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Nuclear Rocket Engine Being …
Title Nuclear Rocket Engine Being Transported to Test Stand
Full Description The first ground experimental nuclear rocket engine (XE) assembly, (left), is shown here in "cold flow" configuration, as it makes a late evening arrival at Engine Test Stand No. 1 at the Nuclear Rocket Development Station, in Jackass Flats, Nevada. Cold flow experiments are conducted using an assembly identical to the design used in power tests except that the cold assembly does not contain any fissionable material nor produce a nuclear reaction. Therefore, no fission power is generated. The large object at the right is one-half of an aluminum cylindrical closure that can be sealed about the engine, forming an airtight compartment, thereby permitting testing in a simulated space environment. The "cold flow" experimental engine underwent a series of tests designed to verify that the initial test stand was ready for "hot" engine testing, as well as to investigate engine start-up under simulated altitude conditions, and to check operation procedures not previously demonstrated. The XECF (Experimental Engine Cold Flow) experimental nuclear rocket engine was a part of project Rover/NERVA. The main objective of Rover/NERVA (Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application) was to develop a flight rated thermodynamic nuclear rocket engine with 75,000 pounds of thrust. The Rover portion of the program began in 1955 when the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission's Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory and the Air Force initially wanted the engine for missile applications. However, in 1958, the newly created NASA inherited the Air Force responsibilities, with an engine slated for use in advanced, long-term space missions. The NERVA portion did not originate until 1960 and the industrial team of Aerojet General Corporation and Westinghouse Electric had the responsibility to develop it. In 1960, NASA and the AEC created the Space Nuclear Propulsion Office to manage project Rover/NERVA. In the following decade, it oversaw a series of reactor tests: Kiwi-A, Kiwi-B, Phoebus, Pewee, and the Nuclear Furnace, all conducted by Los Alamos to prove concepts and test advanced ideas. Aerojet and Westinghouse tested their own series: NRX-A2 (NERVA Reactor Experiment), A3, EST (Engine System Test), A5, A6, and XE-Prime (Experimental Engine). All were tested at the Nuclear Rocket Development Station at the AEC's Nevada Test Site, in Jackass Flats, Nevada, about 100 miles west of Las Vegas. In the late 1960's and early 1970's, the Nixon Administration cut NASA and NERVA funding dramatically. The cutbacks were made in response to a lack of public interest in human spaceflight, the end of the space race after the Apollo Moon landing, and the growing use of low-cost unmanned, robotic space probes. Eventually NERVA lost its funding, and the project ended in 1973.
Date 12/01/1967
NASA Center Headquarters
Drawing of a NERVA Engine
Title Drawing of a NERVA Engine
Full Description An explanatory drawing of the NERVA (Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application)thermodynamic nuclear rocket engine. The main objective of project Rover/NERVA was to develop a flight rated engine with 75,000 pounds of thrust. The Rover portion of the program began in 1955 when the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission's Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory and the Air Force initially wanted the engine for missile applications. However, in 1958, the newly created NASA inherited the Air Force responsibilities, with an engine slated for use in advanced, long-term space missions. The NERVA portion did not originate until 1960 and the industrial team of Aerojet General Corporation and Westinghouse Electric had the responsibility to develop it. In 1960, NASA and the AEC created the Space Nuclear Propulsion Office to manage project Rover/NERVA. In the following decade, it oversaw a series of reactor tests: KIWI-A, KIWI-B, Phoebus, Pewee, and the Nuclear Furnace, all conducted by Los Alamos to prove concepts and test advanced ideas. Aerojet and Westinghouse tested their own series: NRX-A2 (NERVA Reactor Experiment), A3, EST (Engine System Test), A5, A6, and XE-Prime (Experimental Engine). All were tested at the Nuclear Rocket Development Station at the AEC's Nevada Test Site, in Jackass Flats, Nevada, about 100 miles west of Las Vegas. In the late 1960's and early 1970's, the Nixon Administration cut NASA and NERVA funding dramatically. The cutbacks were made in response to a lack of public interest in human spaceflight, the end of the space race after the Apollo Moon landing, and the growing use of low-cost unmanned, robotic space probes. Eventually NERVA lost its funding, and the project ended in 1973.
Date 01/29/1970
NASA Center Headquarters
XECF
Title XECF
Full Description The first ground experimental nuclear rocket engine (XE) assembly, in a "cold flow" configuration, is shown being installed in Engine Test Stand No. 1 at the Nuclear Rocket Development Station in Jackass Flats, Nevada. Cold flow experiments are conducted using an assembly identical to the design used in power tests except that the cold assembly does not contain any fissionable material nor produce a nuclear reaction. Therefore, no fission power is generated. Functionally, the XECF (Experimental Engine Cold Flow) is similar to the breadboard nuclear engine system (NERVA Reactor Experiment/Engine System Test or NRX/EST) tested in 1966, except that the experimental engine more closely resembles flight configuration. In addition to the nozzle-reactor assembly, the XCEF has two major subassemblies: an "upper thrust module" (attached to test stand) and a "lower thrust module" containing propellant feed system components. This arrangement is used to facilitate remote removal and replacement of major subassemblies in the event of a malfunction. The cold flow experiential engine underwent a series of tests designed to verify that the initial test stand was ready for "hot" engine testing, as well as to investigate engine start up under simulated altitude conditions, and to check operating procedures not previously demonstrated. The XECF engine was part of project Rover/NERVA. The main objective of Rover/NERVA (Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application) was to develop a flight rated thermodynamic nuclear rocket engine with 75,000 pounds of thrust. The Rover portion of the program began in 1955 when the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission's Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory and the Air Force initially wanted a nuclear engine for missile applications. However, in 1958, the newly created NASA inherited the Air Force responsibilities, with an engine slated for use in advanced, long -term space missions. The NERVA portion did not originate until 1960 and the industrial team of Aerojet General Corporation and Westinghouse Electric had the responsibility to develop it. In 1960, NASA and the AEC created the Space Nuclear Propulsion Office to manage project Rover/NERVA. In the following decade, it oversaw a series of reactor tests: Kiwi-A, Kiwi-B, Phoebus, Pewee, and the Nuclear Furnace, all conducted by Los Alamos to prove concepts and test advanced ideas. Aerojet and Westinghouse tested their own series: NRX-A2, A3, EST, A5, A6, and XE-Prime (Experimental Engine). All were tested at the Nuclear Rocket Development Station at the AEC's Nevada Test Site in Jackass Flats, Nevada, about 100 miles west of Las Vegas. In the late 1960's and early 1970's, the Nixon Administration cut NASA and NERVA funding dramatically. The cutbacks were made in response to a lack of public interest in human spaceflight, the end of the space race after the Apollo Moon landing, and the growing use of low-cost unmanned, robotic space probes. Eventually NERVA lost its funding, and the project, ended in 1973.
Date 12/01/1967
NASA Center Headquarters
Las Vegas Flyover from Lands …
Title Las Vegas Flyover from Landsat 1
Completed 1999-11-01
Las Vegas Flyover from Lands …
Title Las Vegas Flyover from Landsat 2
Completed 1999-11-01
Zoom to Las Vegas from Lands …
Title Zoom to Las Vegas from Landsat
Completed 1999-10-01
ACD07-0049-011
Silicon Valley FIRST Regiona …
3/16/07
Description Silicon Valley FIRST Regional Robotics competition: HIGHROLLERS - TEAM 987 - Bearing Belt Chain/Alcoa Fastening Systems/VSR Lock/NASA/Summerlin Children's Forum & Cimarron-Memorial High School, Las Vegas, Nevada (NV)
Date 3/16/07
Heatwave in the Western Unit …
Title Heatwave in the Western United States
Description The oppressive heat that crept over parts of the western United States during the first few days of July 2007 [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14380 ] took hold of the entire West during the week of July 4 through July 11. Deep red tones blanket every western state in this land surface temperature image, an indication that temperatures were warmer than in previous years. The image was made with data collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite and shows temperatures recorded between July 4 and July 11, 2007, compared to the average of temperatures observed during the same period in 2000, 2001, and 2002. Areas that are warmer than during that three-year period are red, while cooler areas are blue. Triple-digit temperatures broke or matched records from Las Vegas, Nevada, to Great Falls, Montana, during this period. In this image, a cluster of red-black over eastern Washington, northern Idaho, and eastern Montana indicates that these regions experienced much warmer temperatures than in previous years. Western South Dakota (the Black Hills region) was also exceptionally warm. On the other end of the scale, Texas was much cooler than it had been in 2000, 2001, and 2002. Heavy rains pounded Texas on and off throughout this period, contributing to wide-spread flooding. [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14363 ] You can download a global KMZ file of Land Surface Temperature anomaly [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/Images/kansas_ast_2007187.kmz ] suitable for use with Google Earth. [ http://earth.google.com/ ] NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data obtained courtesy of the MODIS Land Processes [ http://modis-land.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] team.
Heatwave in the Western Unit …
Title Heatwave in the Western United States
Description Extreme heat lingered over much of the western United States in early July 2007. Temperatures soared to triple digits, meeting or breaking records from Las Vegas, Nevada, to Great Falls, Montana, said news reports. The oppressive heat contributed to creating prime fire conditions, so that, when dry thunderstorms (lightning storms accompanied by little or no rain) rolled through on July 7, lightning sparked dozens of fast-moving wildfires. [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14358 ] This image, created from data collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite from June 26 though July 3, 2007, shows land surface temperatures compared to average temperatures observed during the same period in 2000, 2001, and 2002. Deep red across the Southwest and the Intermountain West indicate that temperatures were much higher than they were in 2000-2002. The Southeast also experienced warmer temperatures. Northern California, Oregon, and Washington appear to be cooler than in previous years, as indicated by the blue tones. The heat wave started mid-way through the week-long period shown in this image. While temperatures may have soared at the end of the period, cooler temperatures earlier in the week dominate the signal. Land surface temperatures from July 4-11 [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14393 ] show that these areas warmed significantly the following week. The Southern Plains are dark blue where temperatures were much cooler than they had been in previous years. During this period, torrential rains drenched the region, causing wide-spread flooding in Texas and Oklahoma [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14363 ] and in Kansas and Missouri. [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14383 ] The gray region over Kansas and Oklahoma is an area in which MODIS could not record the land's temperature because of perpetual cloud cover during the week-long period. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data obtained courtesy of the MODIS Land Processes [ http://modis-land.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] team.
Fires in the Southwest
Title Fires in the Southwest
Description Fire season in the U.S. West got off to a roaring start in the third week of June 2005. Fires triggered by ?dry? lightning (lightning without rain) sprang up in several Western states and grew explosively in a matter of days. In this image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA?s Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov ] satellite, fires (outlined in red) are burning in California, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona. Among the largest are the Cave Creek Fire to the northeast of Phoenix, Arizona, the Good Springs Fire in Nevada, to the southwest of Las Vegas, and the Hackberry Fire in California. To read more about these fires, visit the Current Wildland Fire Information [ http://www.nifc.gov/information.html ] Webpage on the National Interagency Fire Center Website. Image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ], NASA-GSFC
A restored NACA P-51 Mustang …
Title A restored NACA P-51 Mustang in flight
Description A white plate on the top of the wing of a restored National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) P-51 Mustang mounts scale airfoil shapes as used by the NACA in the late 1940s for high-speed research. This former NACA testbed Mustang was rebuilt by John Muszala for Bill Allmon of Las Vegas, Nevada, who has been flying it since 1998. Allmon flew the vintage fighter to NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards, California, Sept. 15, 2000 for a reunion of former NACA employees.
Date 09.15.2000
A restored NACA P-51 Mustang …
Title A restored NACA P-51 Mustang in flight
Description Bill Allmon of Las Vegas, Nevada, brought his restored NACA P-51 to a reunion of former NACA employees at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center located at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., on Sept. 15, 2000. Allmon's award-winning restoration is a genuine former NACA testbed that saw service at the Langley Research Center in Virginia in the late 1940s. Later this Mustang was put on outdoor static display as an Air national Guard monument in Pittsburgh, Pa., where exposure to the elements ravaged its metal structure, necessitating an extensive four-year rebuild.
Date 09.15.2000
Fires in the Southwest: Natu …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
Fire season in the U.S. West …
WesternFires.AMOA2005174
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2005-06-23
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier WesternFires.AMOA2005174
Earth observations taken dur …
johnsonspacecentermediaarchi …
Various Earth observation vi …
sts098-333-025
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2001-02-19
creator NASA
identifier sts098-333-025
Heatwave in the Western Unit …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
The oppressive heat that cre …
usalsta_tmo_2007185
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2007-07-11
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier usalsta_tmo_2007185
Las Vegas, Nevada: Image of …
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle …
This image of Las Vegas, Nev …
LasVegas_TAS2000213
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2003
creator NASA -- Image courtesy NASA/GSFC/MITI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/ ASTER Science Team
identifier LasVegas_TAS2000213
Low Water in Lake Mead: Imag …
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle …
large images eoimages.gsfc.n …
meade_aster_landsat
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2003-04-19
creator NASA -- Data courtesy glcf.umiacs.umd.edu/index.shtml University of Maryland Global Land Cover Facility and ASTER Science Team. Images by Jesse Allen and Rob Simmon, Earth Observatory Team.
identifier meade_aster_landsat
Earth observations taken dur …
johnsonspacecentermediaarchi …
Various Earth observation vi …
sts098-333-028
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2001-02-19
creator NASA
identifier sts098-333-028
San Andreas Fault in the Car …
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle …
The 1,200-kilometer (800-mil …
srtm_carrizo
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2000-02-16
creator NASA -- Image Courtesy NASA/JPL/NIMA
identifier srtm_carrizo
Heat Wave in the Western Uni …
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle …
Extreme heat lingered over m …
usalsta_tmo_2007177
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2007-07-11
creator NASA -- NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data obtained courtesy of the modis-land.gsfc.nasa.gov/ MODIS Land Processes team.
identifier usalsta_tmo_2007177
General Description STS-90 Shuttle Mission Imagery
General Description International Space Station Imagery
General Description STS-68 Shuttle Mission Imagery
Lake Mead, NV
Title Lake Mead, NV
Description Lake Mead, Nevada, (36.0N, 114.5E) where the water from the Colorado River empties after it's 273 mile journey through the Grand Canyon of Arizona is the subject of this photo. Other features of interest are Hoover Dam on the south shore of Lake Mead where cheap hydroelectric power is secondary to the water resources made available in this northern desert region and the resort city of Las Vegas, just to the west of Lake Mead. In this harsh desert environment, color infrared photography readily penetrates haze, detects and portrays vegetation as shades of red.
Date Taken 1973-06-22
View of Lake Mead and Las Ve …
Title View of Lake Mead and Las Vegas, Nevada area from Sklyab
Description A vertical view of the Lake Mead and Las Vegas, Nevada area as photographed from Earth orbit by one of the six lenses of the Itek-furnished S190-A Multispectral Photographic Facility Experiment aboard the Skylab space station. Lake Mead is water of the Colorado River impounded by Hoover Dam. Most of the land in the picture is Nevada, however, a part of the northwest corner of Arizona can be seen.
Date Taken 1973-08-01
Lake Mead, NV
Title Lake Mead, NV
Description Lake Mead, Nevada, (36.0N, 114.5E) where the water from the Colorado River empties after it's 273 mile journey through the Grand Canyon of Arizona is the subject of this photo. Other features of interest are Hoover Dam on the south shore of Lake Mead where cheap hydroelectric power is secondary to the water resources made available in this northern desert region and the resort city of Las Vegas, just to the west of Lake Mead.
Date Taken 1982-03-30
Grand Canyon as seen from ST …
Title Grand Canyon as seen from STS-58
Description A broad view westward along the Colorado River from just below Glen Canyon Dam (out of picture), through the entire Grand Canyon to Lake Mead and Las Vegas and westward to include southern Nevada and much of California. The Salton Sea, Los Angeles Basin, and Great Valley rim the Pacific Coast in the distance.
Date Taken 1993-10-20
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