About NASA’s space programs

March 9, 2011 Leave a Comment

NASA stands for National Aeronautics and Space Administration. This agency is located in United States of America and is responsible for all kinds of space programs and research in the aerospace and aeronautics field. The mission statement of National Aeronautics and Space Administration is to probe the future and explore space and make new discoveries in the field of aerospace.  NASA has undertaken many events to explore space like the Apollo moon landing mission, Space Shuttle and Skylab Space station. It came into operations on 1st October in the year 1958 after replacing National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. NASA has developed an Earth Observing System to understand Earth in a better manner. NASA has been exploring bodies in the Solar system. For this effort it has undertaken mission like Great Observation, New Horizons, Big Bang and many other programs.

NASA shares its researches and data with a number of national and international organizations who seek interest in such information. NASA has undertaken many missions to probe into the heavenly bodies that exist near the surface of Earth. Some of these missions include Mariner program which was designed to investigate the planets like Venus, Mars and Mercury. The pioneer program was another mission which was undertaken to study the planetary bodies and was launched in the year 1978. The Voyager program was another unmanned mission launched by National Aeronautics and Space Administration to study the planetary alignments and different planets. It was designed to study the planets Jupiter and Saturn and their orbits.

There were also manned programs launched by National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Among these was the Space shuttle program launched in 1970’s and 1980’s. The ASTP program was also launched by NASA known as Apollo Soyuz Test Project which took place in 1975 was the last Apollo flight for United States of America. Space Shuttle program was undertaken in the year 1981 in the month of April.

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Future of NASA

February 23, 2011 Leave a Comment
The NASA insignia.

Image via Wikipedia

National Aeronautics and Space Administration popularly known as NASA is one of the biggest organization that has been undertaking many missions to explore space. NASA has launched a number or mission some of which have been successful and some have failed. Yet NASA continues to explore the space and make some researches. It was during the 1990’s decade when National Aeronautics and Space Administration faced a number of problems like reduction in its annual budgets and congressional forces. The administrator of NASA during the 1990’s was Daniel Goldin adopted an approach to reduce the costs incurred. He invented some better and cheaper methods to tackle the problems and deliver the performance.

This methodology was not a success and was widely criticized. This methodology was again evaluated on certain grounds. Therefore after that failure NASA executed an affordable and sustainable program based on robotic and human programs for exploring space and its surroundings. This method used scientific knowledge to develop and acquire systems and fundamentals to learn more about the planet Earth. The future of NASA is very bright as they have many missions yet to undertake. NASA has also become a hub for attracting young talents and youth to learn more about National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The future mission of NASA is to explore planets like Jupiter and cover half of the solar system.

It has a larger and improved Mars Science Laboratory under construction which is to be launched in the year 2011. Although National Aeronautics and Space Administration has faced a number of challenges but it has still conquered its hopes and ideas. The New Horizons mission of NASA plans to explore the planet Pluto and study its existence and features. There are also many job openings at NASA year on year. The youth can easily apply for such openings and can be a part of such a prestigious organization of the world.

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NASA Website is a Wealth of Space Information

December 29, 2010 Leave a Comment

ContentSpace is where dreams lie. Space is where imagination lives. Space is magical and mystical. Space holds mystery, power, and inspiration for many people, from astronauts and astronomers to parents and children. Anyone who loves all things space must check out NASA’s website.

The NASA website is a space lovers dream. Not only can visitors feast their eyes on amazing photographs from outer space, but this website has everything from mission briefs, information on our solar system, and interesting tidbits about the latest space technology.

There are special pages geared towards educators, students, media, policymakers, and employees. These are along the top menu bar. On the right side of the home page, website visitors will see picture links to information about the space shuttles and the International Space Station, the Moon and Mars, the solar system, the universe, NASA’s history, and more.

There is a picture of the day displayed right on the home page, which is always a breathtaking treat. The picture will change very few seconds to continuously delight your eyes. Below that are blocks of various NASA related information and images. There are fun things on here too, such as the ability to send astronauts messages while they are in space.

A favorite spot on the NASA website for many internet surfers are the pictures. The pictures of celestial bodies posted on the website look surreal, amazing, and literally out of this world. Most people would agree that they have never seen pictures like these before. Time will zoom by as you are sucked into the natural beauty of space.

Another great reason to visit the NASA website is that you can learn about all the wonderful space related discoveries taking place every day. You rarely hear about this stuff on the news, but it is very fascinating. With amazing photos and videos, website visitors will learn a lot about the final frontier.

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Fueling Space Shuttle Discovery to Test Tank

December 25, 2010 Leave a Comment

The 154-foot tall fuel tank on the Space Shuttle Discovery needed repairs due to two cracks along two different support beams. These cracks occurred in November 2010, during a launch attempt. NASA placed about 90 different instruments on the tank to collect information during the filling and emptying of the fuel tank during the test. NASA hopes to launch Discovery again in February.

The fuel tank on the Discovery space shuttle holds about 500,000 gallons of liquid oxygen, which is -297⁰F, and liquid hydrogen, which is -423⁰F. These super freezing temperatures are so cold that the fuel tank actually shrinks about half an inch! It is this tank that endured cracking while on the launch pad last month. When the stringers cracked on the fuel tank, the overlying insulation also cracked. Cracked beams are a structural concern and cracked foam insulation can cause the insulation to ultimately fall off. This means that there is no heat protection and could cause a lot of trouble for the shuttle during re-entry.

To put this issue into perspective, in 2003 space shuttle Columbia’s left wing was damaged by foam that broke away from the shuttle. This damage was devastating to the return mission and the sever-person crew, and the shuttle itself, was lost.

The test began at 7 am on December 17, 2010 and ended at about 2:25 pm EST. During the test, more than 6,000 gigabytes of data will be collected and analyzed. NASA is looking to see how the repairs are holding up and to gain general performance information on the fuel tank. Experts immediately began to review the data and will work through the holidays to analyze the data and plan for the next launch window in February.

Space Shuttle Discovery will make its 39th and final flight in February, as long as everything goes as planned and the weather cooperates. It will be an eleven day trip to the International Space Station.

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