ... more

Cluster Turns The Invisible Into The Visible Paris, France (ESA) Sep 02, 2010 - Cluster has spent a decade revealing previously hidden interactions between the Sun and Earth. Its studies have uncovered secrets of aurora, solar storms, and given us insight into fundamental processes that occur across the Universe. And there is more work to do. The aurora, those dancing lights in the polar skies, are but the visible manifestation of an invisible battle taking place abov ... more

Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer Makes Last Stop On Earth Cape Canaveral FL (SPX) Aug 31, 2010 - A new experiment designed to reveal the origin and structure of the universe has reached its last stop on Earth before it's set to ride into orbit aboard space shuttle Endeavour early next year. The long-awaited Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2 (AMS) arrived Aug. 26 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, secured in the belly of a U.S. Air Force C-5M cargo plane that arrived at the launch ... more

Boeing And Bolduc Build Unmanned Ground Vehicle Conversion Kits Huntsville AL (SPX) Aug 31, 2010 - Boeing has teamed with Bolduc Technology Group to design, develop, integrate, test, manufacture and sustain agnostic autonomous-navigation kits for ground vehicles. The kits would enable human-driven vehicles to be converted into autonomous or remotely operated vehicles for commercial or military use. Boeing, the prime contractor, will offer its experience in ground robotics, autonomy and ... more

Opportunity Stops To Check Out Rocks Pasadena CA (JPL) Aug 27, 2010 - Opportunity has paused in her trek toward Endeavour crater to examine an exposed outcrop of rock that is of interest to the science team. On Sol 2336 (Aug. 19, 2010), the rover performed a 7-meter (23-foot) backward turn with a forward bump to approach the outcrop contact. On the next sol, Opportunity performed a short turn to place surface targets within reach of the robotic arm (Instrume ... more

Shipwrecks Of Mars Sydney, Australia (SPX) Aug 26, 2010 - Mars exploration is preparing for another surge. NASA and the European Space Agency are pooling their resources for a powerful new set of missions later this decade, and next year, we will see the launch of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory rover, Russia's Phobos-Grunt mission, and China's Yinghuo orbiter. With several active missions currently exploring Mars, we've taken our attention away f ... more

Self-Cleaning Technology From Mars Can Keep Terrestrial Solar Panels Dust Free Boston MA (SPX) Aug 24, 2010 - Find dusting those tables and dressers a chore or a bore? Dread washing the windows? Imagine keeping dust and grime off objects spread out over an area of 25 to 50 football fields. That's the problem facing companies that deploy large-scale solar power installations, and scientists presented the development of one solution - self-dusting solar panels ? based on technology developed for space mis ... more

Caterpillar Joins Sponsors Of First Expedition Pittsburgh PA (SPX) Aug 24, 2010 - Astrobotic Technology, a Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) spin-off company has announced that Caterpillar will be a sponsor its first robotic expedition to the lunar surface. The initial Astrobotic mission will revisit the Apollo 11 site in April 2013 with a five-foot tall, 160-lb. robot broadcasting 3D high-definition video. The mission will carry payloads to the Moon and convey the exper ... more

A Hop, Skip And A Jump On The Moon - And Beyond Boston MA (SPX) Aug 19, 2010 - Although unmanned, wheeled rovers have explored the surfaces of the moon and Mars for decades, these vehicles have limits - they can't crawl inside craters, scale cliffs or travel long distances. For more than two years, a team of students led by Professor of the Practice of Astronautics and former NASA astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman in MIT's Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics has been ... more

'Flying Robot' Pilot Helps Find IEDs In Helmand London, UK (SPX) Aug 19, 2010 - Lance Corporal Rob McInerney is currently working at the forefront of counter-IED operations in Afghanistan piloting the 'Flying Robot', which is part of the Talisman counter-IED system. Talisman has been designed to provide an increased level of assurance along routes throughout the region. It consists of a suite of cutting-edge equipment, including armoured vehicles, optical cameras and ... more

Scientists challenge US optimism on oil spill damage Washington (AFP) Aug 19, 2010 - Scientists said Thursday they found a large underwater plume of oil that spewed from BP's ruptured Gulf of Mexico well, as a government expert grew cautious on earlier assertions most of the oil has disappeared. The growing doubts came as US authorities said that crews would not completely seal the well until September, more than a month after plugging the site that triggered the world's wor ... more

China's Lunar Twins Sydney, Australia (SPX) Aug 19, 2010 - Before the end of 2010, China will have launched its second lunar probe. Chang'e 2 is an orbiting spacecraft that was originally built as a back-up for China's first lunar probe, Chang'e 1, which flew to the moon in 2007. The launch is widely tipped for some time in October. Sending the back-up spacecraft on its own mission makes sense. The spacecraft was already built, and the integrity o ... more

Oil And Gas Exploration Benefit From Space Tech Paris, France (ESA) Aug 19, 2010 - A special kind of titanium and a manufacturing technique used to build the Ariane 5 rocket could become the next successful spin-offs from Europe's space programme, benefiting the oil and gas industry. Together with space sensor technology that could be used in new offshore drilling tools, these exciting developments are the result of several technology demonstrator projects just completed ... more

ABB To Display Robotic Automation Concepts And Capabilities Auburn Hills MI (SPX) Aug 19, 2010 - ABB Robotics, a leading supplier of industrial robots, is participating in the Military Vehicle Exhibition and Conference August 11-12, 2010 at the Cobo Convention Center in Detroit, Michigan. The event, sponsored by the Institute for Defense and Government Advancement (IDGA) is the largest stand-alone military vehicles exhibition in the United States, displaying the latest vehicles, compo ... more

Astronauts make third space foray to fix ISS cooling pump Washington (AFP) Aug 16, 2010 - Astronauts from the International Space Station on Monday wrapped up a third and final spacewalk to replace a busted cooling unit on the orbiting outpost, NASA said. Spacewalkers Doug Wheelock and Tracy Caldwell Dyson began installing a replacement ammonia pump module on the ISS at 6:20 am (1020 GMT) Monday and finished at 1:40 pm (1740 GMT) - a seven hour, 20 minute space foray, according ... more

Versatile Advanced Monitoring System (VAMS) For Perimeter Security Palo Alto CA (SPX) Aug 17, 2010 - Scientists and engineers at the Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company's (LMSSC) Advanced Technology Center (ATC) have demonstrated an innovative perimeter security system for government and commercial applications. VAMS uses commercial off-the-shelf hardware and software from Intelleflex of Santa Clara, Calif., with proprietary Lockheed Martin-developed elements that include modified firmw ... more

	Launch Vehicle Systems Design and Engineering Cocoa Beach, FL September 13-15, 2010 $1,395 Launch Vehicle Coupled Loads Analysis Dulles, VA, September 13-15, 2010 $1,395 Launch Vehicle Payload Integration Cocoa Beach, FL. October 25-27, 2010 $1,395