What is Nasa: Definition and 299 Discussions

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and space research.NASA was established in 1958, succeeding the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). The new agency was to have a distinctly civilian orientation, encouraging peaceful applications in space science. Since its establishment, most US space exploration efforts have been led by NASA, including the Apollo Moon landing missions, the Skylab space station, and later the Space Shuttle. NASA is supporting the International Space Station and is overseeing the development of the Orion spacecraft, the Space Launch System, and Commercial Crew vehicles. The agency is also responsible for the Launch Services Program, which provides oversight of launch operations and countdown management for uncrewed NASA launches.
NASA's science is focused on better understanding Earth through the Earth Observing System; advancing heliophysics through the efforts of the Science Mission Directorate's Heliophysics Research Program; exploring bodies throughout the Solar System with advanced robotic spacecraft such as New Horizons; and researching astrophysics topics, such as the Big Bang, through the Great Observatories and associated programs.

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  1. S

    NASA Is the experiment to find water on mars by NASA is most idiotic one

    Is the experiment to find water on Mars by NASA is most idiotic experiment ever conducted by mankind. I mean, spacecraft send to Mars use hydrocarbons or hydrogen as fuel; this fuels byproduct is water. So there is a greater chance that after some exploration if NASA find traces of water on...
  2. davenn

    NASA Why Is NASA's SOFIA Aircraft in New Zealand?

    hi all just got back from a trip to New Zealand. Whilst at Christchurch City Airport, I was pleased to snap a few pics of the NASA SOFIA ( Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy ) aircraft that is down in this part of the world to do southern hemisphere astronomy...
  3. tfr000

    NASA NASA editing their Technical Reports Server

    Ok, this is slightly creepy. A few years ago, I did a little project, for fun - modeling the launch of a Saturn V into orbit in MS Excel. I got all of the info I needed for the Saturn V parameters from the Nasa Technical Reports Server. They recently shut it down in order to put "export...
  4. Z

    NASA Solar Probe Plus to hit 0.067% of c

    In 2018, NASA will launch "Solar Probe Plus" in an orbit that will swing by close to the sun. It is expected to reach speeds as high as 450,000 mph (0.067 percent the speed of light). At what speed would you (if you were inside the spacecraft ) start to see relativistic effects inside the...
  5. P

    NASA working on warp drive experiments

    I've been trying to follow these experiments that NASA is doing to try and warp space-time on a microscopic scale. Obviously that won't have us traveling at FTL speeds yet, but it would be proof of concept. From what I read, they are using a laser, and some kind of special ceramic material (I...
  6. Greg Bernhardt

    NASA NASA Rover Finds Conditions Once Suited for Ancient Life on Mars

    http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/news/msl20130312.html
  7. phyzguy

    NASA's LENR: Weak Interaction Theory, Peer-Reviewed Publications & Evidence

    (1) What do people make of NASA'a page on Low Energy Nuclear Reactions? (2) Is there anything to the "Widom-Larsen Weak Interaction LENR Theory"? Is anyone aware of any peer-reviewed publications? (3) Is there any evidence for NASA's claim that, "several labs have blown up studying LENR...
  8. Z

    NASA could build a warp drive?

    NASA could build a warp drive?!? I just read in a article that NASA has revisited an older theory and found they can improve on it greatly. here is a link to the journal (i guess that is what it is called) of the scientist who is working in this...
  9. D

    New NASA report: Eagleworks Lab

    NASA's current report on their EAGLEWORKS lab for spacecraft propulsion http://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20110023492&hterms=eagleworks&qs=Ntx%3Dmode%2520matchallpartial%2520%26Ntk%3DAll%26N%3D0%26Ntt%3Deagleworks The actual PDF is here: http://hdl.handle.net/2060/20110023492 EDIT: A mod...
  10. D

    NASA's new WISE Survey Results (and dark matter)

    NASA yesterday on the 29th published a survey in which they claimed the detection of many new stellar objects. The press release continues to say this includes super-massive black holes 2/3 of which were previously undiscovered. This is a lot more mass than we previously knew existed. What are...
  11. Alesak

    NASA NASA picks another Mars flight to explore its core

    http://phys.org/news/2012-08-nasa-mars-flight-explore-core.html Aww. Titan Mare Explorer looks way more exciting to me, even if we had results only when I'm 37 years old.
  12. B

    NASA NASA Curiosity Rover Mars entry parachute deceleration question

    Can someone please point me to a deceleration graph over the 7 minutes of terror from the 13,000 mph re-entry speed through to the parachute release and landing of the Curiosity Rover on Mars? Thanks very much. :smile: PS: Mods please feel free to move this topic to the appropriate forum...
  13. J

    NASA Who's staying awake to watch NASA's coverage of the Curiosity landing?

    Curiosity will hopefully land safely on Mars at 1:31am EDT, after "Seven Minutes of Terror" and NASA TV will be broadcasting a a show for this starting at 11pm EDT at http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/ustream.html I'm more excited and anxious about this than I have been for every Olympic...
  14. L

    NASA Can a Documentary Inspire Change in NASA's Budget Neglect?

    Hello everyone not sure if this has been brought to the attention of the forum yet but there is a kickstarter project going on called Fight For Space about the neglect of the American Space Program. Go and watch the trailer and let me know what you think. I personally think it is an awesome...
  15. russ_watters

    NASA Does SpaceX represent a new direction for NASA?

    Maybe this is a topic for another thread, but I'm not completely clear on how that makes SpaceX different from, say, Lockheed or North American/Rockwell/Boeing. Is it simply that NASA has less control over the design/construction and mostly just pays for it as opposed to directing (contracting)...
  16. D H

    NASA A gift to NASA from the National Reconnaissance Office

    The phone call came like a bolt out of the blue, so to speak, in January 2011. On the other end of the line was someone from the National Reconnaissance Office, which operates the nation’s fleet of spy satellites. They had some spare, unused “hardware” to get rid of. Was NASA interested? ... For...
  17. Dotini

    NASA Enceladus Teeming With Life? NASA say maybe.

    http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2012/27mar_enceladus/ March 27, 2012: There's a tiny moon orbiting beyond Saturn's rings that's full of promise, and maybe -- just maybe -- microbes. In a series of tantalizingly close flybys to the moon, named "Enceladus," NASA's Cassini...
  18. J

    BTech PHYSICAL SCIENCES IIST: Get to NASA & ISRO Post-Grad

    What is the scope of btech in PHYSICAL SCIENCES from IIST(indian institute of space science and technology)? after that course it is compulsory to work in ISRO for 5 years...(if you get first class) will that be enough to get into NASA?
  19. H

    NASA NASA Astronaut talks about his experiences on reddit

    I thought some of you might find this interesting: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/r62jp/iama_nasa_astronaut_that_recently_returned_to/ :smile:
  20. F

    NASA NASA's Stardust Mission - Interplanetary Dust Particles

    NASA's Stardust Mission -- Interplanetary Dust Particles Hello all, I'm currently working on a research paper about IDPs, and I'd like to spend some time discussing NASA's Stardust Mission. I'm wondering if anyone might know of some links to some scholarly articles concerning the matter...
  21. Dotini

    NASA Geologically Active Moon Now: NASA

    http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/news/lunar-graben.html A brief video from NASA showing curious geological features of the lunar surface. Graben indicate stretching of the Moon, lobate scarps tell a story of shrinkage. Respectfully submitted, Steve
  22. N

    NASA NASA probes approaching the moon

    1/2/2012 One new NASA spacecraft is orbiting the moon, another aproaching, to study moon structure via its gravity. 2nd NASA probe en route to moon on New Year’s Day http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/dec/31/nasa- spacecraft -reaches-moons-orbit/
  23. Greg Bernhardt

    NASA NASA announces discovery of first Earth sized planets in the universe

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/astronomers-detect-first-earth-sized-planets-orbiting-another-star/2011/12/20/gIQAuRIJ7O_story.html
  24. Orion1

    NASA NASA Satellite May Have Found The Smallest Known Black Hole

    Reference: Forbes - NASA Satellite May Have Found The Smallest Known Black Hole The State Column - NASA’s RXTE reveals secrets of tiny black hole
  25. C

    NASA NASA CME Video Captures Object Hiding Behind Mercury

    Ok fellas, what is it? http://gizmodo.com/5865808/has-nasas-satellite-captured-an-unidentified-object-near-mercury/
  26. edpell

    What is the NASA Patent for Producing Heavy Electrons?

    Joseph M. Zawodny of NASA has applied for a US patent on "Method for Producing Heavy Electrons". The full text of the patent is available at the US Patent Office website. By heavy he means effectively heavy in the context of the metallic surface. I am not a condensed matter person. Can...
  27. S

    NASA Do NASA's interplanetary missions require Einsteinian corrections?

    Do NASA use Einsteinian corrections (either SR or GR) when doing interplanetary missions? or is it purely Newtonian calculations? -I'm almost certain that it was purely Newtonian mechanics for the moon missions...
  28. A

    NASA Slowing of a satellite sent by Nasa

    There is a story doing round in e-mails and FB recently. The story is this: A satellite sent by Nasa, while going round the globe, slows down automatically when it crosses a particular spot over the Saneeswarar temple (a Hindu temple dedicated for Saturn), in Thirunallar, Tamil nadu, India...
  29. S

    NASA release new world salinty from satellite map

    Don't know whether this belongs in chemistry or Earth science but there has been discussion about salinity here. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15033532
  30. I

    NASA Discovers Planet With 2 Suns

    see http://slatest.slate.com/posts/2011/09/16/kepler_16b_nasa_discovers_planet_with_two_suns_like_tatooine_in_.html
  31. WolfOfTheSteps

    NASA What are the odds of getting hit by debris from the UARS satellite?

    I saw this in http://www.space.com/12928-falling-satellite-crash-late-september-nasa.html" about the debris from the UARS satellite. This seems like an extremely large probability to me. They do not make any reference on how they computed this. Does anyone here know how they could have come...
  32. S

    NASA ET article not affiliated with NASA

    First we had the Muslim outreach: "to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science ... and math and engineering." BHO...
  33. Simfish

    Does NASA Ames Research Center have a graduate school?

    Chris McKay told me that they do take grad students, but I can't find any more information on the Internet (the Ames page points to a dead link for the "Graduate Student Researchers Program") - see http://hr.arc.nasa.gov/student/gradfaculty.html
  34. Simfish

    NASA A Weekend with Chris McKay: NASA Scientist

    http://spacescience.arc.nasa.gov/staff/chris-mckay We're spending a weekend with him (as part of a summer program)
  35. C

    Can I work at NASA with a B.S in physics and computer science?

    I go to a small liberal arts college but I have a good GPA, comfortably above 3.5, could be higher if I wasn't forced to take a bunch of writing courses that don't pertain to my major. Could I go into astronomy with these two degrees?
  36. stevebd1

    NASA Nautilus-X - NASA's Multi-mission Space Exploration Vehicle Concept

    Some may already be aware of this but I discovered it for the first time today- http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=36068 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nautilus-X Looks like they may be testing the centrifuge on the ISS some time in 2013.
  37. B

    NASA Benefit to Mankind - NASA 30yrs in Space

    Hi Folks, How has space exploration during NASA's shuttle program benefitted mankind? Thanks
  38. dlgoff

    NASA Last NASA Shuttle Launch Today

    I thought today would be a good time to give NASA some thanks for all the http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/home/spinoffs_feature_k_4.html" , being it's the last Shuttle mission to lift off today. Thank you NASA.
  39. |Glitch|

    A Question Concerning Solar Flares

    According to both NOAA and Wikipedia, an X1 Class solar flare produces 0.0001 watts of energy per square meter, or greater. Therefore, an X45 solar flare would produce 0.0045 watts of energy per square meter. However, that cannot be correct. That is too absurdly small...
  40. Dotini

    Quantum Vacuum Plasma Drive Potentially Confirmed by NASA

    A possible breakthrough for space travel, yet lacking an explanation in physics, they say. http://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20140006052...
  41. M

    Which "category" of space career should i go into?

    I have always loved space and the universe. I think that as a civilization we need to dedicate more time, funds, and efforts to exploring and studying the things beyond our own Earth. A freshman in college, I need to soon settle on a major that I want to aim for (Bachelor's degree). Let me make...
  42. Greg Bernhardt

    NASA NASA to announce private space shuttle deal

    http://money.cnn.com/2014/09/16/news/companies/nasa-boeing-space-x/?hpt=hp_t2 http://www.nasa.gov/press/2014/september/nasa-to-make-major-announcement-today-about-astronaut-transport-to-the/index.html#.VBhxFvk7vWc
  43. MattRob

    How Did The CCCP See Past Venus' Clouds Prior to Landing?

    So, this is something that's got me wondering; The CCCP landed crafts on Venus, and more recently, NASA landed the Huygens on Titan. Both of these worlds are shrouded in clouds that block any visible light from coming back from the surface, though. But to send a lander, you obviously...
  44. M

    Programs What should I obtain my Bachelor's degree in?

    I am currently a freshman at Penn State University. I have always been greatly interested in astronomy, space, and the universe. Especially cosmology and the "larger pictures" of our existence. I have decided that this is what I want to do with my life...study the universe, help discover new...
  45. S

    Programs CS Degree with possible physics minor

    Hello, I've taken a leave of absence from UCSD (polisci major) to finish pre-requirements for a compsci degree. Initially, I left to pursue an astrophysics degree, but after taking a C++ and intro to Java class, CS has me hooked - I love the logic. So the major prep requires either two phys...
  46. H

    Using graphite as a catalyst to break down Ozone

    Can graphite be used as a catalyst to break down ozone into oxygen without serious oxidization? The applied use for this is to break down ozone at the output of an ionic wind "fan". Similar operation to an ion thruster used by NASA but instead of using stored gasses and propelling them into...
  47. O

    Working in the Space industry OR Nuclear/Solar energy as a ChemE?

    Hello, I am a Chemical Engineering major and a sophomore. When I first got to college I hoped to work in Pharma, but lately I'm becoming more and more interested in working for either the Space industry (SpaceX, NASA, etc) or in the alternative energy field (mainly Nuclear, but also Solar)...
  48. J

    Mechanics of a missile liftoff

    From a "design" viewpoint, a missile (see: Saturn V) has a very high center of gravity and a very small base. It can therefore be expected that the least disruption of the location of the center of gravity relative to the base, will result in the missile to tilt and fall over, especially in...
  49. Hercuflea

    Schools Torn between Math and Plasma Physics for grad school

    I did my undergrad in mathematics, and I really enjoyed studying that subject. After graduating, I've been continuing my study in Real Analysis with one of my undergrad professors, and I really feel like I'm blooming into a decent analysis student. This week I'm going to start learning...
  50. K

    PhD in Astrophysics: Wasting my time?

    Hello all, so I'm just finishing up my basics in undergrad school and am starting to take math and introductory physics classes, and just wanted to clear something up to make sure that I'm not wasting my time. My goal is a PhD in astrophysics. Now I know that in order to get into a good grad...
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