11 June 2012
Chinese female astronaut to join Shenzhou-9 docking mission
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10 June 2012
China is days away from launching three astronauts
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08 June 2012
Russia May Join Mars Orbiter Project with ESA in November
Russian space agency Roscosmos and the European Space Agency (ESA) could sign a final agreement on Russia’s participation in a Mars research project in November, ESA spokesman Rene Pischel said on Friday.
“The work is underway and we are finishing up the coordination,” Pischel told reporters. “The final agreement should be signed after the ESA ministerial conference in November.”
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08 June 2012
Russia, EADS to Build Space Plant by 2015
Russia's Energia space rocket corporation and Astrium, an aerospace subsidiary of the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS), will build a joint venture in Russia in about two years, Energia head, Vitaly Lopota, said on Tuesday. The facility will be based in Korolyov, just outside Moscow and will manufacture optical, electronic, radar surveillance systems and communication satellites.
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08 June 2012
XCOR Appoints Space Expedition Corp As General Sales Agent For Space Tourism Flights
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07 June 2012
EXPERT in need for a launcher
The European atmospheric-re-entry capsule that was 10 years in development and whose construction has been completed for months may never get off the ground following cancellation of a low-cost launch aboard a converted Russian missile, the capsule’s builders said June 6.
Carrying 150 different sensors, the 1.6-meter long, 450-kilogram Expert was designed for launch to an altitude of about 120 kilometers before being released for ballistic descent. One of its main goals was to test materials for ESA’s Intermediate Experimental Vehicle (IXV), an unmanned, delta-winged plane scheduled for launch in 2014 aboard ESA’s new Vega small-satellite launcher.
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07 June 2012
China calls for inclusive development of outer space
China advocates peaceful use of outer space and will strive for inclusive development of outer space, a senior Chinese diplomat said here Wednesday. The notion of achieving the inclusive development of outer space proposed by the Chinese government contained three aspects, said Cheng Jingye, China's Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Vienna. They include tolerance for space environment, tolerance for all countries and tolerance for the entire mankind, he said. China is willing to cooperate with other countries and to provide the opportunities for more countries, particularly the developing countries, to participate in the construction of the Chinese Space Station-CSS and scientific research, in order to share opportunities and achievements in the development of China's space program, he added.
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04 June 2012
Rogozin Talks Up New Spaceport Plan
State investment in the creation of a cosmodrome in the Amur Region is comparable in scale to the first Soviet long-term plan for the electrification of Russia, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said on Monday during a visit to the main construction site.
Rogozin inspected the construction site near the closed city of Uglegorsk by helicopter, and laid a wreath at the monument of first cosmonaut, Yury Gagarin, prior to holding a closed-doors meeting about reform of the space industry.
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01 June 2012
SpaceX Expects Falcon 9 Hat Trick To Open Door for U.S. Military Payloads
With the third successful flight of its Falcon 9 rocket, Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) may find the door to a long-desired but recalcitrant customer cracking open - the U.S. military.
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01 June 2012
What role will Russia play in the space century?
As technology develops and private companies expand into intergalactic travel, vacationing and working in space seems to be less and less far-fetched. Elena Shipilova of Russia Beyond the Headlines spoke with Sergei Zhukov, head of the Space Technology at Skolkovo Innovation Center about the future of space and the role Russia can play.
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01 June 2012
More Google Lunar X Prize Mergers Expected
Competition for the Google Lunar X Prize is heating up with the May 30 announcement of the first major acquisition of one team by another and widespread discussion among team leaders of additional mergers.
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01 June 2012
Sierra Nevada Announces the Completion of Four Dream Chaser Milestones FOR NASA
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31 May 2012
SpaceX Dragon capsule splash lands in Pacific
US company SpaceX's cargo vessel Thursday splash landed in the Pacific Ocean, capping a successful mission to the International Space Station that blazed a new path for private spaceflight. "This really couldn't have gone better," said SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk after the unmanned capsule landed in the waters off the Mexican coast at 11:42 am Eastern time (1542 GMT).
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31 May 2012
Europe Pinning its ExoMars Hopes on Patchwork of Funding Sources
The European Space Agency (ESA) has found $450 million in likely new sources of funding for its ExoMars missions to Mars, a two-launch effort being hurriedly redesigned with Russia following NASA’s pullout, according to an ESA document summarizing the program’s status.
The fresh ExoMars funding sources include ESA new member fees from Poland and Romania, added investments from cash-strapped ExoMars backers and the Russian contribution of a third Proton rocket, this one for Europe’s mission to Jupiter in 2022.
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31 May 2012
New Findings on Astronaut Vision Loss
Could vision changes experienced by astronauts be linked to a vitamin B-12 or folate deficiency? While investigating the vision changes recently identified in astronauts, nutritional assessment data showed similarities to symptoms that occur with vitamin deficiencies, according to a new study published in the March edition of The Journal of Nutrition.
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31 May 2012
Soviet discovery of lunar water ignored by West
Clear evidence of water on the moon would have created tremendous opportunities for mankind. And yet, the results of the last Soviet lunar mission, which returned in 1976 with water-rich rocks from beneath the moon’s surface, remained unnoticed. If Western science, built on the dominance of the English language, had been less dismissive of other scientific schools, this and many other discoveries might have found their way into practical use a little sooner.
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30 May 2012
NASA Lunar Spacecraft Complete Prime Mission Ahead of Schedule
A NASA mission to study the moon from crust to core has completed its prime mission earlier than expected. The team of NASA's Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission, with twin probes named Ebb and Flow, is now preparing for extended science operations starting Aug. 30 and continuing through Dec. 3, 2012.
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30 May 2012
Intelsat Signs First Commercial Falcon Heavy Launch Agreement with SpaceX
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28 May 2012
Germany Outlines Priorities for Key ESA Ministerial Conference
The 19-nation European Space Agency (ESA) is counting on Germany, perhaps more than any other nation, to help craft a credible multiyear space program when ESA government ministers meet in November in Cazerta, Italy.
On May 21 Peter Hintze, parliamentary state secretary and the federal government coordinator of German aerospace policy, provided written responses to Space News questions about the upcoming ministerial conference.
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28 May 2012
Tiangong 1 Ready To Meet Shenzhou 9
After Shenzhou 8 departed in November 2011, controllers raised the orbit of Tiangong 1 to preserve it from potential re-entry brought about by the air drag that causes all low orbits to decay.
Originally, China seemed to be aiming for a Shenzhou 9 launch sometime around May. Then, mid-March, a decision appears to have been made to put off the launch to June/July. At the same time, Shenzhou 10 disappeared from China's 2012 launch forecasts, a sure indication that the change was an operational decision with a knock-on effect, and not simply vagueness in what China had been broadcasting through its news agencies. Consequently Tiangong's orbit was raised slightly to delay arrival at the critical altitude.
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28 May 2012
New Moon for India
India's lunar exploration program seems to be on hold for the moment. The ambitious plan to land a rover on the Moon in a joint mission with Russia, followed in the future by a sample-return mission, won't make its original timeline. The problems largely stem from the ongoing problems with India's launch vehicle program, which has suffered from a string of performance failures in recent years.
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25 May 2012
Boeing Completes Software PDR Of New Crew Ship
Boeing has completed the software Preliminary Design Review (PDR) for its Commercial Crew Development (CCDev-2) initiative on May 18. CCDev-2 is part of NASA's Space Act Agreement.
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25 May 2012
NASA Offers Guidelines To Protect Historic Sites On The Moon
NASA and the X Prize Foundation of Playa Vista, Calif., announced Thursday the Google Lunar X Prize is recognizing guidelines established by NASA to protect lunar historic sites and preserve ongoing and future science on the moon. The foundation will take the guidelines into account as it judges mobility plans submitted by 26 teams vying to be the first privately-funded entity to visit the moon.
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24 May 2012
Neil Armstrong gives rare interview - to accountant
The 82-year-old has long been reluctant to discuss the 1969 mission that enthralled the world, and has granted only a handful of interviews since.
But the Certified Practicing Accountants of Australia convinced him to film an hour-long one-on-one in which he talks about the landing and his famous first steps on the moon.
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11 June 2012
Out of the black
Last week NASA announced the NRO was giving the space agency a pair of optical systems that could be used for future space telescopes. Dwayne Day explains how this donation is just the latest in a series of cooperative ventures between the two agencies that dates back to the early days of the Space Age.
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11 June 2012
NewSpace is in the American tradition
The recent successful SpaceX flight to the International Space Station comes during a time of debate about the role of the private sector in space exploration and development. Gary Oleson argues that SpaceX and other commercial “NewSpace” ventures are following a path that’s been demonstrated to work throughout American history.
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11 June 2012
R is for Rocket, S is for Space
Legendary science fiction author Ray Bradbury passed away last week. Andre Bormanis recalls Bradbury and the effect he had on science fiction, spaceflight, and himself.
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11 June 2012
Ray Bradbury’s influence on one career in aerospace
The works of Ray Bradbury influenced many people over the years. Jim Knauf recounts how reading Bradbury, and growing up in the same Illinois town as the famed author, helped shape his own career trajectory in aerospace.
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11 June 2012
Mars on the Upper East Side
Mars has long captured the imaginations of artists, who have depicted the planet and exploration of it in a wade variety of ways. Jeff Foust explores an ongoing exhibition in New York that offers its own unique and quirky take on human exploration of Mars.
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04 June 2012
Sailing in the wake of history
SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft successfully splashed down in the Pacific last week, concluding a historic test flight to the International Space Station. Stewart Money describes the parallels in exploration he sees between the Falcon 9/Dragon and a class of sailing vessels from half a millennium ago.
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04 June 2012
Human space exploration: asteroids versus the Moon?
NASA’s current space exploration plan calls for human missions to a near Earth asteroid by 2025, but do other countries want to cooperate? Jeff Foust reports on some support, both among the leaders of other space agencies as well as from former NASA officials, for a return to the Moon as humanity’s next destination beyond Earth.
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04 June 2012
The economics of space sustainability
Most countries and organizations that use space agree on keeping space activities sustainable in light of growing concerns about space debris and collisions, but there’s no consensus on how to achieve that. Brian Weeden discusses some new concepts on economic incentives to support space sustainability.
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04 June 2012
EU takes the next shot in the battle of the codes
Is a battle shaping up between the European Union and the United States over the development of a code of conduct for outer space activities? Michael Listner examines the EU’s latest move to support its own version of such a code.
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04 June 2012
Review: Transit of Venus
This week marks the last time Venus will transit the disk of the Sun as seen from the Earth for over a century. Jeff Foust reviews a book that provides an illustrated history of the studies of these transits and their scientific importance.
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29 May 2012
A test of technology and a validation of vision
Last week’s flight of the SpaceX Dragon to the International Space Station was a major achievement for the company and for NASA, demonstrating its ability to safely deliver cargo to the station. Jeff Foust examines how it’s also proof of a vision for commercial spaceflight that dates back long before the current administration.
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29 May 2012
DragonLab-g: an early step to Mars and beyond
The success of SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft so far makes some wonder what else it can do besides transport cargo or people to and from the International Space Station. Tom Hill describes how it can be used to study some of the key physiological issues of a human mission to Mars.
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29 May 2012
The death of Frankensat
One of the launch failures during the CORONA program involved a unique experimental satellite. Dwayne Day explores the development of that satellite and the circumstances that led to it crashing into a trailer park.
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29 May 2012
Renewed hope for export control reform
Reforming space export controls to make it less difficult for US companies to sell their products overseas has been a challenge for the space industry for several years. Jeff Foust reports on some renewed optimism thanks to a new report and an amendment to a defense bill.
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