Goodbye Stardust!

Nasa's Stardust module which was launched in 1999 initiated its final burn at 4pm today. Stardust traveled a total of 2.88 billion miles during its lifetime and even sent bits of meteorite back to Earth. Let's take a moment of silence today to commemorate a great lifetime.

Juno Spacecraft Doing Well in Tests

The Juno spacecraft completed its thermal vacuum chamber testing on March 13, 2o11. This is the longest test the spacecraft will undergo. The Juno spacecraft is headed to Jupiter and will explore the gas planet. The solor arrays Juno will use to power the spacecraft during its looooooooooooooong voyage have been shipped to KSC (Kennedy Space Center in Florida). The Juno spacecraft is part of NASA's New Frontiers Project.

Now Open: Horizontal Integration Facility at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility

The Horizontal Integration Facility will be primarily supporting the medium class missions. The first customers to use the new facility will be among, Orbital Sciences with the Taurus II launch vehichle. The hope is for NASA to give most of its jobs to smaller (not government) companies that will eventually being taking part in science missions and taking cargo to the International Space Station.

Endeavour: Through the Years

Space Shuttle Endeavour Update

An Antimatter hunting detector will be going to the International Space Station in Space Shuttle Endeavour on its final flight (STS-134 in case anyone hasn't been following the news). The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer is a device that detects particle physics and that will mostly measure the high energy particles in space (cosmic rays). It will also search for signs of antimatter and any look into dark matter. Its creators have big hopes for this experiment.

Why should you care?

Many have heard now that Nasa is getting some huge budget cuts and that the shuttle program is getting shut down. Well, why should you care? Nasa has developed technology that goes into microwaves, GPS systems, your cellphone and computer, and even the Polaroid in Polaroid sunglasses. Comments?

STS-132: Final Flight of Space Shuttle Atlantis

this isn't my video... but ya, i was there... no big deal :)