Mapex

Archive for May, 2010

ESA and its partners are launching a new kind of fitness initiative using the example of space explorers to promote exercise and healthy nutrition to young people worldwide. ‘Mission X: Train Like an Astronaut’ is boarding now in eight countries.

At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, an adult osprey guards its young in a nest built on a platform in the press site parking lot, backdropped by the 209-foot by 110-foot American flag painted on the side of the Vehicle Assembly Building. The Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge coexists with Kennedy Space Center and provides a habitat for 330 species of birds, including the osprey, and a variety of other wildlife. Kennedy’s press site is located at the turn basin in Launch Complex 39, making it an ideal osprey nesting place. Image Credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), a joint program by NASA and the German Aerospace Center, achieved a major milestone May 26, with its first in-flight night observations.

The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), a joint program by NASA and the German Aerospace Center, achieved a major milestone May 26, with its first in-flight night observations.

Investors looking for promising opportunities in space spin-offs used ESA’s Investment Forum in Stuttgart, Germany, this month to meet 28 young entrepreneurial companies looking for financing to start their businesses.

Thilo Kranz, a staff member at DLR, the German Space Agency, took this image of the transit of the International Space Station ISS with Space Shuttle Atlantis during the STS-132 mission. Kranz photographed “the ISS as it passed across the solar disk in just 0.51 seconds … At this time, preparations for undocking of space shuttle Atlantis during its final mission, STS-132, were ongoing. You can see the still docked shuttle in the 11 o’clock position. Also, you may recognise the solar panels and the large radiators. In the full resolution version of this image, you can also see the Soyuz capsule. Close to the centre of the sun, a group of sunspots is visible.” Visit the DLR News Blog for more information. Image Credit: Thilo Kranz/DLR

Hurricanes, air quality, and Arctic ecosystems are among the research areas to be investigated during the next five years by new NASA airborne science missions announced today.

Hurricanes, air quality, and Arctic ecosystems are among the research areas to be investigated during the next five years by new NASA airborne science missions announced today.

Space shuttle Atlantis’ main gear touched down on Runway 33 at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 8:48 a.m. EDT, completing a 12-day mission to the International Space Station. On board were Commander Ken Ham, pilot Tony Antonelli, Garrett Reisman, Michael Good, Steve Bowen and Piers Sellers. The six-member STS-132 crew carried the Russian-built Mini Research Module-1 to the International Space Station. STS-132 is the last planned flight for Atlantis. Image Credit: NASA/Carl Winebarger

Data from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) have helped scientists solve a pair of mysteries dating back four decades and provided new information about climate change on the Red Planet.