Russian Resupply Vehicle to Blast Off for ISS Voyage
Moscow (RIA Novosti) Apr 03, 2014 -
A Russian unmanned Progress resupply spacecraft is readying for an April 9 launch from the Baikonur space center to deliver essential cargo to the International Space Station, the Russian space agency Roscosmos has said.
"The spaceship will carry more than 2.5 tons of diverse cargo, including fuel for the ISS, additional hardware, food, water and oxygen for the crew, as well as scientific ...
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NASA Awards Digital Processor Assembly Contract for LCRD Flight Payload
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Apr 03, 2014 -
NASA has awarded the Digital Processor Assembly contract to SEAKR Engineering Inc., Centennial, Colo., for use on the Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) project.
This is a sole source, firm-fixed price contract in the amount of $6,499,037 with a period of performance of 21 months from the date of award.
The contractor will provide two Digital Processors to be used as par ...
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USAF Awards Lockheed Martin Full Production Contracts For Next Two GPS 3 Satellites
Denver CO (SPX) Apr 03, 2014 -
The U.S. Air Force awarded Lockheed Martin more than $245 million in contract options to complete production of its seventh and eighth next-generation Global Positioning System satellites, known as GPS III.
GPS III space vehicles seven and eight (SV 07-08) received initial funding under a February 2013 long lead material contract for the Air Force's second set of four satellites, GPS III S ...
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Black hole makes 'String of Pearls' clusters
Melbourne, Australia (SPX) Apr 03, 2014 -
Huge young star clusters resembling a string of pearls around a black hole in the centre of a galaxy 120 million light-years away have been discovered by researchers at Swinburne University of Technology. The galaxy, called NGC2110, is in the constellation of Orion.
Using the giant Keck telescopes in Hawaii, the researchers, Professor Jeremy Mould and PhD student Mark Durre from Swinburne' ...
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EUTELSAT 3B Mission Status Update
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Apr 03, 2014 -
During the final "dry" roll-out phase of integrated launch vehicle (ILV) processing at Home Port in support of the EUTELSAT 3B mission, a discrepancy in the nominal movement of the cable-mast and the Zenit-2S LV lateral plate occurred while installing the ILV onto the launch pad. This caused mechanical damage to the lateral plate housing located on the inter-stage truss of the LV. Resolution of ...
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Dawn draws ever closer to dwarf planet Ceres
Pasadena CA (JPL) Apr 03, 2014 -
Powering its way through deep space, Dawn draws ever closer to dwarf planet Ceres. To reach its destination, the interplanetary spaceship gently reshapes its path around the sun with its extraordinary ion propulsion system. In about a year, the spacecraft will gracefully slip into orbit so it can begin to unveil the nature of the mysterious world of rock and ice, an intriguing protoplanetary rem ...
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Mars and Earth move closer together this month
Washington DC (UPI) Apr 01, 2014 -
Spring is here, love is in the air, and Mars and Earth are getting a little closer this time of year.
For the next two weeks, the two neighborly planets will continue to converge - the distance between them shrinking roughly 186 miles every minute.
By the time the convergence ends, Mars and Earth will have moved 57 million miles closer together. Such a distance may seem a pittan ...
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Ukraine crisis brings MDA project to a halt
Washington DC (UPI) Apr 01, 2014 -
A Canadian communications and information company says the political and military crisis in Ukraine is having an adverse effect on its business there.
MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. said Russia's occupation and annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region has caused it and an unidentified Ukranian customer to declare force majeure in regard to a contract for a ground segment project ...
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NASA suspends Russia ties, except on space station
Washington (AFP) April 02, 2014 -
NASA has cut all contacts with Russia except for cooperation aboard the International Space Station, according to an internal memo obtained by the online news site The Verge on Wednesday.
NASA did not immediately return calls for comment.
However, a copy of the memo posted online described a halt to travel to Russia by NASA employees and to visits by Russians to NASA facilities, and a fr ...
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Health risks of Mars mission would exceed NASA limits
Washington (AFP) April 02, 2014 -
Efforts to send humans to Mars would likely expose them to health risks beyond the limits of what NASA currently allows, an independent panel of medical experts said Wednesday.
Therefore, any long-term or deep space missions - which are still decades off - need a special level of ethical scrutiny, said the report by the Institute of Medicine.
"These types of missions will likely expose ...
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