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The crew mobility chassis prototype being tested at Moses Lake, Wash., as part of a series of tests of lunar surface concepts
On the Cover Issue 42, Spring 2011

A mobility chassis prototype is demonstrated in 2008 as part of a series of tests of lunar surface concepts. This is one prototype of many that are field tested as part of NASA’s ongoing Desert Research and Technology Studies, or Desert RATS. The Desert RATS tests offer a NASA-led team of engineers, astronauts, and scientists […]

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Astronaut Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin walks on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission. Photo Credit: NASA/Neil Armstrong
Leading the Race to Space

By Piers Bizony   During the space race of the 1960s, NASA Administrator James Webb and his Soviet counterpart, Sergei Korolev, shared the determination and skill needed to push a rocket program past countless political barriers, beyond the reach of jealous rivals, and toward success.

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ASK Interactive
ASK Interactive (ASK 42)

NASA in the News A pattern of X-ray “stripes” in the remains of the Tycho supernova, discovered after long observation with NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, may provide the first direct evidence that a cosmic event can accelerate particles to energies a hundred times higher than those achieved by the most powerful particle accelerator on Earth, […]

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A mock-up of the Orion space capsule heads to its temporary home in a hangar at Langley Research Center.
Permission to Stare—and Learn

By Kerry Ellis   Knowledge obtained from decades of exploration and discovery, in space and here on Earth, would remain unknown if no one learned about it.

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A rather large M 3.6–class flare occurred near the edge of the sun on Feb. 24, 2011
Solar Dynamics Observatory Lessons Affirmed

By Brent Robertson and Michael Bay   It is always exciting watching something launch into space. It is even more thrilling when the launch is the culmination of many years of work.

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Launch
Reflecting on HOPE

By Don Heyer   In the final days of 2008, the Science Mission Directorate and the Academy of Program/Project and Engineering Leadership released a new opportunity under a fledgling program: the Hands-on Project Experience, or HOPE.

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NASA Aquanaut crew performing demonstration of incapacitated crewman recovery on the side hatch of the SEV during the NEEMO 14 mission.
Rapid Prototyping and Analog Testing for Human Space Exploration

By Douglas Craig   Humanity’s dream of exploring the wonders of space—to look for life on other planets and to better understand our place in the universe—has not diminished over the years. But advances in human space exploration beyond low-Earth orbit have been slow to emerge.

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The Space Exploration Vehicle is pulled over for speeding in a NASA EDGE promo.
NASA EDGE: Providing an Inside and Outside Look at NASA

By Blair Allen   NASA has many outlets for sharing details about what goes on behind its doors, but none so personable as NASA EDGE, a video podcast (or vodcast) that grew out of an idea to be “different … unscripted and unpredictable.”

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Eight days after its final encounter with Earth, the Galileo spacecraft looked back and captured this remarkable view of Earth and the moon.
Galileo’s Rocky Road to Jupiter

By Erik N. Nilsen and P.A. “Trisha” Jansma   On October 18, 1989, the Galileo spacecraft lifted free from the shuttle cargo bay.

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