NASA Selects Technology Transfer Services Contractor

NeRD

Credits: NASA NASA has awarded the Consolidated Agency Technology Transfer Services contract to Summit Technologies & Solutions, Inc. in Alexandria, Virginia, to provide support for the agency’s Technology Transfer Program. The performance-based firm-fixed price contract has a potential mission services value of $26 million and a maximum potential indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity value of $55 million. The contract begins on Saturday, June 1, with a one-year base period followed by four one-year option periods that may be exercised at NASA’s discretion. Summit Technologies & Solutions will provide NASA tech transfer support at multiple…

Read More

A Moonlit Moonwalk

NeRD

NASA astronaut Kate Rubins places a sample marker in the soil before collecting a sample during a nighttime simulated moonwalk in the San Francisco Volcanic Field in Northern Arizona on May 16, 2024. A sample marker provides a photographic reference point for science samples collected on the lunar surface.

Read More

NASA, Mission Partners to Discuss Starliner Crew Flight Test Progress

NeRD

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft aboard is seen as it is rolled out of the Vertical Integration Facility to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41. Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky As NASA, Boeing, and ULA (United Launch Alliance) continue to evaluate a path toward launching the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test, they will host a joint media teleconference at 11 a.m. EDT Friday, May 24. The agency is working toward a launch at 12:25 p.m., Saturday, June 1, for the first crewed flight…

Read More

1st astronaut launch of Boeing’s Starliner capsule now targeted for June 1

NeRD

Boeing is now targeting June 1 for the first crewed launch of its Starliner capsule, though that date is far from set in stone. The flight date for the mission, called Crew Flight Test (CFT), has been in considerable flux recently. It had been scheduled to lift off on May 6 atop a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, but that try was called off about two hours before launch due to a misbehaving valve in the rocket’s upper stage.  ULA…

Read More

See May’s Full Flower Moon blossom in the night sky tonight

NeRD

The full moon of May 2024 rides the Scorpion’s back across the night sky tonight. The Full Flower Moon will be in the Scorpius constellation tonight (May 23), rising in the southeast just after sunset. Because full moons occur when the sun and the moon are completely opposite one another in the sky, the moon will rise at sunset and set with the sunrise the following morning. Because of its location in the sky tonight, the Full Flower Moon makes for an excellent guide to help you learn the stars…

Read More

Telescope deal: Celestron StarSense Explorer LT 114AZ now under $200

NeRD

If you’re new to astronomy, getting the Celestron StarSense Explorer LT 114AZ telescope for under $200 could be ideal for you. It’s well-suited for beginners and this price point is cheaper than a lot of the best telescopes. Save $40 and get the Celestron StarSense Explorer LT 114AZ for under $200 on Amazon.  Celestron is an industry leader when it comes to optics and this is apparent with this scope as it features a 114mm aperture with reflective coatings on the primary mirror. The telescope works in tandem with the…

Read More

Sols 4193-4194: Stay Overnight? No, Touch-and-Go!

NeRD

4 min read Sols 4193-4194: Stay Overnight? No, Touch-and-Go! This image was taken by Left Navigation Camera onboard NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 4192 (2024-05-22 06:36:49 UTC). NASA/JPL-Caltech Earth planning date: Wednesday, May 22, 2024 One of the biggest challenges that comes with operating a rover on another planet is that we don’t always know exactly what we’re going to have in front of us when we park after driving. The science teams and our rover planners (who actually plan out the drives) do their best of what we…

Read More

The Marshall Star for May 22, 2024

NeRD

14 Min Read The Marshall Star for May 22, 2024 NASA astronaut Josh Cassada and NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Director Joseph Pelfrey lead students from area schools across the Louisiana State Capitol grounds to attend a series of panel discussions as part of Louisiana Space Day 2024. Making Connections: Marshall Hosts Annual Jamboree, Poster Expo By Celine Smith Engineers, researchers, and scientists at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center had the opportunity to showcase their vast range of projects and learn about others at Marshall’s annual Science, Technology, and Engineering…

Read More

NASA’s Compact Infrared Cameras Enable New Science

NeRD

A new, higher-resolution infrared camera outfitted with a variety of lightweight filters could probe sunlight reflected off Earth’s upper atmosphere and surface, improve forest fire warnings, and reveal the molecular composition of other planets. The cameras use sensitive, high-resolution strained-layer superlattice sensors, initially developed at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, using IRAD, Internal Research and Development funding. Their compact construction, low mass, and adaptability enable engineers like Tilak Hewagama to adapt them to the needs of a variety of sciences. Goddard engineer Murzy Jhabvala holds the heart…

Read More

Amateur astronomer finds 5 fascinating new galaxies — and they’re now named after him

NeRD

An amateur astronomer from Italy has discovered five new dwarf galaxies around a distant spiral galaxy — a spiral that’s one of the largest galaxies in the sky over Earth. His name is Giuseppe Donatiello, and those five dwarf galaxies are now named Donatiello V, Donatiello VI, Donatiello VII, Donatiello VIII, and Donatiello IX (Do V, Do VI, Do VII, Do VIII, and Do IX). “Out of eleven discoveries, nine galaxies bear my name. To my knowledge, I am the first and only amateur astronomer to have galaxies named after them,”…

Read More