http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. One of NASA's two iconic crawler-transporters—the 2,750-ton monster vehicles that have delivered rockets from Saturns to Shuttles to launch pads at Kennedy Space Center for nearly half a century—is getting an upgrade in preparation for NASA's new future in space flight. http://phys.org/news266228811.html Space & Earth Fri, 07 Sep 2012 09:40:02 EST news266228811 Launching rockets is no easy or inexpensive task. Developers must consider the ground support infrastructure, fuel elements and flight hardware itself; not to mention the safety of everyone involved. http://phys.org/news265281379.html Space & Earth Mon, 27 Aug 2012 10:40:01 EST news265281379 (AP) — The head of Russia's leading rocket manufacturer has stepped down after a failed launch, the nation's space chief said Thusrday. http://phys.org/news264330130.html Space & Earth Thu, 16 Aug 2012 10:02:18 EST news264330130 NASA has chosen three teams to advance the state of the art for small spacecraft in the areas of communications, formation flying and docking systems. The cutting-edge space technology flights are expected to take place in 2014 and 2015. http://phys.org/news263794877.html Space & Earth Fri, 10 Aug 2012 05:22:18 EST news263794877 (Phys.org) -- The rocket that will launch humans farther into space than ever before passed a major NASA review Wednesday. The Space Launch System (SLS) Program completed a combined System Requirements Review and System Definition Review, which set requirements of the overall launch vehicle system. SLS now moves ahead to its preliminary design phase. http://phys.org/news262508342.html Space & Earth Thu, 26 Jul 2012 07:59:10 EST news262508342 (Phys.org) -- NASA engineers conducted a 550-second test of the new J-2X rocket engine at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi on July 13. The J-2X engine will power the upper-stage of a planned two-stage Space Launch System, or SLS. The SLS will launch NASA's Orion spacecraft and other payloads, and provide an entirely new capability for human exploration beyond low Earth orbit. Designed to be safe, affordable and flexible for crew and cargo missions, the SLS will continue America's journey of discovery and exploration to destinations including nearby asteroids, Lagrange points, the moon and ultimately, Mars. http://phys.org/news261650495.html Space & Earth Mon, 16 Jul 2012 09:41:44 EST news261650495 NASA has selected six proposals to improve the affordability, reliability and performance of an advanced booster for the Space Launch System (SLS). The awardees will develop engineering demonstrations and risk reduction concepts for SLS, a heavy-lift rocket that will provide an entirely new capability for human exploration beyond low Earth orbit. http://phys.org/news261626703.html Space & Earth Mon, 16 Jul 2012 03:05:20 EST news261626703 (Phys.org) -- When NASA conducts its first test launch of the Orion spacecraft in 2014, the crew module's designers will record invaluable data about its performance -- from launch and flight, to re-entry and landing. http://phys.org/news260448568.html Space & Earth Mon, 02 Jul 2012 12:10:01 EST news260448568 A mighty triple-barreled Delta 4 Heavy rocket with a clandestine military satellite perhaps the size of Hubble was unveiled this evening (June 28) at a seaside launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida. http://phys.org/news260174423.html Space & Earth Fri, 29 Jun 2012 07:40:40 EST news260174423 The nation's space exploration program is taking a critical step forward with a successful major technical review of the core stage of the Space Launch System (SLS), the rocket that will take astronauts farther into space than ever before. http://phys.org/news259567490.html Space & Earth Fri, 22 Jun 2012 07:04:56 EST news259567490 NASA's flagship Pleiades supercomputer just received a boost to help keep pace with the intensive number-crunching requirements of scientists and engineers working on some of the agency's most challenging missions. http://phys.org/news259388062.html Electronics Wed, 20 Jun 2012 05:14:35 EST news259388062 (AP) — China will send its first woman and two other astronauts into space Saturday to work on a temporary space station for about a week, in a key step toward becoming only the third nation to set up a permanent base in orbit. http://phys.org/news258950260.html Space & Earth Fri, 15 Jun 2012 03:39:05 EST news258950260 An international crew of aquanauts is settling into its home on the ocean floor, where the team will spend 12 days testing concepts for a potential asteroid mission. The expedition is the 16th excursion of the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO). The crew of four began its mission in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Aquarius Reef Base undersea research habitat off the coast of Key Largo, Fla., at 11:04 a.m. EDT Monday. http://phys.org/news258697698.html Space & Earth Tue, 12 Jun 2012 05:28:26 EST news258697698 (Phys.org) -- NASA's Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Miss., broke its own record Friday when it conducted a test on the new J-2X powerpack. The test lasted for 1,150 seconds, surpassing the previous record by more than a full minute. http://phys.org/news258627948.html Space & Earth Mon, 11 Jun 2012 10:05:55 EST news258627948 (Phys.org) -- NASA engineers working on the new Space Launch System (SLS) can now begin developing the advanced, heavy-lift launch vehicle's flight software using newly delivered software test bed computers from Boeing. http://phys.org/news257752503.html Space & Earth Fri, 01 Jun 2012 06:55:12 EST news257752503 Iran announced Tuesday it has delayed the launch of an experimental observation satellite that was supposed to have happened a week ago, saying it would now take place sometime within the next 10 months. http://phys.org/news257481687.html Space & Earth Tue, 29 May 2012 03:41:40 EST news257481687 (Phys.org) -- Testing of the next-generation J-2X rocket engine continues to set standards. Last fall, the engine attained 100 percent power in just its fourth test and became the fastest U.S. rocket engine to achieve a full-flight duration test, hitting that 500-second mark in its eighth test. On, May 25, NASA recorded another first during a 40-second test of the engine on the A-2 Test Stand at John C. Stennis Space Center. For the first time, test conductors fired the J-2X in both the secondary and primary modes of operation, 20 seconds in each. Previous tests were run in one mode only; combining the two allowed operators to collect critical data on engine performance. http://phys.org/news257413253.html Space & Earth Mon, 28 May 2012 09:10:01 EST news257413253 SpaceX on Monday readied a fresh bid to become the first private company to launch its own craft to the International Space Station after fixing an engine problem that grounded its earlier attempt. http://phys.org/news256819542.html Space & Earth Mon, 21 May 2012 12:00:07 EST news256819542 (Phys.org) -- NASA's next heavy-lift launch vehicle, the Space Launch System, is moving further in development faster thanks to proven advanced technologies like friction stir welding. http://phys.org/news256807079.html Space & Earth Mon, 21 May 2012 08:18:13 EST news256807079 Two Russians and an American joined three colleagues aboard the International Space Station Thursday for a mission that should include receiving the orbiter's first visit from a private spacecraft. http://phys.org/news256448376.html Space & Earth Thu, 17 May 2012 05:00:02 EST news256448376 SpaceX on Saturday aims to become the first private company to send its own cargo ship to the International Space Station, a feat that only a handful of world governments have pulled off. http://phys.org/news256448640.html Space & Earth Thu, 17 May 2012 05:00:01 EST news256448640 (Phys.org) -- The next-generation engine that will help carry humans deeper into space than ever is back, bigger and better. The J-2X engine is currently on the A-2 Test Stand at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi for an extensive round of tests to build on last year's successful test firings. The engine will provide upper-stage power for NASA's evolved Space Launch System (SLS), a new heavy-lift rocket capable of missions to deep space. http://phys.org/news254561179.html Space & Earth Wed, 25 Apr 2012 08:26:44 EST news254561179 (Phys.org) -- The upcoming launch of a SpaceX spacecraft and rocket on a demonstration flight to the International Space Station is expected to cross a key milestone on the path to operational, commercial missions. http://phys.org/news253433796.html Space & Earth Thu, 12 Apr 2012 07:16:47 EST news253433796 (PhysOrg.com) -- NASA has successfully tested the solid rocket booster avionics for the first two test flights of the Space Launch System, America's next heavy-lift launch vehicle. This avionics system includes electrical components for the SLS' solid rocket boosters, which provide propulsion to augment the core stage main engines of the rocket. The first qualification test of the five-segment SLS booster is slated for spring 2013. http://phys.org/news252660618.html Space & Earth Tue, 03 Apr 2012 08:30:47 EST news252660618 America's next heavy-lift launch vehicle -- the Space Launch System -- is one step closer to its first launch in 2017, following the successful completion of the first phase of a combined set of milestone reviews. http://phys.org/news252583319.html Space & Earth Mon, 02 Apr 2012 11:20:02 EST news252583319 (PhysOrg.com) -- A sub-scale solid rocket motor designed to mimic NASA's Space Launch System, or SLS, booster design successfully was tested today by engineers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. The 20-second firing tested new insulation materials on the 24-inch-diameter, 109-inch-long motor. The motor is a scaled down, low-cost replica of the solid rocket motors that will boost SLS off the launch pad. http://phys.org/news251018654.html Space & Earth Thu, 15 Mar 2012 08:24:36 EST news251018654 NASA released a new interactive infographic that attempts to give a picture of future of human spaceflight activities and where NASA might be going. The new Space Launch system and the Orion MPCV figure prominently in going to future destinations such as the Moon, Mars, Near Earth Asteroids and even LaGrange Points. It would be awesome to go to all those destinations, but – call me pessimistic — in reality, we’ll be lucky if we even get to one of them in the next 30 years. But since human spaceflight received favorable funding nods in the new NASA budget proposal, we can hopefully look forward to the first un-crewed test flight of the MPCV in 2013 or 2014. http://phys.org/news248524913.html Space & Earth Wed, 15 Feb 2012 11:10:01 EST news248524913 NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., has issued a NASA Research Announcement for the Space Launch System (SLS) Advanced Booster risk-reduction effort. http://phys.org/news248509494.html Space & Earth Wed, 15 Feb 2012 06:28:21 EST news248509494 (PhysOrg.com) -- A new series of tests on the engine that will help carry humans to deep space will begin next week at NASA's Stennis Space Center in southern Mississippi. The tests on the J-2X engine bring NASA one step closer to the first human-rated liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen rocket engine to be developed in 40 years. http://phys.org/news246785859.html Space & Earth Thu, 26 Jan 2012 07:37:52 EST news246785859 (PhysOrg.com) -- The relocation of the RS-25D space shuttle main engine inventory from Kennedy Space Center's Engine Shop in Cape Canaveral, Fla., is underway. The RS-25D flight engines, repurposed for NASA's Space Launch System, are being moved to NASA's Stennis Space Center in south Mississippi. http://phys.org/news245924121.html Space & Earth Mon, 16 Jan 2012 08:15:30 EST news245924121