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August 21, 2012

Curiosity Zaps Martian Rocks For Science

Fires 'ChemCam' Laser For The First Time

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity fired its laser for the first time on Mars, using the beam from a science instrument to interrogate a fist-size rock called "Coronation." The mission's Chemistry and Camera instrument, or ChemCam, hit the fist-sized rock with 30 pulses of its laser during a 10-second period. Each pulse delivers more than a million watts of power for about five one-billionths of a second.

Launch Of Suborbital Sounding Rocket Scheduled For August 23

University students will put their academic skills to the test when atmospheric and technology experiments they developed fly on a NASA suborbital sounding rocket. The launch will take place between 0630 and 1000 EDT, Thursday, Aug. 23, from the agency's Wallops Flight Facility at Wallops Island, VA.

Also: A380 Order Loss?, Longer Legs For Latitude, X51 Crash and Burn, DA42 Testing, Princely Helo rescue

Something of the darling of AirVenture at Oshkosh this year, the founders of Lisa Airplanes, which is developing the Akoya Amphibious Ski Plane LSA, decided to place the company into receivership on July 30th "in order to protect its future." The FAA this week released a report to Congress from the Aviation Rulemaking Committee on the aircraft certification process. The Marine Corps has concluded its investigation into an accident involving a V-22 Osprey, in which two Marines were killed, in Morocco, last April. While no decision has yet been made, Hong Kong Airlines is reportedly considering canceling its order for 10 Airbus A380 super jumbo aircraft, an order wort