The First Successful American Satellite on 31th January in 1958!

Launched less than two months after Vanguard 1A, the first American attempt to compete with Sputnik, blows up on the launchpad, Explorer 1 (officially called Satellite 1958 Alpha) achieves an orbit extending an astonishing 1,560 miles (2,500 kilometers) above the Earth. This leads to the first great scientific discovery of the space age, when instruments designed by Iowa physicist James Van Allen find the radiation belts now named in his honor. The 31-pound (14-kilogram) satellite transmits until May 23, when its batteries die, but it remains aloft for more than 12 years.

From: National Geographic

Comming 8th July NASA STS-135 Mission Begin For Final Flight !

Space shuttle Atlantis is set to liftoff for the final flight of the shuttle program. 'STS-135' a 12-day mission to the International Space Station. Launch is currently targeted for July 8.

In 2010 NASA Authorization directs NASA conduct the STS-135 mission. The Space Shuttle Program has added on the mission to the manifest to decorate for a potential target launch date in early July in this year.

The Raffaello multipurpose logistics module to deliver supplies which will be carry by Atlantis. Atlantis also carry Logistics & spare parts to the International Space Station. The mission also will fly a system for investigate the potential for robotically refueling existing spacecraft and then return a failed ammonia pump module to help NASA better understand the failure mechanism and improve pump designs for future systems.

From: Nasa.

Apollo 11 Mission Summary!

Apollo 11 Mission History is known by all nation in the whole world. The purpose of the Apollo 11 mission was to land men on the lunar surface and to return them safely to Earth. It was the first mission for NASA. Apollo 11 manned space flight mission. Kamanin writes that Apollo 11 has completed its lunar mission successfully.

Down to 50,000 feet above the Moon, Apollo 11 was little different from 10. Armstrong, Aldrin, and Command Module Pilot Mike Collins had a flawless launch from Earth, a long, uneventful coast out to the Moon, and a nominal engine burn to put themselves into lunar orbit. As they crossed over the Sea of Tranquility for the first time, Armstrong remarked that "the pictures and maps brought back by Apollo 8 and 10 have given us a very good preview of what to look at here. It looks very much like the pictures; but, like the difference between watching a real football game and watching it on TV, there's no substitute for actually being here._ By NASA

Broadband Lidar Instrument Successfully Tested on NASA's DC-8!

One of the objectives of the NASA Airborne Science Program is to test new instruments in space-like environments. Testing future satellite instruments from airplanes is the next best thing to actually testing them in space. Over the past three weeks, a team from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., led by Bill Heaps has been testing a new broadband lidar instrument on NASA’s DC-8 flying laboratory that they hope will fly on the ASCENDS satellite mission. ASCENDS, an acronym for Active Sensing of Carbon dioxide Emissions over Nights, Days and Seasons, is an upcoming NASA satellite expected to be launched in 2018-2020. The goal of the ASCENDS mission is to measure the sources, distribution and variations in carbon dioxide gas with very high precision all over the Earth. Mapping carbon dioxide is important for understanding the global carbon cycle and for modeling global climate change.Typical lidar systems have lasers that emit light at very specific colors, or wavelengths. The carbon dioxide molecule, however, absorbs light at a several different infrared wavelengths. The broadband laser used in Heaps’ instrument emits light with a broader range of wavelengths, and thus has the advantage of being able to detect carbon dioxide absorption in multiple wavelength bands with one laser. The wavelength control requirements are also less strict than for a more conventional narrowband laser, which may make the system easier to implement on a satellite.

From: NASA

NASA Selects Investigations for Future Key Missions!

Get information, facts, photos, news, videos, and more about the future of spaceflight and upcoming NASA missions from National Geographic. NASA has selected three science investigations from which it will pick one potential 2016 mission to look at Mars' interior for the first time; study an extraterrestrial sea on one of Saturn's moons; or study in unprecedented detail the surface of a comet's nucleus. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., would lead the Mars investigation. NASA has selected three science investigations from which it will pick one potential 2016 mission to look at Mars' interior for the first mission.

Each investigation team will receive $3 million to conduct its mission's concept phase or preliminary design studies and analyses. After another detailed review in 2012 of the concept studies, NASA will select one to continue development efforts leading up to launch. The selected mission will be cost-capped at $425 million, not including launch vehicle funding. It will be very interesting to follow this project to see what possible mission NASA deems most valuable for them and thus where to invest time and money.

NASA's Discovery Program requested proposals for spaceflight investigations in June 2010. A panel of NASA and other scientists and engineers reviewed 28 submissions. The selected investigations could reveal much about the formation of our solar system and its dynamic processes. Three technology developments for possible future planetary missions also were selected. NASA space plans include trips to Mars, Jupiter, Pluto and the Sun as well as climate change operations.

From: Internet

In November, NASA Featured Exploration Missions!

In November 2010, the series came to a conclusion. But the vibrant history assembled during the four-and-a-half year run of “This Month in Exploration” will remain accessible on this page as an archive. Visitors can select any month from the dozens of features available in the archive, and immerse themselves in historical events that occurred in that month. Compare it to last month's diagram to see how things have moved. Solar system exploration missions in November 2010. The Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) forged on in November, their 83rd month of an expedition originally planned for three months.

Gateway Grade 7 & 8 MS/JR High Career ExplorationCareer Shadows Grade 6 Exploring. Worms, Trees and Holidays Focus of November Workshops tree. Green Living Workshops continue this month at the Utility Exploration Center with classes. Syria to Auction Offshore Exploration Rights This Month of the link in April, while Turkey should build its part in November. November 5, 1908: The Aéro Club of France awarded Wilbur Wright the Grand Gold Medal for his significant accomplishments in aviation.

November 27, 1963: NASA completed its first successful launch of the Atlas-Centaur rocket (AC-2). This project was managed by Lewis Research Center (now Glenn) and demonstrated the first successful use of liquid hydrogen for propulsion of a space vehicle. November 3, 1973: NASA launched Mariner 10 using an Atlas-Centaur rocket. This spacecraft was the first to explore Mercury and take close-range pictures of the planet. Mariner 10 was also the first spacecraft to use the gravitational pull of one planet (Venus) to reach another (Mercury).

Space Shuttle Discovery Cleared for Final Landing!

Discovery is scheduled to land at Florida's Kennedy Space Center Wednesday at 11:57 a.m. EST (1657 GMT), bringing an end to its 13-day STS-133 mission — and to the workhorse orbiter's days in space. Discovery will end its space flying career with tomorrow's landing. If all goes as planned, the shuttle program as a whole will be retired later this year.
Discovery is NASA's oldest flying space shuttle and the most traveled winged spaceship in the fleet. It has flown more missions, and carried more astronaut crew members, than any of NASA's other shuttles, agency officials have said.
A crew of six veteran astronauts and one rookie robot blasted off from Earth aboard the space shuttle Discovery as it took off on its final mission. Record crowds were on hand at Cape Canaveral, Fla., to witness Discovery's final flight, which lowered the curtain on the space shuttle era.
"Discovery is cleared for entry," shuttle entry flight director Tony Ceccacci told reporters today. "The crew is getting themselves and Discovery ready for landing tomorrow."