DefenceTalkThe James Webb Space Telescope fully deployed its tennis-court sized sunshield Tuesday, a critical milestone for the success of its mission to study every phase of cosmic history, NASA said. “All five layers of the sunshield are fully tensioned,” said an announcer at the observatory’s control center in Baltimore, where team members cheered, a live […]https://www.defencetalk.com/webb-telescope-fully-deploys-sunshield-in-mission-milestone-77615/

DefenceTalkUS authorities on Thursday charged a professor at a university in Tennessee with fraud and false statements, saying he hid his link to a Chinese institution while taking funding from NASA. In the latest case related to US efforts to halt alleged unauthorized technology transfers to China, the Justice Department said Anming Hu hid his […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-professor-charged-with-hiding-link-to-china-on-nasa-funded-project-74360/

DefenceTalkEDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE: The Air Force Research Laboratory, NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, and Masten Space Systems Inc. successfully tested a liquid methane rocket engine, the first of its kind tested at AFRL. AFRL and Masten signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement in December 2018. The agreement enabled Masten to test the Broadsword […]https://www.defencetalk.com/usaf-nasa-collaborate-on-successful-testing-of-methane-engine-74146/

It takes a lot of fuel to launch something into space. Sending NASA’s Space Shuttle into orbit required more than 3.5 million pounds of fuel, which is about 15 times heavier than a blue whale. But a new type of engine – called a rotating detonation engine – promises to make rockets not only more […]

NASA has awarded a $142 million contract to Maxar Technologies of Westminster, Colorado, to robotically assemble a communications antenna and manufacture a spacecraft beam in orbit. The technology demonstration is slated to take place on NASA’s Restore-L spacecraft, designed to service and refuel a satellite in low-Earth orbit. The Restore-L spacecraft will be modified to […]

NASA has selected Stinger Ghaffarian Technologies, LLC, a KBRwyle business unit, of Greenbelt, Maryland, for a contract for intelligent systems research and development support services at the agency’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California. This is a cost-plus-fixed-fee (CPFF) hybrid contract consisting of firm-fixed-price (FFP) contract line item numbers (CLINs) for phase-in and core […]

On the underbelly of a Twin Otter research aircraft, a laser communication device stares out into the open skies over Cleveland. It’s not a camera taking images, but rather has eyes only for particular optical communication frequencies forming the foundation to a quantum key distribution (QKD) system being tested at NASA Glenn Research Center for […]

An innovation that helps speed the design of fishing rods, skis and cell phone electronics soon will help NASA do its work in space. AnalySwift LLC, a Purdue University-affiliated commercial software provider, has received a $125,000 Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grant from NASA. The STTR award will help the company further develop its SwiftComp […]

NASA’s first large scale, piloted X-plane in more than three decades is cleared for final assembly and integration of its systems following a major project review by senior managers held Thursday at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The management review, known as Key Decision Point-D (KDP-D), was the last programmatic hurdle for the X-59 Quiet SuperSonic […]

DefenceTalkNASA has inked a deal with Lockheed Martin to develop a supersonic “X-plane” that could break the sound barrier without a sonic boom, officials said Tuesday. The $247.5 million contract allows for the design, building and testing of a plane that would make its first test flight in 2021, NASA said. The experimental plane “will […]https://www.defencetalk.com/nasa-hires-lockheed-martin-to-build-quiet-supersonic-x-plane-71618/