29 April 2013
SpaceShipTwo's first rocket flight breaks sound barrier
Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo rocket plane lit its engine for the first time in flight Monday, powering through the speed of sound and moving a step closer to spaceflight for the masses.
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29 April 2013
On the record with... Stephane Israel, Arianespace Chairman and CEO
Stephane Israel, who became Arianespace's new Chairman and CEO this month, brings experience in aerospace business and government space policy to his top executive role at the world's leading launch services provider. In the following interview, he provides his initial perspectives on Arianespace, and discusses the company's competitive position in a changing launch services marketplace.
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26 April 2013
After Antares test launch, Orbital aims for space station
Buoyed by a flawless test launch of the Antares rocket, the heavy-lifting part of its commercial cargo resupply system for the International Space Station, Orbital Sciences Corp. has its eye on a summer demonstration flight of the company's Cygnus resupply freighter.
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26 April 2013
Cargo spaceship docks with ISS despite antenna mishap
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26 April 2013
Russia Plans to Launch First Angara Rocket in 2014
The Russian military expects the first launch of a new Angara carrier rocket to take place in 2014 after the construction of a new launch complex at the Plesetsk space center is completed, Deputy Defense Minister Col. Gen. Oleg Ostapenko said Wednesday.
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26 April 2013
ISS Communications Test Bed Checks Out; Experiments Begin
NASA's Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) test bed has begun its experiments after completing its checkout on the International Space Station. The SCaN test bed is an advanced, integrated communications laboratory facility that uses a new generation of software-defined radio (SDR) technology to allow researchers to develop, test and demonstrate advanced communications, networking and navigation technologies in space.
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25 April 2013
NASA Invites the Public to Fly Along with Voyager
A gauge on the Voyager home page tracks levels of two of the three key signs scientists believe will appear when the spacecraft leave our solar neighborhood and enter interstellar space. When the three signs are verified, scientists will know that one of the Voyagers has hurtled beyond the magnetic bubble the sun blows around itself, which is known as the heliosphere.
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24 April 2013
Washed in Space: Astronaut’s Washcloth Video Goes Viral
When a group of high school students asked an astronaut on the International Space Station (ISS) what happens when a wet washcloth is wrung out in space, the Canadian commander put their question to the test - and shot a video of what turned out to be a remarkable demonstration of the oddities of living in micro-gravity. “The question is, if you get a cloth dripping wet without gravity, what happens if you wrung it out?” Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield asks at the start of the three-minute video that he made on board the ISS. The video (below) has had more than five million views since it was posted last week.
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23 April 2013
The New and Improved ISS Facilities Brochure
Inquiring research minds want to know...what resources are available on this orbiting laboratory we keep hearing about? Wonder no more, science community and space aficionados! The April 9 publication of the "International Space Station Facilities Research in Space 2013 and Beyond" brochure details the many assets available for science on orbit.
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23 April 2013
Russia to Deorbit ISS Pirs Module in 2013
Alexander Kaleri, the Head of Russian space corporation RKK Energia's scientific technical center, said undocking and deorbiting Pirs will take place before a new Russian module docks with the station. Alexander Derechin, RKK Energia deputy chief designer said in late March the launch of the multirole laboratory module (MLM) is tentatively scheduled for the end of 2013.
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20 April 2013
Cosmonaut becomes oldest person to walk in space, Russia ministry says
Pavel Vinogradov set the age record for spacewalking Friday while outside the ISS with fellow cosmonaut Roman Romanenko, SpaceFlightNow.com reported.
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20 April 2013
What makes a good astronaut?
A pilot, a doctor, a programmer... who has more chances to become an astronaut? Who chooses this 'unearthly' profession and remains faithful to it all his life? Voice of Russia correspondent Darya Manina spoke to future cosmonauts. In Soviet times the requirements for future cosmonauts were the following: height - not more than 170cm, age - under 30, test pilot by training. Of course, there were many other criteria related to physical and mental health. But it was evident that to go into space one had to be a very experienced pilot. With the development of the space industry these requirements were later revised, attracting people of different occupations. In the 1980s the Soviet Union unveiled its plans for a Mars mission.
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19 April 2013
NASA urged to preserve funding for planetary science missions
Members of Congress say they've urged NASA to spare planetary science funding and resist pressures to make disproportionate cuts to the science budget. In a letter to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., urged the space agency to protect the funding for missions to Mars and the outer planets allocated by Congress this spring.
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19 April 2013
Russia Launches ‘Orbital Noah’s Ark’ Eyeing Mars Missions
Russia orbited the world's only returnable satellite dedicated to biological research in space on Friday, helping to pave the way for future interplanetary flights, Federal Space Agency Roscosmos said. During its 30-day flight, more than 70 physiological, morphological, genetic and molecular-biological experiments will be conducted in support of long-duration interplanetary flights including Mars missions.
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18 April 2013
NASA-Funded Asteroid Tracking Sensor Passes Key Test
NEOCam is the cornerstone instrument for a proposed new space-based asteroid-hunting telescope. Details of the sensor's design and capabilities are published in an upcoming edition of the Journal of Optical Engineering. The sensor could be a vital component to inform plans for the agency's recently announced initiative to develop the first-ever mission to identify, capture and relocate an asteroid closer to Earth for future exploration by astronauts.
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17 April 2013
A look at the world explains 90 percent of changes in vegetation
An interdisciplinary team headed by geographers Rogier de Jong, Michael Schaepman and mathematician Reinhard Furrer from the University of Zurich, however, has now developed a model together with Dutch colleagues that can illustrate the influences of human activity and climate variability on vegetation separately. To this end, they used satellite data on the vegetation increase or decline from the last thirty years, climate measurements and models, and data on the kind of land cover. The scientists demonstrate that around 54 percent of the changes in global vegetation activity can be attributed to climate variability.
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16 April 2013
NASA, Air Force Seek Next Generation Space Processor Program
NASA and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory in Albuquerque, N.M., are requesting research and development proposals to define the type of spacecraft computing needed for future missions.
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16 April 2013
US eases export rules on aerospace parts
The United States on Tuesday eased rules on the export of select items in the aerospace industry, in an effort to reduce regulations that are thought to be putting American firms at a disadvantage.
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15 April 2013
Russia to pump big funds into space industry and might establish a Ministry for Space Exploration in the future
Russia will spend 1.6 trillion roubles (50 billion U.S. dollars) on space-related activities till 2020, the Itar-Tass news agency quoted Russian President Vladimir Putin saying Friday. Putin told a meeting dedicated to problems in the development of the space sector the funding would focus on the most promising areas, such as applied research. Putin inspected Vostochny Cosmodrome construction in the Amur Region on Friday. It is being built to reduce Russia's dependency on the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The first launch from Vostochny is expected in 2015 and the first manned flight in 2018. Putin said the commissioning of Vostochny would be a milestone in the development of the space sector. The president did not rule out the possibility a Ministry for Space Exploration could be established in the future.
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15 April 2013
Can One Buy the Right to Name a Planet?
In the light of recent events, where the possibility of buying the rights to name exoplanets has been advertised, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) wishes to inform the public that such schemes have no bearing on the official naming process. The IAU wholeheartedly welcomes the public's interest to be involved in recent discoveries, but would like to strongly stress the importance of having a unified naming procedure.
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15 April 2013
Russia to Explore Moon, Mars by 2030
Russia will develop new technology including huge new rockets for manned flights to the Moon and Mars by 2030, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said on Friday. Rogozin, who oversees the space and military industries, said on Friday Russia is going to design a carrier rocket with a payload of 130 to 180 tons as well as powerful interplanetary vehicles.
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13 April 2013
1st manned space flight to launch from Russia in '18: Putin
President Vladimir Putin told astronauts in orbit on Friday that Russia will send up the first manned flights from its own soil in 2018, using a new launch pad he said will help the once-pioneering space power explore deep space and the moon. Congratulating astronauts on what is known in Russia as Space Exploration Day, Putin said: “These are not just any greetings, these are greetings from the construction site of our future.” Even after the new site is built, Putin said Russia will continue to use Baikonour, which it leases at a cost of US$115 million a year under a deal that expires in 2050. But he said the facility on Kazakh soil was “physically aged.” Putin, whose ambition is to restore Moscow's Soviet-era might, said Russia will spend 1.6 trillion roubles (US$52 million) on space exploration through 2020. “It's clear that in the 21st century Russia must preserve its status as a leading space power,” he said, estimating the size of the space-launch market will grow to be worth US$1.5 trillion by 2030 from US$300 billion-US$400 billion today.
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12 April 2013
NASA spacecraft may have spotted pieces of Soviet spacecraft on Mars
Russian space enthusiasts say a NASA orbiter may have captured images of pieces of a Soviet spacecraft that made a soft landing on Mars more than 40 years ago. They say the evidence of the Mars 3 mission, the first successful soft landing on the Red Planet, is in images taken in 2007 by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
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FOR FURTHER READING
29 April 2013
Suborbital spaceflight powers up
If rumors prove true, SpaceShipTwo will make its first, albeit brief, powered test flight today. Jeff Foust examines the state of development of both Virgin Galactic’s vehicle and other major commercial suborbital efforts.
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29 April 2013
Planetary defense: deflection and disruption
If an asteroid is heading towards Earth, what do you do to prevent a cataclysmic impact? Jeff Foust reports from a recent conference that while some advocate deflecting an asteroid with something as simple as a spacecraft, others advocate, in effect, blowing it to smithereens.
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29 April 2013
Review: Implosion
Satellites have traditionally required specialized, high-reliability electronics designed to withstand the harsh environment of space. Jeff Foust reviews a book that examines the history of these electronics’ development, and the problems that arose when people tried to impose “radical” changes to a complex system.
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22 April 2013
To catch a planetoid
The highlight of NASA’s 2014 budget request is the beginning of an effort to bring an asteroid back to the vicinity of the Earth for study by astronauts. Jeff Foust examines the details of this proposal and some of the concerns and criticism expressed about a plan that, for many, sounds like science fiction.
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22 April 2013
Antares rising
On Sunday, Orbital Sciences Corporation successfully launched its Antares rocket on its inaugural mission, after two scrubs earlier in the week. Jeff Foust reports on the launch and its significance for Orbital, NASA, and others.
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22 April 2013
The business of space travel
Commercial space startups today are offering everything from suborbital spaceflights to trips to the Moon and the resources of asteroids. Frank Stratford argues that the business cases for some of these companies, while promising, need changes to allow for more near-term revenue opportunities.
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22 April 2013
Review: Picturing the Cosmos
This week marks the 23rd anniversary of the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, perhaps the world’s most famous, and even beloved, observatory. Jeff Foust reviews a book that looks at the artistic and cultural significance of the colorful images that Hubble has provided over the years.
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17 April 2013
Smith: U.S. needs vision, plan to reignite space program
Throughout history, great civilizations have always explored. Hundreds of years ago it was countries exploring new continents. Two hundred years ago, it was America expanding our borders farther west. I don't know if space is the final frontier, but I believe it is the next frontier. (U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith is chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology)
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15 April 2013
Crowdfunding space
Within the last year a number of cutting-edge space projects have gotten their start through a new funding concept called crowdfunding. Jeff Foust examines the benefits and drawbacks of using crowdfunding to support space projects, and the prospects for true crowdsourced investment in space companies.
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15 April 2013
Human space exploration: why Godot isn’t coming, but Golden Spike is
People have been waiting for decades for a human return to the Moon in the classic Apollo paradigm, without success. Alan Stern and Homer Hickam argue that it’s time to embrace a commercial approach for human space exploration.
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15 April 2013
Piecing together the Chelyabinsk event
Two months ago, a meteor exploded high above the Russian city of Chelyabinsk, causing damage and injuring more than a thousand people. Jeff Foust reports on the latest insights into exactly what happened that day and its implications for looking for and understanding the threats posed by near Earth objects.
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15 April 2013
Review: Eisenhower’s Sputnik Moment
When the Soviet Union surprised America and the rest of the world with the launch of the first satellite, the Eisenhower Administration took the blame for allowing the US to be beat. Jeff Foust reviews a book that reexamines Eisenhower’s legacy in a more positive light.
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