Results tagged “nasa”

Randy Bresnik blasted off into space on Atlantis just last Monday, but this weekend his life changed in a whole new way. Back in Houston, Bresnik's wife Rebecca gave birth to a baby girl, Abigail Mae, "just hours after the astronaut's first-ever spacewalk," reports KTLA.

Mojava-based Masten Space Systems yesterday won $1 million in the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge, funded by NASA "as an incentive to spur development of technology by space entrepreneurs," according to the AP. Teams this past weekend had to fly robotic robots that would rise 160-plus feet, travel in the air for at least 180 seconds, land on a rocky landing pad and then fly back to the starting point.

Fully contained yesterday, the Guiberson Fire burned through some 17,500 acres, injuring 10, destroying one outbuilding and costing nearly $10 million. On Sunday, the Advanced Land Imager on NASA’s Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite caught this false-color image of the fire area by using "shortwave infrared light to increase the contrast between burned and unburned land."

Just one hour and one half into the Guiberson Fire on Tuesday, NASA's Terra satellite captured smoke billowing over the Santa Susana Mountains and into the Oxnard Plain toward the Pacific Ocean. Further west is Santa Cruz Island, the biggest Channel Island at the size of 96 square miles. The smoke cloud appears to be the same size.

Last week we showed you NASA's series of images from space of the Station Fire and its ugly spread across the Angeles National Forest. The fire remains less than fully contained, and last week another image was added to the series of shots, this one indicating the "burn scar" from the massive wildfire. Much like a scar on our bodies, this is a wound that is going to take quite some time to heal.

         

These images collected by NASA between August 29th and September 6th chart the growth and consequences of the Station Fire, the largest wildfire in Los Angeles' modern history. From its earliest days as adjacent to the smaller and more expediently contained Morris Fire in the Azusa area to the massive pyrocumulous cloud that formed to the massive expanse of scorched ground and smoke wafting above, the scope of the blaze is given a new context from this perspective.

Just like every time a space shuttle lands at Edwards Air Force Base, the Los Angeles area is rocked by twin sonic booms. And every time, you can perk your ears up and listen to neighbors outside ask if it was an earthquake or big crash on the street. Luckily, the Los Angeles Fire Department, who faithfully warned the public through Twitter, reports no 911 calls, but someone did flag out an LAFD unit on the street to investigate. A search for the word "explosion" on Twitter still reveals many people who did not know what was going on, prompting the LAFDtalk account to sigh: "It's clear not everyone follows @LAFD." If you're a Twitter user, it's a really good idea to follow them (here's a good example illustrating why). Many others tweeted 9/11 references, which echoed this morning's alarming and freaky Coast Guard drill in Washington DC. "Hey @NASA, how about a lot more warning before sending the Shuttle and it's sonic boom over a large metropolitan area on Sept 11th?" huffed Dana Brunetti. @NASA unfortunately didn't tweet a warning and that's why we follow @LAFD.

Tonight Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Jackson Brown will be headlining the Greek Theatre. Five-time Grammy Award-winning blues and rock guitarist Buddy Guy will be taking on the Hollywood Bowl. And, lastly, LA-based DJ collective N.A.S.A. are poised to grace the El Rey Theatre. But we strongly suggest heading over to the Knitting Factory to catch New Jersey's own country-infused folk act Roadside Graves. LAist favorites Avi Buffalo (LAist Interview, Review) and the Parson Red Heads (LAist Review, #2, #3) will be performing as well.

A radar on the belly of a airplane flying above the Southern California region is taking in detailed data for scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab so they can study faults' shifting, straining in relation to seismic energy. "The data from this project could help scientists figure out where the risk of earthquake activity is highest, though the data will never be so specific as to predict a day, location and magnitude of a quake, explained the LA Times. “This will help us with the five- to 10-year time horizons,” Donnellan said. “We can see hot spot maps and ... figure out where to target our retrofitting,” said Andrea Donnellan, a JPL geophysicist.

NASA has decided to land Space Shuttle Atlantis here in Southern California this morning, after first scrapping plans to land in Florida yesterday in favor of landing here, and then opting to hold off the landing for one more day in hopes of more desirable weather back in Florida. But Atlantis is coming in for its landing here, at Edwards Air Force Base. "So Cal residents should anticipate twin sonic booms just prior to 8:39 PDT," the Los Angeles Fire Department's Brian Humphrey tells us. Let us know if you hear them, and where you are! And welcome home, Atlantis.

Cancel that Sonic Boom heads-up warning for today: NASA has announced that they will not be landing the space shuttle Atlantis here in Southern California at Edwards Air Force Base. The local landing was decided upon when weather conditions in Florida were determined to be less favorable than here, but ultimately the shuttle won't be landing anywhere today, period. NASA is holding off the landing until tomorrow, and prefers Florida's Kennedy Space Center, but "there’s still a chance Atlantis will go to Edwards. If thunderstorms linger in Florida Sunday, the shuttle will likely be diverted to Southern California," which means we just might "hear the orbiter’s twin sonic boom shortly before the spacecraft lands," after all, explains the OC Register.

As they always do with major fires in Southern California, NASA released a photo showing the burn scared mountains from the Jesusita Fire from May 10. The photo "shows the northern part of the burned area, which stretches from the outskirts of Santa Barbara (hidden beneath clouds) into Los Padres National Forest," says NASA. "Many valleys throughout the burned area appear to have been spared; green vegetation lines them like the veins in a leaf."

Early this morning, NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) attempted to launch into space from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara County, but as it took off, the payload fairing failed to separate from the vehicle during ascent. sending it flying back to earth into the ocean near Antarctica. The $270 million two-year project, headed by the folks at the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, would have studied the entire planet's atmospheric carbon dioxide, looking to find where green house gases are released into and pulled from the air.

It is the start of a new year and that means we're slouching towards Southern California's biggest music festivals, starting with Coachella in the middle of April. And, as usual, the internet is simply ablaze with line-up rumors. But this year, much like last, crazed fans have taken things a step further on the festival's message board, going as far as to contact bands directly for confirmation.

10 days after bad weather in Florida forced Space Shuttle Endeavour to land at Edwards Air Force Base northeast of Los Angeles, it took off this morning atop a modified 747 carrier on its first leg back to Kennedy Space Center. The cross-country trip costs $1.8 million.

As mentioned yesterday, there was a possibility that Space Shuttle Endeavour would land at Edwards Air Force Base, which is about 60 miles northeast of Los Angeles (as a bird flies), instead of Florida due to bad weather. The Los Angeles Fire Department warns that you should anticipate twin 'sonic booms' between at 1:20-1:25 p.m. today. And Sciencedude Gary Robbins reports that "Edwards officials said this morning that Endeavour will enter the West Coast above the Oxnard area, or much further south than the earlier plan to have the shuttle glide in over greater Santa Barbara." To see the flight landing path, click here.

This is what 30,000 acres of land scorched by fire looks like, as seen by NASA's Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on NASA’s Earth Observing-1 satellite. The Freeway Complex Fire (also called referred to as the Triangle Complex Fire), destroyed 187 homes earlier this month.

"Nothing like this view has ever been seen on Mars," said Jim Whiteway of the The Phoenix mission. "We'll be looking for signs that the snow may even reach the ground." So far, data shows that the snow vaporizes before it hits the ground, but earlier this year in another development, water ice was found on the planet. NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena is responsible for the mission's project management. LAist was there for the landing of the Mars Phoenix Lander.

"The bottom line is that we're definitely going to be living in a warmer Southern California," said Bill Patzert, a NASA Jet Propulsion Lab climatologist and oceanographer who co-authored a study that examined Los Angeles' daily temperature data for a hundred year period.

Earlier today, our friends at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Univ. of Arizona confirmed that the Phoenix Mars Lander has found water ice on the surface of the red planet. The confirmation came yesterday after some further experiments on Martian soil located where the lander has made home for itself on the Martian arctic. Scientists were said to have popped open the champagne in celebration according to coverage of today's press conference on the matter. The official countdown 'til life is found has now officially started.

This just in from the Mars Phoenix Lander's Twitter at 5:15 p.m.: "Are you ready to celebrate? Well, get ready: We have ICE!!!!! Yes, ICE, *WATER ICE* on Mars! w00t!!! Best day ever!!" It was just two days ago that media outlets were reporting that there were no signs of water yet.

       

Within two hours of landing on planet Earth's neighbor, the Phoenix Mars Lander began sending images to NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena on Sunday evening. The current temperatures on Mars is a frigid high of -22 degrees and a low of -112. To see photos from JPL on Sunday, LAist was there to cover it.

              

Early Sunday evening, NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) in Pasadena did it. In a "picture perfect" landing, the Phoenix Mars Lander made it to the northern plains of Mars in the latest of attempts to explore and understand the red planet. This specific mission is to look for signs of habitability, whether present or past (see LAist's previous entry from the day of).

Update: "The Phoenix has landed, the Phoenix has landed. Welcome to the northern plains of Mars!" exclaimed EDL Communications Lead Richard Kornfeld. Another woman standing there watching was wow-ed: "That touchdown was phenomenal." It feels like being a room full of lottery winners -- everyone cheered, hugged and then someone broke out candy Mars Bars. The room's silence is now abuzz with chatter, some reporters are high-fiving, and cameramen are surrounding NASA experts for comments.

Quiz Question: So it is four in the morning, September 1st, the bars have long since stopped serving alcohol for the night, and you've had too many of those in-lieu-of-booze Red Bulls, and you are wide awake. What should you do next? Should you...? a) go home and watch television until you pass out on the sofa b) go to the after-party of your friend's friend c) stumble around the streets of West Hollywood for...

Each year, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena opens its doors to the community for a two-day open house. Prior to this year, I had never heard of the event. On a recent Sunday morning, a scientist friend whisked me off to JPL at the last moment. Armed solely with my RAZR phone camera, I tried to capture the sights as best I could. The JPL website described the open house as: This popular...

Some tech tidbits that caught my eye this week. • Yahoo and Microsoft are getting cozy. Is there a marriage in the works? • Wally Schirra, pioneer astronaut and 5th man ever to go into space, died of a heart attack this week. He was 84. • Digg has a bad couple days. Is the honeymoon over? • Speaking of obscure digits that unlock encrypted HDDVDs, the guys who are fighting to protect their...