A brown dwarf star has been discovered only 7.2 light years away.
A brown dwarf star has been discovered only 7.2 light years away.
This makes it the fourth closest interstellar neighbor to the Sun.
Author: Robert Zimmerman
SpaceX sues to block ULA’s monopoly on Air Force military launches.
SpaceX sues to block ULA’s monopoly on Air Force military launches.
“It would have to be an extraordinary circumstance to convince me killing the bears in order to protect them makes a whole lot of logical sense.”
Just read it. The whole story will infuriate you.
Protecting interplanetary travelers from radiation will not be easy according to a recent study.
Protecting interplanetary travelers from radiation will not be easy according to a recent study.
The article is detailed and thorough, and outlines the engineering challenges quite accurately.
Want to find out which American company is winning the race to ferry astronauts to the ISS? Go here.
Want to find out which American company is winning the race to ferry astronauts to the ISS? Go here.
A new study confirms that increased atmospheric carbon dioxide lengthens the plant growing season.
Chicken Little was wrong! A new study confirms that increased atmospheric carbon dioxide lengthens the plant growing season.
Previous studies have documented a lengthening of the growing season in many parts of the world. In the United States, the time between the last spring frost and the first autumn freeze has gone up by nearly two weeks since 19002; in Europe, a study of more than 540 plant species found that, on average, spring events such as flowering had shifted about a week earlier from 1971 to 2000, and the onset of autumn had been pushed back by about four days3.
Such shifts have long been attributed to warming temperatures. But CO2 also plays a part, says study co-author Heidi Steltzer, an ecosystem ecologist at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado.
Putting aside the uncertainty about whether carbon dioxide can even cause global warming, the assumption that global warming itself will be a bad thing has never been demonstrated clearly, while there is evidence that it might actually be beneficial.
Orbital Sciences intends to use an upgraded Antares rocket as its contribution to Stratolaunch.
The competition heats up: Orbital Sciences intends to use an upgraded Antares rocket as its contribution to Stratolaunch.
Part of the upgrades appear to be making sure Antares has an available replacement engine for the refurbished Soviet-era engines Antares is now using.
SpaceX has signed a deal to have its new Raptor engine tested at NASA’s Stennis Space Center.
The competition heats up: SpaceX has signed a deal to have its new Raptor engine tested at NASA’s Stennis Space Center.
This is a good use of these government facilities, providing a service and also making money for the government.
Astronauts successfully completed a spacewalk Wednesday to repair the backup computer that operates ISS’s robot arms.
Two American astronauts successfully completed a spacewalk Wednesday to repair the backup computer that operates ISS’s robot arms.
The spacewalk went so smoothly it was completed in half the scheduled time.
Russia has noticed literally no change in cooperation with NASA since the U.S. government announced two weeks ago that all such cooperation, excluding ISS, was being cut off.
Surprise, surprise! Russia has noticed literally no change in cooperation with NASA since the U.S. government announced two weeks ago that all such cooperation, excluding ISS, was being cut off.
Russia’s Roscosmos space agency has yet received no official notifications from NASA on curtailing cooperation, and working contacts continue, Roscosmos chief Oleg Ostapenko said in an interview with Vedomosti newspaper Wednesday. “Roscosmos has received no official notifications on suspending cooperation, we continue working contacts with NASA and other space agencies,” Ostapenko told Vedomosti adding: “Recently I held talks with the NASA leadership and European colleagues.”
More info here.
I had said that so-called NASA cut-off was all show and aimed not at Russia but at Congressional budget negotiations over NASA’s commercial crew program. This story only proves it.
Budget issues continue to threaten a number of successfully functioning science spacecraft, including Opportunity on Mars and Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter circling the Moon.
Penny wise, pound foolish: Budget issues continue to threaten a number of successfully functioning science spacecraft, including Opportunity on Mars and Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter circling the Moon.
Don’t be surprised if NASA announces soon that they are shutting down these spacecraft so they can save some money. Or as the article notes, “Money not spent on these extended missions will probably slide into [the Science Mission Directorate’s] Black Hole of Funding (the James Webb Space Telescope) or be dissipated on new paperwork, committee meetings and concept studies.”
According to a new study, Chelyabinsk-scale meteorite impacts happen more often than we have been aware.
According to a new study, Chelyabinsk-scale meteorite impacts happen more often than we have been aware.
The bright flare of the Russian meteor was hard to miss, and left 1,200 people injured in February 2013. What the human eye missed was two separate high-altitude explosions that occurred over Argentina and the North Atlantic Ocean just months later. That’s according to data from an infrasound network used to track nuke tests, released Tuesday by the B612 Foundation.
The data shows that there were 26 comparable events since 2000.
What Israel’s new surveillance satellite, Ofek 10, is doing.
What Israel’s new surveillance satellite, Ofek 10, is doing.
A Democratic prosecutor has waged a fifteen year campaign of harassment against a gun range and its owner because the owner publicly disagreed with that prosecutor.
Liberals on twitter call for the murder of the Bundy family in Nevada by the federal government.
Feel the love: Liberals on twitter call for the murder of the Bundy family in Nevada by the federal government.
The comptroller of New York City does not like the political opinions of a Texas business and the causes to which it contributes.
Fascist: The Democratic comptroller of New York City does not like the political opinions of a Texas business and the conservative causes to which it contributes.
The next step: Investigate them and put them in prison for daring to support such causes.
The Health & Human Services department spends an average of $146 per month per employee for email services.
Typical government: The Health & Human Services department spends an average of $146 per month per employee for email services.
Considering the number of employees, 70,000, you would think the government could get a discount making the cost less that what an ordinary citizen pays for home service. Instead, they pay about twice as much.
Which means we must of course give them control over 1/6 of the nation’s economy. How else can we rein in costs?
A balloon spaceport for Arizona?
Arianespace struggles to schedule its customers for launch.
Arianespace struggles to schedule its customers for launch.
The editorial describes the juggling act the company is often forced to perform organizing the duel payloads required by the Ariane 5, with the launch of some customers’ satellites delayed because of the late arrival of other customers. From this information it is clear that the competition coming from SpaceX is not limited only to price. Arianespace’s requirement on Ariane 5 that there be two satellites means that sometimes they have to do harm to one of their customers by delaying their launch, even if that customer delivered on time. I can imagine some of those customers quite willing to go elsewhere should this happen too often.
The BLM is considering taking advantage of an obscure legal dispute to confiscate 90,000 acres of privately owned land on the Texas-Oklahoma border
Fascists: The BLM is considering taking advantage of an obscure legal dispute to confiscate 90,000 acres of privately owned land on the Texas-Oklahoma border.
The last thing a just government would want to do is to steal land from the citizens. The legal issues need to be settled, but that is not the way to do it.