Vulnerable transistors threaten to upend Europa Clipper mission
NASA Space Technology NASA investigates flaws in radiation-hardened electronics ahead of probe’s October launch...
Tag Archives: NASA
NASA’s 21st Northrop Grumman Mission Launches Scientific Studies to Station
NASA Space Technology NASA and its international partners are sending scientific investigations to the International Space Station on Northrop Grumman’s 21st commercial resupply services mission. Flying aboard the company’s Cygnus spacecraft are tests of water recovery technology and a process to produce stem cells in microgravity, studies of the effects of spaceflight on microorganism DNA and liver tissue growth, and live science demonstrations for students. The mission is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida by early August.Read more about some of the research making the journey to the orbiting laboratory:Packed bed reactors are systems that use materials such as pellets or beads “packed” inside a structure to increase contact between different phases of fluids, such as liquid and gas. These reactors are used for various applications including water recovery, thermal...
NASA Awards Launch Services Contract for NOAA’s JPSS-4 Mission
NASA Space Technology NASA, on behalf of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has selected SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies Corporation) to provide launch services for NOAA’s JPSS-4 mission. The spacecraft is part of the multi-satellite cooperative Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) program, a partnership between NASA and NOAA. This mission is the next satellite in the program, which began with the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership.This is a firm fixed price contract with a value of approximately $112.7 million, which includes launch services and other mission related costs. The JPSS-4 mission currently is targeted to launch in 2027, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.The JPSS constellation of satellites collects global multi-spectral radiometry and other specialized meteorologic, oceanographic, and solar-geophysical data via remote...
NASA Rocket Discovers New Energization Process in Upper Atmosphere
NASA Space Technology When it comes to discoveries about our upper atmosphere, it pays to know your surroundings.Using data from the Twin Rockets to Investigate Cusp Electrodynamics (TRICE-2) rocket launch, NASA scientist Francesca Di Mare and Gregory Howes from the University of Iowa studied waves traveling down Earth’s magnetic field lines into the polar atmosphere. These waves were known to accelerate electrons, which pick up speed as they “surf” along the electric field of the wave. But their effect on ions — a more heterogenous group of positively charged particles, which exist alongside electrons — was unknown.By estimating the ion mixture they were flying through — predominantly protons and singly-charged oxygen ions — the scientists discovered that these waves were accelerating protons as they circle about the Earth’s magnetic field lines as well as electrons...
