Orion Service Module Stacking Assembly Secured For Flight

Orion Service Module Stacking Assembly Secured For Flight The Orion spacecraft service module stacking assembly interface ring and stack holding stand are secured on a special transportation platform and are being loaded into NASA’s Super Guppy aircraft at the Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Center. On Nov. 3, the Guppy flew from Kennedy to Glenn Research Center’s Plum Brook Station facility. via NASA http://ift.tt/1GOPEMa

Flight Testing NASA’s Prandtl-D Research Aircraft

Flight Testing NASA’s Prandtl-D Research Aircraft NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center engineers are working on an increasingly complex aircraft called the Preliminary Research Aerodynamic Design to Lower Drag, or Prandtl-D. The aircraft features a new method for determining the shape of the wing with a twist that could lead to an 11-percent reduction in fuel consumption. via NASA http://ift.tt/1KZyJBw

Robotic Eyes to Assist Satellite Repairs in Orbit

Robotic Eyes to Assist Satellite Repairs in Orbit NASA is developing and demonstrating technologies to service and repair satellites in distant orbits. This photo looks closely at one of the tools that could be used for satellite servicing in the future: the Visual Inspection Poseable Invertebrate Robot (VIPIR), a robotic, articulating borescope equipped with a second motorized, zoom-lens camera. via NASA http://ift.tt/1Hp7lwo

Looking Back: International Space Station at the Start of Expedition 1

Looking Back: International Space Station at the Start of Expedition 1 On Nov. 2, 2000, the Expedition 1 crew – Commander William M. (Bill) Shepherd of NASA and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev and Soyuz Commander Yuri Gidzenko of Roscosmos – arrived at the International Space Station, marking the start of an uninterrupted human presence on the orbiting laboratory. via NASA http://ift.tt/1RpwUTP

Close View of Saturn’s Moon Enceladus From Oct. 28 Flyby

Close View of Saturn’s Moon Enceladus From Oct. 28 Flyby This unprocessed „raw“ image of Saturn’s icy, geologically active moon Enceladus was acquired by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft during its dramatic Oct. 28, 2015 flyby in which the probe passed about 30 miles (49 kilometers) above the moon’s south polar region. via NASA http://ift.tt/1MxNoLy

Colors After the Storms

Colors After the Storms Damaging heavy rains fell on South Carolina in the southeastern United States at the beginning of October 2015. Much of that water had, by mid-October, flowed into the Atlantic Ocean bringing with it heavy loads of sediment, nutrients, and dissolved organic material. The above VIIRS image shows the runoff as it interacts with ocean currents. via NASA http://ift.tt/1HbbVhG

Scott Kelly Prepares For a Spacewalk

Scott Kelly Prepares For a Spacewalk Expedition 45 Commander Scott Kelly tries on his spacesuit for a fit check inside the U.S. Quest airlock of the International Space Station. Kelly and Flight Engineer Kjell Lindgren will venture outside the station for a pair of spacewalks on Wednesday, Oct. 28 and Friday, Nov. 6. via NASA http://ift.tt/1P2HJfa