Dragonfly is a rotorcraft lander mission that will embark on a journey to Saturn’s moon Titan in 2026. Selected as part of NASA’s New Frontiers Program, Dragonfly will explore Titan's surface employing autonomous navigation with ground control providing only high-level waypoint and flight plan information. Carrying a suite of instruments, this robotic explorer will sample materials and determine surface composition in different geologic settings in order to characterize the habitability of Titan’s environment.

Utilizing Terrain Relative Navigation (TRN) and lidar-based hazard avoidance techniques, Dragonfly will safely traverse several kilometers in a single Titan day. Achieving this level of mobility requires on-board processing accelerated by a dedicated Navigation Co-Processor (NCP) working in conjunction with the flight computer. This talk presented a brief overview of the Dragonfly mission, and focused specifically on the Lander Mobility System. It provided an overview of the lander computing architecture…

We apologize but due to unforeseen circumstances, we have to cancel tonight's lecture, "SpaceX - Making Life Multiplanetary". We hope to have the event rescheduled in the future, and will update everyone via email and on our social media channels as information becomes available.

Engineers have completed the fifth of eight Green Run tests on the core stage of NASA’s new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, continuing progress toward a hot fire test this fall. Operators evaluated the stage’s thrust vector control system on the historic B-2 Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Miss., on Sept. 13. The test provided critical verification of the control system and its related hydraulics as operators moved the stage’s four RS-25 engines as they must move during flight to steer the rocket and maintain a proper trajectory. The stage now is set for two more tests – a simulated countdown demonstration and wet dress rehearsal – directly leading to the hot fire of all four RS-25 engines, as during an actual flight.

На Дальнем Востоке, в порту Славянка, у списанных плавучих доков и стареньких буксиров, над серыми пятиэтажками инопланетной белоснежной громадой возвышается Морской старт. Плавучий стартовый комплекс космических ракет состоит из двух судов Sea Launch Commander и Odyssey. Более…