President Barack Obama told the flight control team for NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover, “You made us all proud,” Aug. 13. Obama telephoned the mission control room at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., to congratulate JPL Director Charles Elachi and the Mars Science Laboratory team operating the rover, which landed on Mars a week ago….

NASA has completed negotiations and finalized the contracts for the spacecraft and instruments that comprise the Joint Polar Satellite System-1 Satellite, NOAA’s second next generation operational polar-orbiting satellite, planned to launch in 2017. JPSS-1 will follow the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) satellite to maintain continuity of weather and environmental observations. The final contract…

NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity spent its first weekend on Mars transitioning to software better suited for tasks ahead, such as driving and using its strong robotic arm. The rover’s “brain transplant,” occurred during a series of steps Aug. 10 through Aug. 13, installed a new version of software on both of the rover’s redundant main…

NASA selected 15 experiments to be funded through its most recent research announcement for opportunities in space biology research. Ten of these experiments will be conducted aboard the International Space Station in the near future. Five others will be ground-based studies. NASA’s Space Biology Program will fund the proposals to investigate how cells, plants and…

NASA’s Space Technology Program has selected Deployable Space Systems of Goleta, Calif. and ATK Space Systems Inc., of Commerce, Calif., for contract negotiation to develop advanced solar array systems. High-power solar electric propulsion, where the power is generated with advanced solar array systems, is a key capability required for extending human presence throughout the solar…

NASA has chosen three teams to advance the state of the art for small spacecraft in the areas of communications, formation flying and docking systems. The cutting-edge space technology flights are expected to take place in 2014 and 2015. All selected missions will employ nanosatellites conforming to the CubeSat standard. CubeSats are composed of four-inch,…

NASA’s Radiation Belt Storm Probes mission will send two spacecraft into the harsh environment of our planet’s radiation belts. Final preparations have begun for launch Aug. 23, from Florida’s Space Coast. The RBSP spacecraft are designed to fly and operate in the heart of the most hazardous regions of near-Earth space to collect crucial data….

The space shuttle Endeavour will make its final journey next month – a piggyback ride to Southern California, where it will be prepared for a road trip to a new home in Los Angeles. Officials announced Aug. 8 that the shuttle will be flown into Los Angeles International Airport Sept. 20 atop a Boeing 747…