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Saturn's spongy moon
Stunning images of Saturn's moon Hyperion taken by the Cassini spacecraft show a surface dotted with craters and modified by some process, not yet understood, to create a strange, "spongy" appearance, unlike the surface of any other moon around the ringed planet.

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Astronaut parade
The astronauts from space shuttle Discovery's return to flight mission recently paid a visit to Japan, the homeland of mission specialist Souichi Noguchi, and were treated to a grand parade.

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ISS command change
The International Space Station's outgoing Expedition 11 crew and the new Expedition 12 crew gather inside the Destiny laboratory module for a change of a command ceremony, complete with ringing of the outpost's bell, as the human presence in space continues.

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Expedition 11 in review
The Expedition 11 mission of commander Sergei Krikalev and flight engineer John Phillips aboard the International Space Station is winding down, and this narrated retrospective looks back at the key events of the half-year voyage in orbit.

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Pluto spacecraft
The Pluto New Horizons spacecraft, destined to become the first robotic probe to visit Pluto and its moon Charon, arrives at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in advance of its January blastoff.

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Life on the station
NASA astronauts Bill McArthur and John Phillips chat with Associated Press space reporter Marcia Dunn about life aboard the International Space Station in this live space-to-Earth interview from the Destiny laboratory module on October 5.

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West Coast Delta 4
In preparation for the West Coast launch of Boeing's next-generation Delta 4 rocket, the two-stage vehicle is rolled out of its horizontal hangar and driven to the Space Launch Complex-6 pad for erection. The nose cone for the NRO payload is then brought to the pad.

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West Coast shuttle
Boeing's Delta 4 rocket pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base was renovated in recent years, transforming Space Launch Complex-6 from the West Coast space shuttle launch site into a facility for the next-generation unmanned booster. This collection of footage shows the 1985 launch pad test using NASA's orbiter Enterprise.

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NASA selects advanced concepts for study
NASA NEWS RELEASE
Posted: October 15, 2005

A space telescope that could resolve weather patterns and continents on Earth-like planets around other stars is among five promising ideas selected for more detailed study by the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) with its 2005 Phase II awards.

NIAC was created in 1998 to solicit revolutionary concepts that could greatly advance NASA's missions from people and organizations outside NASA. The proposals push the limits of known science and technology, and thus are not expected to be realized for at least a decade or more. NIAC's intention is to discover ideas which may result in beneficial changes to NASA's long-range plans.

NIAC sponsors research in two phases. Proposals selected for Phase 1 awards typically receive up to $75,000 for a six-month study that validates the viability of the concept and identifies challenges that must be overcome to make the proposal a reality. The results of the Phase 1 studies are evaluated, and the most promising are selected for further research into the major feasibility issues associated with cost, performance, development time, and technology through a Phase 2 award. Phase 2 studies can be up to two years long and receive as much as $400,000.

"These NIAC Phase II awards have overcome their initial obstacles and fit well into possible long term NASA plans," said Sharon Garrison, NIAC Coordinator for NASA at the Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. "NASA integration beyond Phase II will ultimately be necessary for the successful fusion of these concepts into NASA's missions."

Five proposals were selected for the 2005 Phase II studies, with the performance period from Sept. 1, 2005 to Aug. 31, 2007:

  • Redesigning Living Organisms for Mars, Principle investigator (PI): Dr. Wendy F. Boss of North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N.C.

  • New Worlds Imager, PI: Dr. Webster Cash of the University of Colorado, Boulder, Colo.

  • Microbots for Large-Scale Planetary Surface and Subsurface Exploration, PI: Prof. Steven Dubowsky, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass.

  • Investigation of the Feasibility of Laser Trapped Mirrors, PI: Dr. Elizabeth McCormack, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, Penn.

  • A Deep Field Infrared Observatory near the Lunar Pole, PI: Dr. Simon P. Worden, Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, Ariz.

"These awards will encourage NIAC Fellows to continue the development of their concepts that may have a revolutionary impact on future missions for the exploration of space," said Dr. Robert Cassanova of the Universities Space Research Association (USRA), NIAC Director. "These concepts may not only directly impact future missions, but will inspire other creative members of the technical community to leap vast intellectual distances to set a new course for others to follow." USRA runs NIAC for NASA.