NASA successfully conducted a drop test of the Orion crew
vehicle's parachutes high above the Arizona desert Tuesday in
preparation for its orbital flight test in 2014. Orion will carry
astronauts deeper into space than ever before, provide emergency
abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel and ensure a
safe re-entry and landing.
NASA has named physicist and former astronaut John Grunsfeld as
the new associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate
at the agency's headquarters in Washington. Grunsfeld will take the
reins of the office effective Jan. 4, 2012. He succeeds Ed Weiler,
who retired from NASA on Sept. 30.
Those skeptical of the potential for commercial space flight to
become a major industry certainly have their counterparts among
state and local governments. Colorado is the latest state to apply
to the FAA for status as a "spaceport state."
NASA Discovers First Earth-Size Planets Beyond Our Solar
System, But Not In Habitable Zone
NASA's Kepler mission has discovered the first Earth-size
planets orbiting a sun-like star outside our solar system. The
planets, called Kepler-20e and Kepler-20f, are too close to their
star to be in the so-called habitable zone where liquid water could
exist on a planet's surface, but they are the smallest exoplanets
ever confirmed around a star like our sun.
Tough duty... let's face it, having anything to do with either
the F-15 or F-18 is a high point for any aviator... and the folks
at Sandel are getting their chance to live part of the dream
through the products that they have provided to NASA under a
research program. And best of all, they're working with NASA's
Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards AFB -- the agency's
premier installation for atmospheric flight research and
operations. Sandel tells ANN that their ST3400 Terrain Avoidance
Warning System (TAWS) was chosen by the NASA Dryden Flight Research
Center (DFRC), Edwards, CA, to equip F-18 and F-15 suppor
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