India moves ahead with the construction of its own reusable space plane
India moves ahead with the construction of its own reusable spaceship.
India moves ahead with the construction of its own reusable spaceship.
Tag: spaceflight
India moves ahead with the construction of its own reusable space plane
A fitting memorial
Opportunity has settled into its winter haven.
NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity will spend the next few months during the coldest part of Martian winter at Greeley Haven, an outcrop of rock on Mars recently named informally to honor Ronald Greeley, Arizona State University Regents’ professor of planetary geology, who died October 27, 2011.
I met and interviewed Greeley a number of times in writing articles for magazines like Sky & Telescope and Astronomy. For years he was a central figure in the field of planetary geology, and his life effort is one of the prime reasons the United States has dominated this field for most of the past half century, with a fleet of planetary missions presently at Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto, with many more to come.
The article notes that the International Astronomical Union (IAU) has the job of naming objects in space, and could take years to honor Greeley. I say that if these scientists, the true explorers of Mars, want to name something for him, then they should go ahead, and future generations should honor that choice, regardless of what the IAU says.
ArianeSpace will make a profit in 2011, the first time in three years
ArianeSpace will make a profit in 2011, the first time in three years.
Helped by the two Soyuz campaigns, which occurred in October and December, Arianespace in 2011 apparently averted a third consecutive year of losses. Its financial accounts are not finalized until June, but Le Gall said the company expects to report a slight profit on about 985 million euros in revenue.
In other words, it was the addition of the Russian low-cost Soyuz rocket to their fleet that helped avoid another year’s loss. This doesn’t reflect well on the profitability of the Ariane 5 rocket.
ArianeSpace will make a profit in 2011, the first time in three years.
Helped by the two Soyuz campaigns, which occurred in October and December, Arianespace in 2011 apparently averted a third consecutive year of losses. Its financial accounts are not finalized until June, but Le Gall said the company expects to report a slight profit on about 985 million euros in revenue.
In other words, it was the addition of the Russian low-cost Soyuz rocket to their fleet that helped avoid another year’s loss. This doesn’t reflect well on the profitability of the Ariane 5 rocket.
Is the Air Force using the X-37B to spy on China’s first space station?
Is the Air Force using the X-37B to spy on China’s first space station?
Is the Air Force using the X-37B to spy on China’s first space station?
Cassini’s top ten images for 2011
A NASA inquiry into the ownership of a variety of space artifacts, including Jim Lovell’s Apollo 13 checklist, has halted their sale at auction.
Power grab: A NASA inquiry into the ownership of a variety of space artifacts, including Jim Lovell’s Apollo 13 checklist, has halted their sale at auction.
In other words, it appears that NASA management has decided that everything ever built by NASA belongs to NASA, forever, even if NASA would have thrown it away at some point.
Power grab: A NASA inquiry into the ownership of a variety of space artifacts, including Jim Lovell’s Apollo 13 checklist, has halted their sale at auction.
In other words, it appears that NASA management has decided that everything ever built by NASA belongs to NASA, forever, even if NASA would have thrown it away at some point.
Ecliptic, the company that puts cameras on rockets
Ecliptic, the company that puts cameras on rockets. And now, its cameras will look down at the Moon from the Grail spacecraft.
Check out the company’s youtube channel here.
Ecliptic, the company that puts cameras on rockets. And now, its cameras will look down at the Moon from the Grail spacecraft.
Check out the company’s youtube channel here.
The tiny thrusters that could.
The second Grail space probe has entered lunar orbit
The second Grail space probe has entered lunar orbit.
The second Grail space probe has entered lunar orbit.
The first of two Grail space probes has entered lunar orbit
The first of two Grail space probes has entered lunar orbit.
The first of two Grail space probes has entered lunar orbit.
Volcanic activity in the Red Sea is producing a new island
Volcanic activity in the Red Sea is producing a brand new island.
Volcanic activity in the Red Sea is producing a brand new island.
China issues a white paper on space, outlining its future goals
China today issued a white paper on space, outlining its future goals. In addition to additional launches of its manned Shenzhou manned capsule,
China also plans to launch space laboratories, manned spaceship and space freighters, and will start a research on the preliminary plan for a human landing on the moon, the document said.
As an important part of deep-space exploration, the country’s lunar probe projects follow the idea of “three steps” — orbiting, landing and returning. In next five years, the country plans to launch orbiters for lunar soft landing, roving and surveying to implement the second stage of lunar exploration, then it will start the third-stage project of sampling the moon’s surface matters and get those samples back to Earth, the white paper said.
You can download the full white paper here [pdf]. Hat tip to Spaceref.com.
China today issued a white paper on space, outlining its future goals. In addition to additional launches of its manned Shenzhou manned capsule,
China also plans to launch space laboratories, manned spaceship and space freighters, and will start a research on the preliminary plan for a human landing on the moon, the document said.
As an important part of deep-space exploration, the country’s lunar probe projects follow the idea of “three steps” — orbiting, landing and returning. In next five years, the country plans to launch orbiters for lunar soft landing, roving and surveying to implement the second stage of lunar exploration, then it will start the third-stage project of sampling the moon’s surface matters and get those samples back to Earth, the white paper said.
You can download the full white paper here [pdf]. Hat tip to Spaceref.com.
Soyuz rocket successfully launched six satellites into orbit today
Good news: A Russian Soyuz-2 rocket successfully launched six satellites into orbit today, less than a week after a differently configured Soyuz-2 rocket had failed.
Good news: A Russian Soyuz-2 rocket successfully launched six satellites into orbit today, less than a week after a differently configured Soyuz-2 rocket had failed.
China has activated its own GPS satellite system
China has activated its own GPS satellite system.
China had so far launched 10 satellites for the Beidou system, including one this month, and planned to put six more in orbit in 2012 to enhance the system’s accuracy and expand its service to cover most of the Asia Pacific region.
China has activated its own GPS satellite system.
China had so far launched 10 satellites for the Beidou system, including one this month, and planned to put six more in orbit in 2012 to enhance the system’s accuracy and expand its service to cover most of the Asia Pacific region.
Russia scrubs launch of Proton rocket due to “technical problems.”
Russia has scrubbed the launch of a Proton rocket today due to “technical problems.”
After the launch failure on Saturday of a Soyuz rocket, I suspect that top management got gun shy about doing another launch so soon thereafter.
Russia has scrubbed the launch of a Proton rocket today due to “technical problems.”
After the launch failure on Saturday of a Soyuz rocket, I suspect that top management got gun shy about doing another launch so soon thereafter.
Engineers say the mysterious sphere that crashed in Africa is a hydrazine tank from a rocket
Engineers say the mysterious sphere that crashed in Africa is a hydrazine tank from a rocket.
Engineers say the mysterious sphere that crashed in Africa is a hydrazine tank from a rocket.
Fragments from the failed Russian launch crash onto “Cosmonaut Street” in Siberia
Fragments from yesterday’s failed Russian launch crashed onto “Cosmonaut Street” in Siberia.
Fragments from yesterday’s failed Russian launch crashed onto “Cosmonaut Street” in Siberia.
Another Russian launch failure today
The view of Comet Lovejoy from ISS
The view of Comet Lovejoy from ISS. With video.
The view of Comet Lovejoy from ISS. With video.
Bringing an asteroid home in a bag.
The NASA shuttle simulator for training astronauts is going to at Texas A&M
The NASA shuttle simulator for training astronauts is going to Texas A&M.
Valasek said it won’t be a static display for viewing but a functional flight simulator. Visitors will be able to sit in the seats and cockpit and manually fly a simulated re-entry as the shuttle astronauts did. “When operational again, the SMS will be the centerpiece of many educational, outreach, and research activities for a long time to come,” Valasek said. “And it will be accessible. Until now, 355 astronauts have trained on the Shuttle Motion Simulator and flown on a space shuttle mission. Now the rest of us can experience at least a part of the excitement of space exploration, just the way the astronauts trained for it.”
The simulator will be used in aerospace engineering courses and accessible to all Texas A&M students, staff, and faculty. Spaceflight enthusiasts and fans of technology, whether affiliated with the university or not, will also be able to enjoy it.
Now, this is what an engineering school should be focused on, rather than the skin color of its students.
The NASA shuttle simulator for training astronauts is going to Texas A&M.
Valasek said it won’t be a static display for viewing but a functional flight simulator. Visitors will be able to sit in the seats and cockpit and manually fly a simulated re-entry as the shuttle astronauts did. “When operational again, the SMS will be the centerpiece of many educational, outreach, and research activities for a long time to come,” Valasek said. “And it will be accessible. Until now, 355 astronauts have trained on the Shuttle Motion Simulator and flown on a space shuttle mission. Now the rest of us can experience at least a part of the excitement of space exploration, just the way the astronauts trained for it.”
The simulator will be used in aerospace engineering courses and accessible to all Texas A&M students, staff, and faculty. Spaceflight enthusiasts and fans of technology, whether affiliated with the university or not, will also be able to enjoy it.
Now, this is what an engineering school should be focused on, rather than the skin color of its students.
Russia launches three astronauts to ISS
Doing the work NASA can’t do: Russia successfully launched three astronauts to ISS this morning.
Doing the work NASA can’t do: Russia successfully launched three astronauts to ISS this morning.
A telescope to go where no telescope has gone before
Russia’s GPS system, Glonass, has reached full operational capability for the first time since the fall of the Soviet Union
Russia’s GPS system, Glonass, has returned to full operational capability, lost shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union.
Russia’s GPS system, Glonass, has returned to full operational capability, lost shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union.
Seven predictions for the year 2011 from 1931
Seven predictions made in 1931 for the year 2011.
Seven predictions made in 1931 for the year 2011.
A Spanish company has announced it will build a space hotel by 2012
A Spanish company has announced it will build a space hotel by 2012.
The story suggests that Virgin Galactic will providing the tourist ferry to their orbital hotel, which is puzzling as that company is only building a suborbital spacecraft at this time.
A Spanish company has announced it will build a space hotel by 2012.
The story suggests that Virgin Galactic will providing the tourist ferry to their orbital hotel, which is puzzling as that company is only building a suborbital spacecraft at this time.
Using the spacecraft’s last drops of fuel, engineers are attempting to aim Deep Impact toward a rendezvous with near Earth asteroid 2002 GT.
Using the spacecraft’s last drops of fuel, engineers are attempting to aim Deep Impact to a 2020 rendezvous with near Earth asteroid 2002 GT.
Using the spacecraft’s last drops of fuel, engineers are attempting to aim Deep Impact to a 2020 rendezvous with near Earth asteroid 2002 GT.
Europe to test fly a suborbital space plane in 2014
Virgin Galactic isn’t the only one building a suborbital spaceplane: Europe plans to test fly its own suborbital spaceship in 2014.
Virgin Galactic isn’t the only one building a suborbital spaceplane: Europe plans to test fly its own suborbital spaceship in 2014.
Richard Branson talks to the Wall Street Journal
Richard Branson talks to the Wall Street Journal about space.
Mr. Branson is still radiating enthusiasm. “We’ve got just short of 500 people now signed up to go, which is actually more people than have been up to space in the history of space travel, and we hope to put those up in our first year of operation,” he says, predicting the first commercial flight by “about next Christmas,” although he acknowledges that there have been many delays.
Richard Branson talks to the Wall Street Journal about space.
Mr. Branson is still radiating enthusiasm. “We’ve got just short of 500 people now signed up to go, which is actually more people than have been up to space in the history of space travel, and we hope to put those up in our first year of operation,” he says, predicting the first commercial flight by “about next Christmas,” although he acknowledges that there have been many delays.
Russian rocket completes its second launch from French Guiana
A Russian Soyuz rocket has completed its second launch from French Guiana, carrying six military satellites into orbit.
A Russian Soyuz rocket has completed its second launch from French Guiana, carrying six military satellites into orbit.