NTSB releases preliminary data from UPS 1354 crash

National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) member Robert Sumwalt holds third press briefing on UPS flight 1354 crash in Birmingham, Ala.

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Video: NTSB begins investigation of fatal UPS plane crash

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has launched an investigation into Wednesday morning's crash of United Parcel Service Flight 1354, an Airbus A300 (registration number N155UP), that crashed while on approach to Runway 18 at Birmingham International Airport in Birmingham, Ala.

NTSB Senior Aviation Investigator Dan Bower will serve as investigator-in-charge. NTSB Board Member Robert Sumwalt is accompanying the team and will serve as the principal spokesman during the on-scene phase of the investigation.

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Video: RockSat-X experiments launched aboard NASA rocket

A group of experiments developed by university students nationwide were successfully launched into space from Wallops Island, Va. at 6 a.m. EDT Tuesday aboard a NASA Terrier-Improved Malemute suborbital rocket.



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Student space experiments planned for launch from Virginia

A NASA Terrier-Improved Malemute suborbital sounding rocket carrying experiments developed by university students from across the nation is scheduled for launch Tuesday morning from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

The experiments were developed through the RockSat-X program conducted with the Colorado Space Grant Consortium. The goal of the RockSat-X program is to provide students a hands-on experience in developing experiments for space flight. This experience allows these students to apply what they have learned in the classroom to a real world hands-on activity. Approximately 40 students and instructors will be at Wallops to witness the launch.

The rocket is set for launch between 6 and 10 a.m. EDT.

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Watch for the Perseid meteor shower this weekend

[UPDATE - 7:37 p.m. EDT] - Meteors showing up on this Ustream broadcast from Valladolid, Spain.

Enjoy a summer evening of sky watching this weekend as the annual Perseid meteor shower peaks Sunday night into Monday morning. Rates can get as high as 100 meteors per hour, with many fireballs visible in the night sky. Early Sunday evening, a waxing crescent moon will interfere slightly with this year's show, but it will have set by the time of the best viewing, just before dawn, Monday morning.

Perseid meteors come across the sky from all directions, a good time to lay back in your favorite lawn chair and look straight up into the dark sky. It is important to be far away from artificial lights, if possible, but not required. Your eyes can take up to 30 minutes to adjust to the darkness, so allow plenty of time for your eyes to “dark-adapt.”

The Perseids have been observed for at least 2,000 years and are associated with the comet Swift-Tuttle, which orbits the sun once every 133 years. Each year in August, the Earth passes through a cloud of the comet's debris. These bits of ice and dust -- most over 1,000 years old -- burn up in the Earth's atmosphere to create one of the best meteor showers of the year.

If cloud cover blocks your view, listen to the Perseid meteors by clicking here.

Schedule of Events

Saturday / 8:12 p.m. EDT – Sunset in Washington, D.C. area.

Saturday / 9:55 p.m. EDT – Moonset in Washington, D.C. area.

Saturday / 11:00 p.m. EDT - Join NASA in a live Web chat to watch the Perseids. NASA astronomer Bill Cooke and Danielle Moser and Rhiannon Blaauw from the NASA Meteoroid Environment Office at Marshall Space Flight Center will answer your questions.

Sunday / 8:11 p.m. EDT – Sunset in Washington, D.C. area.

Sunday / approximately 9:00 p.m. EDT - Live broadcast of the skies over NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. begins.

Sunday / 10:28 p.m. EDT – Moonset in Washington, D.C. area.

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Report released on May 2012 mid-air collision over Warrenton, Va.

Click on image to enlarge.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) released its investigation report Thursday into the mid-air collision between a Piper PA-28 and a Beechcraft Bonanza on May 28, 2012.

"This accident shows once again that the see-and-avoid principle is inadequate for preventing collisions between aircraft flying under visual flight rules (VFR)," said Jon Lee, TSB's Investigator-in-Charge. "Additional defenses must be put in place to prevent mid-air collisions among VFR aircraft."

The Piper (tail number N23C) was registered to and piloted by Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) employee Thomas Proven, and the Beechcraft (tail number N6658R) was registered to and piloted by National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) employee James Duncan. Given the unique circumstances surrounding the ownership and operation of the aircraft, the TSB accepted delegation of the accident investigation from the NTSB in accordance with international convention.

The Beechcraft was in a shallow climb, headed southbound, being operated VFR for the purposes of a biennial flight review. The Piper was in level flight, under VFR, and was heading in a southeasterly direction. The aircraft collided at approximately 1,800 feet above sea level just after 4 p.m. EDT in the area of Warrenton, Va.

The Beechcraft broke up in flight and the pilot and flight instructor on board were fatally injured. Proven, the sole occupant of the Piper, conducted a forced landing in a pasture approximately six nautical miles south of the Warrenton-Fauquier Airport.

“The TSB remains concerned that yet again, the defenses available to avert a mid-air collision between VFR aircraft in congested airspace have failed,” the board said in their report. “As VFR traffic increases, additional lines of defense should be considered to reduce the risk of a mid-air collision. These include changes in airspace classification, increased air traffic control intervention, ground-based and on board technology.

“A meaningful improvement to the ability to see-and-avoid other VFR aircraft may require on board technology capable of directly alerting pilots to the proximity of conflicting traffic. A number of viable and economical on board alerting systems exist or are under development. Had one or both of these aircraft been equipped with some form of the technology, the risk of collision would have been reduced. The report identified that there is a high risk of mid-air collision in congested airspace when aircraft are not alerted to the presence of another aircraft and rely solely on the see-and-avoid principle.”

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NASA's next spacecraft going to Mars

NASA's next spacecraft going to Mars arrived Friday at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and is now perched in a clean room to begin final preparations for its Nov. 18 launch.

The spacecraft was transported from Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora, Colo., on Friday, aboard a U.S. Air Force C-17 cargo plane. Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Littleton, Colo., designed and built the spacecraft and is responsible for testing, launch processing, and mission operations.

Known as MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution), the spacecraft is undergoing detailed testing and fueling prior to being moved to the launch pad.

MAVEN will conduct the first mission dedicated to surveying the upper atmosphere of Mars. Scientists expect to obtain unprecedented data that will help them understand how the loss of atmospheric gas to space may have played a part in changing the planet's climate. Previous Mars missions detected energetic solar fields and particles that could drive atmospheric gases away from Mars. Unlike Earth, Mars does not have a planet-wide magnetic field that would deflect these solar winds. As a result, these winds may have stripped away much of Mars' atmosphere. Scientists will use MAVEN data to project how Mars became the cold, dusty desert planet we see today. The planned one-year mission begins with the spacecraft entering the Red Planet's orbit in September 2014.

In the next week, the team will reassemble components previously removed for transport. Further checks prior to launch will include software tests, spin balance tests, and test deployments of the spacecraft's solar panels and booms.

MAVEN's principal investigator, Bruce Jakosky, is based at the University of Colorado Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder. The university provides science instruments and leads science operations, education and public outreach. Goddard Space Flight Center manages the project and provides two of the science instruments for the mission. Lockheed Martin built the spacecraft and is responsible for mission operations. The University of California at Berkeley's Space Sciences Laboratory provides science instruments for the mission. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., provides navigation support, Deep Space Network support, and Electra telecommunications relay hardware and operations.

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