Space Fence

A graphic depicts resident space objects surrounding Earth. The Space Fence program will provide the ability to detect, track, identify and characterize orbiting objects. (Courtesy image)

X-37B

The Air Force launched its third Orbital Test Vehicle, the X-37B, Dec. 11, 2012, at Cape Canaveral, Fla. The third launch follows closely behind a record-setting 469 days in space for the second OTV. (Courtesy photo)

Space Technology

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Space Technology

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Mars Rover "Curiosity"

In this image, two engineers are dwarfed by NASA's Mars Science Laboratory's parachute, which holds more air than a 3,000-square-foot house and is designed to survive loads in excess of 36,000 kilograms (80,000 pounds). The parachute, built by Pioneer Aerospace, South Windsor, Conn., has 80 suspension lines, measures more than 65 feet in length, and opens to a diameter of nearly 55 feet. It is the largest disk-gap-band parachute ever built and is shown here inflated in the test section with only about 12.5 feet of clearance to both the floor and ceiling of the world’s largest wind tunnel at National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex. The parachute is attached to a launch arm mounted on a swivel-base that allows the test item to pitch and yaw under simulated conditions of subsonic entry into the Martian atmosphere. (Photo courtesy of NASA/JPL and Pioneer Aerospace Corp.)

Mars Rover "Curiosity"

Aerospace Testing Alliance Instrumentation Technician Doyle Jones performs a continuity check on the instrumentation inside the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle heat shield material candidate model prior to a test run in Arnold Engineering Development Center's H2 test facility. (Photo by Rick Goodfriend)