Successful test for India's Nirbhay cruise missile
New Delhi (UPI) Oct 21, 2014 -
The second test flight of India's Nirbhay long-range cruise missile achieved all its mission objectives, the India Defense R&D Organization reports.
The missile, the first Indian cruise missile designed and developed locally, flew 621 miles in a 70-minute flight.
"The missile maintained an accuracy better than 10 meters (32.8 feet) throughout its path and covered a distance of mo ...
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NASA Awards Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder for the JPSS-2 Mission
Washington DC (SPX) Oct 24, 2014 -
NASA has awarded a sole source contract modification to Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems, of Azusa, California, for the Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) Instrument for flight on the Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2) mission.
This is a cost-plus-award-fee modification in the amount of $121 million. This action extends the period of performance of the contract from May 2 ...
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Suomi team ward off recent space debris threat
Silver Spring MD (SPX) Oct 24, 2014 -
While space debris was the uncontrolled adversary in the award-winning space thriller film "Gravity," space debris, also known as "space junk," is an ongoing real-life concern for teams managing satellites orbiting Earth, including NOAA-NASA's Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership, or Suomi NPP, satellite. It is not unusual for satellites that have the capability of maneuvering to be reposit ...
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NASA-led study sees Titan glowing at dusk and dawn
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Oct 24, 2014 -
New maps of Saturn's moon Titan reveal large patches of trace gases shining brightly near the north and south poles. These regions are curiously shifted off the poles, to the east or west, so that dawn is breaking over the southern region while dusk is falling over the northern one.
The pair of patches was spotted by a NASA-led international team of researchers investigating the chemical m ...
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Next Chinese mission to moon will return to Earth
Moscow (RIA Novosti) Oct 24, 2014 -
This week China will launch a new lunar orbiter, which, in contrast with previous space probes, will return to Earth after orbiting the Moon, China's official Xinhua news agency reports.
Ye Peijian, senior adviser to the China Academy Of Space Technology talked to Xinhua about the probe earlier this month: "After we are able to have probes return to earth, we'll study and move to possible ...
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New lunar mission to test Chang'e-5 technology
Beijing (XNA) Oct 24, 2014 -
China will launch a new lunar mission this week to test technology likely to be used in Chang'e-5, a future lunar probe with the ability to return to Earth.
The experimental spacecraft launched this week is expected to reach a location near the moon and return to Earth, according to the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense on Wednesday.
The te ...
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Cosmonauts complete 3rd EVA for October
Washington DC (SPX) Oct 24, 2014 -
Russian spacewalkers Max Suraev and Alexander Samokutyaev closed the Pirs docking compartment hatch at 1:06 p.m. EDT ending the third spacewalk for Expedition 41. The cosmonauts were outside the International Space Station for three hours and 38 minutes. Two U.S. spacewalks took place Oct. 7 and 15.
The duo's first task was to remove the Radiometriya experiment that was installed on the Zv ...
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NASA uses ultra-black nano-coating for solar coronagraph
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Oct 24, 2014 -
An emerging super-black nanotechnology that is to be tested for the first time this fall on the International Space Station will be applied to a complex, 3-D component critical for suppressing stray light in a new, smaller, less-expensive solar coronagraph designed to ultimately fly on the orbiting outpost or as a hosted payload on a commercial satellite.
The super-black carbon-nanotube co ...
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Thales providing satcom capability to Qatar
Paris (UPI) Oct 21, 2014 -
The military forces of Qatar are receiving a satellite communications system and network operations center from Thales.
The monetary value of the award and the performance timeline for the work were not disclosed but Thales said its communications system would be supplied on a turnkey basis.
"Satellite communication systems are an important component of a military force's voice a ...
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U.S. holds test on Aegis tracking capability
Washington (UPI) Oct 21, 2014 -
The U.S. military has demonstrated that Lockheed Martin's Aegis weapon system can destroy a ballistic missile solely on tracks from remote airborne sensors.
Results of the demonstration by the Ballistic Missile Defense Agency and the Navy will be used to enhance the Ballistic Missile Defense System and support the advancement of Phase 2 of the Phased Adaptive Approach for missile defens ...
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Organic molecules in Titan's atmosphere are intriguingly skewed
Washington DC (SPX) Oct 24, 2014 -
While studying the atmosphere on Saturn's moon Titan, scientists discovered intriguing zones of organic molecules unexpectedly shifted away from its north and south poles. These misaligned features seem to defy conventional thinking about Titan's windy atmosphere, which should quickly smear out such off-axis concentrations.
"This is an unexpected and potentially groundbreaking discovery," ...
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Two families of comets found around nearby star
Paris (SPX) Oct 24, 2014 -
Beta Pictoris is a young star located about 63 light-years from the Sun. It is only about 20 million years old and is surrounded by a huge disc of material - a very active young planetary system where gas and dust are produced by the evaporation of comets and the collisions of asteroids.
Flavien Kiefer (IAP/CNRS/UPMC), lead author of the new study sets the scene: "Beta Pictoris is a very e ...
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China's Secret Moon Mission
Sydney, Australia (SPX) Oct 23, 2014 -
Soon, a rocket will launch a Chinese spacecraft to the Moon and back. It's the first time that China has attempted this long and perilous journey. It should be a great achievement for the nation, worthy of extensive publicity. Ironically, this mission has been shrouded in more obscurity than the "secret" X-37B spaceplane operated by the US Air Force, which even had its re-entry pre-announced and ...
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China's space policy gets even tighter
Sydney, Australia (SPX) Oct 22, 2014 -
Anyone who watches China's space program is well aware of the nation's information policies. China has never been as open as we would like. We can understand that China operates under a different political system to other nations, and their space program is also subject to tight veils of secrecy.
Nevertheless, we have grown used to mining information from the trickle of reports and rumours ...
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Mapping drone prompts China to scramble fighter jets: report
Beijing (AFP) Oct 23, 2014 -
China deployed more than 1,200 troops and scrambled fighter jets in response to an unauthorised flight near Beijing airport by what turned out to be a mapping drone, state-run media reported Thursday.
Three men are being prosecuted over the incident, the China Daily said.
It cited prosecutors as saying that 1,226 military personnel, 123 military vehicles, 26 radar technicians, two fighte ...
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Cyber-security center launched in Wales
Cardiff, Wales (UPI) Oct 23, 2014 -
A new cyber-security center has been officially launched in Britain by Alert Logic for its expanding European customer base.
The European Security Operations Center is located in Cardiff, Wales, and will deliver enterprise-grade service for the Alert Logic suite of network, system and application security technologies.
"IT teams are not resourced to adequately respond to the mark ...
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Australia closer to new joint-service helicopter crew training
Canberra, Azores (UPI) Oct 23, 2014 -
The Australian military is allotting more than $600 million for a new army and navy helicopter training system.
The allotment, which includes about $175 million for new and refurbished facilities at HMAS Albatross, the base where the system will be located, comes with Department of Defense approval for procuring a new training system.
"This (system) will deliver a fully integrate ...
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IS propaganda strategy 'evolving': experts
Paris (AFP) Oct 23, 2014 -
From online videos to the social network postings of their fighters, the propaganda of the Islamic State jihadist group is evolving to prevent the leaking of strategic information while at the same time maintaining its impact.
Experts and journalists say they have observed a change in the group's approach to communications since its offensive on the Syrian town of Kobane and air strikes by a ...
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India's Modi rallies troops in Diwali day Kashmir visit
Srinagar, India Oct 23, 2014 -
India's new Prime Minister Narendra Modi marked the festival of Diwali Thursday with a visit to the disputed Kashmir region to rally the morale of troops after recent deadly clashes with Pakistan.
Modi, who also visited victims of floods that devastated parts of Kashmir last month, met soldiers based on a Himalayan glacier as he bolstered his Hindu nationalist credentials in what is India's ...
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RAZAR zoom scope developed for military assault rifles
Albuquerque (UPI) Oct 23, 2014 -
A fast and accurate zoom scope for use on military rifles has been developed by Sandia National Laboratories and its optical engineers.
The prototype system is called the Rapid Adaptive Zoom for Assault Rifles, or RAZAR, which allows a rifleman to toggle between high and low magnifications at a push of a button without having to remove their eyes from their targets or their hands from ...
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Brazil, Argentina to negotiate over Gripen aircraft
Gaviao Peixoto, Brazil (UPI) Oct 22, 2014 -
Brazil and Argentina are to begin negotiations over the purchase of Swedish-designed Gripen fighters to be manufactured in Brazil.
The decision was announced in Brazil by visiting Argentine Defense Minister AgustÃn Rossi.
Brazil's Ministry of Defense said the talks over the possible purchase of 24 Brazil-produced Gripens would include not only the conditions of purchase but also ...
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Dances with wolves in China's wild west
Jimsar, China (AFP) Oct 23, 2014 -
Facing down a pack of snarling wolves - the symbol of the Uighur minority in China's violence-wracked far west - businessman Yang Changsheng offered a sausage in friendship.
"I have a deep feeling for wolves. They will attack other people, but not me," said Yang, who breeds the animals high in the snow-capped Tianshan mountains, in the vast border region of Xinjiang.
The area usually h ...
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ORNL research reveals unique capabilities of 3-D printing
Oak Ridge TN (SPX) Oct 20, 2014 -
Researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have demonstrated an additive manufacturing method to control the structure and properties of metal components with precision unmatched by conventional manufacturing processes.
Ryan Dehoff, staff scientist and metal additive manufacturing lead at the Department of Energy's Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at ORNL, ...
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Argentina launches its first telecom satellite
Moscow (RIA Novosti) Oct 21, 2014 -
Argentina has successfully launched its first domestically designed and developed geostationary communications satellite Thursday, USA Today reported.
"ARSAT-1 is on its way to space. What a thrill," Argentina's President Cristina Kirchner wrote on her Twitter account.
The satellite will occupy the 81 West orbital slot, 36,000 km away from earth.
ARSAT-1 is the first satellite ...
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Russia to Orbit 9 MilCom Satellites by 2020
Moscow (RIA Novosti) Oct 21, 2014 -
The Russian military will add nine advanced communications satellites to its orbital grouping by 2020, a senior military commander said Monday.
"By 2020, the orbital grouping of military communications satellites will be strengthened with nine modern satellites," Maj. Gen. Khalil Arslanov, the chief of the Main Communications Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces, said Monday.
Arsl ...
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