06 February 2013
Asteroid 2012 DA14 - Earth Flyby Reality Check
Small near-Earth asteroid 2012 DA14 will pass very close to Earth on February 15, so close that it will pass inside the ring of geosynchronous weather and communications satellites. NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office can accurately predict the asteroid's path with the observations obtained, and it is therefore known that there is no chance that the asteroid might be on a collision course with Earth.
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05 February 2013
NASA to Launch Ocean Wind Monitor to ISS
In a clever reuse of hardware originally built to test parts of NASA's QuikScat satellite, the agency will launch the ISS-RapidScat instrument to the International Space Station in 2014 to measure ocean surface wind speed and direction.
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04 February 2013
Astrium wins ESA contracts to design Ariane 6 and continue development of Ariane 5 ME
The European Space Agency (ESA) has awarded Astrium, Europe's leading space technology company, euro 108 million worth of prime contractor agreements covering the development of the Ariane 6 and Ariane 5 ME launchers. The contracts follow on from the decisions reached at the ESA Ministerial Council meeting in Naples on 20-21 November 2012.
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04 February 2013
Ahmadinejad says ready to be Iran's first spaceman
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Monday he is ready "to be the first man in space" under Iran's ambitious programme which aims to send a human being into orbit by 2020.
"Our youth are determined to send a man into space within the next four, five years, and I'm sure that will happen," he said during a ceremony in Tehran where two new Iranian-made satellites were unveiled, according to ISNA news agency. "I'm ready to be the first Iranian to be sacrificed by the scientists of my country and go into space, even though I know there are a lot of candidates," Ahmadinejad quipped.
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01 February 2013
Sierra Nevada Corporation and Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company Partner On Dream Chaser Programs
Sierra Nevada Corporation's (SNC) Space Systems is pleased to announce Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company of Littleton, Colo., is joining the SNC Dream Chaser team.
Lockheed Martin will be an exclusive partner to SNC on NASA's Certification Products Contract (CPC) and has been competitively selected to build the composite structure for the Dream Chaser at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, La.
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01 February 2013
Ten years on, US recalls Columbia shuttle disaster
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01 February 2013
Site of space rocket launch to become home of S. Korea's space program
The Naro Space Center, the site of South Korea's space rocket launch, will be further developed into the home of South Korea's space development program that seeks to produce an indigenous space rocket by 2021, center operators said Tuesday.
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01 February 2013
NASA Takes Strides Forward to Launch Americans from U.S. Soil
Beginning the first phase of the Commercial Crew Program's (CCP) certification efforts, three companies now are conducting activities that will confirm commercial spacecraft are safe to carry crews to the station. The CPC contractors are The Boeing Company of Houston developing the CST-100 spacecraft that will launch atop a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket; Sierra Nevada Corp. Space System of Louisville, Colo., building the Dream Chaser also set to launch on an Atlas V; and Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) of Hawthorne, Calif., maturing its Dragon capsule and Falcon 9 rocket for crewed missions.
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31 January 2013
Building a lunar base with 3D printing
Setting up a lunar base could be made much simpler by using a 3D printer to build it from local materials. Industrial partners including renowned architects Foster + Partners have joined with ESA to test the feasibility of 3D printing using lunar soil. “Terrestrial 3D printing technology has produced entire structures,” said Laurent Pambaguian, heading the project for ESA.
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31 January 2013
Russia to use ballistic missiles to fight off asteroid threat
Russia is planning to use intercontinental ballistic missiles to deliver destroyer spacecraft to celestial bodies that pose a threat to Earth, Deputy Chief Designer of the Makeyev State Rocket Center Sergei Molchanov said during the annual Korolyov Readings forum currently under way in Moscow.
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31 January 2013
The fate of Baikonur: Will Russia's space gates Open?
The current uncertainty surrounding space activities at Baikonur in 2013 may be eliminated on Wednesday when Kazakh prime minister, Kairat Kelimbetov, visits Russia to discuss several issues, including the famous cosmodrome. Meanwhile, officials are already working hard to assure the media that the situation is still a long way from being a crisis. The apparent scandal around the spaceport had been exaggerated, said Russian officials on Friday.
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30 January 2013
S. Korea launches third bid to join global space club
South Korea succeeded Wednesday in its third attempt to put a satellite into orbit, in a high-stakes test of national pride after arch-rival North Korea got there first with a rocket launch last month.
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30 January 2013
Russian Scientists Approve ‘Space-Grown’ Vegetables
Vegetables grown on board the International Space Station (ISS) can be consumed without fearing food poisoning, Russian scientists believe. Scientists have been studying “orbital-grown” vegetables, including Misuna, or Japanese Cabbage, for several years.
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29 January 2013
No Crisis in the Russian Space Industry – Roscosmos Head
Despite a number of failures in the past few years, rumors of a crisis in the Russian space industry are “absolutely wrong,” Federal Space Agency Roscosmos chief Vladimir Popovkin said on Tuesday.
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29 January 2013
Space Station Crew Uses Laser Channel to Beam Data
Russian astronauts onboard the International Space Station (ISS) have transferred scientific data using a laser communication channel for the first time in international practice, the Federal Space Agency Roscosmos said on Tuesday.
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25 January 2013
Moscow Plays Down Kazakhstan Space Port Row
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attempted to play down a dispute between Russia and Kazakhstan over terms for use of the Baikonur space center on Friday, after Russian media reports the previous day claimed the two states were on the verge of breaking off joint cooperation at the site. Russian media reports on Thursday claimed Russia and Kazakhstan might cease cooperation on joint space projects due to a limitation imposed by Kazakhstan on the number of Russian launches from Baikonur.
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25 January 2013
Opportunity rover moves into 10th year of Mars operations
Designed to operate for at least 90 days on the surface of Mars, project engineers had high hopes that one or both of the Mars Exploration Rovers -- Spirit and Opportunity -- would manage to survive a bit longer than that as they creeped across the red planet looking for signs of a watery past.
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23 January 2013
Reshuffle for Tiangong
2013 is set to be an important year for China's space program. We expect to see the first landing of a Chinese spacecraft on the Moon, in addition to a sequence of Earth satellite launches. We also expect another crew of Chinese astronauts to fly to Tiangong 1, China's first space laboratory. The launch of the Shenzhou 10 spacecraft, which will carry this crew to Tiangong, was originally expected before the end of 2012.
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FOR FURTHER READING
04 February 2013
The future of space telescopes beyond JWST
While NASA is busy operating the Hubble Space Telescope and building its successor, the James Webb Space Telescope, some are thinking about what comes after those missions. Jeff Foust reports on various efforts ranging from repurposing “free” telescopes provided by the NRO to using the ISS as an astronomical technology testbed.
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04 February 2013
A personal history of underwater neutral buoyancy simulation
Underwater training is taken for granted today as a necessary measure in preparing for spacewalks, but nearly half a century ago that wasn’t the case. G. Sam Mattingly provides his perspective as one of the key proponents for underwater training for EVAs during the Gemini program.
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04 February 2013
How geopolitical factors overshadow South Korea’s space success
Last week, South Korea joined the exclusive club of nations that have successfully launched satellites, a month after its neighbor to the north did the same. Ajey Lele argues that South Korea’s success may be lost in larger geopolitical crises in the region.
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04 February 2013
Review: Europe to the Stars
It’s not necessarily the most famous astronomical observatory, but the European Southern Observatory is certainly one of the most productive. Jeff Foust reviews a book that offers an overview of ESO’s 50-year history and its ambitious future plans.
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28 January 2013
A Russian Moon?
After years of uncertainty and delays, Russia’s lunar exploration plans are starting to become clear. Dwayne Day reviews those plans for orbiter and lander missions and explains why Russia might be the most active nation exploring the Moon in the next decade.
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28 January 2013
Asteroid mining boom or bubble?
Last week, for the second time in less than a year, a new company announced plans to prospect and, eventually, extract resources from near Earth objects. Jeff Foust examines the similarities and differences Deep Space Industries has compared to Planetary Resources, and what this may mean for the viability of the industry as a whole.
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28 January 2013
The asteroid mining bank
As a second company enters the asteroid mining market, one key question is how to finance the large-scale extraction of resources from asteroids. Vidvuds Beldavs proposes a system that could handle extraterrestrial claims and help support efforts to mine asteroids and utilize their resources.
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28 January 2013
A space telescope stays the course
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope suffered cost and schedule problems that put the program’s future in jeopardy just two years ago. Now, Jeff Foust reports, NASA and industry officials say the program is back on track even as NASA’s overall budget remains uncertain.
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