US Navy to Launch Folding-Fin Ground Attack Rocket on Scientific Mission
Moscow (Sputnik) Sep 07, 2015 -
US Naval Research Laboratory, in cooperation with the University of Washington and NASA, are set to launch folding-fin ground attack rocket from the Norwegian launch facility above the Arctic Circle to simultaneously create and observe "dusty plasmas" in Earth's outer atmosphere in order to understand how it disrupts radar and tracking systems.
The aim of the experiment, dubbed Charged Aer ...
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World's most powerful digital camera sees construction green light
Menlo Park CA (SPX) Sep 01, 2015 -
The Department of Energy has approved the start of construction for a 3.2-gigapixel digital camera - the world's largest - at the heart of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). Assembled at the DOE's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, the camera will be the eye of LSST, revealing unprecedented details of the universe and helping unravel some of its greatest mysteries.
The construc ...
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GSAT-6A's big antenna deployed by ISRO
New Delhi (IANS) Sep 01, 2015 -
The Indian space agency on Sunday said it had successfully deployed the large antenna of military communication satellite GSAT-6 and also raised its orbit.
According to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the S-Band Unfurlable Antenna of six metre diameter was deployed successfully. The satellite was launched by India's heavy rocket geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle-Mark II (G ...
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Locata positioning will underpin future UAV research at NASA Langley
Canberra, Australia (SPX) Sep 01, 2015 -
Locata has announced that NASA plans to install a Locata network (LocataNet) as the core positioning technology for safety-critical Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) research at its world-renowned Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.
NASA Langley is tasked with performing rigorous and repeatable scientific evaluation of new
UAS safety and technology concepts which are currently under ...
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Opportunity brushes a rock and conducts in-situ studies
Pasadena CA (JPL) Sep 01, 2015 -
Opportunity is in 'Marathon Valley' on the west rim of Endeavour Crater exploring for phyllosilicate clay minerals. The rover is operating in persistent RAM mode (not using Flash for data storage). The rover is in the midst of a grind campaign on the surface target, 'Pvt. Robert Frazer.'
On Sol 4114 (Aug. 20, 2015), Opportunity ground about 2.5 millimeters into the surface to expose fresh ...
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Boeing introduces portable laser weapon capable of destroying drones
Chicago (UPI) Aug 28, 2015 -
Boeing this week introduced its Compact Laser Weapons System, a portable device capable of using an invisible laser to take down targets several hundreds of meters away.
The aerospace company designed the device to focus energy on a small enough spot to heat and destroy targets, including moving ones, like drones.
"Think of it like a welding torch being put on target but from man ...
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New Russian Spaceship to Be Ready Ahead of Schedule
Moscow (Sputnik) Sep 01, 2015 -
The first prototype of a new Russian manned spacecraft for launch to the International Space Station (ISS) and the Moon may be created ahead of schedule, president of Russian space manufacturer RSC Energia Vladimir Solntsev told RIA Novosti on Saturday. The International Aviation and Space Salon MAKS 2015 is currently underway in the town of Zhukovsky near Moscow, and is due to finish on Sunday. ...
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SpaceX delays next launch after blast
Los Angeles (AFP) Aug 31, 2015 -
SpaceX said Monday it has delayed by a couple of months the return to flight of its Falcon 9 rocket, following an explosion on the way to the space station in June.
The company's chief executive, Elon Musk, had said previously that the rocket would launch no earlier than September, after a failed strut was blamed for the rocket's demise just minutes after takeoff on June 28 from Cape Canaver ...
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Soaking up carbon dioxide and turning it into valuable products
Berkeley CA (SPX) Aug 31, 2015 -
A molecular system that holds great promise for the capture and storage of carbon dioxide has been modified so that it now also holds great promise as a catalyst for converting captured carbon dioxide into valuable chemical products. Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have incorporated molecules of carbon dioxide reduction ...
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Annoying? US 'That Kissed the Moon' Has to Pay Russia for Space Flights
Moscow (Sputnik) Sep 01, 2015 -
A retired NASA astronaut has wrote an article lamenting that the US, "the country that kissed the moon and is roving Mars" has to pay Russia to be able to get to the International Space Station due to the systematic underfunding of the Commercial Crew space program by Congress.
Maj. General and retired NASA astronaut Charles Bolden has scolded his country's Congress for the systematic unde ...
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Progress for Tiangong 2
Sydney, Australia (SPX) Sep 01, 2015 -
At some time in 2016, China will launch the Tiangong 2 space laboratory. The launch will break a fairly long period of inactivity for China's human spaceflight program, which underwent an uncommon surge of activity after Tiangong 1 was launched. 2014 and 2015 have been years without any Chinese astronaut launches, so we are keen to see some more action.
Nothing is happening in space, but n ...
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Thousands protest against corruption in Iraq capital
Baghdad (AFP) Aug 28, 2015 -
REThousands of Iraqis demonstrated against corruption in Baghdad's Tahrir Square on Friday, including supporters of powerful Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
Protesters have taken to the streets of Baghdad and cities in the Shiite south for weeks, railing against rampant corruption and abysmal services, especially power outages that leave just a few hours of government-supplied electricity per ...
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A year on, Yazidis so close yet so far from Iraq hub
Sinjar, Iraq (AFP) Aug 31, 2015 -
Jihadists occupying the Iraqi town of Sinjar are so close that Kurdish fighters can watch them without binoculars and battles are often fought with hand grenades.
Yet eight months after Kurdish forces retook Mount Sinjar from the Islamic State group, the recapture of the nearby town - the ancestral hub of the Yazidi minority, which has been brutally targeted by IS - remains a distant prosp ...
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IS kills two Iraq generals, jihadists advance in Syria
Baghdad (AFP) Aug 27, 2015 -
A suicide attack claimed by the Islamic State group killed two Iraqi generals on Thursday in the key battleground province of Anbar, as the jihadists made gains in northern Syria.
IS overran large areas of Iraq in 2014 and seized Anbar capital Ramadi earlier this year. It also controls major territory in neighbouring Syria, where it has thrived amid a bloody civil war.
Military spokesman ...
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IS burns four Iraqi Shiite fighters alive: video
Baghdad (AFP) Aug 31, 2015 -
The Islamic State group strung up four Iraqi Shiite fighters with chains and burned them alive, according to footage posted online, the latest gruesome execution video from the jihadists.
The victims - identified as fighters in the pro-government Popular Mobilisation forces from southern Iraq - were suspended from a swingset-like metal structure by chains attached to their hands and feet, ...
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Russian nuclear official pleads guilty in US bribery plot
Washington (AFP) Aug 31, 2015 -
A Russian nuclear official pleaded guilty Monday to a US charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering in a case involving $2.1 million in bribes for contracts with a Moscow-controlled company.
The US Justice Department said Vadim Mikerin, 56, was representing Russian nuclear materials trader Tenex in the United States when he helped transfer funds to offshore shell accounts that came from ...
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Australia's first LHD ship close to initial operational capability
Canberra, Australia (UPI) Aug 31, 2015 -
Australia's first-of-class landing helicopter dock ship is closer to initial operational capability following completion of a graduated test and trial program.
The second LHD, meanwhile, has completed her second and final sea trials prior to delivery to the Royal Australian Navy.
The Canberra-class ships will be the largest vessels operated by the Royal Australian Navy. They are ...
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Britain seeks re-manufacture of attack helicopters
Washington (UPI) Aug 28, 2015 -
The U.S. State Department has given its approval to a possible Foreign Military Sale for the re-manufacture of British attack helicopters.
The deal would involve re-manufacture of 50 WAH-64 Mk 1 attack helicopters to AH-64E Apache Guardian attack helicopters, plus parts, logistical support and associated equipment.
The estimated value of the deal is $3 billion.
"The propos ...
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U.S. Navy orders more P-8A Poseidon aircraft
Patuxent River, Md. (UPI) Aug 28, 2015 -
Boeing Defense, Space & Security has received a contract worth nearly $1.5 billion from the U.S. Navy for P-8A Poseidon aircraft.
Under the contract from the Naval Air Systems Command, Nine of the aircraft will be for the U.S. Navy and four will be for the Royal Australian Air Force.
The planes will be manufactured under Lot 2 full-rate production work.
The Navy said the c ...
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Bulgaria to repair its Soviet-built MiG-29 jets in Poland
Sofia (AFP) Aug 28, 2015 -
Bulgaria's defence ministry said on Friday it would repair six of its 19 Soviet-built MiG-29 fighter planes in Poland, in a move to reduce its dependence on Russia.
"Bulgaria and Poland express their strong political will for cooperation especially about the maintenance of the MiG-29 fighters," the defence ministry said in a statement after the signing of a letter of intent with Warsaw.
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DARPA project studies new uses for drones
Arlington, Va. (UPI) Aug 31, 2015 -
The U.S. military is launching a program for the use of air-recoverable swarms of unmanned aerial vehicles, each with coordinated, distributed capabilities.
The program by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is called Gremlins and will focus primarily on the technical challenges associated with the in-air launch and recovery of multiple drones from manned aircraft.
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Two US Predator drones deployed to Latvia
Washington (AFP) Aug 31, 2015 -
The US military has deployed two MQ-1 Predator surveillance drones and 70 airmen to Latvia for a two-week training mission aimed at reassuring European allies wary of Russia.
The mission, which began Friday and is due to end on September 15, comes as the United States increases military exercises and training in Eastern Europe after Russia's annexation of Crimea and repeated clashes in Ukrai ...
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U.S. creating National Manufacturing Innovation Institute
Washington (UPI) Aug 31, 2015 -
The U.S. Defense Department is partnering with a major consortium to develop flexible hybrid electronic technologies.
The FlexTech Alliance consortium is composed of 96 companies, 41 universities, 14 state and local government organizations and 11 laboratories and nonprofit organizations.
With the Department of Defense, they will create a National Manufacturing Innovation Institu ...
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Russia, China discuss joint mobile satellite communications
Moscow (Sputnik) Sep 01, 2015 -
RTI Systems Concern and China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) discussed possible joint projects on the development of mobile satellite communications at the international MAKS-2015 air show in Russia, Svetlana Afanasyeva, the concern's deputy general director, said Monday.
RTI Systems Concern is a world leader in radar and radar systems development for military and civil ...
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Britain announces investment in Scottish naval base
London (AFP) Aug 31, 2015 -
Scotland's Faslane naval base is to receive Pounds 500 million ($770 million, 688 million euros) in investment over 10 years, the British government announced on Sunday.
The site of Britain's Trident submarine nuclear deterrent, Faslane is to receive investment in ship lifts, sea walls, jetties and other projects from 2017, with jobs at the base increasing to 8,200 by 2022 from 6,700, according to ...
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