REDONDO BEACH, Calif. – NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope continues to move ahead rapidly, with Northrop Grumman completing engineering design of the structure that supports the sunshield and keeps it aligned. The sunshield support structure has passed its Critical Design Review and is now ready to be manufactured. The structure will hold the sunshield in…

Mojave, Calif.,-based Space Exploration Technologies has finished an important evaluation of a propotype Dragon spacecraft designed to carry people into orbit. This key milestone is part of SpaceX’s partnership with NASA under a funded Space Act Agreement to advance the design of crew transportation vehicles. The primary goal of the tests was to determine whether…

NASA has released its fiscal year 2011 scorecard on sustainability and energy performance. The agency ranked third overall in the list of government agencies. Out of seven benchmarks, NASA received six green ratings and one yellow. A green rating indicates the benchmark has been met. Yellow indicates that progress is being made. “We are making…

NASA invites its social media followers to a two-day NASA Social Aug. 22-23, at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the launch of NASA’s Radiation Belt Storm Probes mission. NASA Socials are in-person meetings with people who engage with the agency through Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and other social networks. This event is expected…

The Australian Department of Defence has selected ViaSat Inc. to supply the UHF Satellite Communication Mission System for its recently launched UHF capacity on Intelsat IS-22. The system is designed to provide voice and data military satcom covering a region from the west coast of Africa to the east coast of Australia. The value of…

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’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer mission has led to a bonanza of newfound supermassive black holes and extreme galaxies called hot DOGs, or dust-obscured galaxies. Images from the telescope have revealed millions of dusty black hole candidates across the universe and about 1,000 even dustier objects thought to be among the brightest galaxies ever found….

Teachers from six NASA Explorer Schools have been selected to receive the 2012 School Recognition Award for their contributions to science, technology, engineering and mathematics education. The teachers selected are from Woodrow Wilson Middle School, Glendale, Calif.; Franke Park Elementary School, Fort Wayne, Ind.; Mountview Road School, Morris Plains, N.J.; Corpus Christi Catholic School, Chambersburg,…

NASA’s Commercial Crew Program partner Blue Origin conducted a successful pad escape test Oct. 19 at the company’s West Texas launch site, firing its pusher-escape motor and launching a full-scale suborbital crew capsule from a simulated propulsion module. The test was part of Blue Origin’s work supporting its funded Space Act Agreement with NASA during…