Space Scan

NASA is already lacking some money to complete all their proposed plans and with the retirement of the shuttle programs they will have to save some more money to make up for the space agency’s upcoming project Orion. This lack of money has made NASA think of some unconventional means to keep space exploration going at a good pace. The space agency has now given new assignments to two robotic spacecrafts that have already done their actual work. These spacecrafts include the comet-watching Deep Impact spacecraft and the comet-sampling Stardust probe. The Deep Impact spacecraft was originally designed to fly past Comet Tempel 1 and send an impactor in its path in 2005. This spacecraft will now observe stars known to have planets orbiting them. Stardust on the other hand will be sent to Comet Tempel 1 in 2011. This spacecraft has already dropped off a sample capsule containing comet dust and interstellar samples as it flew past Earth last year. NASA has stated that these extensions have made the missions more interesting because this is the first time that the space agency is reassigning new missions to the spacecrafts which have already completed their original duties. These spacecrafts will now allow NASA to revisit a comet for the first time and explore some small planets around stars with known large planets. This reassignment of duties can accomplish new tasks for just 15% of the cost starting a new mission from scratch. Continue reading “NASA learns to save money, assigns new missions to old spacecrafts” »

Deep Impact, an ongoing NASA space mission has been given the green signal to continue its mission to research Comet Hartley 2. Already the mission has got much publicity with it ejected material from a comet surface. And now this has given a much needed pat in the back for the scientists from the University of Maryland. This would help the scientists learn better about how the solar system evolves and a research can be made on whether any other planet like earth exists. The mission takes a low cost budget of $40 million by taking advantage of the existing space craft. This two and a half year journey to Comet Hartley 2 will consist of two missions Extrasolar Planet Observations and Characterization (EPOCh) and Deep Impact extended Investigation (DIXI). This visit to a never before visited comet has raised expectations among scientists all over the world. Everyone is expecting more rewards to come by at the end of the journey as they explore into an unknown world. We sure are moving closer to know what our universe is. Aren’t we? To know more about the mission objectives and the expected operation of this mission, click on the below given link.

Back in the day, the North American Space Agency(NASA) launched a spacecraft for it’s Deep Impact mission. At that time the goal was to study a comet. The same spacecraft still has plenty of juice left in it. So, the NASA officials are going to put the spacecraft from Deep Impact to yet another mission. This time the goal would be to study the comet Boethin. However, there’s one problem: the comet is missing. Experts believe that the subject of study has broken up into several pieces at some point. But, NASA staff is not going to give up this easy. They are hot on the trail of the comet. They are going to send a spacecraft in the trajectory of the comet. I hope that they can come up with something. NASA is going to put larger telescopes on board the spacecraft to turn the odds towards them. The space craft has a new name for this mission. It’s called The Extrasolar Planet Observation and Characterization and the Deep Impact Extended Investigation or in short Epoxi. The Epoxi will do three flybys in order to track down the location of the comet. Hopefully, NASA will be able to safely use the Deep Impact space craft for their low cost Epoxi mission.