NASA will test a supersonic parachute system for potential use in future Mars missions through the launch of a suborbital sounding rocket supported by Orbital ATK under a contract from the space agency’s Heliophysics Division. Orbital ATK has received the NASA Sounding Rocket Operations contract and will provide mission planning, …
Read More »NASA Seeks R&D Proposals for Future Robotic Planetary Mission
NASA has begun to solicit proposals for a robotic planetary mission that the space agency aims to launch by the mid-2020s. The agency said Friday the future program will serve as the fourth mission under NASA’s New Frontiers portfolio that includes the New Horizons mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt; the Juno …
Read More »NASA Posts Call for Asteroid Redirect Mission Partnerships
NASA has released a broad agency announcement on an umbrella for partnerships to support the Asteroid Redirect Mission and work to boost technologies, capacities and spaceflight experience for continued human exploration. A presolicitation notice posted Thursday says the space agency wants subsequent awards from the BAA to foster partnerships between U.S. and international partners for commercial, scientific, exploration …
Read More »NASA OKs May 2018 Launch Date for Lockheed-Built InSight Mars Lander
NASA‘s science mission directorate has cleared the space agency’s new plan to launch a Lockheed Martin-built robotic spacecraft May 5, 2018 as part of efforts to investigate the deep interior of Mars. The agency said Friday it expects the Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport lander to reach the Red Planet by Nov. 26, …
Read More »NASA Releases Mercury’s Initial Global Topographic Model from Messenger Mission; Kris Becker Comments
NASA’s Planetary Data System has unveiled Mercury’s initial global digital elevation model produced through the use of at least 100,000 images and data collected by the space agency’s MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging spacecraft. Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory said Friday the global DEM details the planet’s lowest and highest …
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