Space
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NASA
Independent Review Indicates NASA Prepared for Mars Sample Return Campaign
NASA released an independent review report Tuesday indicating the agency is now ready to undertake its Mars Sample Return (MSR) campaign to bring pristine samples from Mars to Earth for scientific study. The agency established the MSR Independent Review Board (IRB) to evaluate its early concepts for a groundbreaking, international partnership with ESA (European Space Agency) to return the first…
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New NASA Partnerships to Mature Commercial Space Technologies, Capabilities
NASA has selected 17 U.S. companies for 20 partnerships to mature industry-developed space technologies for the Moon and beyond. The NASA and industry teams will design a 3D printing system for NASA’s Artemis lunar exploration program, test a simple method for removing dust from planetary solar arrays, mature a first-stage rocket recovery system for a small satellite launch provider, and more. Various NASA centers will…
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NASA
NASA Seeks New Partners to Help Put All Eyes on Artemis Moon Missions
NASA is seeking new partners to help the agency tell the story of human exploration at the Moon with the Artemis program in ways that engage, excite, and inspire a worldwide audience. Through the end of this decade, NASA will explore more of the lunar surface than ever before and will establish a sustainable human presence with Artemis in preparation for future…
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NASA Awards Contract for Engineering, Technical Support Services
NASA has selected ASRC Federal Systems Solutions of Beltsville, Maryland, to perform engineering and technical support services for Research Facilities and Engineering Support Services (RF&ESS) for the Mission Support Directorate at the agency’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. The contract will begin Jan. 5, 2021, following a 60-day phase-in period, and run through Jan. 4, 2026, if all…
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NASA Awards Contract for Engineering, Science Software
NASA has awarded a contract to MathWorks Inc. of Natick, Massachusetts, to provide new software licenses, maintenance, and product training for mathematical computing software to be used by all NASA centers and associated facilities. This is an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with provisions for firm-fixed delivery/task orders, which consists of a one-year base period and four one-year options. The maximum potential value…
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NASA
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Successfully Stows Sample of Asteroid Bennu
NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) mission has successfully stowed the spacecraft’s Sample Return Capsule (SRC) and its abundant sample of asteroid Bennu. On Wednesday, Oct. 28, the mission team sent commands to the spacecraft, instructing it to close the capsule – marking the end of one of the most challenging phases of the mission. “This…
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NASA
NASA, European Space Agency Formalize Artemis Gateway Partnership
NASA and ESA (European Space Agency) have finalized an agreement to collaborate on the Artemis Gateway. This agreement is an important element in a broad effort by the United States to engage international partners in sustainable lunar exploration and to demonstrate technologies necessary for a future human mission to Mars. The agreement, signed Tuesday, marks NASA’s first formal commitment to launch international crew…
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NASA
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft Goes for Early Stow of Asteroid Sample
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission is ready to perform an early stow on Tuesday, Oct. 27, of the large sample it collected last week from the surface of the asteroid Bennu to protect and return as much of the sample as possible. On Oct. 22, the OSIRIS-REx mission team received images that showed the spacecraft’s collector head overflowing with material collected from Bennu’s surface…
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NASA
Astronauts in Space to Discuss 20th Anniversary of International Space Station
NASA astronaut Kate Rubins and cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos will discuss their mission and the upcoming 20th anniversary of continuous human presence aboard the International Space Station during an in-orbit news conference at 11:10 a.m. EDT Friday, Oct. 30. The news conference will air live on NASA TV and the agency’s website. All media participation for the…
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NASA
NASA’s SOFIA Discovers Water on Sunlit Surface of Moon
NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) has confirmed, for the first time, water on the sunlit surface of the Moon. This discovery indicates that water may be distributed across the lunar surface, and not limited to cold, shadowed places. SOFIA has detected water molecules (H2O) in Clavius Crater, one of the largest craters visible from Earth, located in the…
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