** The Official Space Flight Thread - The Space Station and Beyond **

simulatorman said:
Another spectacular view from the space station. This time the Aurora Borealis Over the Midwest:

623589mainiss030e061267.jpg
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Where did you get that photo simulatorman? It's beautiful
 
Metalface Mark said:
Whats genie all about?
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This explains it:

NASA Moves Closer to Planetary Landing Demo Capability on Earth with Draper’s GENIE 1/23/2012

CAMBRIDGE, NASA could test its payloads on Earth under realistic flight conditions before sending them into space by using a technology flown by Draper Laboratory last month.

Using the GENIE (Guidance Embedded Navigator Integration Environment) System, Draper recently fully controlled the Xombie suborbital rocket built by Masten Space Systems during a closed loop tethered flight at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California. This successful first step brings the NASA Dryden Flight Opportunities Program closer to a new testbed capability that could be used to validate future planetary technology payloads.

Aircraft available to test NASA instruments today are unable to fly at the desired trajectories for planetary landings, and computer simulations are used to generate that data. However, a GENIE controlled flight vehicle could mimic a spacecraft’s final approach to the Moon and Mars here on Earth. Emerging and advancing future space technologies will then have the opportunity to fly their payloads terrestrially to raise their overall Technology Readiness Level and show that they are ready for use in space.

A video of the demonstration can be found on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oO3h8clmU7U&feature=player_detailpage

Draper plans to conduct a free-flying demonstration with GENIE and the Masten rocket later this winter.

The GENIE precision landing GN&C system was developed jointly between Draper and the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) under the Autonomous Landing Hazard Avoidance Technology (ALHAT) and Morpheus lander programs.

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More about Draper:

http://www.draper.com/space_systems.html
 
Another spectacular view of earth:

625856mainiss030e078095.jpg


Eastern Coast of United States at Night

ISS030-E-078095 (6 Feb. 2012) --- One of the Expedition 30 crew members aboard the International Space Station took this nighttime photograph of much of the eastern (Atlantic) coast of the United States. Large metropolitan areas and other easily recognizable sites from the Virginia/Maryland/Washington, D.C. area spanning almost to Rhode Island are visible in the scene. Boston is just out of frame at right. Long Island and the Greater Metropolitan area of New York City are visible in the lower right quadrant. Large cities in Pennsylvania (Philadelphia and Pittsburgh) are near center. Parts of two Russian vehicles parked at the orbital outpost are seen in left foreground.
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Turn up the volume and go go go......

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Google Plus Exclusive First Look
Just got this from the guys at Glenn who are finalizing the new special edition DVD/BluRay version of Ascent:Commemorating Shuttle which this will be an extra on. The video is shot from the Solid Rocket Booster Perspective up and down with enhanced sound thanks to Ben Burtt's son and the folks at Skywalker Sound. The team is still trying to figure out how to release this all to the public, but for now enjoy an exclusive first look. +NASA youtube doesn't even have the video.
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https://plus.google.com/11699223481...nABwL#116992234810067730471/posts/G2b8mknABwL
 
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