Author: NeRD

Ken Iliff: Engineering 40 Years of Success

NeRD

10 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Editor’s note: This article was published May 23, 2003, in NASA Armstrong’s X-Press newsletter. NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, was redesignated Armstrong Flight Research Center on March 1, 2014. Ken Iliff was inducted into the National Hall of Fame for Persons with Disabilities in 1987. He died Jan. 4, 2016. Alphonso Stewart, from left, Ken Iliff, and Dale Reed study lifting body aircraft models at NASA’s Armstrong (then Dryden) Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. NASA…

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A Particular Lenticular Cloud

NeRD

New Zealand’s stunning scenery has famously provided the backdrop for fictional worlds in fantasy films. A unique cloud that forms over the Otago region of the country’s South Island also evokes the otherworldly, while very much existing in reality. NASA/Lauren Dauphin; USGS Landsat 8’s Operational Land Imager acquired this image of an elongated lenticular cloud, locally nicknamed the “Taieri Pet,” above New Zealand’s South Island on Sept. 7, 2024. Lenticular clouds form when prevailing winds encounter a topographic barrier, such as a mountain range. Wind that is forced to flow…

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Station Science Top News: Oct. 25, 2024

NeRD

Better Monitoring of the Air Astronauts Breathe Ten weeks of operations showed that a second version of the Spacecraft Atmosphere Monitor is sensitive enough to determine variations in the composition of cabin air inside the International Space Station. Volatile organic compounds and particulates in cabin air could pose a health risk for crew members, and this device increases the speed and accuracy of assessing such risk. Spacecraft Atmosphere Monitor is a miniaturized gas chromatograph mass spectrometer used to analyze the air inside the space station and ensure that it is safe for the…

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NASA Sets Coverage for its SpaceX Crew-9 Dragon Station Relocation

NeRD

The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft carrying NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov approaches the International Space Station as it orbits 259 miles above Oregon. Credit: NASA In preparation for the arrival of NASA’s SpaceX 31st commercial resupply services mission, four crew members aboard the International Space Station will relocate the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 Dragon spacecraft to a different docking port Sunday, Nov. 3. Live coverage begins at 6:15 a.m. EST on NASA+ and will end shortly after docking. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of platforms, including…

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NASA chief says talks between Elon Musk, Vladimir Putin would be ‘concerning’

NeRD

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson has expressed concerns over reports that SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk has been in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Nelson was on stage at Semafor’s World Economy Summit on Friday (Oct. 25) when he was asked about an Oct. 24 Wall Street Journal article, which reported that Musk has, in secret, been in regular contact with Putin since late 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February that year. The report cites former U.S., European and Russian officials. “[SpaceX] have been phenomenally successful…

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SpaceX launching 20 Starlink internet satellites from California this morning

NeRD

SpaceX plans to launch another batch of its Starlink internet satellites from California this morning (Oct. 29). A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 20 Starlink spacecraft, including 13 with direct-to-cell (DTC) capability, is scheduled to lift off from Vandenberg Space Force Base today, during a nearly hour-long window that opens at 7:44 a.m. EDT (1144 GMT; 4:44 a.m. local California time). SpaceX will stream the launch live via X, beginning about five minutes before liftoff. If all goes according to plan, the Falcon 9’s first stage will come back to Earth…

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Sols 4345-4347: Contact Science is Back on the Table

NeRD

Curiosity Navigation Curiosity Home Mission Overview Where is Curiosity? Mission Updates Science Overview Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Curiosity Raw Images Images Videos Audio Mosaics More Resources Mars Missions Mars Sample Return Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover MAVEN Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions The Solar System The Sun Mercury Venus Earth The Moon Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto & Dwarf Planets Asteroids, Comets & Meteors The Kuiper Belt The Oort Cloud 3 min read Sols 4345-4347: Contact Science is Back on the…

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SpaceX’s Starship booster was ‘1 second away’ from aborting epic launch-tower catch

NeRD

SpaceX’s historic rocket catch earlier this month was even more dramatic than it looked. That catch occurred on Oct. 13, during the fifth test flight of SpaceX’s Starship megarocket. Starship’s huge first-stage booster, known as Super Heavy, came back to Earth about seven minutes after liftoff, nestling next to its launch tower, which secured the rocket with its “chopstick” arms. But that epic moment almost didn’t happen: Super Heavy was just one second away from aborting the launch-tower landing and crashing into a patch of nearby ground, SpaceX engineers told…

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Planets Beware: NASA Unburies Danger Zones of Star Cluster

NeRD

X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/J. Drake et al, IR: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Spitzer; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. Wolk Most stars form in collections, called clusters or associations, that include very massive stars. These giant stars send out large amounts of high-energy radiation, which can disrupt relatively fragile disks of dust and gas that are in the process of coalescing to form new planets. A team of astronomers used NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, in combination with ultraviolet, optical, and infrared data, to show where some of the most treacherous places in a star cluster may be, where planets’…

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Watch How Students Help NASA Grow Plants in Space: Growing Beyond Earth

NeRD

Learn Home Watch How Students Help NASA… Citizen Science Overview Learning Resources Science Activation Teams SME Map Opportunities More Science Activation Stories Citizen Science   2 min read Watch How Students Help NASA Grow Plants in Space: Growing Beyond Earth Since 2015, students from across the USA have been partnering with scientists at NASA to advance research on growing plants in space, ultimately to feed astronauts on long-distance space missions, as part of Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden’s Growing Beyond Earth project, which is now in its 9th year. This classroom-based…

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