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NASA seeks public input on how to cut SLS and Orion costs
NASA has admitted in its latest Request for Information (RFI) that it's spending a bit too much money on the Space Launch System's and the Orion capsule's development. The agency is asking for public input on how to minimize the "production, operations and maintenance costs" of the rocket-and-spacecraft system -- an issue it needs to address soon since it will be under a new administration within a couple of months.
NASA details preparations for SLS' and Orion's first flight
NASA began preparing for Orion's 2018 maiden flight atop the Space Launch System quite some time ago. Since both Orion and SLS are new technologies, the space agency has been subjecting both to a series of rigorous tests, which it has listed and explained in detail in a Tumblr post. NASA says it's been examining every component of the capsule and had blasted it with deafening sounds, earthquake-like vibrations and strong, hurricane-like winds in the past to test its durability. The spacecraft also underwent water impact testing with human dummies inside, wherein it was dropped into a pool from 16 feet above the surface. It's slated to go through more water impact tests simulating different wind and wave conditions in the future.
NASA wants the industry's ideas for deep space habitats
NASA announced on Thursday that it is seeking development proposals for deep space habitats -- the kind that astronauts will call home on trips to Mars and beyond. This call is the second part of NASA's public-private partnership, Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP), which requested initial concept proposals last October.
NASA starts drop testing Orion with a dummy crew on board
The Orion capsule's first manned mission isn't scheduled to take off until 2023 at the earliest. NASA is already preparing for it, though, and has begun a series of water impact tests using a mockup of the spacecraft with a dummy crew on board. Engineers at the Langley Research Center dropped the mockup in a 20-foot-deep Hydro Impact Basin from 16 feet above the surface for the first test out of nine.
NASA's first SLS launch will send cubesats into deep space
NASA announced on Tuesday that the first mission for its new Space Launch System in 2018, dubbed Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1), will send more than a dozen mini-satellites as well as an unmanned Orion spacecraft into deep space.
Derby the dog gets better 3D-printed paw prosthetics
Derby, the dog with 3D-printed legs, can walk straight and sit like any other pooch now, thanks to a new set of prosthetics. If you recall, South Carolina company 3D Systems created his initial pair to be close to the ground so he could get used to them without hurting himself. Since merely blowing the old version up didn't work quite as well as the company had hoped, the team decided to design new ones.
NASA Spacebot, what big eyes you have
Space isn't exactly the safest of places for squishy meatbags like us, what with the lack of atmosphere and all. But when satellites in orbit break, somebody's got to fix them. That's why NASA is developing a robotic remote viewing system called the VIPIR (Visual Inspection Poseable Invertebrate Robot). It leverages an articulating borescope as well as a zoom-lens camera to help Earth-bound engineers troubleshoot external issues aboard the ISS, launch vehicles and satellites. NASA is currently in the second phase of operational testing with the VIPIR. Eventually the space agency hopes to eventually pair these eyes with Dextre, Canada's dual-armed spacebot that is currently serving aboard the ISS.
NASA's Space Launch System inches even closer to flight
NASA has been toiling away on its heavy-lifting Space Launch System since around 2011, and now those rocket plans have taken another giant leap toward actual usability. The Administration announced earlier today that one of the SLS's three main configurations has successfully gone through its critical design review phase, two months after the program turned in its official findings to an independent review board.
NASA preps Orion heat shield for its first flight aboard the SLS
The Orion capsule's heat shield survived its test flight back in December just fine. In fact, Orion Program Manager Mark Kirasich says it "met every expectation" during reentry, enduring temperatures that reached 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Thanks to the data NASA gathered from the same test, though, its engineers were able to come to the conclusion that the heat shield used for that flight won't make it through Orion's first mission with the Space Launch System scheduled to happen in 2018. The multi-purpose vehicle will travel farther during the Exploration Mission 1 three years from now. As such, it's bound to encounter colder temperatures and to travel faster -- and hence, face even worse heat -- upon reentry.
The After Math: Periscope views and new Samsung phones
While Google was busy reinventing itself as Alphabet, Twitter quietly annihilated its 140 character limit for direct messages, and Samsung released two new, big phones with appropriately big names. Here's a completely numerically biased version of the week's events.
NASA fires up engine that will take the SLS to Mars
NASA has successfully tested the RS-25 engine, which will power the Space Launch System (SLS), for the sixth time at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. The space agency fired it up for 535 seconds and collected data to determine what needs to be tweaked and improved to make sure it can carry the massive new rocket. NASA livestreamed the event as it was happening, but you can watch the recap below the break if you missed seeing the engine spew out fire from up close.
Watch NASA test its main deep space rocket in a cloud of steam
If you thought NASA's recent booster rocket test for the Space Launch System was full of sound and fury, just wait until you see what happens with the main engines. The agency recently conducted a nearly 8-minute burn test for the RS-25 rocket providing the SLS' core thrust, and the machinery isn't exactly subtle -- as you'll see in the video below, it produced a gigantic steam cloud that seemingly dwarfed the complex. Of course, this dry run wasn't really for show. NASA needed to prove that the RS-25's automated propulsion (which adjusts things like fuel mixture based on throttle demands) will work without a hitch when it's lifting payloads destined for places like Mars. And it's important to note that this is just one of four primary rockets in the SLS. When the finished rocket launches in 2018, it'll put out a fierce 1.6 million pounds of thrust that could make this demo seem timid by comparison. [Image credit: NASA]
Watch NASA test its most powerful booster rocket ever
We know: The progress toward NASA using the SLS (or Space Launch System if you aren't into the whole brevity thing) has been painfully slow, starting way back in 2011. Today marks a significant step toward it shooting astronauts into the furthest reaches of space, however -- testing its booster system. The trial run was two minutes long (the same length as it would be during an actual launch) and in those 120 seconds, the Utah-based booster produced 3.6 million pounds of thrust. NASA says this is one of two tests necessary before the system gets cleared for a trip to Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and the next one takes place in early 2016.
3D-printed music scores help the blind feel every note
It's increasingly apparent that schools can do exceptional things when you give them 3D printers. Need proof? The University of Wisconsin's Mechanical Engineering department is using its advanced selective laser sintering printer to make a wide range of intricate projects, including 3D music scores for the blind. The creation replaces Braille (which sometimes omits crucial details in music) with extruded versions of the same notes you see on regular sheets -- you can interpret those arpeggios in the same way as any other performer, rather than learn a separate system. The university is still refining the concept, so it may take a while before blind virtuosos are using 3D sheets in concerts. You'd need an easy way to mass-produce them, for one thing. If the technology pans out, though, it could open doors for vision-impaired artists. [Image credit: Scott Gordon]
NASA delays 'capture the asteroid' plan until next year
Now that the ESA has landed on a comet, NASA wants to do them one better: capture an entire asteroid (or a piece of one) and put it in orbit around the moon in 2019. But the space agency has now said that it's delaying a decision on exactly how the Asteroid Redirect Mission will do that until 2015. Option A involves bagging and capturing an entire meteorite about 30 feet across, while option B would see them landing on larger target, Philae-style, and digging out a boulder-sized chunk (see the video below). In both cases, it will be towed back to the moon and placed in orbit there. Astronauts launching from the upcoming Space Launch System (SLS) in an Orion capsule will then intercept the orbiting meteorite in 2020, retrieve samples and return to Earth.
NASA's Orion capsule begins its 3,600-mile journey into outer space
NASA's Orion capsule has blasted off on the farthest journey into space anyone has ever attempted since the last Apollo moon mission. In fact, a Delta IV rocket will propel it to an altitude of 3,600 miles, roughly 14 times that of the International Space Station's -- and for good reason. NASA and Lockheed, which has been building the vessel for years, are betting on it to become the space agency's go-to vehicle for manned, deep-space missions. Thus, the capsule needs to undergo rigorous testing in the right conditions in order to ensure the safety of the astronauts it'll ferry to the moon, and even Mars. Update: We've embedded NASA's replay video of Orion's successful launch below. The main engines will fire again at around 8:50 AM (EST) to boost Orion to 3,600 miles.
NASA launches $5 million contest to find CubeSats for deep space missions
Attention, scientists, hobbyists and anyone in between who can design a mean CubeSat, or a mini cube-like satellite, for space exploration: registration is now open for NASA's Cube Quest contest, and the agency's giving out cash prizes worth a total of $5 million. NASA's no stranger to holding competitions in an effort to tap into the brilliant minds of folks outside their roster of employees, but this one is a lot bigger than many of its previous events. See, contenders will compete not only for cash prizes, but also for a spot on the Orion spacecraft during its first integrated flight with the agency's upcoming monster rocket called Space Launch System.
The Big Picture: NASA gets ready to build the 'next great rocket'
See the gargantuan structure above that dwarfs that line of puny humans at the bottom (bet you didn't even notice them at first glance, huh)? It's a welding tool -- the biggest one built for spacecraft, in fact, that's slated to help Boeing build the core stage of NASA's Space Launch System at the agency's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The structure's officially called the Vertical Assembly Center, and it stands 170 feet tall with a width that measures 78 feet: not exactly surprising, considering the SLS is a 200-foot-tall behemoth. It's but one of the many tools Boeing intends to use to build the core stage of NASA's "most powerful rocket ever" after the two organizations finalized their $2.8 billion deal in July. The core stage will house cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen used to power the rocket's four engines, and building it brings the SLS much closer to the launch pad for deep space exploration.
NASA's massive Space Launch System rocket takes off in 2018
Upstarts like SpaceX might get most of the attention, but let's not forget that NASA -- you know, the folks who actually put 12 guys on the moon -- isn't done pushing to explore the heavens just yet. Case in point: the agency is working on a whopper of a rocket called (unimaginatively enough) the Space Launch System that'll eventually propel a manned Orion capsule in Mars' direction, and officials just green-lit that massive booster for development. The formulation phase is over folks, time to build this crazy thing. There is, however, a downside. You see, the SLS was originally slated to make its first official test flight with an uncrewed Orion capsule in December 2017, but it's looking at this point like that inaugural launch will actually take place nearly a year later. Yeah, we can hardly wait either, but it was going to be a long while before all the development and infrastructure fell into place anyway -- NASA associate administrator Robert Lightfoot reaffirmed in a statement that we won't be flinging humans at the red planet until the 2030s. Think you can beat that, Mr. Musk?
Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Electric Drive breaks Nurburgring EV lap record
There's no question that the SLS AMG Electric Drive is faster than most EVs. However, Mercedes-Benz wants to prove that the car is fast in any category -- and it just broke a Nurburgring record to underscore its point. Merc's 751HP clean machine recently ripped through the track's Nordschleife section in 7 minutes and 56 seconds, beating a production EV record set last year by Audi's R8 E-tron. While that lap time won't rival the absolute EV record, let alone those of faster conventional cars, it puts the electric SLS firmly ahead of its peers. That may be all that matters for buyers picking up their cars this month: when you've dropped half a million dollars on a new ride, some bragging rights are in order. Video of the run awaits after the break.
