Astronauts overcame a jammed bolt to secure a critical power system switching unit

Altius Space Machines is developing noncooperative capture technology for spaceflight applications

CLUSTER DISCOVERY: Adding evidence to how diverse the universe is, NASA’s Kepler planet-hunting satellite has observed the first instance of multiple planets orbiting two suns, what astronomers call a circumbinary planetary system. The system, named Kepler-47, is 4,900 light years from Earth in the constellation Cygnus. One star is the size of the Sun but only 84% as bright; the other star is diminutive. The inner planet, Kepler-47b, has a radius three times the size of Earth and orbits the two stars in just 50 days, making its surface too hot for life.

HOUSTON — Step by step, the overarching elements of a human mission to a near-Earth asteroid are coming together at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC), even though the needed hardware is still in development, timelines are hazy and budgets are uncertain.

Scaled Composites completed the glide-flight envelope

HOUSTON — Astronauts Sunita Williams and Akihiko Hoshide will attempt to troubleshoot problems with an electrical unit outside the International Space Station during a Sept. 5 spacewalk organized over the U.S. Labor Day weekend.

MOTOR RUNNING: Alliant Techsystems (ATK) will perform a horizontal test-firing of their GEM-60 solid rocket motor on Sept. 6 at 11:15 a.m. MDT at the company’s facility in Promontory, Utah. The 43-ft.-long, 60-in.-dia. graphite epoxy motor will be cooled to 30F and will produce up to 270,000 lb. of thrust. The GEM-60’s fixed nozzle is needed to accurately test at the colder temperature. The nozzle, previously built by a supplier, is now built by ATK. A public viewing area will be available along route 83 North, approximately 20 mi. west of Corinne, Utah.

NASA prepared a response to a failed attempt on Aug. 30 to replace a degraded Main Bus Switching Unit