Cell phones catapult 'Shangri-La' Bhutan into modern age

Cell phones catapult 'Shangri-La' Bhutan into modern age
Thimpu , Bhutan (AFP) March 24, 2014 - Sitting in his office in Bhutan's sleepy capital, newspaper editor Tenzing Lamsang muses on the dramatic impact of cell phone technology on a remote Himalayan kingdom known as the "last Shangri-La". "Bhutan is jumping from the feudal age to the modern age," said Lamsang, editor of The Bhutanese biweekly and online journal. "It's bypassing the industrial age." As the last country in the w ... more

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Social Media Accreditation Opens for Next SpaceX Launch to Resupply Space Station

NASA is inviting social media users to apply for credentials to attend the March 1 launch for the next cargo resupply flight to the International Space Station by Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX). The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is targeted to liftoff at 10:10 a.m. EST from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

A maximum of 50 social media users will be selected to attend the event and will be given the same access as news media in an effort to align the experience of social media representatives with those of traditional media. NASA Social media accreditation for the SpaceX launch opens at noon EST Thursday, Feb. 14. International social media users without U.S. citizenship must apply for credentials by 5:00 p.m. EST Friday, Feb. 15, to qualify. For U.S. social media, the deadline to apply is 5:00 p.m. EST Friday, Feb. 22. All social media accreditation applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

NASA Social participants will have the opportunity to:

• View the launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket
• Meet and interact with representatives from NASA and SpaceX
• Meet fellow space enthusiasts who are active on social media
• Meet members of NASA's social media teams

Apply Now ›

What are NASA Social media credentials?
Social media credentials give users a chance to apply for the same access as journalists in an effort to align the access and experience of social media representatives with those of traditional media. People, who actively collect, report, analyze and disseminate news on social networking platforms are encouraged to apply for media credentials. Selection is not random. All social media accreditation applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Those chosen must prove through the registration process they meet specific engagement criteria.

How do I register?
Registration opens to U.S. citizens and foreign nationals at noon EST Thursday, Feb. 14. International social media users without U.S. citizenship must apply for credentials by 5:00 p.m. EST Friday, Feb. 15, to qualify. For U.S. social media, the deadline to apply is 5:00 p.m. EST Friday, Feb. 22. All social media accreditation applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Do I need to have a social media account to register?
Yes. This event is designed for people who:

• Actively use multiple social networking platforms and tools to disseminate information to a unique audience.
• Regularly produce new content that features multimedia elements.
• Have the potential to reach a large number of people using digital platforms.
• Reach a unique audience, separate and distinctive from traditional news media and/or NASA audiences.
• Must have an established history of posting content on social media platforms.
• Have previous postings that are highly visible, respected and widely recognized.

Users on all social networks are encouraged to use the hashtag #NASASocial. Updates and information about the event will be shared on Twitter via @NASASocial and via posts to Facebook and Google+.

What are the registration requirements?
Registration indicates your intent to travel to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida and attend the two-day event in person. You are responsible for your own expenses for travel, accommodation, food and other amenities.

Some events and participants scheduled to appear at the event are subject to change without notice. NASA and SpaceX are not responsible for loss or damage incurred as a result of attending. NASA and SpaceX, moreover, are not responsible for loss or damage incurred if the event is cancelled with limited or no notice. Please plan accordingly.

Kennedy is a government facility. Those who are selected will need to complete an additional registration step to receive clearance to enter the secure areas. To be admitted, you will need to show two government-issued identifications (one with a photo) that match the name provided on the registration. Those without proper identification cannot be admitted. All registrants must be at least 18 years old.

Can I register if I am not a U.S. citizen?
Yes. Foreign nationals 18 years of age or older may register for this event prior to 5:00 p.m. EST on Friday, Feb. 15.

Does my registration include a guest?
Because of space limitations, you may not bring a guest. Each registration provides a place for one person only (you) and is non-transferable. Each individual wishing to attend must register separately.

What if I cannot come to Florida?
If you cannot come to Florida to attend in person, you should not register for the NASA Social. You can follow the conversation using the #NASASocial hashtag on Twitter. NASA may broadcast a portion of the program on Feb. 28. You can watch the launch on March 1 on NASA TV or on SpaceX's website. NASA and SpaceX will provide regular launch and mission updates on @NASA, @NASAKennedy and @SpaceX.

If you cannot make this event, don't despair; NASA is planning others in the near future. Check for future events athttp://www.nasa.gov/social.

When will I know if I am selected?
After registrations have been received and processed, an notification email will be send out to inform you whether or not you have been selected for NASA social media accreditation. Those selected will be required to complete an additional step before being accredited. We will send notifications upon approval.

If you do not make the registration list for accreditation, you can still attend the launch and participate in the conversation online. Find out about ways to experience a launch at http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/launchingrockets/viewing.html.

What if the launch date changes?
Hundreds of different factors can cause a scheduled launch date to change multiple times. The targeted launch date will not be confirmed until after the Flight Readiness Review, which is scheduled for Feb. XX, 2013. If the launch date changes, NASA and SpaceX may adjust programming accordingly to coincide with the new target launch date. NASA will notify registrants of any changes by email.

Attendees are responsible for any additional costs they incur related to any launch delay. We strongly encourage participants to make travel arrangements that are refundable and/or flexible.

Does registration for and/or attendance at this NASA Social qualify me for media accreditation?
No, your registration and/or attendance, does not qualify you for news media credentials at NASA now or in the future.

Have a question not answered here? Need more information? Help is available by sending an email to NASA Social Media

The solar wind is swirly

Using ESA’s Cluster quartet of satellites as a space plasma microscope, scientists have zoomed in on the solar wind to reveal the finest detail yet, finding tiny turbulent swirls that could play a big role in heating it. Turbulence is highly complex and all around us, evident in water flowing from a tap, around an aircraft wing, in experimental fusion reactors on Earth, and also in space.

In the stream of charged particles emitted by the Sun – the solar wind – turbulence is thought to play a key part in maintaining its heat as it streams away and races across the Solar System. As the solar wind expands, it cools down, but to a much smaller extent than would be expected if the flow were smooth.

Turbulence arises from irregularities in the flow of particles and magnetic field lines, but understanding how this energy is transferred from the large scales where it originates, to the small scales where it is dissipated, is like trying to trace energy as it is transferred from the smooth, laminar flow of a river down to the small turbulent eddies formed at the bottom of a waterfall.

In a new study, two of the four Cluster satellites have made extremely detailed observations of plasma turbulence in the solar wind. They were separated by just 20 km along the direction of the plasma flow and operated in ‘burst mode’ to take 450 measurements per second. By comparing the results with computer simulations, scientists confirmed the existence of sheets of electric current just 20 km across, on the borders of turbulent swirls.

“This shows for the first time that the solar wind plasma is extremely structured at this high resolution,” says Silvia Perri of the Universita della Calabria, Italy, and lead author of the paper reporting the result. Cluster previously detected current sheets on much larger scales of 100 km in the magnetosheath, the region sandwiched between Earth’s magnetic bubble – the magnetosphere – and the bow shock that is created as it meets the solar wind.

At the borders of these turbulent eddies the process of ‘magnetic reconnection’ was detected, whereby oppositely directed field lines spontaneously break and reconnect with other nearby field lines, thus releasing their energy.“Although we haven’t yet detected reconnection occurring at these new smaller scales, it is clear that we are seeing a cascade of energy which may contribute to the overall heating of the solar wind,” said Dr Perri.  

Future missions such as ESA’s Solar Orbiter and NASA’s Solar Probe Plus will be able to determine whether similar processes are also in play closer to the Sun, while NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale mission will specifically probe the small-scale regions where reconnection can occur.“This Cluster result demonstrates the mission’s unique capability to probe universal physical phenomena, in this case pushing the mission’s instrument measurement capabilities to their limit to unlock features at small scales,” comments Matt Taylor, ESA’s Cluster Project Scientist.

“Future multi-spacecraft missions will make very detailed studies of these small-scale plasma phenomena and provide further context to our Cluster measurements.”

For further information visit: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/The_solar_wind_is_swirly/(print)

Ariane 5 completes seven launches in 2012

 This evening, an Ariane 5 launcher lifted off from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on its mission to place two telecom satellites, Skynet-5D and Mexsat Bicentenario, into their planned transfer orbits. Liftoff of flight VA211, the 67th Ariane 5 mission, came at 21:49 GMT (22:49 CET; 18:49 French Guiana). The target injection orbit had a perigee altitude of 249.7 km, an apogee altitude at injection of 35 977 km and an inclination of 2°. 

Skynet-5D and Mexsat Bicentenario were accurately injected into their orbits at 24 and 36 minutes after launch, respectively.Skynet-5D will be positioned in geostationary above the equator at 25°E. Built by Astrium satellites for the operator Astrium Services, it provides secure telecommunications services to the British Ministry of Defence, NATO and countries that already use the Skynet family of military communications satellites. 

Mexsat Bicentenario is the fifth Mexican satellite to be launched by Ariane. It will provide telecommunications services for Mexico and neighbouring countries. The payload mass for this launch was 8637 kg, including the mass of auxiliary payload adaptors. Flight VA211 was Ariane 5’s 53rd successful launch in a row since December 2002.

For further information visit: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Launchers/Ariane_5_completes_seven_launches_in_2012/(print)

Curiosity Rover Takes Detailed Self-Portrait on Mars

A series of photos taken by NASA's Curiosity and combined into a single composite picture offer a rare, detailed glimpse of the rover patrolling the surface of Mars on a rocky terrain with its target destination-Mount Sharp-in the background.

The full-color picture - which shows Curiosity in a desert-like environment surrounded by its own tire tracks - is actually a mosaic of dozens of high-resolution images taken by a camera located on the rover's robotic arm, called the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI).

"Self-portraits like this one document the state of the rover and allow mission engineers to track changes over time, such as dust accumulation and wheelwear," NASA stated on its website, where the picture was featured as its image of the day on Thursday.

The pictures, captured on October 31 and November 1, show Curiosity at "Rocknest," an area where the rover took its first sampling of the Martian planet. In November, NASA released another portrait of Curiosity that was created out of 55 pictures but said it doesn't provide the expansive view of Mount Sharp that this latest mosaic does.

Curiosity landed safely on the Red Planet on August 6.NASA's goal for the rover's mission is to determine if life exists now or has in the past, to characterize the climate and geology, and prepare for future human exploration on Mars.

For further information visit: http://www.marsdaily.com/reports/Curiosity_Rover_Takes_Detailed_Self_Portrait_on_Mars_999.html

Russia to build new heavy ICBM by 2018 - Karakayev

Russia will have built a new heavy liquid-propellant intercontinental ballistic missile by late 2018, a missile that will prove largely superior to all of its predecessors, including the world's most powerful strategic missile Voyevoda, (NATO reporting name SS-18 Satan), in terms of combat effectiveness and the ability to penetrate the US missile defence system.

This came in a statement for journalists by the Commander of the Russian Strategic Missile Forces Sergei Karakayev. He pointed out that it is the deployment of the US global missile defence system, a system that grows more powerful each year that prompted Russia to think of counteraction.

US to intercept Russian ICBMs in Europe - Karakayev

The missile defence system that the United States plans to deploy in Europe will be able to intercept Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles, deployed in European Russia. This came in a statement at a news briefing in Moscow last week by the Commander of the Russian Strategic Missile Forces Sergei Karakayev.

The US claims that the European antimissile system will counter Iran's missile threat. But it is only Russia that has ICBMs in Europe. In this context, we understand that the US antimissile system will target Russia, since ICBMs and submarine-based ballistic missiles are the backbone of Russia's nuclear containment force.

Russian missiles capable to resist any anti missile defense system

Moscow (Voice of Russia) Dec 16 - Under any possible scenario the Russian Strategic Missile Forces will be capable to withstand the potential of any missile defense system and to ensure fulfillment of tasks, Sergei Karakayev, Commander of the Russian Strategic Missile Forces, has told today. According to Colonel-General Karakaev, the Russian Strategic Missile Forces has six types of missile launches, both stationary and mobile, including the fifth generation Yars and Topol-M launchers, in arsenal.

Karakaev noted that effectiveness of any strike force suggests a sustainable resistance to any outer impact, including a nuclear one.

Besides, an effective strike force should be capable to cause unacceptable damage, even under the threat from an anti-missile defense system.

For further information visit: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Russia_to_build_new_heavy_ICBM_by_2018_Karakayev_999.html

Russian rocket launch rescheduled

A postponed Russian rocket launch has been rescheduled for Jan. 15, the Russian Space Forces said. The rocket launch was originally Dec. 8, but was postponed to fix malfunctions in the Briz-KM booster, RIA Novosti reported."A state commission resolved at a session on Friday that the launch of the light-class Rokot rocket will be held on Jan. 15," Russian Space Forces spokesman Col. Alexei Zolotukhin said Saturday.

The rocket is a modified version of the Russian RS-18 ballistic missile and uses two original lower stages of the missile along with a Breeze-KM upper-stage for commercial payloads.

Russia has launched 16 Rokots since May 16, 2000. Rokot launches were suspended for about 18 months when a rocket failed to put the Geo-IK-2 military satellite into the designated orbit on Feb. 1, 2011.

For further information visit: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/Russian_rocket_launch_rescheduled_999.html