Northrop Grumman, US Navy Complete Initial Flight Testing of the Triton Unmanned Aircraft System
San Diego CA (SPX) Mar 25, 2014 -
Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Navy have successfully completed the first major milestone of the Triton unmanned aircraft system (UAS) flight test program, clearing the aircraft to fly at various altitudes, speeds and weights.
During the test program, which is known as initial envelope expansion, the Northrop Grumman/Navy test team validated more than 568 test points. The flights took place ...
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Sentinel-1 controllers ready for hectic first days
Paris (ESA) Mar 26, 2014 -
Following a spectacular launch, Sentinel-1A's first few days in orbit will be some of the most complex in recent memory. Mission control teams will work around the clock to nurse the satellite through its early critical hours in space.
As part of Europe's Copernicus programme, ESA's Sentinel-1A is the first of a two-satellite mission that will scan land and oceans using an advanced radar t ...
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Plugging the hole in Hawking's black hole theory
East Lansing MI (SPX) Mar 26, 2014 -
Recently physicists have been poking holes again in Stephen Hawking's black hole theory - including Hawking himself. For decades physicists across the globe have been trying to figure out the mysteries of black holes - those fascinating monstrous entities that have such intense gravitational pull that nothing - not even light - can escape from them. Now Professor Chris Adami, Michigan State Univ ...
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A Wet Moon
Moffett Field CA (SPX) Mar 26, 2014 -
The Moon's status as a "dry" rock in space has long been questioned. Competing theories abound as to the source of the H20 in the lunar soil, including delivery of water to the Moon by comets.
This week, Tartese et al announced in Geology that new analyses of lunar soil samples demonstrates that basalts from the Moon's mantle contain hydrogen from water indigenous to Earth.
According ...
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Mars-mimicking chamber explores habitability of other planets
Washington DC (SPX) Mar 26, 2014 -
A research team in Spain has the enviable job of testing out new electromechanical gear for potential use in future missions to the "Red Planet." They do it within their Mars environmental simulation chamber, which is specially designed to mimic conditions on the fourth planet from the sun - right down to its infamous Martian dust.
Mars is a key target for future space exploration, thanks ...
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First Images Available from NASA-JAXA Global Rain and Snowfall Satellite
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Mar 26, 2014 -
NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) have released the first images captured by their newest Earth-observing satellite, the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory, which launched into space Feb. 27.
The images show precipitation falling inside a March 10 cyclone over the northwest Pacific Ocean, approximately 1,000 miles east of Japan. The data were colle ...
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The NASA Z-2 Spacesuit Design Vote
Houston TX (SPX) Mar 26, 2014 -
NASA's Z-2 Suit is the newest prototype in its next-generation spacesuit platform, the Z-series. As a follow-up to the previous Z-1 suit, which was named one of Time Magazine's Best Inventions of 2012, the Z-2 takes the next step in fidelity approaching a final flight-capable design. Most exciting, the Z-2 marks several milestones for NASA:
+ First surface-specific planetary mobility suit ...
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