NASA readies next-gen engines for deeper space missions

By IANS, Washington: NASA has successfully completed the first developmental test series on "super" engines that will power its mega Space Launch System (SLS) rocket on missions deeper into space than ever before, including Mars. The test series wrapped up with a seventh hot fire test of a developmental RS-25 engine at NASA s Stennis Space Center in Bay St Louis, Mississippi, on Thursday. The test ran for a full-duration of 535 seconds. "The completion of this test series is an important step in getting SLS ready for the journey to Mars," said Steve Wofford, engines manager at NASA s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, in a statement. The RS-25 engine gives 77-tonnes SLS a proven, high performance and affordable main propulsion system. "It is one of the most experienced large rocket engines in the world, with more than a million seconds of ground test and flight operations time," he added. The test series was designed to collect valuable data on performance of the RS-25 engine. Of particular interest is data that will aid in development of a new engine controller, or "brain" to monitor engine status and communicate programmed performance needs. "These are extremely reliable engines. We are testing them because we want to mitigate any risks on the ground before flight," Wofford noted. Four RS-25 engines will help power the SLS core stage during launch. Firing simultaneously at 109 percent of its operating level, the engines will provide approximately two million pounds of thrust. The engines will operate in conjunction with a pair of five-segment solid rocket boosters for a total of 8.4 million pounds of thrust to lift the SLS off the launch pad. The SLS eventually will evolve to a 143-tonnes configuration that will enable missions to such deep space destinations as an asteroid and Mars. Source: Article, Source: flickr.com

Read More........→September 01, 2015

Nasa's Messenger Spacecraft Slams Into Mercury

The Boeing Delta II rocket launched NASA's Messenger mission in 2004

Lee Kyung-HO: The first ever spacecraft to orbit Mercury plunges into the planet's surface at a speed of 8,750 miles per hour. NASA's Messenger spacecraft has slammed into the surface of the planet Mercury, ending a successful 11-year-mission. The probe, the first ever to orbit Mercury, had run out of fuel and crashed into the planet's surface at a speed of 8,750 miles per hour. The impact from the crash carved out an estimated 52ft-wide crater. During its mission the spacecraft completed 4,104 orbits of Mercury and collected more than 277,000 images. "A NASA planetary exploration mission came to a planned, but nonetheless dramatic, end Thursday when it slammed into Mercury's surface at about 8,750 miles per hour and created a new crater on the planet's surface," NASA said in a statement. The space

The surface of Mercury in a combination image released by NASA in April 2015. The space probe is expected to end its orbit and make a crash landing into the planet on 30 April

agency added that the mission, which began in 2004, had achieved "unprecedented success". "Going out with a bang as it impacts the surface of Mercury, we are celebrating MESSENGER as more than a successful mission," said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. "The MESSENGER mission will continue to provide scientists with a bonanza of new results as we begin the next phase of this mission - analysing the exciting data already in the archives, and unravelling the mysteries of Mercury."Source: Article

Read More........→August 22, 2015