Pilot Killed in Small Plane Crash Was
NASA Scientist (Source: ABC)
The pilot of a small plane that crashed at a Los Angeles intersection
was a NASA and Jet Propulsion Labs researcher who helped determine that
there was once water on the surface of Mars, his colleagues said.
Alberto Behar, 47, of Scottsdale, Arizona, died instantly when his
single-engine plane nosedived shortly after takeoff Friday from Van
Nuys Airport. (1/10)
China Plan for Unmanned Moon Landing,
Earth Return Advances (Source: ABC)
China's bold plan to land an unmanned spaceship on the moon before
returning to Earth has moved another step forward with a test craft
shifting into lunar orbit to conduct further tests, state media
reported Sunday. The service module of a lunar orbiter that flew back
to Earth in November had been sitting in a position that brought in
into sync with Earth's orbit, known as the second Lagrange point. It
had separated from the orbiter in November.
The craft, loaded with support systems for operating a spaceship, will
collect further data to aid planning of the 2017 Chang'e 5 mission,
state broadcaster China Central Television said. Chang'e 5 is being
designed to make a soft landing on the moon and collect at least 2
kilograms (4 pounds) of rock and soil samples before returning to
Earth. If successful, that would make China only the third country
after the United States and Russia to meet such a challenge. (1/11)
Lightly Funded Oklahoma Space Agency
May Go Dark (Source: Muskogee Phoenix)
Bill Khourie’s passion for his small government agency is such a labor
of love that he often spends weekends in the summer mowing grass at its
2,700acre property. Also, the Oklahoma Space Industry and Development
Authority isn’t budgeted a groundskeeper. Khourie, the agency’s
longtime director, says he labors for free to keep up the land
surrounding a 3mile runway in Burns Flat because he believes in the
future of the agency and its mission to build Oklahoma’s space and
aviation industry.
The authority that competes with neighboring states to lure aerospace
companies has facilities — namely a runway long enough to qualify as a
“spaceport” 105 miles west of Oklahoma City — if not deep pockets. But
its future is uncertain as lawmakers debate whether the agency actually
contributes to aerospace development or is just a financial drain. The
authority’s supporters argue that because it doesn't get many pennies,
cutting it hardly helps a multibilliondollar budget. This year the
authority received the fourthsmallest state appropriation of just
$372,432. (1/10)
Food for Mars (Source: Guardian)
The race is on to colonize Mars with national agencies and private
companies setting their sights upon its terrain. But if getting
pioneers to the red planet is a mission, feeding them is another. Now,
some students are aiming to investigate the possibility of growing a
sustainable food source on Mars. Team “Seed” has won the chance to send
a type of cress on board an unmanned mission to the planet. Click here.
(1/11)
Why Humans Shouldn’t go to Mars
(Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch)
Mars has been in the news a lot lately. Just recently, studies have
shown that the red planet “belches” methane, harbors organic molecules
and once was warmer and wetter than previously believed — all possible
indicators of past, and maybe even present, simple life there.
The space agency calls a future human mission to Mars its “next giant
leap.” Actually, attempting to eventually send humans to Mars is a
pricey, risky leap. And a poor use of a great deal of money. There are,
of course, good reasons for exploring Mars. But there are many reasons
not to send people to another planet.
Mars, as close as it is, is a planet too far. Click here.
(1/10)
Beefed-Up Budget is Big Development
for NASA Glenn (Source: Crain's Cleveland Business)
NASA Glenn Research Center received an outpouring of support from
Ohio's Congressional delegation as the federal government was setting
NASA's 2015 budget. For the most part, they got what they wanted: A
budget that plays to NASA Glenn's strengths, giving the center a good
chance to compete for funding.
After a few years of cost-cutting, the federal government increased
NASA's budget for the current fiscal year. And our local NASA center
just so happens to specialize in a few areas that are slated to get
more funding. In some cases, it's a lot more. (1/11)
Despite Botched Landing, A Lot Went
Right with SpaceX’s Booster Flyback (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 booster accomplished a delicate maneuver after a
glowing predawn launch from Cape Canaveral on Saturday, turning around
at hypersonic speeds and autonomously navigating its way to a modified
barge the size of a football field hidden in darkness beneath a blanket
of low clouds, before it crashed — and presumably broke up — on the
ship.
The pencil-shaped Falcon 9 rocket stage slowed down from a top speed of
nearly 3,000 mph at the edge of space and descended toward SpaceX’s
autonomous spaceport drone ship — a specially-outfitted cargo barge —
in the Atlantic Ocean about 200 miles northeast of Cape Canaveral.
Elon Musk, SpaceX’s founder and chief executive, said on Twitter that
the Falcon 9 booster made it to the drone ship but had a hard landing.
A later tweet implied the rocket broke apart on impact. At least the
first two of the descent burns had to go nearly perfectly for the first
stage to reach the drone ship. SpaceX officials did not release any
more details or imagery of the landing. (1/10)
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