Science and Technology Blog » NASA

The water on the planet Mars

RedPepper — Thu, 22 May 2008 22:54:33 +0000

Satellite radar mapping of North Pole of the planet Mars has revealed ice cap age that was formed with 5 million years ago.

Substantial job cuts after the space shuttle retirement

RedPepper — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 21:34:58 +0000

More than 8,000 NASA contractor jobs in the nation’s manned space program may possibly be eliminated after the space shuttle program is shut down in 2010. The number of civil servants is expected to remain approximately the same, but dramatic job cuts are likely among private contractors as NASA transitions to the Constellation program programmed [...]

First U.S. satellite was launched 50 years ago

RedPepper — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 16:22:24 +0000

On January 31, 1958 the first U.S. satellite was launched into Earth orbit atop a Jupiter C rocket developed beneath the direction of Wernher von Braun by the Army Ballistic Missile Agency. Starting the era of space exploration for the United States, Explorer I was a 30.8 pound satellite that carried instruments to measure temperatures, [...]

NASA’s Gamma-Ray Large Area Space Telescope launching in May

RedPepper — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 11:16:33 +0000

NASA’s new Gamma-Ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST), scheduled for launch in May, can help scientists learn more about the strange gamma rays generated in staggeringly distant galaxies. Gamma ray bursts, bursts of photons with billions of times more energy than ordinary light, were first observed in the 1960s by U.S. satellites looking for evidence [...]

NASA Moon rocket Ares I could shake violently

RedPepper — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 09:45:09 +0000

NASA is facing with a potentially dangerous trouble in a spacecraft, this time in a moon rocket that hasn’t even been built yet. Engineers are concerned that the new rocket Ares I intended to replace the space shuttle and launch astronauts to the moon may possibly shake violently during the first few minutes of flight, [...]

Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy completes closed-door test flights

RedPepper — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 01:24:20 +0000

The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy or SOFIA, doesn’t look much like an observatory but like a Boeing 747 airplane. Mounted in the Boeing 747SP fuselage is an infrared telescope nearly 10 feet wide, weighing almost 19 tons. Once flying, it will help study the origin of stars, the evolution of organic materials in space, [...]

Messenger’s first look at Mercury’s previously unseen side

RedPepper — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 06:32:03 +0000

When Mariner 10 flew past Mercury three times in 1974 and 1975, the same hemisphere was in sunlight during each encounter. As a consequence, Mariner 10 was able to image less than half the planet. Planetary scientists have wondered for more than 30 years about what spacecraft images might reveal about the hemisphere of Mercury [...]