using solar pressure as a stabilizing force after reaction wheel failure on the kepler space telescope
Ballistic capture, a low-energy method that has coasted spacecraft into lunar orbit, could help humanity visit the Red Planet much more often.
original paper: arxiv.org
iss timelapses
The sun emitted a significant solar flare, peaking at 7:28 p.m. EST on Dec. 19, 2014. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, which watches the sun constantly, captured an image of the event.
CHRISTMAS IN SPACE — On December 25, 2007, crew members on the International Space Station show their holiday spirit in a Christmas photo in the Zvezda Service Module. Left to right are cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, astronaut Peggy Whitson, and astronaut Daniel Tani, who is hung by the chimney with care, sort of.
(NASA)
The NASA scientists, philosophers, and futurists who believe that the aliens we meet most likely won’t be a life form at all.
Have you seen a panorama from another world lately? Assembled from high-resolution scans of the original film frames, this one sweeps across the magnificent desolation of the Apollo 11 landing site on the Moon’s Sea of Tranquility. Taken by Neil Armstrong looking out his window of the Eagle Lunar Module, the frame at the far left (AS11-37-5449) is the first picture taken by a person on another world.
orion re-entry and descent to splashdown
orion @home
First experimental flight of LVM3 with CARE module successful. pic.twitter.com/1wp1ka0EIo
— ISRO (@isro) December 18, 2014NASA experts are evaluating the use of a modified version of the famous Space Shuttle launch and entry suit – or Advanced Crew Escape Suit (ACES) – for use not only during launch and re-entry for crews riding in Orion, but also for use on spacewalks (EVAs), such as during the proposed Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) in the middle of the next decade.
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