Kentucky Space

Video of Saturday's Kentucky Space launch

One of two cubesats on board this Terrier-Improved Malamute rocket, "ADAMASat" spent several minutes in space and returned valuable performance data on some of the systems and technologies that will be used on Kentucky Space orbital flights slated for later this year.

Wayne

CubeSat, Kentucky Space, Space

Video: Titan's "Canyon Country"

Recently released by the Jet Propulsion Lab, this video is the result of work by an amateur researcher working with surface data produced by the Cassini mission. Such terrain bears strong similarities to the Karst topography of Utah, and might even suggest caves below the surface.

For Kentucky Space readers interested in the concept of "citizen science," astronomer Dr. Pamela Gay will be at the Kentucky Center on Friday, April 2 for a brief lecture sponsored by the IdeaFestival that will touch on this new phenomenon. Astronomy and planetary sciences are areas where amateurs can, and do, make significant scientific contributions. Follow @ideafestival on Twitter for more.

Wayne

Cassini , Kentucky Space, Saturn, Space

Video: Ride to space and back on a Sounding rocket

Enjoy a ride from start to reentry to recovery on a sounding rocket that reached 258km and spent approximately seven minutes in space. The spinning stops about a minute into the video, and is followed by the serene appearance of the Earth's horizon and a descent under chute. It's the first video taken from on board a sounding rocket that I've seen.
Spending about eight minutes in space, a Kentucky Space suborbital trip is scheduled for March 10 to test components that will be used on its orbital craft - KySat-1- later this year. More about the "SOCEM" mission may be found here.

Wayne

CubeSat, Kentucky Space, sounding rocket, Space

Video: Falcon 9 second stage engine tests a success

Second stage test firings were successfully conducted by SpaceX, bringing Falcon 9 closer to its inaugural flight. Space.com:

SpaceX announced this week that the Falcon 9 rocket's second stage successfully completed a full-duration test firing at the company's proving grounds in Texas. The test was the last hurdle for the upcoming demonstration launch, which is targeted to lift off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida...

'This was the final stage firing required for launch, so the second stage will soon be packaged for shipment and should arrive at Cape Canaveral by the end of the month,' said SpaceX founder Elon Musk in a Jan. 4 update. 'Depending on how well our full vehicle integration goes, launch should occur one to three months later.'

Falcon 9 is the vehicle designed by SpaceX to ferry cargo to the International Space Station. A complete update is available from SpaceX. Video of the test can be found here.

Wayne

Kentucky Space, Space

Plume diving on Enceladus

A spectacular raw image from the November 21 Cassini flyby of Enceladus clearly shows the venting happening from the Saturn moon.

Wayne

Image credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Titan haze

Described as an organic chemical factory, Titan has become less mysterious over the last few years thanks to Cassini, but many more mysteries remain.

This image, a combination of images taken with red, green and blue filters, was acquired on Oct. 12 and clearly shows the moon's atmosphere.

Wayne

New Mercury image

MESSENGER acquired this image of Mercury 78 minutes prior to closest approach, capturing the stark division between the sun-facing and the dark side of the planet referred to as the "terminator."

Wayne

NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington

Images being posted from MESSENGER'S third Mercury flyby

Swooping by at an altitude of just 141.7 miles, images from MESSENGER'S third flyby of Mercury this week are now being posted. The surface in the lower right corner of this image is near Mercury's terminator, the line between the day and night side of the planet.

The craft will settle into orbit around Mercury beginning on March 18, 2011.

Wayne

Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington

Video: Triton flyby

The video below is a simulated fly-by of Neptune's moon Triton produced from imagery returned by Voyager 2 just over 20 years ago. Believed to be a Kuiper Belt object, high internal heat is believed to be responsible for the moon's young surface. New Horizons detected Triton last October from a much greater distance.

Wayne

Kentucky Space, Neptune, New Horizons, Robotics, Triton

Slow and steady to 200,000 mph

Paul Gilster's post today on new developments in Ion propulsion pairs nicely with an update from the Project System Engineer for Dawn on that ion-powered spacecraft's journey to Ceres and Vesta. Compared to the Space Shuttle's orbital speed of 18,000 mph, modern ion propulsion can reach 200,000 mph.

Wayne

Credit for artist's image of Dawn at Ceres: NASA/JPL