JetLib News

FleaPlus writes “NASA is spending a total of $475,000, split between Masten Space Systems and John Carmack’s Armadillo Aerospace, for a series of seven test flights of the companies’ reusable suborbital rockets over the next several months, going to altitudes as high as 25 miles. NASA’s goal is to foster a more cost-effective and flexible way to conduct microgravity and upper-atmosphere research. Jeff Bezos’s suborbital spaceflight company Blue Origin has also been making steady progress this year on their $3.7M contract to test pusher-escape system and composite pressure vessel technologies, which NASA is interested in for orbital spaceflight.”

Source: NASA Buying Private Companies’ Suborbital Rocket Flights

As Tropical Storm Earl grew into Hurricane Earl this past weekend, NASA had a plan: Fly a plane into it. A DC-8 aircraft, used for NASA’s new Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes (GRIP) project, darted around the storm to trace the movement of atmospheric aerosols–particles suspended in the air–and to drop weather sensors, giving NASA researchers data on how such storms form and strengthen.

NASA’s DC-8 aircraft left Fort Lauderdale at 10:05 a.m. EDT on Saturday heading for St. Croix for a multi-day deployment that targeted (at that time) Tropical Storm Earl…. On Sunday, August 29, the DC-8 completed an 8.5-hour science flight over (then) Hurricane Earl west of St. Croix. The research aircraft flew at altitudes of 33,000 feet and 37,000 feet and descended to 7,000 feet northwest of the storm area to collect measurements of atmospheric aerosols. The flight originated in St. Croix but diverted to land in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., due to the degrading weather forecast for St. Croix associated with the approaching hurricane. [NASA]

Researchers in the plane successfully ejected parachuting weather sensors called dropsondes–which can measure such things as wind speed, temperature, and pressure–into the heart of the storm, explains NASA mission specialist, Scott Braun. The scientists hope the collected data will help them understand why some tropical storms become destructive monsters, while others lose power and fizzle out.

Braun, who was aboard the plane for Sunday’s 8.5-hour flight, said the aircraft managed to get into the storm reasonably quickly after takeoff, and flew multiple passes at an average altitude of around 35,000 feet (10,668 meters). Despite having to cut a few planned legs short because of lightning, Braun said the flight was a success. “We got good radar data, good dropsonde data, everything went well.” [OurAmazingPlanet]

An interactive GRIP map allows website visitors to track the path of both the plane and the storm, which will move north over the course of the week. For estimates of which East Coasters will get the worse weather for the next five days check out the Hurricane Warning Center’s projections.

Another wider (some 600 miles across) but weaker storm, Danielle, is further north over the Atlantic. Yesterday, Danielle was losing gusto, starting to degrade from hurricane to extra-tropical storm status. DISCOVER blogger Phil Plait describes (and depicts in full satellite image glory) both Earl and Danielle in a Bad Astronomy post.

A third storm, Fiona, is also on meteorologists’ radars. But Keith Blackwell of the University of South Alabama’s Coastal Weather Research Center says that Fiona isn’t expected to become a hurricane, and notes that Earl may not play nice with the newcomer.

The same factors pushing and powering Hurricane Earl are expected to remain in place for days, so tropical storm Fiona is likely to stay offshore of the U.S. But Fiona is unlikely to grow into Hurricane Fiona, Blackwell said, because winds from the more powerful Hurricane Earl will probably disrupt the new storm. If Fiona gets too close to Earl, he said, “Earl might eat it.” [National Geographic]

Image: NASA/MODIS Rapid Response Team

Source: To Study Storms, NASA Flies a Plane Into Hurricane Earl

An anonymous reader writes “Much fanfare has been made about manned missions to moons and planets, but little has been done about travel to the asteroids — until now. NASA is working on plans for a trip to the asteroids by 2025. This type of mission has great potential for positive economic return based on the fact that no effort has to be spent on getting in and out of a distant planet’s gravity well. Yes, we should go to the planets, but we should master mining the asteroid belt for resources first because it is easiest. What do you think?”

Source: The Best Near-Term Future of Space Exploration?

rhaas writes “NASA’s Kepler spacecraft has discovered the first confirmed planetary system with more than one planet crossing in front of, or transiting, the same star. They found two planets almost the size of Saturn, and possibly a third, small, very hot planet with a radius about 1.5 times that of Earth.”

Source: Kepler Spacecraft Finds System With Multiple Planets Transiting the Star

pickens writes “Florida today reports that as NASA marches toward its final two shuttle flights, the safety of the crew rests with workers who know every bolt they turn, every heat-shield tile they inspect, brings them that much closer to the unemployment line in April 2011 raising concerns that people might jump ship early if other job opportunities open up. ‘We’ve been most concerned about maintaining and sustaining the knowledge necessary to safely conduct mission operations,’ says Retired Navy Vice Adm. Joseph Dyer. But shuttle work force surveys show a fierce loyalty and a dedication to sticking it out as long term employees want to be there when the last shuttle touches down. ‘They love being part of NASA and what NASA does, and they love being part of the space shuttle program. And they want to be a part of it as long as we’re doing the kinds of things that we’re doing,’ says LeRoy Cain, NASA’s deputy shuttle program manager.”

Source: Layoff Anxiety Is Top Risk To Space Shuttle

An anonymous reader writes “Earlier this year the Japanese space agency successfully deployed and used a solar sail to propel its spacecraft Ikaros, and now NASA announced plans this week for its own solar sail mission. This fall it will launch the NanoSail-D into orbit 400 miles up with a Minotaur IV rocket. Once deployed, it will orbit for 17 weeks, proving the technology and allowing astronomers to snap lots of photos.”

Source: NASA Set To Launch Solar NanoSail Into Space

anonymous writes “Does lightning predict the intensity of a tropical storm? What role does dust from the Sahara play? Do hurricanes form from the large-scale environment around a tropical storm or from small-scale formations 100 kilometers from the center? A team from NASA, NOAA, and NSF plan to find out. Starting Saturday, the team will conduct the largest hurricane study every undertaken. Among other things, a better understanding of hurricanes has ramifications for weather prediction, building codes, insurance policies, and disaster planning.”
One recent study found that hurricane creation is affected by plankton in the ocean.

Source: NASA Preparing For Largest Hurricane Study Ever

An anonymous reader writes “The STS-133 crew will deliver robot Robonaut 2 (R2) to the International Space Station. Cocooned inside an aluminum frame and foam blocks cut out to its shape, R2 is heading to the station inside the Permanent Multipurpose Module in space shuttle Discovery’s payload bay. R2, with its humanlike hands and arms and stereo vision, is expected to perform some of the repetitive or more mundane functions inside the orbiting laboratory to free astronauts for more complicated tasks and experiments.”

Source: Robonaut To Escort On Space Shuttle Mission

coondoggie writes “NASA this week said its Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE satellite is heating up — not a good thing when your primary mission instrument needs to be kept cold to work. According to NASA, WISE has two coolant tanks that keep the spacecraft’s normal operating temperature at 12 Kelvin (minus 438 degrees Fahrenheit). The outer, secondary tank is now depleted, causing the temperature to increase. One of WISE’s infrared detectors, the longest-wavelength band most sensitive to heat, stopped producing useful data once the telescope warmed to 31 Kelvin (minus 404 degrees Fahrenheit).”

Source: NASA Universe-Watching Satellite Losing Its Cool

Soulskill writes “Brian Wilcox, a JPL roboticist, spoke at a NASA workshop about the possibility of detaching one of the International Space Station’s modules and using it as the primary living space for astronauts on a trip to an asteroid. ‘The node could be connected to two space exploration vehicles and have add-on inflatable modules. … The space station is slated to operate through at least 2020, which roughly coincides with the earliest likely launch date for human exploration of an asteroid. In April President Barack Obama set a 2025 goal for a manned mission to an asteroid.’”

Source: Space Station Module Could Carry Humans To Asteroid