Lockheed Martin Eyes Portable Fusion Engines Within Decade
Moscow (Sputnik) Mar 10, 2015 -
Lockheed Martin, the world's biggest defense contractor, is aiming to use nuclear fusion to create cheap electrical power that uses water for fuel, produces byproducts that are totally safe and releases no air pollution.
With the United States spending less on defense, Lockheed Martin is showing more interest in the energy business than ever.
"Energy is certainly an area of growth fo ...
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Have you ever used a camera on board an interplanetary spacecraft
Paris (ESA) Mar 10, 2015 -
In May, the 'webcam' on board Mars Express will be available for public imaging requests. We're inviting schools, science clubs and youth groups to submit proposals for one of eight opportunities to image another planet.
ESA are inviting public proposals for a number of observation slots using the Visual Monitoring Camera (VMC) on board Mars Express.
VMC - the 'Mars Webcam' - is a si ...
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Understanding The Electromagnetic Environmental Effects On Space Systems
Bethesda MD (SPX) Mar 10, 2015 -
The electromagnetic environment in most space systems is typically very complex. Recent advances in communications technologies and electronic devices has created numerous emitters of radio frequency energy that were not present before the turn of the century. Launch vehicle and on-orbit space platforms must be properly designed and constructed to deal effectively with the wideband frequency thr ...
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World View completes first commercial flight with NASA-selected payloads
Tucson AZ (SPX) Mar 10, 2015 -
World View has completed their first commercial flight carrying research payloads as part of NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate's Flight Opportunities Program. This program gives students, researchers and educators the opportunity to fly their experiments and payloads with proven commercial flight companies.
"World View is committed to furthering stratospheric exploration and resear ...
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EIAST orders Satellite Launch Services from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
Dubai, UAE (SPX) Mar 10, 2015 -
The Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology (EIAST) has tasked Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for the launch of the landmark project KhalifaSat. KhalifaSat is the most advanced satellite ever created for the UAE and the first to be conceptualized and built by a team of Emirati engineers.
KhalifaSat will be launched on MHI's H-IIA launch vehicle together with the Japan Aerospa ...
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China's Space Laboratory Still Cloaked
Sydney, Australia (SPX) Mar 10, 2015 -
The recent release of another update on Tiangong 2, China's next space laboratory, has prompted a lot of attention. A recent tightening of Chinese media policies has made this relatively obscured program even more difficult to decipher, and anything we get through official channels is examined closely. We are starving for more information, but sadly, China's latest serving offers little more tha ...
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Mars: The Planet that Lost an Ocean's Worth of Water
Munich, Germany (SPX) Mar 06, 2015 -
A primitive ocean on Mars held more water than Earth's Arctic Ocean, and covered a greater portion of the planet's surface than the Atlantic Ocean does on Earth, according to new results published this week. An international team of scientists used ESO's Very Large Telescope, along with instruments at the W. M. Keck Observatory and the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility, to monitor the atmosphere ...
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Talking drone technology developed by Australian researchers
Melbourne, Australia (XNA) Mar 09, 2015 -
Australian scientists have developed a talking drone that can converse with air traffic controllers as a pilot would, the lead researcher told Xinhua on Friday.
Dr Reece Clothier, leader of the Unmanned Aircraft Systems team at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), said it was essential drones that were capable of flying safely in civil airspace.
Drones are the fastest grow ...
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Use of Rover Arm Expected to Resume in a Few Days
Pasadena CA (JPL) Mar 09, 2015 -
Managers of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover mission expect to approve resumption of rover arm movements as early as next week while continuing analysis of what appears to be an intermittent short circuit in the drill.
A fluctuation in current on Feb. 27 triggered a fault-protection response that immediately halted action by the rover during the mission's 911th Martian day, or sol. Since then, ...
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China's test spacecraft simulates orbital docking
Beijing (XNA) Mar 09, 2015 -
China has run tests close to the moon simulating an unmanned docking procedure needed in the country's next lunar mission.
The service module of the unmanned lunar orbiter currently in space to trial such techniques entered a target lunar orbit after breaking maneuvers, and flew to a suitable position for orbital docking between Tuesday and Saturday, said the State Administration of Scienc ...
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Chinese HD earth observation satellite comes into service
Beijing (XNA) Mar 09, 2015 -
China's most advanced earth observation satellite, the Gaofen-2, was put into service on Friday after being launched in August.
The services provided by the satellite will help boost development of the country's data application and spatial information sectors, said Xu Dazhe, head of the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense.
The Gaofen-2 is th ...
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China has ability but no plan for manned lunar mission: expert
Beijing (XNA) Mar 09, 2015 -
The world's third country to softland on the moon has the ability to achieve the manned lunar landing but it has no plan to do it, a leading Chinese space scientist said Friday.
"With China's current technologies of manned space flight and moon probe, we have the technology basis to realize the manned lunar mission," said Zhou Jianping, chief designer of China's manned space program.
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Tianzhou-1 cargo ship to dock with space lab in 2016
Beijing (XNA) Mar 09, 2015 -
China will send a cargo ship into the space in 2016 to dock with a future space module scheduled to be launched earlier the same year, a leading Chinese space scientist said Friday.
The Tianzhou-1, which literally means "heavenly vessel", will carry propellants, living necessities for astronauts, research facilities and repair equipment to China's second orbiting space lab Tiangong-2, said ...
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Dawn: We Have Arrived at Ceres
Pasadena CA (JPL) Mar 09, 2015 -
Since its discovery in 1801, Ceres has been known as a planet, then as an asteroid, and later as a dwarf planet. Now, after a journey of 3.1 billion miles (4.9 billion kilometers) and 7.5 years, Dawn calls it "home."
Earth's robotic emissary arrived at about 4:39 a.m. PST today. It will remain in residence at the alien world for the rest of its operational life, and long, long after.
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Revolutionary Engine Could Fuel Human Life on Mars
Moscow (Sputnik) Mar 09, 2015 -
Thanks to groundbreaking research at Northumbria University in Newcastle, England, those who wish to one day colonize Mars have a new technique at their disposal to harvest energy from carbon dioxide.
Researchers want to power a new kind of engine using a phenomenon known as the "Leidenfrost effect."
The Leidenfrost effect occurs when a liquid comes into near contact with a surface m ...
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International Space Station 'Lost' Without Russia Says NASA Chief
Moscow (Sputnik) Mar 09, 2015 -
A top NASA official confirmed Wednesday that the US has no backup plan to maintain the International Space Station if Russia should decide to pull out of the joint operation.
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden's frank admission of US dependence on Russia for the ISS' continued existence follows his reluctance to address the issue head on, the Houston Chronicle reported.
"We would make ...
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Orion's Launch Abort System Motor Exceeds Expectations
Hampton CA (SPX) Mar 09, 2015 -
Three seconds. That's all it took for the attitude control motor of NASA's Orion Launch Abort System (LAS) to prove that its material can survive not only the intense temperatures, pressures, noise and vibrations experienced during a launch emergency but also 40 percent beyond. The LAS is being designed to bring a crew to safety should there be a problem in the launch pad or during ascent.
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US charges filed in largest Internet breach on record
Washington (AFP) March 6, 2015 -
US authorities Friday unveiled charges against two Vietnamese nationals and one Canadian in connection with a computer fraud scheme to steal more than one billion email addresses.
The episode was the largest known data breach of names and email addresses and was the subject of a 2011 congressional inquiry, officials said.
Indictments in the case accuse two Vietnamese nationals of hacking ...
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UN condemns 'destruction' of ancient Iraq city of Hatra
Baghdad (AFP) March 7, 2015 -
The United Nations' cultural body on Saturday condemned the "destruction" by the Islamic State jihadist group of Hatra, a stunning Roman period ancient fortress city in the Iraqi desert.
The destruction of the UNESCO world heritage site was reported two days after the Iraqi antiquities ministry said that IS bulldozed the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud, and a week after the jihadists release ...
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US will 'walk away' if verifiable Iran nuclear deal not reached: Obama
Washington (AFP) March 8, 2015 -
President Barack Obama assured in a taped television interview Sunday that the United States was prepared to "walk away" from nuclear talks with Iran if a verifiable deal cannot be reached with Tehran.
Obama made the comments Saturday as US Secretary of State John Kerry was in Paris to smooth over differences with France, which has pressed for greater guarantees that an agreement will stop I ...
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UN says 28,000 flee drive to retake Iraq's Tikrit
Baghdad (AFP) March 5, 2015 -
Some 28,000 people have fled the Tikrit area as Iraqi forces battle the Islamic State jihadist group in a massive offensive aimed at retaking the city, the UN said Thursday.
The involvement of Shiite militiamen in the operation, which has been dubbed an attempt to avenge the IS massacre of hundreds of mainly-Shiite recruits last year, has raised fears of sectarian killings targeting Sunni Ar ...
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Industry backs UK government's spaceport plans
London, UK (SPX) Mar 04, 2015 -
A spaceport consultation outcome has been published, paving the way to make UK commercial spaceflight operations a reality. Plans for Britain to be home of Europe's first spaceport have moved a step closer. Publishing the outcome of a 3 month consultation with a range of interested parties, the government confirmed widespread support for its plans. This paves the way towards making commercial spaceflight operations in the UK a reality. ...
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NASA uses CubeSat bus to to test re-enter drag device
Moffett Field, CA (SPX) Mar 05, 2015 -
NASA mission controllers confirmed that a small satellite launched from the International Space Station at 5:30 p.m. PST on Tuesday, March 3, has successfully entered its orbit, setting the stage to test technology that could enable rapid return of payloads from space. Over the next four weeks, the TechEdSat-4 satellite will deploy a second-generation exo-brake, an aerodynamic drag device, to pe ...
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ESA experts assess risk from exploded satellite
Paris (ESA) Mar 05, 2015 -
After studying the recent explosive break-up of a US satellite, ESA space debris experts have concluded this event does not increase the collision risk to nearby ESA missions in any meaningful way.
The US Air Force's Defense Meteorological Satellite Programme Flight 13 (DMSP-13) broke up into some 40 pieces on 3 February. The military weather satellite was in a low-Earth orbit - commonly u ...
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Satcom datalink service enables Future Air Navigation System testing
Satellite Beach, FL (SPX) Mar 05, 2015 -
Satcom Direct offers aircraft operators and manufacturers access to its FANS testing facility from anywhere in the world, anytime, at no additional cost.
Satcom Direct's FlightDeck Freedom datalink service integrates extensive features and functionality for flight departments, including clearances, airport weather, trip planning and monitoring onboard connectivity status.
Now, this p ...
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