NASA’s inspector general predicts continued cost growth for SLS mobile launch platform
30 Aug
Science & Technology

NASA’s inspector general predicts continued cost growth for SLS mobile launch platform

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NASA Space Technology WASHINGTON — A contract to build a second mobile launch platform for the Space Launch System could end up costing NASA more than six times its original value, a report by the agency’s inspector general concluded.The Aug. 27 report by NASA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) concluded that NASA could end up spending $2.5 billion on a contract with Bechtel to design and build Mobile Launcher 2 (ML-2), the launch platform that will be used by the larger Block 1B version of SLS, and may not be ready to support a launch until 2029.NASA awarded Bechtel the contract for ML-2 in August 2019 valued at $383 million, with the platform scheduled for delivery to NASA by March 2023. However, costs have grown significantly while schedules slipped. A previous OIG audit of the...
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NASA’s Endurance Mission Measures Earth’s Ambipolar Electric Field for First Time
30 Aug
Science & Technology

NASA’s Endurance Mission Measures Earth’s Ambipolar Electric Field for First Time

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NASA Space Technology First hypothesized more than 60 years ago, the ambipolar electric field is a key driver of the polar wind, a steady outflow of charged particles into space that occurs above Earth’s poles. This electric field lifts charged particles in our upper atmosphere to greater heights than they would otherwise reach and may have shaped our planet’s evolution in ways yet to be explored.Collinson et al. report the existence of a +0.55 ± 0.09 V electric potential drop between 250 km and 768 km from a planetary electrostatic field generated exclusively by the outward pressure of ionospheric electrons; they experimentally demonstrate that the ambipolar field of Earth controls the structure of the polar ionosphere, boosting the scale height by 271%. Image credit: NASA.Since the 1960s, spacecraft flying over Earth’s poles have detected a stream of particles flowing from...
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NASA’s Asteroid-Smashing Mission Permanently Knocked Moon Off Orbit?
27 Aug
Science & Technology

NASA’s Asteroid-Smashing Mission Permanently Knocked Moon Off Orbit?

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NASA Space Technology An illustration depicting NASAs Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft prior to impact at the Didymos binary asteroid system. (Image courtesy of NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben)COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Remember when NASA deliberately crashed a spacecraft into an asteroid last year? Well, the aftermath of that cosmic collision just got a whole lot more interesting.In a groundbreaking study published in the Planetary Science Journalscientists have uncovered some unexpected results from NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission. It turns out that when DART slammed into the asteroid moon Dimorphos in 2022, it didn’t just leave a dent – it completely reshaped the celestial body and potentially set it on a chaotic new path.Breaking down what happened and why it mattersFirst, a quick refresher: DART was NASA’s test run for planetary defense. The...
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