India to test fly bigger space vehicle next month
New Delhi (XNA) Nov 04, 2014 -
India will conduct a partial test flight of a bigger and better space vehicle next month, a top official of the state-owned space agency has reportedly said.
The landmark test flight of GSLV Mark-III will lead to "a future workhorse vehicle that will stay with us for many years," Indian Space Research Organization chief K. Radhakrishnan was quoted by the media as saying in the southern cit ...
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China to build global quantum communication network in 2030
Hefei, China (XNA) Nov 04, 2014 -
China will build a global quantum communication network by 2030, said a leading Chinese quantum physicist on Sunday.
"China's quantum information science and technology is developing very fast and China leads in some areas in this field," said Pan Jianwei, a Chinese quantum scientist and professor at the University of Science and Technology of China.
The field of quantum communicatio ...
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Virgin boss hits out after safety warning claim
Los Angeles, United Kingdom (AFP) Nov 03, 2014 -
Questions about why the Virgin Galactic spaceship crashed switched focus Monday to a prematurely-deployed lever on the doomed flight, as Virgin's boss suggested it may "well be" the cause.
But Branson also hit out against "hurtful" critics and "self-proclaimed experts" after a rocket scientist said that the company had ignored safety warnings ahead of the deadly crash of one of its spacecraf ...
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China gears up for lunar mission after round-trip success
Beijing (XNA) Nov 04, 2014 -
The head of China's lunar probe program has called for a thorough analysis of data collected from the test lunar orbiter, which returned Saturday, to speed up work on Chang'e-5, the star of the 2017 lunar mission.
With the test lunar orbiter landing early Saturday in north China after an eight-day flight, China joined the Soviet Union and the United States and became the third nation to re ...
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Goodbye to Rainy Days for US, Japan's First Rain Radar in Space
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Nov 05, 2014 -
After 17 years of groundbreaking 3-D images of rain and storms, the joint NASA and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) will come to an end next year. NASA predicts that science operations will cease in or about April 2015, based on the most recent analysis by mission operations at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland.
On July 8, ...
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NASA Program Enhances Climate Resilience at Agency Facilities
Washington DC (SPX) Nov 05, 2014 -
A new study in the latest issue of the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society provides an in-depth look at how NASA facilities have been affected by climate extremes and climate change in recent years and how the agency is preparing for the future.
Using a blend of weather data, global and regional climate model outputs, and advances in the understanding of the climate system, the ...
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Five years of soil moisture, ocean salinity and beyond
Paris (ESA) Nov 05, 2014 -
ESA's SMOS satellite has clocked up more than one billion kilometers orbiting Earth to improve our understanding of our planet's water cycle. Marking its fifth birthday, all the data collected over land and ocean have been drawn together to show how moisture in the soil and salinity in the ocean change over the year.
The Earth Explorer SMOS mission was launched on 2 November 2009 from Ples ...
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NASA Lining up ICESat-2's Laser-catching Telescope
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Nov 05, 2014 -
To catch individual laser photons that have travelled more than 600 miles from a satellite to Earth and back, the satellite's telescope needs to be perfectly positioned. Last week, engineers and technicians at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, fitted the mirrored telescope of the Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) into its place.
It's the latest m ...
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Canadian astronaut's 'Space Oddity' video back on YouTube
Ottawa (AFP) Nov 04, 2014 -
The first music video recorded in space - a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity" by Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield - is back after a public outcry over its removal from YouTube.
Hadfield, who made the video in zero gravity during a five-month mission last year to the International Space Station, said on his website it is being made available online for free for two years.
It had or ...
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Five years in space: one satellite, three missions
Paris (ESA) Nov 05, 2014 -
ESA's Proba-2 celebrates five years in orbit today. From technology demonstrator to solar observatory and now space weather platform, the mission has provided triple value to European scientists.
The second PRoject for OnBoard Autonomy mission was launched in 2009 as part of ESA's programme for proving new technology in space.
Orbiting at about 725 km, this minisatellite - smaller th ...
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Eye-catching space technology restoring sight
Paris (ESA) Nov 05, 2014 -
Laser surgery to correct eyesight is common practice, but did you know that technology developed for use in space is now commonly used to track the patient's eye and precisely direct the laser scalpel?
If you look at a fixed point while tilting or shaking your head, your eyes automatically hold steady, allowing you to see clearly even while moving around. This neat trick of nature is a ref ...
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SpaceShipTwo Manufacturer May Face Setback After Crash in California
Washington DC (RIA Novosti) Nov 05, 2014 -
The crash of the Virgin Galactic suborbital spaceplane SpaceShipTwo in Califonia will be a setback to the company, retired space policy director at George Washington University John Logsdon told RIA Novosti on Friday.
"It's certainly setback, because Virgin Galactic was the most out in front and highest profile company in the industry and said it was beginning to offer commercial flights," ...
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Solving the mystery of life by exploring Churyumov-Gerasimenko
Moscow (RIA Novosti) Nov 05, 2014 -
Within a few days, the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft will drop a tiny lander called Philae onto the surface of a mysterious comet, 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko: a huge chunk of ice and organic chemicals that has been travelling for billions of years through outer space.
"Rosetta and the Philae lander should answer two of the most important questions in science: where did Earth's ...
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NASA-Funded Sounding Rocket to Gather 1,500 Sun Images in 5 Minutes
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Nov 05, 2014 -
A sounding rocket outfitted with technology to gather 1,500 images of the sun over its five-minute mission is preparing to launch in early November 2014.
Capturing five images per second, the RAISE mission will focus in on the split-second changes that occur near active regions on the sun - areas of intense and complex magnetic fields that can give birth to giant eruptions on the sun that ...
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Planetary Atmospheres a Key to Assessing Possibilities for Life
Moffett Field CA (SPX) Nov 05, 2014 -
A planetary atmosphere is a delicate thing. On Earth, we are familiar with the ozone hole - a tear in our upper atmosphere caused by human-created chemicals that thin away the ozone. Threats to an atmosphere, however, can also come from natural causes.
If a big enough asteroid smacks into a planet, it can strip the atmosphere away. Radiation from a star can also make an atmosphere balloon, ...
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Life Can Survive on Much Less Water Than You Might Think
Moffett Field CA (SPX) Nov 05, 2014 -
"Follow the water" has long been the mantra of our scientific search for alien life in the Solar System and beyond. We continue seeking conditions where water can remain liquid either on a world's surface or elsewhere within a planetary body. This approach makes a lot of sense. Life as we know it requires water for the complex chemistry that enables growth and reproduction. Where there is water, ...
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Fireball lit up the sky across Midwest and East Coast Monday night
Chicago (UPI) Nov 4, 2014 -
Dozens of skywatchers - including some armed with video cameras - reported seeing a bright fireball streak across the skyline on Monday evening. The American Meteor Society fielded more than 300 reports from across the Midwest and East Coast.
Bill Cooke, head of NASA's Meteoroid Environments Office in Huntsville, Alabama, told ABC News their reports suggest two separate fireball event ...
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To Agilkia... and beyond: Comet landing site is named
Paris (AFP) Nov 04, 2014 -
Will space historians one day say "Agilkia" with the same awe as they utter "Tranquility Base," where in 1969 Man first walked on the Moon?
Agilkia - called after an island on the Nile - has been selected as the name of the site for the first landing on a comet, the European Space Agency (ESA) said on Tuesday.
The historic event will take place on November 12, when ESA's Rosetta spacec ...
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NTSB reveals spaceship crash timeline, fingers lever
Los Angeles (AFP) Nov 04, 2014 -
Investigators gave a precise timeline late Monday of the devastating Virgin Galactic spaceship crash, detailing exactly when a slowing mechanism was wrongly deployed, but said they could not determine who activated it.
The co-pilot of the SpaceshipTwo died in the crash Friday over California's Mojave desert while the pilot survived the disaster, which has called into question Virgin chief R ...
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Risk-taker Branson battles to protect Virgin brand
London (AFP) Nov 04, 2014 -
Richard Branson knows how to handle business setbacks, but he is now battling to protect the Virgin empire's image following the test flight crash of his flagship space tourism venture.
The British entrepreneur is fighting to stop the fatal explosion that brought down Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo charring his sprawling Virgin Group, which encompasses more than 400 companies in multiple sec ...
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N. Korea issues fresh warning of retaliatory strikes
Seoul (AFP) Nov 15, 2014 -
North Korea on Saturday warned of retaliatory strikes days after South Korea fired warning shots at a North Korean patrol near the border.
South Korean troops on Monday fired warning shots as the North's patrol approached the military demarcation line (MDL) that designates the border, but there was no exchange of fire and the group eventually turned back.
"The south Korean puppet militar ...
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CEC plans another Community Solar Facility in Massachusetts
Boston MA (SPX) Nov 14, 2014 -
Clean Energy Collective (CEC), the nation's leading community solar developer, announced that its newest community solar facility for Massachusetts will be a 1.3 MW solar PV array located in Adams, Mass. The move is part of CEC's initiative to bring multiple utility-scale shared solar arrays online to serve the rapidly growing demand for community solar.
"Residential, commercial and govern ...
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Early Signs Of A Pullback In Drilling Activity
Washington DC (SPX) Nov 14, 2014 -
By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com
With oil prices low and showing no sign of an immediate rebound, the industry is beginning to pull back on spending. Oil prices have dropped around 30 percent since summer highs, raising fears among producers across the globe.
Yet, many oil majors are relatively diversified, with large holdings downstream. For example, ExxonMobil and Chevron have been in ...
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Indonesia considers building nuclear power plant
Jakarta (XNA) Nov 14, 2014 -
To cope with the fast-growing demand for power supply in the country, Indonesia is considering building nuclear power plants with an initial capacity of 5,000 MW by 2025 despite massive opposition at home.
A senior official of Indonesia's Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry said that to pursue 7 percent economy growth by 2018 targeted by the government, it needs 9 percent growth in power ...
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Putin: No problems for oil company Rosneft
Moscow (UPI) Nov 14, 2014 -
Russian energy company Rosneft is in good shape as the nation's economy starts shifting its focus to Asia, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday.
"We inspected the financial status of Rosneft recently and didn't find any problems there whatsoever," he told Russian news agency ITAR-Tass. "[There are] simply no financial problems."
Western sanctions imposed in response to th ...
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