Atlas 5 launches spysat payload for NRO
Vandenberg AFB CA (SPX) Dec 16, 2014 -
A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket carrying a payload for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) lifted off from Space Launch Complex-3 on Dec. 12 at 7:19 p.m. PST. Designated NROL-35, the mission is in support of national defense.
"We are honored to deliver the NROL-35 spacecraft to orbit together with our customers, the NRO Office of Space Launch and the Air Force," said Jim ...
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Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty Between USSR, US in Details
Moscow (Sputnik) Dec 16, 2014 -
On December 13, 2002, US President George W. Bush announced that the United States will unilaterally withdraw from the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty with the USSR. The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM Treaty) between the Soviet Union and the United States was signed on May 26, 1972 in Moscow and entered into force on October 3, 1972.
The treaty barred the parties from deploying ant ...
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SpaceX to try to 'precision-land' rocket in ocean
Miami (AFP) Dec 17, 2014 -
SpaceX said Wednesday it will for the first time try to land its Falcon 9 rocket on a floating platform in the ocean after launching cargo to the International Space Station.
Just a 50-50 chance of success in Friday's attempt was predicted by the California-based company led by billionaire Internet entrepreneur Elon Musk.
Currently, most rockets burn up on re-entry, but SpaceX is trying ...
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ESA scientists say Philae lander will wake up in 2015
San Francisco (UPI) Dec 17, 2014 -
The team of scientists and engineers responsible for this fall's historic comet landing are confident Philae's current slumber is only temporary.
"I think within the team there is no doubt that we will wake up," lead lander scientist Jean-Pierre Bibring told reporters at the American Geophysical Union's annual meeting, held this week in San Francisco. "And the question is OK, in what sh ...
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The gold standard
Pittsburgh PA (SPX) Dec 16, 2014 -
Precious elements such as platinum work well as catalysts in chemical reactions, but require large amounts of metal and can be expensive. However, computational modeling below the nanoscale level may allow researchers to design more efficient and affordable catalysts from gold.
These novel computer simulations to better explore how catalysts function at the nanoscale, led by researchers at ...
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China drives growth in patent applications worldwide
Geneva (AFP) Dec 16, 2014 -
China made one third of the world's patent applications last year, once again driving strong global growth despite stalling innovation in Europe and Japan, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) said Tuesday.
New figures confirm that "strategically, the country... is on a journey from 'made in China' to 'created in China', away from manufacturing to more knowledge intensive indu ...
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Surprising Theorists, Stars Within Middle-Aged Clusters Are of Similar Age
Oxnard CA (SPX) Dec 18, 2014 -
A close look at the night sky reveals that stars don't like to be alone; instead, they congregate in clusters, in some cases containing as many as several million stars. Until recently, the oldest of these populous star clusters were considered well understood, with the stars in a single group having formed at different times, over periods of more than 300 million years.
Yet new research p ...
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