Dragon and Falcon 9 fall to Earth
After their successful first launch several weeks ago, the Dragon capsule and upper stage of Falcon 9 fell back to Earth over the weekend.
Category: Points of Information
Very brief descriptions, with appropriate links, of current or recent news items.
Ikaros is activated
The first solar sail finally flies. The Japanese have activated Ikaros and are beginning actual flight tests.
Space War between Congress and the President
The space war between Congress and the President over space continues.
Hayabusa, Deep Impact, India/TMT
Japanese scientists have taken their first look inside the Hayabusa capsule. So far, they’ve detected some unidentified gas, but no particles bigger than 1 millimeter.
On Sunday, Deep Impact flies past Earth to give it a boost so that it can rendezvous with another comet on Nov 4, 2010.
India has joined the Thirty Meter Telescope Project. This is important as it shows how much India is becoming a first world nation. It also indicates that nation’s continuing passion for all things space-related. Also, the Thirty Meter Telescope (with a mirror the size of a football field!) is cool on its own.